#especially when they look to improve- but its especially ironic because there's a lot of bigger people who are gonna need

[cainite-bite]

been trying to practice drawing an assortment of body types and one thing i am tired of is when it comes to resources for heftier ones either it's paywalled or you get met with a 'wow, can't get them perfect from the getgo? need refs for it? you must be a terrible person!" like my dude that is not helping anyone at all and now you are just being a shithead

[viviwivipoo]

nsfw kitsune head canons (reworked)

okay i slightly reworked and tweaked my old nsfw kitsune head canons cause i felt that they weren't very true to the characters so ya here are the improved (not really) head canons

obv nsfw warning under the cut 😜

Fuyu-

open to trying new things (doesn’t know a lot about modern kinks and such)

BUT just because he doesn’t know much about kinks does NOT mean he's not good

into more praise-y pet-names (both you calling him stuff and vice versa)

ex. you calling him stuff like my love, handsome, just compliments

likes his hair gently pulled

however he does NOT wanna pull your hair

or anything that would hurt you 

he’ll try to be gentle with you

keyword - try

he wouldn’t be able to handle himself and would go a little rough

not like insanely though he's still tame

mostly...

i feel leave hickeys if you let him but not in like super obvious places

like maybe on your lower chest or along your ribs and stomach

would do almost anything for you

just not anything that hurts you

you mean too much to him and he wouldn't be able to look at you if he know he hurt you somehow even if you liked it / didn't mind

he loves aftercare

in fact after-care turns him on a bit and might get him hard again lmao

he isn't super loud

its like grunting and loud breath

loves kissing

especially during sex

wants to be very close physically

also a switch and topping / bottoming depends on your preference

likes grinding

fave positions are table top, wrapped lotus, missionary, and reverse scoop (if you dont know these look it up in incognito 😜)

Haru

knows what he likes but is willing to get freaky

likes foreplay

also praise / dirty talk

is a switch but leans towards dominant

will be anything you prefer or if he's feeling particularly dominant/submissive

when feeling dominant, he likes to degrade

not name calling like slut or anything

he would NEVERRRR

its more like him making sure you know that hes in control and your not

will edge you on occasion

will not let you finish until he says so

and if you do?

simply overstimulates you

oh so your gonna finish when he didn’t give you permission?

guess your gonna have to finish another 10 times then

sorry

when he's submissive however

he’d be a moaning mess

loud asf

doesn’t give a care in the world if the neighbors here (he wants them to hear)

complimenting the shite out of you

“you look so perfect under me”

“you're taking me so well baby”

wants to go down on you so bad

like straight up i was going through his released and unreleased dialogue and WHY DOES HE WANT TO GO DOWN ON US SO BAD

not that i mind teehee

anyway

would definitely want a hand-job with eye contact

EYE CONTACT.

KILL ME

sorry

pet names / thing he would call you would be like

baby, gorgeous, stunning, etc etc

lets say, hypothetically,

you’re on his lap facing away from him

he’s reaching down your body from behind and pleasuring you as his other hand feels you up

after-care is like cuddling, sleeping, gentle kisses on the head, etc

his fave positions would be cowgirl helper, legs-on-shoulders, upstanding citizen

Aki 

bro is freaky deaky

much like fuyu and haru, he’d also try almost anything for you but again, nothing that hurts you.

loves making out

ironically would motor-boating

Leans more dominantly just because it makes him feel more masculine

wants to watch you masturbate prob

fan of mutual masturbation

big with after-care

he’d clean you up, get you water, etc

like omg bae,,,,,

would be like a bit rough but not like super crazy

he wouldn't want to hurt his bunny ofc

would have toys and use them

on you and him

likes roleplaying on occasion

LOVES seeing you in lingerie

likes receiving hickeys and giving them

If you’re reading a smutty book he’d try to recreate at least a few scene in the book for you

he’d let you put fruit-roll-ups around it LMFAOAOAOAO

and donuts

jkjk

unless?

he’d want to use like pink fuzzy hand-cuffs (on you or himself) LMAO

Pet-names would be like 

bunny (obv), love, darling

His favorite positions would be doggy, table top (but really just any surface), and basically any position

[randomthefox]

The ironic thing about the Archie Adventure adaptation is that its one of the few times they actually HAD to play the game! Sega mandated that the comic actually be an advertisement again, but then didn't actually provide anything for Penders and Bollers to work off of. They were only able to do as much as they did thanks to Spaz, who had already decided to import the game, played through it while taking notes, and rough translated the script before sharing it with the team. This led to improv issues like Tikal having a different design at first, the Black Emerald, Station Square being a hidden city, the Felidae, Gamma not dying, and the servers being seven Chao, but hey, at least they did what they could to represent the story of the game.

It's so funny to me whenever people bring this up as a way of trying to criticize SEGA. "omg they expected Archie to adapt the games, but didn't even provide them with a free copy of the game for free!"

Like wow, yeah, they expected the comic titled Sonic The Hedgehog to actually resemble the video game Sonic The Hedgehog? That thing they were probably assuming the comic was already doing the entire time anyway?

I mean if I was SEGA, I would have figured that the creators behind the comic were ALREADY buying and playing the games? Because they're making a fucking Sonic comic? So when I ask them directly to do that for Sonic Adventure, my thinking would be that I'm asking them to do something that they were already going to do anyway, but just coordinate with the official marketing release schedule in the process.

But when talking about Archie people always bring that up as if it's some kind of unreasonable unfair oppressive demand from SEGA. And all that does from where I'm sitting is expose their bias aka they hate the video games and hate SEGA and are shameless mindless Archie Snapes who's opinion has absolutely no fucking merit whatsoever.

It's also a completely ridiculous story because they could have just said no. Like, what was SEGA gonna do? Cancel the licensing agreement? Nothing was stopping them from just not doing it. Why are they acting like SEGA had a gun to Ken Penders underage lover's head threatening to pull the trigger unless they did the comic storyline?

It's just so funny to me because every time people bring up that incredibly bias anecdote as a transparent attempt to slander SEGA/Sonic Team and rustle up sympathy for the poor widdle Archie writers, my reacting is always "wow, the writers of Archie were a bunch of fucking douchebags." Like I'm sorry but how do you hear that story and come away from it NOT thinking that the Archie comic writers aren't a bunch of spoiled fucking brats?

News flash dickheads, SONIC DOESN'T FUCKING BELONG TO YOU. This comic exists AT ALL by the good grace of the people who ACTUALLY OWN the property you're writing for. The fact that said owners were hoping for a bit of cross media promotional marketing for their flagship game for their brand new hardware that they sunk a LOT of money into (look up that story about the SEGA executive who basically killed himself to get the Dreamcast out the door if you want to cry) is PRETTY FUCKING REASONABLE from where I'm sitting especially considering THAT'S WHAT YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING WITH THIS STUPID FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT COMIC IN THE GOD DAMN FIRST PLACE!

Holy FUCK I fucking hate Archie Sonic and I hate everyone who fucking likes that piece of shit comic even more.

[gaykarstaagforever]

The 1999 Mystery Men movie is now free on YouTube, I guess because Universal finally realized that if no one paid to see it when it came out and so no one remembers it, no one is going to pay $3 to rent it.

Which is a shame (for the people who made the movie, who gives a shit about Universal), because it's good. Based loosely on the Flaming Carrot / Mysterymen indie comics of the 1980s (I'm only familiar Cerberus the Aardvark, which the same company published around the same time), it is meta superhero parody in the style of Gunn's Suicide Squad / Peacemaker, just 20 years before any mainstream American audience would give a crap.

This is a universe where there is one real superhero, who is so effective that crime is basically non-existent, so that the sole superhero himself is getting bored. When he comes up with a scheme to give himself something to do, it goes badly, unleashing a notorious supervillain on Champion City. When the Mystery Men, obnoxious wannabe heroes with virtually no powers, try to help, they typically fail, but so badly this time that now they are the city's only hope. Will they put petty grievances aside and learn to work together before Cassanova Frankenstein destroys the entire city?

Well, of course they will. It's a superhero movie. The point is watching fun wacky characters bounce off each-other for 2 hours, and this certainly delivers on that. The cast is a who's-who of 1999 charisma, with notable turns by Geoffrey Rush as the scene-chewing, disco-themed Frankenstein, Wes Studi doing Batman if Batman was doing Yoda, and Tom Waits as a benevolent mad scientist with a grandma fetish. Paul Reubens doing a lisp and Kel Mitchell in blonde Sisqo hair are especially fun as a team within a team, farting and getting naked on their path to victory.

Ben Stiller is the lead, playing a typical Ben Stiller-is-the-lead character, the kind of well-intentioned but self-absorbed incompetent that is charming when Ben Stiller plays him in movies, but everyone would despise in real life. And if you are a person who also isn't a fan of him doing this in movies, you'll also not like it, here. I like Ben Stiller doing this, but Roy here really is a useless pain in the ass until the very end.

There are lots of Gunn-type sitcom jokes about superhero tropes and general goofiness, and similar tonal shifts between slapstick comedy and people being slowly melted. Fans of The Boys will enjoy Greg Kinnear as a G-rated Homelander, complete with product placement on his costume.

It is about 20 minutes too long at 2 hours, and has way too many annoying closeup 90s fight scenes with mediocre choreography. More scenes of just the cast improving should have replaced a lot of this, because this is what the movie is really about. And there is some amazing 1998 CG that is used well, but man. It looks like what it is, certainly.

Props on someone greenlighting a superhero parody movie in a world where the only things to make fun of were the Schumacher Batman movies (Blade, the first "real" Marvel movie, came out the same year as Mystery Men). But it is obvious that only hardcore comic book nerds were going to connect with this, and there were not enough of them, outside of the big mainline "event" comic speculator market of the 90s, to make up for a $68 million budget.

This was made specifically for a movie-going public that has fallen in love with good superhero movies, then gotten sick of them, and appreciates someone making fun of them in a smart way. That is a thing we barely have now, in 2024. Mystery Men the big budget movie really is a thing that was just 20+ years ahead of its time. Watching it feels like watching an episode of Peacemaker that is intentionally aping the style and production design of Batman Forever. I suppose it is worth seeing, just for that.

Also the 90s Hollywood cameos. Dane Cook shows up, unfortunately. No, he isn't funny. He is a "superhero" who burns people with a waffle iron. I realize that may sound funny, but believe me, it isn't when Dane Cook does it.

See for yourself. That scene is in the original Smashmouth video for "All Star". Because that song being from the Mystery Men soundtrack before Shrek is literally all most people know about this movie.

And that's not fair to it. Go watch it.

[irenespring]

Rewatching Bones and the season 1 writing is sure something. There are a lot of scenes where I notice writing...areas for improvement...similar to the ones I find in my own writing, which is weird to see in a professional show.

And s1e21 is so interesting to me. At first I thought it was actually very brave/progressive to have the plot twist be that the tragically suffering Brave Soldier Team assassinated a family of civilians. It was especially surprising because after most of the dialogue around the war could have been pulled by from a DoD press release. Hodgins, a conspiracy theorist, is the only firm anti-war perspective. He states his straw-man arguments and his big Character Building Moment is when he "finally" shuts up about the injustices of the war. So having Hodgins validated by the soldier team's big hero action being a war crime seemed very brave.

But then as the episode went on I got the impression that using the war crime plot twist actually made the episode an especially clever piece of propaganda. By including the war crime, the show can't be accused of ignoring civilian casualties. They get points from the liberals in the audience, while still using every trick they have to exonerate the soldier who killed the civilians and the US military as a whole.

Charlie, the young soldier who killed the family and was later killed by friendly fire is portrayed as: young, inexperienced, panicky, undertrained, and arrogant. His actions are waved away as just a mistake by a freaked out kid. Surely, a proper soldier who received complete military training and knew not to charge forward and instead wait for a command from his superior would never have killed those civilians, right? So in that way, the civilian deaths were not the military's fault. The military's image takes a hit for not properly training the kid, but they couldn't have been expected to correct his temperament, of course. War is war, it isn't the US' fault. It's frankly an extraordinary writing feat given that Charlie was literally wearing a uniform, killing the family with his government-assigned weapon, and acting in a United States military operation. Just in case you weren't convinced, the writing moves on VERY quickly from the deaths of the family. They have like five minutes of mention, tops. After that the show goes back to the REAL problem here, who is killing Americans to cover up this unfortunate accident.

Additionally, the military is seen as a wonderful force for justice. An ally to those looking to expose its dirty secrets. You know---the opposite of what would actually happen. Based on real events, the United States would classify any information the Jeffersonian team reveal and demand their secrecy. But when Booth shows up to arrest a high-ranking officer in a civilian court, the central military authority figure says "we are cooperating fully with Agent Booth, [the officer] will not disgrace us." It's a line so stilted and unrealistic that I almost laughed. The line gets a lot of emphasis in the scene, for good reason. It's the big propaganda message distilled: the United States military is an ethical force that makes mistakes but is always acting in the service of truth and justice (as they say in Chernobyl: "our goal is the happiness of all mankind"....in that show it's meant to be an ironic statement about government failure and cover-up, but in this episode I could imagine it being said earnestly, word-for-word). Thus, people who go against Truth and Justice---by killing civilians or covering up those civilian murders---are either outliers or traitors.

It creates a separation between the tragedies of war and the US government. The final theme is what I imagine the US military desperately wanted liberals to pivot to: war bad, US military good. As long as you don't think too hard about why the war started and was happening, you too can oppose the war but still fall in line and stay the fuck out of our way! Therefore the seemingly subversive plot-line ends up fusing nicely with the earlier rhetoric about the Iraq war being justified and any protest against it being disrespectful to the troops.

So in the end, s1e21 pulls of a very impressive stunt: they use a fictional war crime committed by the US military as a propaganda tool for the US military. It works because the whole episode is built to divide the reality of an action from the perpetrators of said action. Really a shining example of taking the concept of passive voice and running with it. Kudos to the writing team, a very interesting example of poli sci cognitive dissonance in the early-mid 2000s.

[raviposting]

Nate is really one of the most interesting characters to me, because his character begs the question: what happens when your life gets better but you’re still not happy? 

Because we see how Nate is in the beginning. We root for him and we love the attention that he gets and how he gets his time to shine. Ted’s methods clearly work for a lot of the characters, it has its merit, and Nate (at first) is no exception. He’s promoted to being a coach, he’s getting attention, the team is also improving so they’re being kinder and everything is better now, right? 

Except in season 2 (and 3!) we see the cracks - in Nate, but for all the coaches, really, because ironically the coaches who are mentoring the players and telling them to believe are also the ones we see struggling with that mentality the most. Beard’s one of Ted’s strongest supporters, his right-hand man, but we see in Beard’s episode how deep his depression and self-hatred run. Roy isn’t exactly screaming Ted’s methods from the rooftops, but we see how he slowly accepts it and appreciates it, and how it does help him - but he struggles with finding his purpose and feeling wanted and needed, and it shines in quitting things early and never getting proper closure in things he really loved, with him constantly wondering if he ever really made the best choice (his team, his job, his relationship with Keeley). Ted struggles to express these negative emotions and it spirals quickly, especially in season 2. 

And Nate? Nate watches as his life objectively gets better, but struggles because his anger and resentment don’t go away. He gets the attention from Ted but (even though it’s not the intention!) feels as if Ted drops him the second things improve. He gets a better job but his father will never say he’s proud. He tries to exude confidence but Jade (who’s most likely seen him for a while since it’s his favorite restaurant) immediately sees through through his persona and Doesn’t Care and Nate is so thrown off by it. He keeps looking for that validation through other people and we see that clear frustration because everything is better on paper so then why are the bad feelings still there? With every win, with every improvement, he gets angrier and more frustrated and then it spirals into him leaving for West Ham and Rupert. With Rupert, Nate leans in on hey, nobody loved me at my lowest and nobody loved me at my best, so maybe I’ll try being my worst. 

And god, I LOVE that even though fans thought he’d fail and that this would humble him into a redemption, he hasn’t. He tries to go with Rupert and get that validation from him and we see how much he struggles with that, because now he’s leaning in at what Rupert wants and we see how much he hates that, but Nate’s also at a point where Rupert’s attention is clearly conditional, he’s still not getting that fatherly validation, and he knows that and that’s where we see him finally start to come into his true self. Jade finally softens because she sees Nate holding strong to his opinion on Taste of Athens and admitting he’s putting on an act, he’s being honest and himself for the first time in those scenes. He tries to cultivate a relationship with the other employees and even if the Diamond Dogs ripoff didn’t work? They still invited him to drinks this episode! He sees Rupert for who he is and he goes back to Jade, and he wants so, so much to apologize to Ted for everything. 

Nate’s moved from a positive environment to this conditional one and the narrative could have easily went “Nate has crashed and burned and now realizes what he messed up” but instead it allowed Nate to figure out who he is and who he wants to be, by himself. He’s still growing and learning, of course, but he’s well on his way, and I think it’s just such a cool way to show that what’s helpful for some people can be incredibly detrimental for others if it doesn’t target what they need and that there’s so many avenues for a person to grow and improve themselves. 

[mdhwrites]

When I watched Amphibia, I kinda had a hard time understanding how certain headcanons were developed in the fandom. Especially Grime being Sasha's 'toad dad' and Olivia and Yunan being Marcy's 'newt moms.'

Like...by the end of the series, I totally bought Sasha and Grime as close friends (heck, they sold me as friends partway through season two), but Grime never gave 'adoptive dad' vibes to me. Putting aside the fact Grime's the reason Sasha spent her first month in Amphibia in a cell, he's also a pretty toxic influence on her, indulging her worst traits and only really improving as a person when he and Sasha form the resistance in season three.

And I'm confident viewers only started the 'newt moms' headcanon because of the episode Olivia & Yunan. Which is pretty ironic, since in that episode, Yunan initially objects to saving Marcy (she didn't even refer to Marcy by her name, just 'the human' XD), and like you said, Olivia explicitly states she's motivated to save Marcy because she trusts her and thinks her intelligence will help them defeat Andrias, not because Marcy is someone she's emotionally attached to.

Sure, in The Hardest Thing, Olivia and Yunan hug Marcy goodbye, so there was clearly some fondness for her by the end, but nowhere near familial feelings. And yeah, maybe you could argue Olivia cared for Marcy since she insisted on being 'gentle' when Marcy was being pulled out of the tank, but that's just basic decency; hardly 'adoptive mother' behaviour.

With all that in mind, why do you think so many got so hooked on the idea of these people being found families for Sasha and Marcy? Did they think Sasha and Marcy both 'deserved' a found family just because Anne got that with the Plantars? Did they just like the idea, even if canon did almost nothing to validate it?

I personally think it's because a lot of people thought Sasha and Marcy's parents were abusive (another headcanon I can't get behind), and believed they deserved to find 'better' families in Amphibia. But that's my take; what's yours?

So there's a LOT here to potentially discuss because you're not wrong in saying that it's a dubious claim. Let's start with just my thoughts on them being found families: I like Grime as Sasha's father figure in works but it is much more a mentor and student relationship but where who is doing which is very dubious. The two need each other but how much one or the other need each other is constantly shifting and it's part of what makes their dynamic interesting. Trying to place a specific label on them is rough and I'd agree that saying that Grime is Sasha's first healthy friendship would be accurate because of the push and pull there.

Yunan and Olivia are great in fanworks as having had a real relationship with Marcy but the show just doesn't support it. Yunan seems to look down on her and barely know her while Olivia is a very normal archtype of the proper, Victorian woman who has to deal with childish antics. Neither are bad characters for it but it does mean that the moment in the end with her hugging Yunan and Olivia is more for the sake of a curtain call than it is a big relationship being wrapped up. They honestly symbolize Newtopia, which Marcy definitely should still love, rather than their actual characters in that hug and I think that works.

Now, why are they called found families?

Well, the first reading for why is honestly what I'd probably put my money on: It's a popular trope and people liked the dynamics enough to want to push it into the box they wanted it to be. Like how TOH is praised for its found family despite the family doing so little together, it's a trope with poor definitions, is hard to disprove and is just roaring through fiction right now so its overuse as a term isn't surprising. The fact that it gets used to describe so many people with just dynamics in general (frankly, it feels like it's becoming harder to write best friends in fiction partially from this) makes me unsurprised that it is getting used here since Anne does absolutely get a found family with the Plantars.

Which does bring a second part in: It makes Sasha and Marcy more important. If they're going on similar journeys as Anne than they totally aren't there to help with the themes and the like, the journey is about them too! It brings them closer to being the focus of the story and as narratively important as Anne which, as we've seen, was a big deal to the fandom. I won't even call this bad, fandom will do as it does, but it does also end up diminishing just how big a deal it was for the Plantars to so thoroughly integrate Anne into their family and then how the Boonchuys recognize that work and accept them readily too. If it's as easy as it had to have been for Marcy, Yunan and Olivia, it kind of cheapens the core thrust of the show, almost like it focused on Anne for a reason.

The last one is... KIND OF what you brought up but I think it's a lot deeper than you frame it. I recognize that nowadays I am an outlier. I literally go and take a walk with my mom every morning, or I'm supposed to, to try and help her be more physically active. My problems with my parents are mostly due to my brain not being able to accept anyone actually approves of me, let alone people who's approval I care about. I am so very lucky to have good parents who I am happy to call my parents and who I am glad to have the support of.

All too many kids, even those not in the LGBTQIA+ but ESPECIALLY if they are, have bad family homes. They dream of being able to escape to a new world that's better than theirs, meet people who accept them for them and let them do cool things and be themselves. Escapism, especially isekai, is EXTREMELY popular for a reason, especially as just the world in general sucks, regardless of your relationship with your family.

So then we get Marcy and Sasha still going back. Them ALL going back because sometimes change is inevitable and not always can you bring the ones you care about with you. It's a powerful message that spits in the eye of that escapism and for a lot of people, that HURTS. Like for as much as I defend the choice, I do understand why so many in the fandom reacted negatively to it. For as much as they potentially didn't care about the Amphibians, they don't want to lose the froggy world that they wanted to live in themselves.

And so we get the projection of abusive parents. We get the toads and newts also being found families because it's so much worse to give those people up in your life than just saying bye to your friends. We get reasons why they should have stayed or at least been allowed to travel between worlds. This isn't even all inherently wrong, especially if you are willing to admit that there was a reason why the show chose the ending it did, even if you wish you could have the one that makes you happier.

Hell, we even see some of that with how people treat angst right here. They want Sasha and Marcy to have abusive parents... Because then they can be told it's okay to reject reality, be given a hug and then move on. Not to explore that abuse but to be given the wish fulfillment of that abuse being met with kindness which is admittedly how you should meet that stuff, please take abuse victims seriously and help them, but life is more complicated than that most of the time.

These are arguments I can understand and sympathize with though. I wish I could see someone using mental illness as now their superpower to be something that makes me happy because it WOULD be nice if my depression made me better than others. I just... don't quite engage with media that way though. It's actually part of what I think makes scripted content harder for me because I engage too genuinely and don't just want a pat on the head and a juice box.

And that isn't to say people who do want that are wrong. I still don't want to be actively hurt by the media I consume. I am still there to be entertained and happy and how that happens will be different for each person. That's part of the joy of life.

So I won't tell people who want Yunan and Olivia to be Marcy's lesbian moms they're bad for wanting that. Just don't tell me that's objectively what happened in the story since analysis and headcanon are genuinely different.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[thisaintascenereviews]

More Than Just A Hybrid Theory: The Genius Of Linkin Park

Linkin Park just released their highly anticipated comeback album, From Zero, and it’s an important album for a variety of reasons. It’s their first album in seven years, as well as their first with new singer Emily Armstrong, because former singer Chester Bennington passed away seven and a half years ago. It seemed like they would never come back, but a couple of months ago, they randomly announced their return. Fans were mixed on the announcement, and fans have been relatively mixed on From Zero, but I, for one, absolutely love it. I recently put out a review of this album with my buddy Jake, where we break down the record, both for its place in the rock scene today, as well as its place in the Linkin Park canon. In summary, From Zero isn’t their best album, but it’s their shortest and most concise album that shows they have a place in rock and metal during the 2020s.

With its huge and catchy hooks, biting rap verses from Mike Shinoda and piercing screams from Emily Armstrong, and solid musicianship, you can hear bits and pieces of every era of the band. Yes, even their last album, 2017’s One More Light, where they turned into a pop band, at least with their penchant for shimmery hooks this time around. If anything, From Zero is a Linkin Park album that shows Linkin Park can make a Linkin Park album again. My personal relationship with this band has been rocky at best and vitriolic at worst, depending on the album that we’re talking about.

I’ve gone back to their discography over the last couple weeks, and I’ve still got some issues with their discography, but I’ve come to really “get” this band. I don’t know what it was, but I think it took this album to really get there. I hate to say that, because Chester passing away was a very sad moment for many people, but From Zero is the album that made me realize how cool this band really is, warts and all. Despite their discography being all over the place, I can respect how diverse and unique their body of work truly is. I’ve always come back to their first two albums, regardless, and that’s what I wanted to talk about today.

Both 2000’s Hybrid Theory and 2003’s Meteora are classic nu-metal albums, but I always enjoyed them in an ironic way, because they’re albums that are dated in a really fun way. They’re the kind of albums that are so dated, they’re oddly timeless. That’s been my relationship with them for the longest time, and I only really enjoyed their first two albums, but I’ve recently re-examined my relationship with these two albums, especially since From Zero coming out and going back to their discography as a whole. These first two albums are most peoples’ favorites, but there’s a good reason for that.

Rap-rock and nu-metal weren’t new ideas when Hybrid Theory was released in 2000, but they perfected it. The album, while short, does have a bit of a formula, but that formula works. Meteora improves that formula just a bit, too, by making for a more melodic and catchier album, versus being heavy and intense. I look at both albums as being the yin and yang of each other; Hybrid Theory is heavy and aggressive, but Meteora is catchy and melodic. Ultimately, what one album lacks is what the other album makes up for, so it’s hard to decide which one I like more. It just depends on the day, but these records are important.

From what it seems like, a lot of people were introduced to heavier music through these albums, and Linkin Park is a gateway band for many folks. I always enjoyed them as a novelty, more than anything, but the more I go back to these two albums, they aren’t a novelty. They’re cheesy at times, and they feel of their time, but that is their charm. They still hold up as really catchy, well-written, and aggressive nu-metal albums, and the big singles on those albums are still songs that people remember. That should tell you a lot, honestly. I’ve got mixed feelings on the rest of their work, From Zero notwithstanding, but I truly do enjoy them now and I’m willing to give their music a proper deep dive. I need to listen to a lot of stuff more to really let it sink in, but their first two albums are truly classics.

[jaynovz]

copying my reply verbatim to do the thing Properly:

hello public use silver 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

I decided to answer the first one and just tag the others who asked heheh 😂 @hms-tardimpala @etoilesombre

So a very long time ago, in 2021, I was sort of batting ideas around with various folks about ship's whore of the Walrus John Silver instead of ship's cook. As in, to make up for stealing the page he would be thrown into the fuck tent because he can't cook anyway and he can't sail so what good is he ahem, except for certain things? And historically sailors were all very gay about getting needs met while at sea ESPECIALLY using pretty little boys like John Silver bc uh. Look at him?

Around that same time then I read a hazing fic by @asterofthevoid which was particularly inspiring and I wrote a lot of notes down in my concept doc but then went on to other projects for a while.

And so anyway I was starting to think about it again recently and about how no one even made any crass remarks about fucking him and that's not very historically accurate, is it? Like even if they didn't actually go through with it, sailors are pretty vulgar and need to blow off steam by making ribald jokes which is a thing they do all the time in other representations of this period and they would ABSOLUTELY make mention of how pretty Silver was it's frankly NOTICEABLY ODD how Black Sails avoids it.

Anyway all that to say I started drafting a Silver messes up with the pig during careening ep somewhat alt canon where they don't immediately go after the Andromache and the crew are Done with his shit and want a piece of his ass to soothe their tempers. And so instead of having it forced he sets it up all snakey scheming but still very dub con.

All of this is of course a setup to make Flint very possessive and have weird feelings about it and then a funneled into a borderline fetish hurt/comfort with its own FASCINATING powerplay/power imbalance sort of scenario after the actual public use Silver part comes in with the entire Walrus crew.

Some prelim dialogue notes for your viewing pleasure --

(Silver gathering the crew in the galley, addressing them very 2.2 style, dramatic, flourish-y, sultry, showman) "I humbly apologize for joining under false pretenses. And I wish to make it up to you. All of you. By offering myself as a gift as apology for leaving you unsatisfied in your suppers. But I will improve and in the meantime I guarantee full satisfaction for every man in this ahem, particular endeavor." -- (Flint reaction during the act, hissing at Gates) "You have to stop this, it cannot be allowed to continue." (Gates eyeing Silver and the crew publicly fucking him, all cheering etc, with calculating expression, then makes a face, shrug) "Nah, the lad is right, Captain. It would have happened one way or another. Pretty little thing like that on this ship? He's a good lad, good that he knows it. Look at him, it's like he was made to take it." "If I were a few years younger I'd give him a go myself." (ironic chuckle, completely unfazed by this) "It'll keep the crew happy, even more so that he's doing it willingly. Unless you're keeping him all to yourself, might as well let it play out." (Flint turns to Billy with wordless rage/frustration but he agrees) (Billy distasteful expression but resigned) "Hate to admit it Captain, but they've been restless since the disastrous careening. It'll stay another mutiny attempt."

Anyway!! this will probably get written in a fugue state one weekend (because I'm finding it very hard to write things during the week when I'm working.) But I have basically the whole thing outlined so it'll just burst out of me like a flood of... Well. 👀

Thanks all three of you for asking!!

[broughtandborn]

Vacation recap, feel free to skip

Andy and I spent seven nights at a Sandals resort in Curaçao and it was incredibly expensive and so, so great. 5 stars, would recommend.

The resort is the newest Sandals resort, and apparently their opening a few years ago was delayed and pretty rocky because of covid so early reviews were decidedly mixed. Everything seems to have been ironed out and from our perspective everything was super smooth.

We flew out from a big airport an hour away at 6 am so the trip started with dropping the kids off the night before and getting up at 2. We were at the resort in time for a late lunch and they had our stuff brought to our room and a cheese plate and wine and balloons and a card for our anniversary in the room when we got up there. The staff were incredibly attentive and they all seemed invested in keeping the guests happy. They all were cheerful and pleasant and went out of their way to make things as easy for us as possible.

Our room looked out over a gorgeous garden with a peek of the ocean beyond and a sort of lazy river pool below us, which was incredible. It felt secluded and the garden was always abuzz with tons of birds and butterflies. We spent a bunch of time in the mornings out on the balcony with coffee watching the hummingbirds and these big yellow butterflies that were the exact same color as some of the flowers, so it looked like the flowers would just pick up and flutter away.

The resort is pretty large so they have bicycle racks scattered around and you can just hop on a bike and leave it wherever you decide you're done with it. The main pool was lovely and they have entertainment going next to it all day. The "quiet" pool isn't actually far enough away from the entertainment to be quiet but there are other smaller pools scattered around that are very quiet. The beach is on a channel, protected by a dock, with tons of beach chairs and palapas. There's another area of beach to walk on that's too rocky and rough for swimming but it's very pretty to look out at -- pure turquoise water that drops of suddenly into dark blue.

The food and drink are all included and very good. There were a few perplexing things (a "charcuterie tray" that included one very thick slice of garlic bread and slices of salami wrapped around chutney to make little pouches???) but there's a solid variety and the service was usually very good, especially for the number of people they're feeding. They have three tiny restaurants in food trucks that are open most of the day and they were so good. Each restaurant has its own style (sushi, Italian, Greek, South American, etc.) and they do a great job with the menus. We were asked at every single meal about allergies or food issues and they took it very seriously. There is room to improve in their desserts but my standards there are very high. There are bars scattered all over and most of them have signature drinks that are delicious.

One of the days we were there we hired a guy through a local tour company to take us all over the island and it was amazing. We saw a million things we'd never have known to even look for and we snorkeled with sea turtles and got fresh coconuts and ate an amazing meal at a little hole in the wall kind of place. It was supposed to be eight hours but we were having a great time and he kept wanting to show us other stuff so we were out for ten full hours and were exhausted when we got back.

The trip home was annoying -- delays and multiple gate changes on both legs of the flight, so we got home at 3:30 a.m. instead of midnight, but it could have been a whole lot worse and we were already planning on the girls spending the extra night at my parents' so we were the only ones impacted by it. The girls had a great week with my folks and it seemed easier on them than we expected. We FaceTimed with them for a few minutes every day and that def helped.

The best price you'll ever get at a Sandals is if you book another trip while you're still there, so we did. You can book up to two years out and you can change your details for most of that time so we have almost two years to figure it all out, but this trip was so lovely that we both very much want to do it again. It's wildly impulsive of us to commit without blocking out budget and childcare and stuff ahead of time but this trip was so great that we were like "we'll figure it out, let's just do it."

Overall, it was an incredible week, and it was really great to have so much time with Andy to just hang out and have fun. I'm so glad we did it. The end.

[cheesy-poofs]

Pls gush about Kyman (⁠◕⁠ᴗ⁠◕⁠✿⁠)

I feel better now lol. This post in particular won't be detailed because I feel like I've already said everything about Kyman (at least, most things, or others have already covered them sufficiently).

But yeah Kyman! As I've said plenty of times, I find them very entertaining, and it was the ship to get me to appreciate...well, the yaoi side of the fandom lol. When I got into this show I went into it without any ships in mind (spare I guess Creek, since I heard a lot about the Creek episode prior and obviously there's a lot of fanart and fanfics for it...I actually expected Creek to be my OTP and while I still enjoy Creek I wouldn't say it is). So there wasn't anything shipping-wise I was really looking for while watching the show, and I didn't interact with the fandom until I had watched every single episode/special/ect. up to that point.

I just love how I shipped Kyman ironically before actually shipping it. I love how much fun it was for me to rewatch episodes that focus around them and to really indulge myself in this ship...I haven't really had that experience with any of the other ships of South Park despite wishing I could feel similarly about others. I kind of did with Stendy but it left me wishing M/F couples were better in the show, and the women in general. (I still love Stendy though lol, but mostly in fanon I guess because canon doesn't really show their full potential).

There was a bit of time where I didn't really give Kyle as much attention as the other main four boys and considered him my least favorite, but Kyman actually helped a little bit in appreciating him more, since his rivalry with Cartman is a notable part of his character and the show overall. Y'know when I was first getting really, disastrously deep into this ship, I had a dream that basically told me "Cartman and Kyle are South Park" and I think my subconscious had a point lol...to an extent. It helps knowing that Trey likes playing around with characters that are opposites, such as Kyman and Buttman.

Is Kyman perfect? No. Do I like all their episodes and moments unequivocally? No. This is kind of a show that's easy to pick and choose from. I'll admit I do it sometimes. Shipping Kyman isn't a matter of looking at them as characters realistically (in regards to all of their actions/traits). If you really want to interpret Kyman as "abusive" then sure, you can, you have a right to that interpretation as I have a right to my own. I disagree with it though, at least the way I like to go about the ship...which yes, does kinda involve Cartman improving (especially in regards to his bigotry) but not to the extent that he's an entirely different character.

Anyway, I guess the way I see Kyman is that couple that enjoy bickering and its usually entertaining for others to watch...or completely unbearable if you're anyone other than Kyle and Cartman. This also applies to other aspects of their relationships like how PDA they are, which they absolutely do not hold back on lmao...this is truly why you see so much fanart where Stan and Kenny are just there to witness the absurdity of Kyman, because that's really just how it is, all of us are just watching the insanity of their relationship unfold.

I think I've gushed enough for now, if you want good analysis this is definitely not the place for it. Kyman is still very special to me though, in a way that will probably always transcend other South Park ships to me. Ultimately they make me laugh a lot and I love them.

[jonberry555]

Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection Review

I am playing on a Windows PC via Steam.

Its okay, but has problems. If you already own SWBF Classic and SWBF2 Classic in some form, then I would not recommend buying the classic collection at this time. While many have called the game unplayable, I think that is going a bit too far. I would describe it as janky. It needs a lot of polishing.

There are broken elements, not game breaking, but infidelity frustrating. You can still play the game, but you will not get a better experience than the originals.

Aspyr needs to patch the game ASAP if they wish to salvage their launch and their reputation, which is already not so good. They need to allow you to invert starfighter controls -- actually they are inverted already, so they need to allow you to put them back to normal. Some cutscenes are not triggering, so they need to fix that -- in all honestly this is the worst for me as how do you not realize the ending cutscenes are not triggering. They need to improve the controls as they are janky, I in no way expect them to be as good as modern game controls, but it could be improved. Multiplayer needs to be improved, mostly with fixing latency issues, but with SWBF2 each time I finish a round, I was unable enter the next round.

We do need to remember that these are 20 year old games and even remastered, they will not hold up to the same standards as modern games, however that does not excuse having so many bugs and errors at launch; especially bugs and errors not present originally. Also, it would have been nice if they could have improved the AI, even in the original SWBF2 the AI was always bugged on Naboo, would have been nice if they could have fixed that.

Also, it seems to me for the PC they ported it from a console version, when they would have just built off the original PC port of the game as there are UI differences for SWBF2.

But this launch reveals a bigger problem in the game industry as a whole beta testing. Obviously some errors are going to slip by and not be caught, but it seems like more and more games are having major issues at launch. It is clear to me, that game development studios are operating with bare bones staff. Hiring more staff would help, but I think they need to do more Public Betas.

Studios, especially Aspyr based on this, seem to have a limited amount of beta testers. an Public Beta, would allow them have large numbers of people with different systems and play styles to test their games and look for bugs and errors that need to be fixed. Regardless if the game is an original, remake, or remaster All games need to be tested en masse. Public Betas are the easiest way to accomplish this (and the cheapest).

I do think Public Betas should be free for anyone to participate in, so that they can get as many people as possible, as a cost may discourage some people. I think it would be mutually beneficial for games and the industry to have free public betas, due to how many can be reached. The actually release version of the game can still have a cost, but give those who participated in the public beta a discount. This could also encourage people to participate in the beta knowing they can get a discount on the release version.

Another game I play is Hearts of Iron IV, they have a lot of DLCs, but sometimes new DLCs are not fully compatible with old DLCs. They do play test, but the players always find a bunch of errors. I believe this is because us players are way more likely to just do random stuff, stuff that cannot be predicted and stuff no one though would be tried together. This is especially true when you have games with a lot of permutations on how the game can go.

If all games used public betas, a lot of this stuff that is missed in house can be caught before release. However, Aspyr allowed many obviously errors, that they should have caught, to be in the release game. An inexcusable amount of erros.

I myself am considering asking for a refund because of these errors as while I can play the game these errors are annoying and since I already own both games on PC and on the original Xbox, I can still play singleplayer games without these issues. I am going to wait to see if they release a patch, though. They have two weeks for a patch to be released as that is how long Steam's refund policy lasts; if they is nothing after those 14 days, I'm asking. Since Steam also has a 2 hour game play policy, I am not going to touch the game during these two weeks as I am still under that time, because while exceptions can be made, I would want it as easy as possible should it be needed.

But in conclusions, if you already have the original Battlefront games or are on the fence, this is currently not worth your money. Wait to see if they patch it, if they don't don't bother purchasing it.

Also, you can purchase the original PC versions on Steam for cheaper anyway, so if you play games on the PC and want to play the original Battlefront games, you can do so.

[cephalomon]

after playing pkm violet twice and then replaying pkm platinum and heart gold , i noticed some things about pkm violet that i hope dont become trends for the rest of the series.

of course, this is all my personal opinion so dont take everything super heavily. i loved playing through pokemon violet, enough to play it a second time IMMEDIATELY after i finished it. but that doesnt mean i dont have complaints.

also apologies if my thoughts are a bit scattered

the actual region of paldea feels... incredibly empty. i understand the concept of the game, i understand that the world is supposed to be open and full of exploration! but ... what all exactly is there to explore?

there are a couple of scenic locations, but overall, i never felt like i was really exploring anything or seeing anything worthwhile. and i felt very ... lonely most of the time. there are no homes between cities, no man made structures or facilities, theres just nothing. each city in paldea feels like a small remain of civilization in an otherwise bare landscape, which is a complete contrast to previous games, where routes had homes or other buildings on them for you to interact with. even the caves and what not in paldea didnt really feel worthwhile to explore (especially since a lot of them felt less like cool caves to explore and more like hallways).

i think something that magnifies this problem is the over abundance of items and TMs in the overworld. theres a shiny something or other on the floor all the time, which i think really undercut the desire to explore every corner of paldea.

in older games, exploring a route or cave thoroughly usually meant great training opportunities and some sort of reward, like a few items along the way and MAYBE a TM. but paldea is LITTERED with random items EVERYWHERE, and TMs are not difficult to come by. theres no reason to really explore caves or routes, because they're small and theres nothing there you cant find everywhere else. and you will exhaust yourself trying to pick up Every Single Item you see.

Items in general are a bit overabundant in paldea. although it was convenient, i dont like that we can just buy so many battle items during the main storyline. i really enjoyed looking for these items, finding them by chance, or talking to NPCs to be gifted them. and as far as i can tell? the NPCs in paldea do ... very little. it adds an extra layer of loneliness to the world when all the NPCs are there to do is give the impression of a lived in world.

its always been a joke in the community, but i really miss being able to explore at least some of the houses in each town. but the homes in paldea are just there to, again, give the impression of a lived in world. there is Nothing to explore, No One to talk to, no incentives to be interested in these towns or these people!

the fact that the free roam pokemon game, the one that shouldve been full of exploration opportunities and life, feels so dull so often is really ironic to me. i do think this is definitely partially because of the time constraints the games were made on, but that doesnt make the issue ignore-able. the region is overabundant in all the wrong ways, and then completely lifeless in others.

i think pokemon has the potential to tell extremely rich stories, and the pokemon world is so interesting. theres really no excuse for paldea to feel so dull. most of the other regions feel genuinely lived in, even in those long stretches of forest or desert there is something significant to be seen or explored.

if the future of free roam pokemon is sparse towns with miles of dull, lifeless land in between them... well i think thats really unfortunate.

it was a problem in swsh too; the wild "free-roam" areas were so dull to me. there has to be a way to improve these problems. adding more structures that arent just ruins, making little towns in the middle or on the outskirts of long routes... something, anything. and i think that reeling in the amount of items in the overworld, and making some items scarce again, would really bring back some of the exploration aspects that were lost in Scarlet/Violet.

i also think that adding some smaller stories to the world, side quests and what not, would be really good. the big storylines in scarlet and violet were good (i think), but having some side quests in each town or in some of the routes wouldve been really cool!

and also if theyre gonna do food minigames can they make them like. function properly. because that sandwich minigame is a nightmare.

I think thats all i have to say. Again, i know that time constraints probably limited the team a lot. and i think that it's REALLY obvious that the development team had bigger plans for this game that they just couldnt flesh out; the difference between a game made by people who cared about it and a game made by people who didnt is Palpable.

i hope that generation 10 (WHEW. TEN.) or whatever comes next for the series fixes some of these problems. im excited to see whats in store for the DLC!

if youve read this far, lmk if you have any thoughts about any of this or if theres some stuff i missed in the game that i should go back and check out! i love talking about pokemon, id be happy to discuss anything pokemon related with other fans

[cienie-isengardu]

Hi! I love your blog and particularly your Anakin/Vader meta stuff! I have a (imo) fun question for you: what would a team up between Batman and Vader look like? How would they regard each other? I’m imagining them forced to help each other rescue their kids or something, lol. I was inspired by your posts from the comics and then the meta about Vader and his relationship with stormtroopers vs officers.

Cheers!

Thank you! ♥️

Oh that is an intriguing but also tough question to which I feel the answer will depend a lot on the setting. Going with the rescue kid scenario, Batman thrown into the Star Wars universe or Vader into Gotham build totally different circumstances.

Both characters have their specific modus operandi that may easily clash and both are difficult to work with to begin with, but I feel that Vader thrown into Gotham would be easier to cooperate with as he has zero interest in taking over the city. The major problem will be to pursue Vader to not kill everyone that threatened Luke’s life but beyond that the city and its citizens have not much to offer. Earth technology is pretty outdated compared to star wars reality and even if some weapon was a marvelous exception, Vader has little regard for technological terror, as was seen with the Death Star. He may be interested in magic and superpowers as I believe this could be the closest thing to his understanding of the Force but without the Emperor around and with no one to butt into his family relationship, the trip to Gotham could be actually quite refreshing experiences. Vader on his own, without Empire to worry about, Palpatine’s spies lurking in the shadows, rebellion to eliminate or political rivals to kill? Yeah, sounds like a dreamy holiday and a good opportunity to connect with his son. 

(Anyone remember “Savage Heart” comics in which Vader spent some time in the wilderness and along the way became leader of an animal predator pack? I kinda feel like being in Gotham could be similar in regard to evoking “family” emotions in him, just him and the little group he is bound to protect.)

If Luke’s life was in danger, there was no Palpatine to use his fatherly feelings against him - and even if there were stormtroopers/members of 501st Legion accompanying him, leaving them behind to deal with the matter at hand alone fits perfectly Vader’s operating methods. In that scenario, with Vader being on totally unknown (neutral) land and free to openly do things he normally couldn’t due to his Sith apprentice status and obligations to Empire, I think Vader could be more likely to humor Batman (and Luke) about their cooperation. Of course, the inevitable clash between them would come down to the no killing rule of Batman because Vader is the pragmatic type that has no hesitation about eliminating enemies for good. Dead enemies can’t hurt you and leaving madmans like Joker alive is asking for trouble and this is one thing I don’t think Batman and Vader will agree anytime soon (though a part of Anakin may be impressed by Bruce’s indomitable resolution and iron will to not break this rule even when Batman lost so much already, especially when he lost a son - Jason - because of Joker. At the same time, Red Hood is definitely on board about killing the villains so I guess Batman is going to be pretty busy with keeping Vader AND his wayward son from reducing Gotham underground into ash. And in general, Luke and Jason and their difficult relationship with fathers wouldn’t be an interesting part of Bruce and Anakin’s teamwork?)

At the same time, there are a lot of things Vader could be impressed about Batman. The skills of a “powerless” human who dedicated all his life to self-improvement and who is capable of going head to head with metahumans. The iron will and stubbornness that keep Batman pushing beyond his limits to finish the “mission”. The smartness and genius mind. The dedication to fight crime even - especially if - it is against the best interest of corrupted politicians. Because this is what Jedi should be; this is what Anakin hoped Jedi would be when he dreamed about being one of them. Batman is the type of superhero who goes against criminals and those in power alike and is not afraid of breaking the comfortable status quo. And Vader likes hard-working, thinking outside the box, dedicated and capable people. Batman on another hand, without any Empire or Rebellion around wouldn’t know what Sith is and what a true evil he is capable of, so unless Luke fills gaps in his knowledge or Vader went on full dark side rampage, there is a chance he would give Vader a small benefit of doubt. As in, the dangerous man is here truly to save his estranged son and be off once the boy is safe and sound without causing unnecessary chaos and death. Though seeing Vader in fight may be an additional reason to send him back as fast as possible to whatever reality he came from.  

Of course, working with Batman or Vader is not an easy task as both are pretty stubborn, brilliant yet very difficult men but also both are capable of working “with the enemy” if the situation calls for truce. I personally think that if not openly challenged, they could actually find a common ground relatively easy.  Because whatever people think about Vader, he can be pretty cool-headed and cunning without brutality - he just prefers to deal with things in less complicated fashion (and who can blame him with a master like Palpatine who loves scheming and psychologically messing up people?) And really, despite the rigid moral rules Batman follows, he is pretty respected even among villains and the secret agency/agents. Over the years he built a specific “understanding” with some of them, like Ra's al Ghul, classic Amanda Waller, the head of Suicide Squad (or Predators) so I think this isn’t far stretching idea that given a time and opportunity, Batman and Vader would fall into similar category of mutual respect, as Vader is closer to the type of villains capable of truly respecting certain people than to obsessive madmen like Joker. 

Which is why I think Vader and Luke showing in Gotham is the easier scenario. However Batman (and any of his kids) thrown into the Star Wars universe creates additional complications whose level will increase the closer to Coruscant they showed up. For one, here Vader is tied to his duties to the Empire and thus under Darth Sidious’s watchful control. Which I believe wouldn’t allow Vader to openly team up with Batman because a) Bruce would quickly figure out Empire is the corrupt government that should be taken down or at least fight against and b) saving Luke is Vader’s personal goal that isn’t exactly safe for him, because again, Palpatine has his own plans in regard to young Skywalker and Vader is treading on thin ice between loyalty to Empire and sabotaging his master. 

So to team up with Batman to save Luke, Vader would need to use all the cunning skills and his trusted agents he possesses to not draw Palpatine’s unnecessary attention to himself. Of course, the farest from Coruscant, the easier to do so, but if Batman landed on Coruscant and started there causing problems for Imperials (and well, he would, wouldn’t he?) then catching Bruce and actually making a deal with him without Sidious’ knowledge would be pretty challenging. Batman could easily be seen as a rebel agent albeit I think his no killing rule is enough distinct trademark to catch Vader’s attention - attacking imperial soldiers and/or successfully stopping imperial operations without killing any trooper in the process is not the typical rebels’ modus operandi (and I’m not saying it as criticism toward Rebels, just stating a fact). Which gives Vader an interesting angle to seek said “enemy” and figure out how to use it for his own purpose (saving Luke). Anakin could be dispatched by Palpatine to deal with an annoying problem or Batman’s tactic could simply have caught Vader’s attention and I guess in the case of those two running into each other, an interesting battle of skills and wits would follow as in sw universe Batman has better understanding of Empire’s inhuman crimes thus a solid reason to not trust Dark Lord of the Sith on his trail. So as much as siding with Rebels feels the natural outcome, Batman’s no killing rule always included even the worst villains so he is not one to assassinate / make a coup on imperial high ranking officers. And well, wouldn’t it be funny if Batman became a target for both Empire and Rebels, as he is not there to kill anyone or let anyone to die on his watch and get into both sides’ operations on daily basis and no one have a fucking clue who this man is and what is his problem?

(Also, how far Batman goes with the no killing rule when dealing with the Empire? In Gotham there are possibilities to keep the worst villains under sort of control and sure Arkham Asylum isn’t the 100% safe place for that as serial killers / seriously mentally ill people managed to escape from there but it provides an alternative to sentencing someone to death. Meanwhile in the Star Wars universe defeating Imperial officers does not remove them from the rank and it is not like Batman can abduct them and put them in prison as the Empire's hold on the galaxy is tight. Would he stop a rebel attack to save Vader if he was meant to die in said attack? I kind of think Vader in Gotham would feel much better than Batman on Coruscant or any planet under imperial occupation.)  

At the same time, if Vader knew Bruce’s kid(s) was kept in imperial custody or alternatively, he was the one holding Batman’s family to force him to save Luke from imperials/bounty hunters/whoever else - and Batman as the unpredictable, unaffiliated agent is a good choice to bring enough chaos to keep Vader out of Palpatine’s radar -  the deal could go in both ways. On one hand, Vader changed his deal with Lando in TESB and was willing to kill Boba Fett in Enemy of the Empire (though once there wasn’t reason to fight over he did not bother to kill Fett anymore), on another the tie-in material provides many examples that he can respect his agreements and the let you alive after job done right is in fact a real option. Frankly, Vader has a very straightforward attitude when it comes to making a deals, as he openly states he may kill you if he won’t be satisfied with the outcome, as was seen with Dengar in Payback from Tales of the Bounty Hunter:

Dengar raised his hands in surrender, leaned back to the wall of his cell. The constriction released. "If you're going to kill me, get it over with! I've got nothing to lose!" Dengar shouted. "But I won't make it fun for you!"

"I'm not the Emperor," Vader said ominously. "I don't kill for amusement, only when it serves my purposes."

Dengar smiled. "Well, then we have something in common."

"It appears that we have more than one thing in common" Vader said, "we both want Han Solo?

"Unfortunately," he continued, "I have an Imperial Death warrant against you. I cannot revoke that warrant, but I am willing to consider a reprieve."

"Under what conditions?" Dengar asked.

"I will let you live, to hunt for Han Solo. Once you find him, you bring him and his friends back to me, alive. After that, if I am well pleased, I may spare you. But if I am not pleased by your performance, I will give you time to run. Then my hunt begins."

Darth Vader threw Dengar a blaster, just as Dengar had given one to Kritkeen. Vader's meaning was clear. If Dengar failed in this hunt, Darth Vader would become the hunter. The monster who had destroyed the Jedi Knights would be on Dengar's tail. Dengar licked his lips, thinking that if Vader hunted him, Dengar would at least show a good accounting of himself. (Tales of the Bounty Hunters)

or that death may happen, eventually anyway as Vader said to Nas Ghent (it’s not the Emperor’s attention you’ve earned — it’s mine. I’m not here to kill you, though I might… eventually.)

Working for Vader was a hazardous job. Some offered their service to the Dark Lord of the Sith ‘freely’, in return getting protection for others, like Jix Wrenga or Wyl Tarson did. Some were spared even though they ultimately betrayed Vader like clone veteran Hock Malsuum or captain Luca did and were still left alive. So even if Batman and Vader at some point decided to outsmart each other - and I think the betrayal would be a matter of time as both characters are pretty stubborn about their beliefs and bringing order to the galaxy is definitely not the same as equal justice for everyone - they still could part on relatively good terms. Especially if Batman bothered to save Vader or his men at some point, as Vader takes deeds like that into account. 

So, in general, I imagine teamwork between Batman and Vader as an interesting if not an intensive experience, mainly for the clash about no killing rule and in general extreme different morality of those two, but also both care a great deal about their families so in the right circumstances begrudgingly they may join forces to solve their common problem. The fact that both are the serious, no-nonsense type of characters probably will help a lot but like I said, the shape of their interaction will depend on the universe in which they met. Gotham for Vader is like a nice vacation because there is no Palpatine to worry about for a while and he may be in enough good humor to not kill people on the right and left (to Batman and Luke’s approval). Meanwhile, the Star Wars universe seems like a politically ruthless game for survival that may put Vader and Batman on collision in a more direct way than the first scenario and thus backstabbing and using others as a tool to do dangerous bidding is more likely to follow. Not necessary enough for Vader to try kill Batman on purpose (because again, once there is no more reason to fight, Vader is not always interested in his “enemy's" death) but for sure to treat the other man as potential danger to his own well-being. The Star Wars universe - and its residents - is just a much darker place than Gotham City, or so I think.

[toastess-with-the-mostess]

Let's Rewind! Toast watches Voltron: Defender of The Universe (1984)

Season 1, Episode 5: The Princess Joins Up

Just from the episode title alone, I know my boy Sven is about to be tossed out like TRASH

I wonder what Zarkon wants with Allura, Lotor hasn't been introduced yet so maybe just a political prisoner or something

All the guards and prisoners are like ??? because haggar swears she'll upgrade the winner of this next gladiator fight so they can go against voltron if they didn't push the "all the soldiers were robots not people" narrative so much I'd agree but one of them asked how she could improve robots,, many ways sir and it's worse because she uses magic

Again some of these robeast and alien designs are so cool, very creative and reminds me biology is a suggestion when it comes to making a new species

A look into haggar lab, interesting actually it's just being used as a torture chamber where she infuses magic into them while they're still awake to feel the pain, horrifying

On Arus again, now it's the team calling out to the remaining Arusians into the tunnel to give them safety in the castle AND LANCE ALMOST FALLS OFF A CLIFF, GREAT START It's ok Keith grabs him before he dies

Pidge and Hunk are also trying to convince some people to come by, too bad their main selling point is wanting their cooking because it doesn't work with them either

I couldn't find a gif of the team sitting on this brick wall which I thought was super cute, and I don't want to screenshot that rn, so now it's up to imagination but fr trust me the team are all cuties

"I hate to give [Allura] the bad news :(" to "Sorry! No one wants to help!" PIDGE A LITTLE MORE TACT PLEASE LMAO

Something interesting, Hunk points out that they can't use Voltron to outright attack Zarkon and Allura agrees because he's a defender Knowing that they defeat everyone at the end after outright attacking castle doom, it seems kind of ironic BUT ALSO in Voltron Force (2011) we get an episode that revisits this legit subject and answers why or why not that would change That'll be a fun episode to review when I get to it

Again why would he want Princess Allura so bad, political prisoner is my best idea here This is probably where the Keith/Allura shipping started because after Coran mentions that Keith is super quick to threaten violence against the guy if he tries to touch her I mean ignoring the fact that it's one of the more obvious pairings lol

An attack! And they destroyed that satellite dish thing that Sven and Allura just finished building, rip

They routinely call the lions "space lions" which I guess makes sense but if Earth or at least the GG have been in contact with aliens for god knows how long it feels like it's kind of redundant to specifically say they're from space

Again with the GoLion references, I don't remember it being this abundant it's just them saying the name GoLion btw, nothing subtle LMAO

This week's robeast is called the Dieklops! They named this one pretty well, so there's some hope for the future, This one is heavier than the last one at only 4100 short tons!

I like to think that the team fights in the lions first before forming Voltron because they're trying to see what it can do, and it's a lot easier to annoy a robeast into showing its cards when there's more of you

Activate interlocks, dynotherms connected, infracells up, mega thrusters are go! They finally did the chant this time! Maybe it's because I religiously rewatch Voltron Force (2011) but I expected them to say "Let's go voltron force!" but instead they just shouted Voltron that's ok too I guess

I didn't comment on the transformation sequence last time, but it's pretty cool because it reminds me of some frankenstein's monster type stuff especially because there are a lot of electricity crackles and zaps seen and heard when voltron forms

AND IM FREEEE FREEE FALLIN

Ok but actually though that's a really interesting landscape near the castle, pretty secure in case of ground attacks but what about when natural disasters hit? It probably isn't that safe

I know the show just pulls phrases out of its ass to sound futuristic but "nucleonic circut" is wild

Alfor CREATED voltron?? Again I'm twisting it to my own version because I can't trust them telling a linear story here, but my thinking is that after Voltron was officially split into five, Alfor later discovered them and had them slowly rebuilt as mechs which is why they form like this now

Man these guys suck at dodging

oh shit now the castle is getting taken apart I know what happens next but it's still wild

HELLO?? CORAN WHY WOULD YOU TELL HER TO SURRENDER WHEN YOU SAID THAT ZARKON NEVER BACKS DOWN

I think it's a nice touch that Voltron has expressions whenever he fights, kind of hints at his magical nature even though in this show they're just treated as machines and nothing more

Alfor ex machina returns and confirmation that Zarkon is the one who killed Alfor

Goodbye decrepit old castle of Arus, hellooo new futuristic version!

OH SHIT WATCH OUT ALLURA STAYS STRAPPED ok maybe I was wrong about this episode being the one where Sven gets nerfed

Robeast is defeated but as Allura monologues they show a slide show of all the lions with their pilots on top, except the first one we see is blue and Allura on top lol that must've been weird for kids who saw it air

Episode end! Another short one it feels like, or is it because it was such a simple premise This is the last one for tonight, and hopefully I'll be able to do one tomorrow, but it's my busiest day of the week :/

[blueeyedrat]

Steam Next Fest, summer 2023, for real this time. I was able to fit in more games than I anticipated, which is good, since there were plenty that caught my eye. First impressions and general thoughts under the cut.

(Part 1)

Viewfinder — Another entry in the proud lineage of "first-person puzzle games that do weird non-Euclidean shit" — Portal, Antichamber, Superliminal, et al. These games are always impressive in some way (concept, tech, style), and Viewfinder carries on the tradition. The core mechanic, overlaying photos onto "real" space and having their contents become equally real and able to be interacted with, is pulled off well. The puzzles in the demo show off a lot of interesting ways it can be used, and how its basic rules and assumptions can be bent and challenged. I'm very interested in this one, and I'm looking forward to when it comes out.

Stick to the Plan — A grid puzzle game about getting a small dog from point A to point B while carrying a long, unwieldy stick. I've seen the original Game Jam version on itch.io but never got around to playing it. The game seems up my alley, though, so I'm glad it's being expanded upon. Easy to pick up the basic concept, but enough room for introducing new mechanics and gimmicks to keep things interesting.

Gambit Shifter — A chess-themed puzzle game. I don't have much to say about it, but what I do have to say is positive. It's a simple enough idea (if you're familiar with how chess pieces move on a grid) with a decent variety of puzzles and simple, stylized chess pieces. That's all you need, I suppose.

Iron Roads — A train management sim. This one didn't quite land for me. The management part (building stations and rails and bridges, buying trains, planning routes, implementing logic for train stops and the like) didn't hold my interest, and the rest of it felt a little bare-bones. It's relatively early in development so there's room to improve, but I don't think this one's for me.

Causeway — A sleek-looking puzzle game about connecting traffic lines. I expected more to it than that, but it's actually pretty minimalist: draw paths, connect input roads to output roads, let the simulation play out and hope you did it correctly so there's no overflow or collision. I couldn't find any way to adjust the camera and the interface felt a little awkward in general, especially when trying to fine-tune a road on the edge of the map or place a bunch of roads and bridges near each other. I like this one in concept, but less in practice.

Laysara: Summit Kingdom — So, uh, all of the city builders I've played in the past few years are getting sequels all of a sudden. Cities: Skylines, Airborne Kingdom, Before We Leave, all have sequels lined up. I hope I have time to play them. I also hope I have time to play Laysara when it comes out, because it pushes all the same buttons. A builder with a nice gameplay loop of making numbers go up and having everything fit together just right (but it's all on a grid, so you don't have to fit it all into place that much), and a unique gimmick or two to top it off. I've been looking forward to this one for almost a year, and I don't think that'll change any time soon.

Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles — A sandbox city builder that shares a setting with the dev's previous work, The Falconeer (a game I'm not actually that familiar with, and have only seen in passing). As far as builders go, this is one of the most unorthodox I've played, mostly due to its control scheme. You traverse a network of connected buildings and extend that network upward and outward, rather than moving around the map independently and building from the top down (though with a useful airship, you're not entirely locked out of the latter). It's streamlined, but at the same time it feels like there's some nuance that I'm either not quite getting or can't access in this demo — supply lines and logistics, defenses, managing diplomacy and conflict with the different in-game factions, and so on. Despite Bulwark's oddities, or perhaps even because of them, I actually kinda dig it and I'm interested to see more. Mr. Sala, you have my attention.

Quest Master — A 2D Zelda-like with a focus on creating custom dungeons. It's been too long since I've dug into a good level editor. A good Zelda Maker might scratch that itch, though, especially since we've got options on that front (I should check out Super Dungeon Maker at some point, for comparison). Admittedly, this one might need some more time in the oven; no matter which control scheme you're using, the interface isn't as intuitive as I'd like and feels a bit awkward switching in and out of build mode, and currently there's no way to re-map any of the controls to mitigate this. It's got some neat ideas, though, and I'd like to see the game when it's been fully fleshed out.

Saltsea Chronicles — A point-and-click narrative game. I've had Die Gute Fabrik's previous foray into the genre (Mutazione) on my backlog for a while, and started up a playthrough after this game was announced. What I've seen so far in both games has been really interesting in terms of worldbuilding and character writing. Saltsea Chronicles seems particularly ambitious, with an ensemble cast and an episodic plot — each "episode" brings your motley crew to a different island in the Saltsea and you can choose who goes ashore to gather information, resources, mementos, etc., discovering more of the world and its inhabitants, advancing individual stories and the overarching narrative throughout. The demo episode was really well-written, and I am immediately invested in this setting and these characters. Of all the games I played in this Next Fest, this one might be the sleeper hit of the lot.