#i know it makes my protag feel oddly disconnected

[captainshyguy]

i dont usually say this about gen 8, but leon’s such an interesting character in that like...before us, before the player, he had never lost. at least...never lost in the gym challenge, or any matches after that (idk if he did as a kid, but he likely wouldn't even have had a pokemon then). he has been experiencing pokemon battles one way. he has never been on that receiving end, 

and then you beat him. he loses. for likely the first time in his life. i cant imagine how that must have felt. like getting ice water poured over you maybe. numbing. its so....it makes you think of the player characters in a way. how a lot of them will just...never lose. 

its just...its interesting because playing these games these characters and their pokemon are like. they’re obstacles for you to hurdle. and your character gets over them all, over and over. they become the best, easily enough because this is a game. if you’re particularly good you've also probably never lost. so leon just. he has your experiences. but because he’s not the player character, its something that needs to be taken from him. he, as the npc, runs into the inevitable. i cant help but wonder, what it does to his self worth. what sort of complexes that experience would give someone, even someone who is not arrogant, who is kind and genuinely admires the trainers around them. just. surely, at the back of his mind, every now and again, there was this voice that was like. ‘what if you lose this one. what then?’ and another that said ‘what if you never lose. what then?’

[dmbakura]

Gf and I have watched (rewatched in my case) every single saw movie (including jigsaw and spiral which I hadn't seen before) and I now have the definitive ranking for all of them, best to worst:

1 - the best, classic, most big brained of them all. Actually just a good movie. Legendary. Like idk just watch it.

2 - already a stupid as hell sequel but still fun. Jigsaw does a little trolling. The game/reveal is pretty cool and I really like watching Mr bad cop beat up an old guy

6 - tbh I rank this one so high because of the piranha scene it makes me lose my mind. It's also just fucking funny and the traps are very good. The political angle is really weird but at least the game is enjoyable and there's not too much of a focus on hoffman

Jigsaw - this one really surprised me. It makes no fucking sense but in exactly the same spirit as the earlier saw movies, while also being well shot and directed. Was very good, enjoyed it a lot

3 - now we're getting a little stupid but not so much in the fun enjoyable way as the ones above. Also this one feels oddly mean spirited in the traps and the lesson?? Jeff is kinda just a frustrating protag. That said, the doctor chick is pretty likeable and I enjoy Amanda being batshit insane so it's still very watchable for me

7 - kinda just a slog for the first half but picks up later. The traps are pretty funny and the effects are endearingly terrible with the 3D gimmick. Dr Gordon's reveal is hilarious (the fact they keep pulling that twist???!?! GFJFJF). Hoffman gets trolled and I'm a fan of that

4 - just kind of a fucking headache and obnoxiously shot. Revealed a literal background extra as jigsaws accomplice with no buildup (???) Literally WHO is hoffman at this point in the series. Gets points because "YOU KNOW NEVER TO GO THROUGH AN UNSECURED DOOR" is the funniest shit. His morality lesson was Not Going Through Doors

5 - hoffman is boring/fucking incomprehensible and the B plot for this one was stupid and disconnected. Just kind of a lame watch. That said

Spiral - I would rather watch saw 5 than this. This shit was so unbearably stupid and boring. Why did they even make this a saw movie. It's like they just had a generic cop script lying around and slapped saw onto it. The traps were not interesting. Tobin Bell wasn't even in it and the voice they used for "jigsaw" sounded like disguised L from the live action netflix deathnote movie. 0/10 awful don't recommend at all