#but this is just more elegant and dramatic imo

[clonerightsagenda]

Still stewing over how Riza watched Ed and Al swap sacrifices and probably learned some alchemy basics from her dad (and seems to have aptitude, given she's the one non-Xingese, non-chimera character to sense the homunculi), is willing to mutilate herself, and got pulled out of training to fight because she was just that good of a shot, so in the end she should've gone hey colonel I'm trading my dominant eye for one of yours. This works out for me too since I have to stay in the military for our Big Plan and would rather not be their star sniper anymore. Don't be dramatic about it.

Roy would not like that but what is he going to do, lie in his hospital bed and bitch about it? Ed couldn't refuse Al's sacrifice either. Second instance of someone forcing human transmutation on him but this time it's for his own good. Codependent bestie friendship bracelets partial blindness representing how uncomfortably far the other person will go even when you don't want them to. The Truth doesn't think they're quite grasping the lesson it wants them to learn but eh. Close enough. Leave the Ishvalans out of it.

[whereismymonsterlover]

This is such an unserious criticism, Yana and I just have different tastes. I do straight up find the dress ugly but I feel like I should preface with my tastes too: I'm a bit pretentious and love historical fashion, and I don't like Lolita very much so me and Yana are clashing like crazy. The pink 'robin' dress is so iconic but I have a few thoughts.

I hate Ciel's pink dress and I always have. I might redesign it because it is so unflattering and fucking PEACH PINK BLEGH like dusty pink lemonade that's been in a store cupboard for too long. It's a very childish colour which I wouldn't dare change cus that misses the whole point of it being a ploy to seduce good old uncle Druitt, unfortunately. I think I'd incorporate a dusty dark magenta in place of some of the black accents but I'd like to keep a little black to match ciel's dark blue hair. The magenta accent would definitely be satin because I am absolutely yearning for satin but I'm apprehensive since he is supposed to be "a young girl" and satin has a much more mature vibe.

Though it does make him appear taller, the fucking absence of a waistline/no separating hemline between the bodice and skirt ticks me off. The ruching blending into his bodice makes me so mad. He looks swamped in fabric which counteracts the attempt to elongate his torso. The bodice totally lacks structure.

Of all Ciel's outfits to not feature a bustle, you choose not to put a bustle on his ACTUAL DRESS?? Sure, there's a huge pink bow, but Yana actually LOSES the petticoat around the rump, it's bizarre. I hate bows so much I don't know why. The one on the front just feels so disjointed from the flow of the dress and disrupts it entirely imo. I'd probably change the texture of the bodice with a ruffle-front in place of the bow. I have no qualms with the petticoat besides there's just too much of it. The dress has a wider silhouette than typical 1880-90s evening gowns so that's an easy compromise: I'd give the bodice a more prominent waistline higher on his waist but pinch in the diameter of the skirt to maintain his illusionary height. From a large initial bump at the top of the skirt, I'd want it to fall straight down instead of the typical "ball gown" that widens towards the bottom.

Fucking black and white stripes is NOT giving evening elegance. It's giving beetlejuice (which gives me a black butler Halloween drawing idea...), or Mrs. Lovett's beach day dress in the tim burton Sweeney Todd. Despite this, I'd keep the stripes as there is so much character to them, it probably helped to entice the viscount 🤢 since they're so fucking jarring and out of place but I digress. I do think the black is incorporated really nicely in that horizontal strip on the petticoat ruffles. I HATE the vertical black strips holding the ruched pink gown - I'd probably replace this black accent with the dusty magenta. I hate the length of the ruched fabric but it wouldn't offend me so much if there was a WAISTLINE. (Again, I'm being dramatic. It's a product of 2006 Lolita-core and I can respect that. But I do detest it in places.)

I will make sketches I think which I'll add onto this post cus I LOOOOVE designing dresses. I've rambled too much.

[tokutaiseichan]

Zenji is such a fun, unpredictable guy in the way that every character cue used on him screams "Traditional! Japanese!!" but then he opens his mouth and it's just a barrage English loanwords one after another. 😂

he actually sounds far more elegant (befitting of the whole Dramatic Poet trope) in the English loc, imo. 😅

[emcandon]

oooooh I'd love to hear your thoughts about DAV if you do ever feeling like writing them out. I personally have been pretty disappointed with how disneyfied the morality of the game has been.

i'm hoping to finish my first run through of the game in the next week or so! and am going to reserve anything longer until then. but in a broad preliminary sense:

i do have positive thoughts and feelings about the game -- they may even be the majority of my thoughts and feelings! imo, structurally and quest-wise, veilguard is possibly the best dragon age has ever been. the overarching plot is legible and tangible, the sidequests are dramatically driven, and the game does a lot of work to make sure your companions are both visible and meaningfully involved

the big set-piece story missions have also by and large really worked for me--i've gasped out loud MULTIPLE times! vs. inquisition, when the only time i even really Felt anything about the plot was during the burning of Haven + finding of Skyhold. (i liked it! i had fun! but that was the only part of the game that had my FULL ATTENTION.) (also DA2 is the best game overall, followed by DAO and DAI duking it out in the parking lot bc they both have positive qualities that the other emphatically lacks)

also as i'm starting to hit the big pivots in every veilguard companion's culmination arc, i've really liked that they don't feel like Obvious Choices (in fact, DA's usual Oppressed vs. Oppressors choice has been basically absent! hoorah!). i'm looking forward to making different choices next play through! (a liiiiittle afraid the choices won't have much material effect but on the other hand, i'm okay with that bc DA's choices are usually set dressing anyway.)

HOWEVER

Disneyfied, MCU-brained, Whedonesque -- whatever the name, we're all reaching for a way to describe that pervasive sense of flattened positivity. it's not just in the tonally off attempt to integrate modern takes into a fantasy setting (tho i would argue DA has been guilty of this before in different ways, and it was silly then too, if less...tiring), but in the way we're constantly tripping over Codex entries or conversations where the game is trying to like, paper over its own lore? basically the writing keeps putting a hat on the Problematic Tropes it's accidentally walked itself into to try and reconcile with its own past, but it's usually not a very interesting hat.

for ex: any time the lore tries to address having determined that the elven gods are 1) real, 2) just assholes, actually, and that because the elves have been alternatively an analogue for indigeneity and jewishness, that makes the evanuris both a colonial trope and an anti-semitic one. uh oh! uh oh!! probably there would be a more elegant and interesting way to unpack this in text, but it's not the majority of what the game is doing.

this has overall bummed me out bc i think dragon age was always at its best, lore-wise, when it was being creepy. and now it's kind of afraid to be creepy!

also i was tempted into playing the first one bc a friend described the mage situation to me bc they knew i'd love it! that i'd be so happy with a setting where all the magic users were walking time-bombs, and the crapsack world's crapsack strategy for dealing with that was to stick all the time-bombs in a box and SHAKE IT REPEATEDLY AND AT LENGTH. that's a bad solution! with some potent human emotional stupidity driving it! how fun!

anyway this is a lot more words than i intended but i just finished emmrich's last big quest (my man...i'm romancing him next run through i can't wait...i love grandpa...) and had to EXPEL THOUGHTS

more on the way at some point possibly? or more deets on specific elements once i've actually seen the ending.

[charbon-et-eau]

Hoenn boys brainrot is still going strong. I should have some new art to share next week. In the meantime, I was rambling about some headcanons on aethy and figured I'd share them here too.

If you're interested in my top/bottom and sexuality headcanons for Steven/Wallace/Brendan, they're below the cut. <3

When the Hoenn boys brainrot started, I quickly decided that Steven was 100% a top, whether he's with Brendan or Wallace. Seemed like the obvious conclusion to me. So it was very surprising when I started looking at fanart on pixiv and bottom Steven seemed to be much more common with all of his ships except Brendan.

I was wondering why this is. I've noticed that a lot of people like to make Steven their silly autistic babygirl and I guess that makes him a bottom by default? Idk. I think he's silly and autistic too, but I don't think that automatically translates to bottom. But another thing I've noticed is that many people make their fav character in a ship the bottom. One of the daimiku shippers on pixiv clearly adores Wallace and draws him a bit more than Steven, and they LOVE drawing Wallace getting absolutely destroyed. On the other hand, bottom Steven fans tend to focus on Steven more. I guess people prefer to see their favs getting wrecked instead of the other way around. Makes sense.

And I'm sure there are plenty of other reasons why a lot of people prefer bottom Steven. Everyone interprets and plays with characters differently. These are just some of the more common trends I've noticed.

As for my headcanons, Steven is a rich CEO's son who was most likely taught how to be in charge and probably didn't hear the word "no" very often, so being in control comes naturally to him. He canonically likes to play with people and see their reactions, and he can also be a bit arrogant (thinks he's "the best there is" and has a habit of taking on important tasks himself instead of asking for help). When he finds someone or something he likes, he can be VERY intense about it. All of these things translate well to being a top imo.

As for Wallace, he's a switch, but he prefers being a loud, dramatic, slutty bottom. This man is an overachiever - being hot, doing contests, being a gym leader and helping Steven keep his privilege in check. In the bedroom, he just wants to turn his brain off and let someone else be in control. However, he'll happily top Brendan when he's in the mood and Steven's busy.

Brendan is a bottom for now simply because he lacks experience. Wallace will teach him how to top eventually though. And then Brendan can be a switch.

Now for the sexuality headcanons.

Steven is one of the few male characters that I hc as 100% gay (I make most characters bi disasters like me). He has zero interest in women.

Before his dad realized that he was gay, he would set Steven up with random women that he met through work, telling Steven to take them home and show them his rock collection, *wink wink*. So Steven would invite them over, show them his rock collection, and then say good night and politely ask them to leave once it got late. Wallace almost died laughing when Steven told him about this. Everything eventually made sense when Steven invited Wallace over for the same reason, but they didn't actually look at the rocks until the next morning... after a very passionate night of sex.

Wallace is bi with a heavy preference for men, like 90% men, 10% women. He has a deep appreciation for the beauty and elegance of women, thinks they're all queens, and would happily have sex with one. But after a wild night at the club, he's probably taking a guy home.

Brendan is also bi with a slight preference for men, like 60-40. Due to his daddy issues and mommy kink, he tends to be more attracted to people who are older than him. He's slightly more aware of his attraction to men, especially after meeting Steven, until he starts spending time with Glacia. Brendan is a hot mess around Wallace since he is the most intoxicatingly gorgeous combination of masculine and feminine energy. It doesn't help that Wallace will mercilessly flirt with Brendan any chance he gets.

[hexagonopus]

The story in Doom Eternal and its DLC is like unbearably dumb imo.

Doom 2016 was certainly cheesy but it also knew what to focus on. It had restraint, it understood concepts like set up, payoff, intrigue/anticipation, subtlety even. Because it understood these things that game felt confident in its own material, whereas Eternal feels so self conscious to me.

To me, the coolest moments in 2016 were things like the holograph of Olivia saying "He cannot be allowed to leave this place...He would ruin everything..." as the player is in the midst of wrecking shit for the first time. This is a powerful moment because it says something through implication: you are dangerous. This character (the ultimate villain of the game) fears what you are capable of.

It's a promise to the player of what lies ahead, and it also plays into the power fantasy.

Whenever Eternal tries to do things like this it says way less with way more. Big dramatic cutscenes where people visibly shake in fear at the players presence, arcane text logs, multi-part audiologs where a scientist lady describes her research into the Slayer while furiously masturbating (if you havent played, this is a joke, the VA just sounds rly horny for whatever reason with the way she delivers her lines).

Like it just doesnt have that same elegance.

And what's worse, while its busy with that it forgets how to tell a story in an intuitively dramatic and satisfying way. Like it's actually unreal to me that Samuel Hayden isn't the antagonist of this game after being so obviously teased as such during the ending of the first game.

Idk it just bothers me a great deal. And thats ignoring how the lore largely misses the point of the previous games' focus on "humanity's hubris" and all that to tell a basically cosmic story (where the demons arguably arent even technically demons anymore!)

[symptoms-syndrome]

MAN IM ALSO NOT ELEGANT WITH MY WORDS, BUT THAT POST YOU MADE ABOUT RECOGNIZING THOSE TYPES OF DISORDERS, I WHOLEHEARTEDLY AGREE WITH. As a victim of grooming and cocsa, I especially don't think the young person who traumatized me was evil, I mainly think society did not/does not have the proper tools and resources to teach/address these issues. And to actually talk about these uncomfortable issues is a step to actually preventing future harm and destigmatizing seeking help, for everyone from victims to those with paraphillias and those with things like pocd. Its also just nice to see someone else with the opinion who also went through a similar trauma who can't just be written off as an apologist when that is clearly not the point.

^^^

It's crazy when you like. Say anything like "maybe we should understand [group of ppl who cause harm" and everyone is like "oh so you just want the Bad People to run wild? To do whatever they want?" Like no actually. I simply think that it's easier to prevent an alcoholic from drinking himself to death if you know he's an alcoholic and don't bring him with you to bars or offer him beers. To use a comparison here.

Also NGL, if the threat of All That Legal Bullshit had not been looming over my head as a consequence framed as a protection I would have been much more open about people who hurt me as a kid. Which isn't to say people who hurt children shouldn't face consequences, but moreso than I think society at large is often more obsessed with carceral punishment framed as justice brought down upon the abuser more than they care about the one being harmed. I didn't want them to go to jail or to get "justice" in that way or anything I just wanted help. A lot of the time kids fall into grooming because they're lonely and that makes them prime targets, I think the response to that sort of situation being exclusively "well we'll make them face the wall" is probably not great for kids who likely have a REALLY complicated emotional relationship with the person they're being abused by. I wanted attention and care and companionship I didn't get from my peers that I did get from people who had malicious intent. I think, if I had been given the choice (choice being the key factor here, as some people WOULD choose for the help to come in the form of justice upon the abuser) I would have wanted something more me-focused. Separating me from the abuse while also helping me form relationships without ulterior motive. I think that even with the harm, having the people who were the only ones giving me positive attention suddenly and dramatically torn away followed by an insane gauntlet of talking to cops and possibly going to court (IF I was even believed/taken seriously, and IF any of that even worked) would have been devastating for me. It's a delicate situation and IMO should be a more delicate process, and definitely offer more choice to the person actually impacted.

TL;DR I don't think I actually cared so much whether my abusers got Karmic Retribution as much as I cared about not having to deal with All That, and i wish i could have talked about the abuse without there being a rush to Save me from it (at my own detriment)

If I get into a hit and run, my first priority is getting my car working again, not chasing down who did it. YMMV, no pun intended.

[fraeuleintaka]

Character Introduction (Investigations 2): Verity Gavèlle

This is the 40th post in the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection Countdown: 41 days left until release!

Today's topic: Verity Gavèlle Character Introduction!

Coming to the new characters from Investigations 2, we start off with the main rival: Justine Courtney (Verity Gavèlle).

Similar to Investigations 1 with Shi-Long, an Interpol agent, Investigations 2 gets creative with its main rival. Justine is a judge and so inherently has more power than Miles as a prosecutor which keeps the difference in power level between the protagonist and rival from the main series, just applying it a little differently. A really nice move to keep it interesting.

Justine is unlike any previous judge we've seen in the series, she doesn't stay on the sidelines and just watches, she gets involved with the investigation of cases which her introduction also directly states. Why she does this now in particular is left open as a mystery, it's only hinted at having something to do with Miles. Very fitting because her exact role and motivations are something the player has to find out over the course of the story and it's a nice bit of intrigue.

Her introduction delves a lot more into her personal beliefs and personality, she considers the law absolute and unflexible, an opinion Miles also used to have but re-evaluated since then. Justine isn't quite like Miles used to be before his redemption, though she does have a distinct holier-than-thou attitude that's somewhat familiar and her views on the law are a great opportunity to test Miles' convictions on his chosen path and challenge how far he's willing to go to follow them. In that way she's another perfect rival for Miles to face, and befriend in the end, similar to Shi-Long from Investigations 1 (who continues having development and importance in Investigations 2, there is that question of the source of his hatred of prosecutors after all...).

Personality-wise Justine is described as elegant (undeniable) and having a saintly smile that hides how merciless she is when bringing down justice on criminals. I love the metaphorical reference to her mighty gavel, it creates a wonderful mental image. It also hits the core of her personality without giving too much of her depth away. She's friendly and polite on the surface but when it counts she's as strict and relentless as they come. These traits in particular create wonderful interactions with Miles as he shares them to a degree so they work well as contrasts and mirrors of each other at the same time. It also makes Justine stand out from Franziska, the only other female rival the series had thus far (a crime imo), who is much more openly aggressive. Justine's calmness combined with her viciousness, when needed, make her a fearsome opponent in a new and fresh way.

Justine's full character artwork is amazing! The way her long dress and her cape flow around her gives it this wonderfully ethereal quality which fits her perfectly. She holds her gavel in her hand, like she's pondering over something, and a slight smile on her face, saintly maybe but definitely ready to strike at any time. Her chosen chibi sprite animation is her extending and hitting the floor with her gavel. I love that animation! It's a great way to transfer the main series staple desk slam to the crime scene where there are usually no desks to slam on. They got creative instead and came up with truly unique and awesome ways for our rivals to make their points with the necessary force behind them. (Shi-Long's equivalent is a dramatic stomping of his foot. He doesn't use it as often but it's epic when he does it and similar enough that I count it.) Justine's extending gavel is one of my favourite "gimmicks" of any character, it's wonderfully ridiculous like only AA does it but not too over-the-top while at the same time being properly intimidating and impressive to watch. She even leaves little imprints in the floor sometimes with how hard she swings her gavel! And the HD graphics make her only look more badass (and cute)! The details in her movement! Love it!

[gemsofgreece]

I was spoke with an Austrian once in a bar and he was interested to learn a few Greek words so i tried to teach him some and i was surprised how quickly he could pronounce it even with some major mistakes.

For example the Καλημέρα he was saying it as καΛΗμεΡΑ and i told him the correct toning but also to "say it more smoothly" and then it clicked to me about our language.

Yes we speak fast and we are often loud, but in general the Greek language is smooth and calming when you speak it.

Greeks can tell relatively easily what the language sounds like more or less. Take any ancient text that gets too challenging for you to understand instinctively or immediately and recite it with your regular pronunciation. There you go.

In most language websites where the topic is asked, foreigners typically compare Greek with Spanish (Castilian), Italian and Latin in terms of phonetic similarity. I have also seen some people say it sounds like Portuguese and Russian, which I find very baffling. I assume those have heard some dialect, as I am pretty sure standard Greek doesn’t sound like Russian and I also doubt it for Portuguese. On the other hand, I get the comparison with Spanish, Latin and Italian, although I find the common story of Spanish people hearing Greek and thinking they forgot how to speak Spanish or that it is some very strange obscure dialect a little too dramatic. They do sound alike more than with other languages but IMO they are very very obviously different languages. They both have sounds that resolutely don’t exist in the other, for example. Still, if someone finds Spanish, Latin and Italian smooth or calming, chances is they would think the same about Greek. An Italian learning Greek said in a YouTube video that Greek sounds like Spanish with an Italian heart and I get this too, because the phonemes sound more like the Spanish ones while the rhythm is closer to Italian. But also Greek has a slight more crisp in it or “masculinity” if you will, that is more present in Latin than in Italian and Spanish. I personally would not call it a “masculine” language by any means but it might be more than Italian and Spanish. Idk do I even make sense at this point? At this point I have made Greek sound like it’s a Romance language but just reminding anyone it is not, don’t get confused. Greek has no related languages in its Hellenic branch so I am just talking about incidental similarities that mostly occurred due to geographical proximity or similar climactic conditions.

Weirdly enough, I am studying a bit of Finnish and I see some similarities there, way more than with Russian. They have some words like anteeksi, kaikki, mies that could totally Greek-pass. I know two languages couldn’t be further apart linguistically than Greek and Finnish but I can’t unhear it!

Regarding your last paragraph, again, the key characteristic in Greek is flexibility. The language can sound distinctly angry, mellow, scientific, romantic or scary, depending on the context.

However, one foreign comment I once read in language forums was the most on point imo. Someone was saying that Greek sounded nice to him but with an underlying threatening vibe and I have never slammed my fist on the table faster 😂 He said Greek sounded elegant but sinister, a bit like summoning a demon or being a mad scientist 😅😅😅 and I so agree with that!!! Smooth and calm while plotting your death XD

[randomfoggytiger]

Kitchener Essences: Reddit Descriptions

(Credit to: Ellie-Jean Royden.)

Top, L to R: Dramatic, Natural, Gamine, Classic

Bottom, L to R: Romantic, Ingenue, Ethereal

I found some excellent Reddit comments analyzing the similarities and differences between the Essences. Unable to squeeze them into a previous post, I put them down here as their own.

Comparing the Essences

Top, L to R: Dramatic and Romantic.

Bottom Left: Dramatic and Gamine.

Bottom Right: Gamine and Ethereal.

Redditor La_danse_banana_slug explains:

I see Natural faces as having a very open feeling, with the energy seemingly radiating outward like petals on a daisy, or cascading downward like a bubbly waterfall. They seem to have extra freshness, movement and vivaciousness, as if animated by an invisible breeze. I think this openness can come across as immediate and intimate, in a way that is (depending on the person/mood) friendly, trustworthy, sexy, fun, direct, relaxed, strong/sporty. Obviously I'm just talking about first impressions; our actual personalities could be anything, of course.

Someone with a lot of Natural essence might be typecast as an edgy rocker with tousled hair who can tour tirelessly; or a grounded person who loves hiking with their dog; or as everyone's favorite teacher; or one of those cool girls who can look amazing in their boyfriend's t-shirts; or as an America's Sweetheart type movie star with a big sparkling, suntanned smile. Unfussy, casual, energetic, appealing.

Gamines and Ingenues are also high-energy, but Ingenue is more of a soft, bubbly effervescence, and Gamine is more of an electric, sparky zigzag. Whereas Natural is a deep breath of fresh air, a rolling ocean wave on a sunny beach.

Dramatic and Ethereal, like Natural, both harmonize well with length. But Dramatic is sharper, sleeker, more structured. And Ethereal is more diaphanous, delicate, undulating S curve.

Romantic (particularly the TiB essence) and Natural are both earthy and sensual, but Romantic is more glam and luxe (which is tricky, as I think Natural can be very glam too in a more energetic bold way, like Cindy Crawford; when they're too polished and elaborate, like Liz Taylor, they can look a little trapped). They also both come across as mature and capable, IMO.

Classics and Naturals both can come across as very grounded and level-headed. Naturals are just a little more free and relaxed about it, while Classics have a more structured, decorous version of "down to Earth."

When I think of quintessential Natural vibes, even though these people may have more essences in the mix, I think of Harrison Ford as Han Solo; Shakira in her Whenever/Wherever video; Brooke Shields, Robert Redford, Cameron Diaz or Jackie Chan in anything; Daryl Hannah in Splash; Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games; Julia Roberts in Mystic Pizza; Nina Simone or Carly Simon performing; Meg Ryan in Sleepless in Seattle; Wonder Woman and Xena; Kate Hudson and Fairuza Balk in Almost Famous; Caroline de Maigret being "effortlessly undone Parisian chic;" Sandra Oh in Sideways; Cindy Crawford in that Pepsi commercial; Janet Jackson in the Love Will Never Do Without You video; Sandra Bullock in Practical Magic.

Redditor CottonCandyAngel333 compares the essences to shapes

I define natural essence as kind of like a square, sturdy and reliable. Natural essence is friendly and approachable. A lot of naturals read as sweet in some way. I see a lot of people define a natural as having openness. Naturals can also give off an athletic vibe, this can range from a boyish, sporty vibe to an elegant ballerina vibe. Natural features are usually described as squared off, wide, blunt, and open. I know some people take these words harshly, which is unfortunate, but I do find these to be accurate descriptors.

Compared to other essence types

Dramatic is sharp and long, a triangle. They don’t seem as open and can read as more intense then a natural. Dramatics sometimes share bluntness with naturals and some naturals have a dramatics length.

Gamine is sharp and small, a teardrop. They may seem more mischievous and playful compared to a natural and they’ll be more compact in frame. Gamines read as youthful which can look similar to a naturals sweet look, a naturals athletic ness and also resonate with the boyish ness of some gamines.

Classic is even and balanced, an oval. Some classics can give off a vibe anywhere from stuffy to elegant, which makes them less approachable and easy going then a natural. Descriptor wise, I really don’t see a lot of similarities between classics and naturals, but I feel like people mix these types a lot.

Ingenue is small and rounded, a circle. They’re delicate in frame and youthful or innocent in appearance. They’ll be smaller in frame then a natural. Natural and ingenue both carry a sweet and innocent look, which leads to them getting mixed up a fair bit.

Romantics are full and curved, a heart. Romantics carry a womanly maturity to them which can read as sweet and open, or haughty. They’re softer then a natural. A romantics curves are softly wide and that soft wide can sometimes be confused as a naturals bluntness. They can both read as sweet an open as well.

Ethereal is curved and elongated, an S. Ethereals are frail in frame and delicate in features. They aren’t sturdy like a natural. Ethereals can carry some width like naturals, such as wide set eyes, but that width is usually just in the face, not in body. Flowy clothing can suit both as they both look good in softly defined clothing.

[inventors-fair]

Perspective Commentary: All Sides

Like I mentioned in the chat, there were a lot of entries that caught my eye, and narrowing them down was a process. There were also a lot of cards that made me uncertain about how to proceed, and we’ll get there, but here are my majors for this week.

I really liked the way that people utilized card types to either enhance or shift the perception of the story. That was the main goal of the contest, and turning moments into monuments, or characters into dramatizations, really worked well for me. I’m glad obviously since that was the goal of the contest but all the same, really impressed by how people chose to use that.

I feel mixed about the complexity this week. There were a lot more grounded cards to be sure, and there came a point where I found myself impressed by the down-to-earth nature of it, but there were still come less-than-elegant choices that make me feel that people are pushing for a horizon for the sake of it. Wording was really awesome this week, though.

The most improvement I want to see is the practicality of cards. There were some strong mechanical entries, but there were a lot of pragmatic pieces where I feel people needed to take a step back and examine the card on its own merit. In greater environments, there are combos and interactions to watch out for, but many cards’ choices assumed things that didn’t come across in a way that made me ask questions, but rather, made me question the intent and/or the necessity of that intent.

Take a look at Judge Picks if you want to see cards that I feel stand out for specific reasons. Check ‘em if you want to pick up on some design chops.

@0woah — Feroz’s Ban (Feroz’s Ban)

There’s...a lot of questions I have, but my first one is about that mana cost. Whatever compelled that colorless-and-white combination, it’s a strange and off-putting restriction that doesn’t feel relevant or necessary here. Perhaps there’s compelling evidence in-story, but gameplay-wise, it’s not something that needs to appear here. As for the card’s application, four-mana planeswalker wrath is not the worst thing in the world, but it’s extremely narrow. In most cases, I imagine it simply stops creature spells for a turn, and the fact that you have to have a legendary creature/planeswalker to cast it in the first place feels more demanding than not.

Despite a lack of practicality, the story aspect of players not being able to cast creature or planeswalker spells feels good enough. The ban itself, from what I’m reading, didn’t actually destroy anything—or anyone, rather—so I hesitate to see how that applies itself exactly. I didn’t know much about Ulgrotha, though, so that peek into history is nice. The representation is more modern, and I’l give you that much. Overall, though, there’s a lot about this card that handles too clunkily for it to have a home even in sideboards.

~

@bergdg — Detaintment Corps (Confiscation Coup)

One of the first examples we had in the modhouse was based on this card, ha! As a story moment it does feel compelling to make it into another card that doesn’t use energy. The blink is definitely the best part about this, and the flavor text ain’t too bad either; I can really hear the robotic grind. Having the representation of the Consulate be blue and white feels great; Dovin was a jerkwad and I’m glad that those colors really showed their antagonistic side in the Kaladesh block.

My main critique is the handling of the first trigger. IMO, there was no reason for this not to be just a Thopter Arrest on a stick? Or rather: “When ~ enters the battlefield, exile target nontoken artifact or creature until ~ leaves the battlefield.” You could make it “you don’t control” if you really wanted to, but why not tokens, actually? I want to blink the heck out of someone’s thopters, and in a set where (presumably) thopters and servos exist (or at least a world) there’s nothing wrong with doing so. The “nonland” part is just silly to me. If my opponents are playing Seats of the Synod, I wanna O-Ring the crap out of that, and it’s frustrating that I don’t have the opportunity to because of what I presume is flavor reasons that aren’t relevant except in formats where this card probably wouldn’t be played. Y’know? This card is potentially fantastic—patrolling, chasing the big enemy, locking down, patrolling again. Just that little bit more polish could make it stellar.

~

@bread-into-toast — Rekindle Hope (Wrenn and Realmbreaker/Wrenn’s Resolve)

* JUDGE PICK

So I’m gonna talk a lot about modal spells and story choices here further on because there were a few that irked me. This one doesn’t and I’m really wracking my head trying to figure out why exactly I’m more lenient with it. I think it’s because it illustrates something important about the story: the inability to fulfill every choice on a single path, where every choice needs to be made and yet can’t be made. Wrenn wants to enact destruction, fire upon the enemy, and grow herself with her tree. And she doesn’t have the strength for all of it! So you have to do everything you can and sacrifice one thing. That feels like character growth—a non-binary choice of strengths based on the needs of the moment.

That’s the gist, innit? This is probably one of the strongest story cards for sure. It just happened to be up against a week where there are a lot of mechanically perfect cards as well, and in my judicial opinion, searching for two lands at instant speed on a mode feels a little too strong without playtesting. Am I wrong? Shoot, probably. It’s genuinely probably fine. I’d love to play this in a beefed-up Xenagos deck with duals and whatever, but that hardly matters. God, maybe that’s wrong and I’m nitpicking because of arbitrary numeric choices, but that’s besides the point. Story-wise this is the best modal usage of character choices that one could’ve asked for, and I want to hold it up as an example for that at the very least.

~

@certification-wizard — Guilt of Unmaking (Anguished Unmaking)

You know, I have to wonder: how guilty is Sorin, really? Does he feel that guilt with everything? He’s kind of a vampire. You know, a guy that...eats people. Avacyn was...like a fusion of magnum opus and daughter to him. Does he feel that kind of guilt every time he kills something, or is it, like, just the one time? I genuinely can’t think of a reason for this to be a curse flavored this way in the story, sorry. It’s definitely a unique take, though, and the name kicks ass for sure. I’m glad to see weird cards like curses find their way into contests where they belong.

As for the card itself, I wish it wasn’t quite so narrow, because the concept feels akin to Karmic Justice, which I’m sure was the basis for this kind of card. In a premier set, the amount of times you’re going to encounter this in limited is so narrow that I doubt it would do more than just get rid of one of your own creatures. Commander, though? Perhaps it would be stronger. I think that you could have pushed for a broader punishment for the crime on the mechanical side of things. Three life does add up, but the punishment could be more severe for the infrequency of the crime. Great concept, and an interesting card angle. I’d like to see a bit more of a push on the power and a nudge on the story.

~

@halfsilveredmirror — Tainted Cure (Tainted Remedy)

Now I get to be all hither and thither about modal story moments. What exactly is this supposed to represent? The thing is, only one things happened here. Liliana may have been hoping for something to happen, but the curative power of her medicine isn’t flavorfully sensible to do on a draw spell. And we know what happened: her brother became a lich. Admittedly, the first story moment represented by Tainted Remedy is a little bit odd as an enchantment, but it’s about a moment locked in time, and requires that wiggle room. This card has several outcomes for a singular moment, and I’m really not sure what to do with it, because I’m failing to see how the modes connect to the outcome.

Mechanically this card is pretty weird, too. The most favorable outcome I can see are modes 1 and 3 happening together, which means your opponent gets the life you lost, as well as a card, but they lose a creature. That’s...not great. This card overall isn’t favorable. I’d much rather play the instant-speed of Diabolic Edict and the straightforwardness of Night’s Whisper than whatever this is trying to do. For two mana, there aren’t going to be any stellar ways of going about casting this card. I can’t find any specific weird use for it as a limited selection or a constructed place. For the future, I’d strongly consider the kinds of normal board states you’d see in a premier archetype and compare how you want to affect those states with other cards that do similar effects. You’ll see the disparity easily enough.

~

@helloijustreadyourpost — Release from the Helvault (Avacyn, Angel of Hope et. al.)

I really want to like the weird kind of cheap reanimation that you’re going for here. Honestly, I’m going to take a step back: I have to imagine this card, not as the moment in reality where Griselbrand was released, but rather, as a representation of the story being told canonically to someone else in reality. It’s only then that I can stop grousing about how the angel is only a representation of Avacyn and how it wasn’t a reanimation precisely, and on and on. No, I like this card as an out-of-time retelling. I’m knocking points for it not precisely being its own in-the-moment moment, but what’re you gonna do?

Mechanically it’s great. Seriously, it’s pretty awesome! It’s a rough drawback for sure if you wanna get your bomb out, especially if it doesn’t have flying itself, but it’s seriously cool that if you reanimate Griselbrand your opponent gets a copy of Avacyn’s representation. Cheap creatures giving your opponents cheap fliers hardly matters if you’re ahead of the race, and there are other ways to get rid of tokens that can be used in conjunction with this card. Heh, reanimating a bounce creature would be fun for sure. It’s not a card that’s gonna break any formats because of the drawback, but premier sets getting this kind of cheap reanimation is still totally fine. Not bad. I’ll let braver people play this card.

~

@hiygamer — Unwavering Devotion (Cruel Reality)

Okay, I think I’m feeling what your goal was. Instead of Gideon’s mindset, you wanted to bring yourself closer to what Djeru was having to go through. Checks out. I’m really surprised that this hasn’t seen the kind of printing, you know, the whole sacrificing thing. I can imagine it’s a bit of a pain—but whatever, we’re talking about this card. It’s still quite interesting gameplay-wise! It’s certainly balanced enough at that cost with a symmetrical effect. Honestly, I have the feeling that in the next however many years, we’ll see something similar if not exact. Does exactly what it says on the face.

As for the story, I think I’ll have to sort of concede that this isn’t the perfect example but that it would fit the bill? The name’s great, and the flavor text is quite well-written—even if there’s a song with that line in it that I have in my library and canNOT recall the name of and it’s been driving me nuts—and it would make sense to have sacrifice be a major part of the Amonkhet storyline. It’s a shame that there’s not like, the one creature left standing to represent Djeru? Cruel Reality is a weird one but it’s designed to support Amonkhet’s cutthroat gifts to the gods and to instill that sense of awful dread I suppose. Here, it’s probably more emotionally personal to Djeru, his mindset. I don’t have to match it 1:1 to feel that. In the heart, this card’s still good.

~

@horsecrash — Contested Reservoir (Invasion of Kaladesh)

* JUDGE PICK

Wow I (jokingly) hate this. Not that I wouldn’t play this card and make people mad, but the second that it’s played against me, I’m going to growl and snarl and be a real jerk about the whole thing. I think that this card suffers from the fact that multiple copies make it absolutely miserable, and someone is going to 100% do that in a stax deck and be mean about it. Still, as a clock, and as an inverse of the Aetherflux version, it’s one heck of a card. What a defense.

The story is neat, too, and the flavor text is superbly written, another one where I legitimately thought that it had been copied. But no, it’s a horsecrash original, so heck yeah to that. The readiness of the Kaladeshians pinging the Phyrexians for their invasion feels awesome. There’s no boom, but there’s sure as heck sparks. “This is OUR resource, and your attacks and advances mean nothing because they’re costing you and I have the energy you don’t.” I wonder, if it WAS legendary, if you could’ve made it inverse as well, where you get the lifegain. Maybe that would’ve been too much, but what do I know, they’ve printed worse. Take out the spaces around the emdash and this card’s pretty darn good. Narrow, but good.

~

@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes — Love’s Betrayal (Phyrexian Arena)

Oddly enough, this feels like a bite or fight effect? I think the wording is a little off, or you could say “you don’t control” instead of “an opponent controls” to make it, like, less weird, but... Huh. Mechanically—oh yeah, sorry, comma after “this turn”—mechanically this card is pretty good, actually. It’s strange to see this effect in BW but not unheard of, at least for the part of it where it’s a killspell, life-loss, counter-Phyrexian thing. I would go so far as to say that this card implies a BW toughness matters draft archetype, which is nice to see.

What’s up with the white, though? That’s what I’m really scratching my head over from a story perspective. The black is clearly Phyrexian, but neither Vraska or Jace have any white in them whatsoever. This card could’ve been any black-X combination except for white or red, in my opinion. Mechanically it could be any black-X, that’s all fine. In the flavor, blue or black could have been perfectly fine. You know, looking at the Phyrexian Arena reprint, I’m a little confused as to what’s happening to merit that moment on that card, barring locale. What about Jace and Vraska’s meeting merited it? Here, we’re sort of in the same state, but if it wasn’t for the color, then it would pass just fine, I think. As for the flavor text, I’ll commend that it’s poetic, perhaps a little flowery, but a good try. Huh. I’ll be honest? If this card had nothing to do with Jace/Vraska I’d be a lot less picky about it.

~

@just--a--penguin — Dragonlord’s Trophy (Dragonlord Silumgar)

I feel frustrated at this card’s ties to the original Dragonlord. Part of what this contest was supposed to be about was a complete mechanical departure from the cards on which they were based, and this one is cozying up with its predecessor. I’ll judge it on its own merits from here, but I want to point out what the prompt was asking beforehand. Anyway, this card’s got teeth as it stands. It’s simple enough, which is fine, and I think it could even be uncommon for its cost compared to other mind-control effects where you get to attack with the creature afterwards.

Seeing things from Tasigur’s perspective is pretty cool, despite him being a 99-cent Claire’s discount item now. Also, I just spend the last thirty minutes rereading the Khans-block storyline, and lemme tell you, the audience that Tasigur wanted was not one of pleasure. He was annoyed, and then killed, and he’s not exactly... Well, he’s not exactly pleased or displeased. More dead. It would be interesting to represent that by the brittleness—like, if the aura leaves, the creature gets destroyed or something. All the same, though, the audience part doesn’t quite mesh with what we know about what happened. If it had, this card would be pretty awesome—again, on its own merits.

~

@lanabutnotdelray — An Offer you Can’t Refuse (An Offer you Can’t Refuse)

* JUDGE PICK

Like I mentioned previously, I’m a little frustrated that the specificity of the two treasure tokens was brought to this card too when I wanted them to be completely distinct, and I’m even more frustrated, not at you, that this card depicts the event so much better. Xander enlists Elspeth in the story! Straight-up! It’s exactly how your card’s depicting, to some extent! The flavor text would have been perfect, too—coercive and despicable and sly and elegant and grungy all at once. So that’s something to keep in mind, right? What an odd coincidence.

I forget if you mentioned it, but I think that if it was only one treasure token, this card would be a nice rare. I don’t feel that it would be a healthy uncommon in any premier format. The story of New Capenna doesn’t need radical stuff to make play rougher. Something like, I dunno, Lullmage’s Domination works because the really expensive stuff is slower and the UUU investment is a pain in the butt in most limited formats. Regardless: I wanted to showcase this card for being similar, but not quite the same, but also a little cooler, but also not pushing the envelope of, the card on which it was originally based. Good stuff, I say.

~

@misterstingyjack — Danitha and Radha (Heroic Charge)

* JUDGE PICK

Kickass. I mean, you already know that, clearly. This card kicks so much ass that it’s dented its Swiftfoot Boots. There are...lots of weird little wording quirks and strangenesses that make me pause, but the concept is solid enough as a team-up. I think that taking the new sensibility route for the card that’s basically draft chaff otherwise was a great and bold call and I’m surprised we didn’t see more of that. Story exists on cards other than story spotlights, after all! Just having these lovely ladies together is already doing so much good work.

First strike comes before vigilance, though. C’mon! I don’t believe you need the “then” in the third ability. Mechanically... I mean, this card’s already good, you don’t need me to tell you that. Is it the best Naya commander? Probably not. Is it the best equipment/aura Naya commander? That depends on whether or not you want to spend enough to bling your Uril deck (Jeez, a foil ARB Uril is seventy bucks??) and/or go wider. But are you gonna throw some equipment down and start going crazy? Even when it’s on a single creature, it’s awesome. Two or more? You’re in business. I really like the restrictions that make this card complicate combat. I love the feeling that you’re going for. In short, story-wise, who gives a hoot, but I just really love what you’ve done bringing these ladies to a bloody meeting of the minds.

~

@nine-effing-hells — Sunder the Helvault (Avacyn, Angel of Hope et. al.)

I honestly thought we had more than two Helvault cards in this contest but I’m mistaken. Whoops! Either way, this one is the one where I’m a little less inclined to be charitable. It’s clearly depicting the moment of release, and we already know what happens. I’m actually a little confused as to what this card is supposed to be alluding to as its predecessor, because I put that it was about Avacyn and the rest, but I’m actually not sure. I quite clearly remember the Avacyn Restored trailer, which was kickass, but the only card that actually mentioned the event was Avacyn herself, so... I guess it’s a ‘before’ card, sure.

All the same, the reanimation spell was a stretch, and this card just doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the event in question. Thalia made the choice to destroy the Helvault; is that the reanimation part of this card? What’s the destruction supposed to be, then? An alternative? But it didn’t happen at all; there wasn’t anything that happened that could be tied to that mode and it’s not representative of anything that occurred in the story. Having a modal option on a story-based card should be representative of the events in question, OR the multitudinous possibilities that don’t affect further outcomes. This is, of course, my opinion, but it’s what makes the most sense. Nonlinear stories call for different options; not every card can be Crux of Fate, which is in a wheelhouse of its own. I...rambled too long and didn’t talk about the mechanics. It’s commendable enough as a boardwipe. It’s hard to get excited with the aforementioned issues, but.

~

@stupidstupidratcreatures — Urza, Sworn to Yawgmoth (Phyrexian Arena)

Envelope, consider yourself pushed. Well! This card is...definitely a card. I want to say that this card is a leap and a bound, but it’s quite weak overall. There’s no way for Urza to continue, so for three mana, you get either four mill options over four turns or a couple mills and one exile. Hm. Okay, it’s not THAT bad, actually, but there’s a lot to be desired personally. There’s no way to keep him around and there’s no way to make him anything more than a recursive-ish removal-ish card assuming he doesn’t die. I think he would be pretty okay in a control deck? But like, yeesh, compared to any other control card, he’s not the strongest, and I wouldn’t know personally what the hell to do with him.

The story of the Urza block at least comes in little chunks, so the Arena portion was easy to see. Do I understand fully what you’re going for? Kinda, a little. I don’t feel still that its the best use of a mythic slot or a planeswalker slot considering the power with which Urza operated to have his severed head become part of the legacy weapon, but what are you gonna do when your head gets chopped off, right? I think that I don’t hate this card, but I don’t love it, either, not compared with a preconceived notion of planeswalkers and a desire for a board state to encompass XYZ qualities. I’m genuinely curious to see what parts of the story you wanted to bring across in a 1:1 way, because I’ll admit to not fully understanding what I’m supposed to be evaluating.

~

@wolkemesser — Pulled to Ground (???)

Without a “then,” the second sentence in this card doesn’t do much to the fliers. Aside from that, holy cow, this is a cool card. I like the pseudo-freeze and exhaustion and this is one heck of a rare. It might be a little strong, and 2WG might have been better, but that hardly matters. I think this is a great instant to support an archetype where you might have to face some creature-heavy boards, and that part of the card comes across quite well.

As for the story, what the hell is this supposed to be precisely? I genuinely cannot find the right card to show what this is, and maybe it’s obvious to someone who knows the story, but I’m lost, because you went to LEGENDS and pulled this out of thin air. Does it accurately represent what these Mercenaries went through? I don’t know! Maybe this is part of my lack of knowledge, or maybe I can blame this on over twenty years of story happening in a time probably before I could read well enough to know that Magic had novels. Either way, I’m not seriously upset in any regard, but I’m sure wishing you submitted what card you chose beforehand, because I’m at a loss and I REALLY wanna know.

~

Thank you all for your entries! New contest tarmarroew. Hecka. —@abelzumi

[struggle-but-its-all-ocean-floor]

@mykkjae asked me to rank my top 10 BTS songs, so I'm thinking of doing 2 rankings: my 10 "best" and my 10 favorite.

My 10 best BTS songs:

First Love: I think this song is a masterpiece - a brilliant showcase of storytelling - and it's not even Suga's best song. I love that it has a narrative: Suga is telling us the story of his first love, and the way his rap gets more intense and expressive until the song reaches its climax, like he's sharing something personal to him and his feelings build up until they overflow and spill over before naturally resolving themselves as the song reaches an end. I love the violin. The piano is Suga's first love but the violin is more predominant in the song. I just think that the song is totally brilliant.

Tear: This song is another masterpiece. I love Suga's part the most, the one that goes "Yeah yeah yeah, burn it [...]" and then he goes into an iconic, autotuned rap. But everyone sounds great and the lyrics are great too.

ON: This song has both everything that is great about kpop and everything that is missing in kpop. The performance is dramatic, on a whole other scale from Western pop, the song has amazing vocals (Jungkook's bridge,, and his best adlibs ever) and amazing choreo (so original and memorable). It also has super meaningful lyrics ("find me and I'm gonna live with you" -> "find me and I'm gonna bleed with you" = me mindblown), a choir, good and diverse rap, and a performance that are above the average for kpop songs. This song is just so grandiose and fun and everything that is great about pop in general. This is BTS's Bohemian Rhapsody imo.

Black Swan: This is one song everyone loves (like Spring Day), and it was game-changing: the lyrics are meaningful and relatable, the concept is so artistic and honest, the choreography is unbelievable and took them to another level (it showed Jimin in a new light and really allowed him to shine too), the song itself sounds so different, pretty and elegant yet snappy, the MV is simple yet gorgeous, etc..

Idol: This is my song. I love everything about it: the crazy rhythm, the lyrics, the choreo, the performance. To me this is their hypest song and I feel each beat in my soul. I also believe this is the song that captures their love yourself theme the best. Imo, the answer to "how to love myself", in LY: Answer, is Idol: first, you acknowledge the reasons you don't love yourself (in BTS's case, the stigma and stereotyping that comes with being an idol, and how RM and Suga in particular always felt they were less as artists because they were idols), second, you choose to be kind to yourself: you realize that what others think of you doesn't define you (you can call BTS idols, artists, whatever you want, but they know who they are, what they want and you can't stop them for loving themselves), and that you are more than your perceived or real flaws - everyone has qualities, and recognizing them and all the reasons you are worthy of love, is a huge part of loving yourself (like JK says, he loves himself - his fans, his dance, and his what, and like V says, there's a multitude of Vs inside of him but all of them are him and he can embrace them and be his fullest self); third, you need a fierce, aggressive attitude, because loving yourself is a long-term commitment and you need to force yourself to change your way of thinking (this attitude is best represented by Jimin yelling out "You can't stop me loving myself." throughout the song).

Fake Love: Amazing lyrics, amazing choreo, a turning point for BTS.

No More Dream: One of the best debut songs ever. Apart from their rap/singing which has improved a lot, the song is timeless.

Fire: Maybe this is an unconventional choice, but I think this song is amazing. Hype songs can be just as good as sentimental ones.

Go Go: Is it a satire? Are BTS criticizing or embracing consumerism (both?), I'm not sure, but the lyrics are still super clever, the choreo is refreshing and fun, and overall Go Go is just a fun, catchy song with a bite to it.

Spring Day: This song actually isn't one of my favorites, but it's so beloved by BTS and by the fans that it ended up being meaningful to me too. Its longevity shows that the song has something unique and special about it. The lyrics are comforting, the MV is beautiful, the song is pretty and magical...

Now, my top 10 favorite songs, kinda:

Idol

ON

First Love

Black Swan

Tear

Fire

Fake Love

Go Go

Butter

Mic Drop?

I'll include my top 10 bsides, because that might be more interesting:

First Love

Black Swan

Tear

Go Go

Dope

Mic Drop

Airplane Pt. 2

Baepsae

Spine Breaker

You Never Walk Alone

Honestly, there are a lot more songs that I like just as much as those (My Time, Run, Your Eyes Tell, Film Out) but those were the ones I remembered... This got too long, sorry!

[soulofamy]

putting this under a cut bc i dont want certain fans to jump me for my opinions but after letting it sit for a few days, heres what i think of the ac.olyte

id probably give it an overall 7/10. like i had fun with it and def would want to see more from it. but there are some glaring problems with it too that im trying to wrap my head around. maybe if i give it a second watch through it will make more sense to me but for now after one playthrough of the first season, here is where my mind is:

first i will tall about the things i absolutely loved:

yo.rd and j.ecki remain my favorite characters in the show, they are just so fun and they really stand out among the innumerable je.di we have in canon right now. i tend not to like jed.i very much (with the exception of obiwan) but i am pleasantly surprised with how much i enjoy them.

THE FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY it was some of the best starw.ars weve seen in YEARS tbh. i normally find fight scenes to be boring and i just want them to be overwith so that we can get back to the actual story. but the lightsaber fights here??? i was on the edge of my seat they were SOO good.

the acting was pretty good!! some better than others but i think every character had their moments

the setting, i really really love that we are exploring a completely new (to tv/movies anyway) era with new faces. it makes the few cameos we have feel like they have the proper amount of acknowledgement, the show does not rely on them the same way that like...ahso.ka or k.enobi did. also i just feel like the high repu.blic was a more elegant time than the prequels era. the cloths, the weapons, the aesthetic was 10/10

i applaud them for doing something different with their protag. it confuses me a bit, but this outcome wasnt the one i predicted, it was my "wouldnt it be interesting if...?" outcome. also i am going to say it: qi.mir is everything sequel fans THINK kyl.o r.en is. qi.mir blows him out of the water. i couldnt understand why re.ylo happened or what their fascination was with each other (idc im not interested in it being explained to me either tbh) but while i still see storytelling flaws in osh.amir, i can still tell you why they happened the way they did and why they work. incredible, we havent gotten a compelling st.arwars couple since obi.tine, i am so excited ("but what about-" shhhhhhhhhh i said what i said)

now the parts that make me kind eh about it:

the pacing was very off. unlike other sw shows, each episode was like on average a half hour?? very short amount of time. AND there were only 8 episodes. and i feel like they didnt really use their time effectively. they spent so much time retreading old water with the flashbacks when they could have been using that time to more directly show us more about ma.e and o.shas relationship. like okay i GET that they arent sisters, theyre the same person split into two bodies....and??? why does that matter? why do we care about that? what makes them different from regular fo.rce sen.sitive twins like tipl.ee and ti.plar or l.uke and le.ia? like the last episode tries to make so.l revealing this out to be some big dramatic reveal but tbh i didnt even know we were building up to it??? and whats funny is os.ha didnt even seem phased by it? she was more concerned with her mothers death lol

can someone explain to me why the solution at the end of the series is "erase ma.es memories?" instead of qimi.r being like "you know what o.sha? since shes your sister and you care about her so much, lets bring her back to our little cortosis island too" LIKE WHY CUT THE TWO APART? AFTER ALL THIS TIME?? maybe im forgetting a crucial detail idk i just dont understand the need to do that?

yo.rd and je.cki being so unceremoniously killed and then no one ever acknowledging them again makes me angry. they shouldnt have died to begin with imo but like they did, did vernes.tra not take all their bodies back for a funeral? do their deaths mean nothing to o.sha? with the exception of the story isolating o.sha so that she feels like she has no where better to go than with qi.mir, i really truly dont understand the point of their deaths

bazi.l was really freaking annoying i hope he dies

i guess its a little too soon to speak on this part but like i really cant see any way for them to execute o.shamir in a way thats healthy. dont get me wrong, i am all for them giving us a toxic or layered ship but like with how osh.a literally has no one now and how much it honestly feels to me like qi.mir is projecting himself onto her, i really do feel like this ship deserves way more nuance than "and then they were cute and domestic on their little island until the gremlin man in the cave started making problems for them". idk. i am intrigued, i def think it works better than r.eylo but like i fear the execution will be horrible

those are my thoughts i think. i feel like i had more but i cant think of it off the top of my head now

[icharchivist]

At present there's three Alter Ego skins for the MC

Do you have a favourite among them or any opinions on them? I'd just really like to know

ooouuuh that's a cool question, thank you for asking!

i think my favorite one is the 2nd one, but as it goes:

The first one has a very good aesthetic in general, it's leaning more on the "extremely corrupted with malice" than the other two imo, which is pretty cool. I do like the crown and the hood on each of them, and i LOVE the strings/puppet imagery of this one.

If anything my problem is more than i don't find the clothes design super interesting. I know it's just a corrupted version of the base clothes, but yeah, Djeeta especially isn't really compelling to me.

And while i do like the "corrupted with Malice" in theory, i think Gran looks better than Djeeta about that and as a Djeeta main i end up getting very tired of seeing this specific sprite.

The second one is my favorite, hands down. I think both designs really rock. But i'm honestly already partial to it because it's based on Belial's design and it keeps the strong elements that makes Belial's design work so well.

I really love the hairstyle on this one, simple but efficient. Their expression is malicious but without being downright deranged in a sense? very liking it.

I also love the idea of Gran having the full apple but Djeeta having eaten her apple, considering the Apple should be based on, yknow, Adam & Eve eating the fruit, this reflects that and it's cool.

and else the details of Belial's design really stand out for the best. The boa, the jacket, it's all really cool, and i love the crop top for the both of them (though they should have made it shorter on Gran too while at it come on.)

Personally i'm obsessed with Gran's collarbones on this one.

And i do really like the designs of the shirts.

I'd say if they were going to give a sexy skirt to Djeeta with the asymmetrical legs design, they should at least have given an asymmetrical design to Gran as well, but i get wanting to have him closer to Belial's design. But as it is i do like even Djeeta's sexy design. If there's any skins that calls for it, it's the "corrupted by Belial" one after all.

The third design, based on Avatar!Belial, therefore still is based heavily on the previous design, but with the same idea as Avatar!Belial to be sexier, and more provokating. For Belial it was because he's pushed in so much pain that he double downs on how he behaves originally, esp on the vulgar-sexy.

But i'd say perhaps that on this one it goes a little too far for me.

Everything that made the previous design strong is still there, personally i just am not fan of the Djeeta decoletage and the pose she takes, even if i get the idea of it.

For Gran, i like it in general pretty well, loving the tramp stamp, but idk, i don't vibe with it as much.

It's like, the first design is basically just a quick corruption type, MC doesn't really get the time to change or anything, it's the corruption of who they currently are. So it has a bit more of an unkept vibe to it.

The second design is much more controled in that sense, it's typically dramatic villainy with a knack for presentation, and it keeps up with the "Belial type of sexy" in a way that is still more controled and elegant.

The third design, by virtue of being Avatar themed, makes it less controlled, more erratic, more vulgar than elegant. on a thematic level i find it super cool, but on a personal preference i vibe way less with it than with the previous one. I still think i prefer it over the first one though.

So that would be my opinion on the Alter Ego designs o7 and in term of preference it'd be 2>3>1 for me!

Thank you for asking it was fun to answer <333

Take care ;D

[stormbreaker101]

I am feeling cruel and bored so. Ranking my companions’ death animations

In the order my companions are in on the companion tab.

I have 20 companions so it’ll all be under the cut :)

1) El Toro: He just sorta. Collapses. He does a weird spin that looks like it’d break his ankles if he does it too much. Not quite dramatic enough for my tastes. You could do way better, Toro. 3/10

2) Fan Flanders: She drops her blades, grasps at her heart, coughs/chokes, and falls over. It’s like she’s having a heart attack. Simple, but quite dramatic, especially given the little spin as she falls. 8/10

3) Bonnie Anne: She stumbles. She tries to stand up using her gun. She falls to her hands and knees. She tries one last time before falling unconscious. I admire the determination! It makes the end all the more tragic. 10/10

4) Subodai: His hand goes to his chest. He stares at his hand as though it were bloodied. There is a pause. He falls flat. 9/10, loses a point because every other Horse Bucc in Mooshu has the same dying animation.

5) Sarah Steele: She falls to one knee then onto her side. A bit plain IMO. 3/10

6) Old Scratch: His head spins around on his neck before his entire body falls limp. Kinda humorous, but not my kind of funny. 8/10

7) Gracie Conrad: She falls onto her knees. Her neck and back hang limp before she falls. She makes a particularly pathetic sound that plucks at the heartstrings. Big sadge. 7/10

8) Ratbeard: Old man has a dramatic heart attack, shouts in old man agony, and flops onto the floor dead. So fucking extra. So fucking funny. 12/10

9) Milo Graytail: He grasps at his stomach and curls up like he’s got himself a debilitating stomach bug. Or like he’s been stabbed in his gut. Extra points for how pathetic he looks. 9/10

10) Catbeard: Ratbeard’s death but make it gayer. His sword flies in the air and he twirls in the air before falling from his own heart attack. 13/10

11) Contessa Argento: She drops her swords, and holds one hand up to her throat. Her eyes have already shut before she hits the ground. Quite elegant, strangely. 7/10

12) Buffalo Bill: His rifle goes first. He brings his hat to his chest, but as he falls his hat-holding hand falls to his side. 6/10

13) Froggo Villa: He grasps at his bleeding torso before quickly falling limp on his stomach. Quick and to the point, just like his personality. 7/10

14) Lt Springer: His sword falls from his hand. He slumps, turning away from the enemy that killed him, but doesn’t fall on the floor. How the hell do you die without falling on the floor. 1/10

15) Monquistador Veteran: He leans on his oversized halberd for support as he coughs the life outta him. One point docked for being used by all Monquistan Bucc enemies and all Monquistan enemies in Wizard101. 6/10

16) Crazy Monquistador: The enemy’s killing blow hits him so hard that he doesn’t just fall, he FLOPS onto his back. His head hits the ground first. If the enemy’s killing blow didn’t kill him, his head striking the ground will. 10/10 for being thorough.

17) Chicken Miner: He ragdolls to the side, clutching his pickaxe to the very end. Bonus points for sad chicken noises. 7/10

18) Monkey King: He places his quarterstaff down. He stands up straight, one hand in a fist and the other cupping it. He gives the enemy a respectful bow as he walks away. He doesn’t even fucking die. Bitch. I know the lore makes sense but I want him to DIE. 0/10

19) Hawkules: His club falls from his grip. he holds his beak as though it were the part wounded most. He flops over, dead. Basic, but with his own special quirks like not grasping at his torso instead. 5/10

20) Mustang Sally: She grasps at her bleeding side, then makes the mistake of letting go. She stumbles, the blood loss waning her strength, before she falls onto her side. Not bad for a character I disagree with on a fundamental level. 7/10

21) the Pirate themself bc why the fuck not: You stand there and your head rolls. A relic from Wizard101 that makes no sense in the context of Pirate101. In W101 all the combat is magical. It isn’t real wounds with real weapons and real blood. Makes sense that once your HP goes to 0, you’re stunned loopy. In Pirate101, there’s real weaponry. Real gore. The Pirate should at least collapse. 0/10

[ballet-symphonie]

Could you please do a ranking of Bolshoi principals and soloists like you did for the Mariinsky? Thank you!

BOLSHOI SOLOISTS MTL

Whew! I finished this one too, only leading soloists included because BT has way too many people. Although I actually think I’m more partial to BT’s first soloists than leading soloists but that’s besides the point. As always, this is not a list of merit saying X is better than Y, merely a list of my personal preferences as a ballet artist. Happy New Year everyone!

Women

Krysanova (Her unmatchable energy on stage is absolutely transfixing to me)

Zakharova (IMO, undoubtedly the greatest dancer of this generation but not my personal fave)

Smirnova (I love her quiet elegance and purity of line, especially in neoclassic roles, but her recent Giselle was marvelous too)

Obratzsova (She's just so sweet and charming, still cute even in her 30s)

Shipulina (Calm, cool, collected, arabesque for days)

Sevenard (Strong, firey and reliable, not everyone can dance 3 Etudes back to back to back without missing a beat, should be a shoe in for the next principal opening)

Stashkevich (Joyfully energetic, a really casual easy way of dancing)

Kretova (Does a good job in roles that suit her well, truly spectacular cleanliness in her pointework)

Vinogradova (A model's face never hurts in ballet, everything she does looks pretty even though she has more technical limitations than others)

Goryacheva (Instinctively expressive in dramatic roles, but lacks both a strong arabesque and attitude line that has become such a staple for this era of ballet)

Kovaleva (legs could reach the end of the earth but the lines only appear when dancing at a slow tempo, feel her rep is so restricted by her height and want to see her in more contemporary)

Nikulina (Unremarkable in most non-Grigorovich works, wouldn’t buy her ticket unless it’s Ivan the Terrible)

Stepanova (…sigh, I will always wonder what happened once she left school)

Marchenkova (Incredibly flexible, but lacks the control to use it effectively)

Men

Lantratov (An all-time favorite, I would watch him in literally anything)

Chudin (One of the classiest and tidiest male dancers dancing today, excellent danseur noble)

Tissi (Call it my Italian bias, so happy for his success, hope he takes the last step soon)

Lopatin (Hilarious in comedic roles, excellent petit allegro)

Lobukhin (Huge, dramatic mover, really eats up the stage)

Tsvirko (Extremely stress-inducing, sometimes I think he launches himself in the air and only airborne does he decide what element he's doing, but massive jump and always entertaining, lack of turnout be damned)

Rodkin (Handsome, good hands and reliable, not the most naturally emotive outside of his signature brooding face)

A. Belyakov (To me he's a mixed bag, nice lines and an effortless jump but not very captivating. However, he’s reliable and gets it done)

Savin* (Steady partner, excellent character dancer, props for making it to principal at 35+)

Ovcharenko (Often lacking in firepower, would prefer a bit more clarity in all aspects)

Gerashchenko (Seems to have really regressed technically since graduating a few years ago, incomplete rotations all over the place, hoping he puts all the pieces together soon because he has such potential)