#i really wish my opinion of this game wasn’t so negative

[destinygoldenstar]

It’s honestly very crazy that a garbage Hollywood trailer makes so many people apologize to Minecraft Story Mode.

My experience with MCSM was that I was gifted the show by my dad as a teenager the same year the news came that Telltale went bankrupt. (It was the summer, so a couple of months before that)

I got a lot more into it than I was expecting. It had its problems, sure, but I was incredibly immersed with its story and atmosphere. Later on it became one of my obsessions once I finished the two games. It was the first fandom on the internet I ever became a part of. It was also the first time I ever outright became a shipper over a ship that wasn’t canon. (Jetra is my OTP to this day)

But in terms of real life, I never really felt confident talking to people about it. That’s because this was around the same time the hate train for MCSM started to arise. Then it became “Pure Fact” quote on quote that the games were these terrible things.

Now in my opinion and from my experience this started when some popular Let’s Players bashed the games. And even then I can’t blame them for simply having an opinion. But it’s because of their influence that their audiences take their opinions as gospel. (That should not be how that works)

From there every time I brought it up I would get cyberbullied for liking the games. And this was true for a lot of people who did like the games as well. We were all getting cyberbullied into joining the popular crowd and that we were wrong.

“Everyone else is saying it’s bad, therefore it must be true”

And then every time MCSM popped up in my feeds, my heart would sink and I would feel sick. Weird part was, while I did become far more critical of the games as a result of the trend… I NEVER found it in myself to outright hate it.

Like I said, the games have problems. They are by no means perfect games, and some of my critiques of it still hold up. (Not all of them though, ones I do wish I could take back) it was talking about THESE games that even spawned my hobby of writing essays of stuff I like.

So… that’s a sad origin story for how AnalyzGolden came to be. Now you know.

I’ve since drifted away from MCSM, simply because I was older and getting into new stuff. I talk about other stuff on this blog, like The Amazing Digital Circus, Ninjago, Total Drama, and quite recently Disventure Camp. And more. I also try to advertise my own stories to failing results cause no one cares.

So to see, after all these years, people like me finally being VALIDATED for our soured opinion on something… it just warms my heart so much.

I became more critical because of the trend of “MCSM sucks”. And now that that’s growing to not be the case, and I became more exposed to some crazy and wild fandom takes on other media that boggle my mind, that I’ve stepped more away from being negative and made choices to be in my corner and simply “Enjoy Something. Because I enjoy it.”

Oh I’m still a critical cynical bitch. And I do talk about my own critiques and problems if I personally have a problem with it and how the writing or whatever was handled. But I guess I’m more willing to hear the story itself out and what it’s trying to do before I jump to conclusions.

I cringe at my old emotionally impulsive self. And I hate having regression episodes of reverting back to my awful teenager self. But I can say that through experiences, I have to thank that for the person I am now, even if it sucked.

So… thank you MCSM. And thank you Hollywood for making a trailer/movie so awful that it made people such as myself finally feel heard and validated.

(Oh and btw, you guys don’t need to follow the trend of loving MCSM either. This doesn’t need to turn into the complete opposite thing. The lesson here is that you are allowed to like and dislike MCSM, and anything really, and trends should not sour your take on it. You can still not like the games if that’s your honest opinion.)

[mal3vol3nt]

What are ur thoughts on natla?

i definitely have…. thoughts lol

but let’s start with the positives first i guess

i really liked the special effects and cgi. i thought the bending looked pretty neat, particularly the earth and fire bending (which isn’t surprising considering hollywood has spent decades improving the realism behind fire and explosion effects). the water and air bending looked cool too, but definitely didn’t look as realistic in my opinion. which isn’t a bad thing. it didn’t break my submersion or anything. tbh i thought the air and water bending looked more like they came straight out of a really enhanced video game

i liked what they did with the 41st division plot line. having that division be the crew on zuko’s ship was a really nice change from the original and humanized zuko’s character even more in my opinion. though i find it hard to believe that ozai would’ve allowed a freshly banished zuko to travel in such close quarters with a division he literally saved (something something about soldier loyalty wavering and army coups blah blah blah)

the scene of kyoshi possessing aang and getting rid of the fire nation soldiers on her island was honestly… amazing to watch. one thing about me is i LOVE watching the avatars go full avatar mode and give it to people, so that scene had me jumping in my seat cause she looked so damn cool (but i also have other thoughts about that scene and everything that led up to it that aren’t entirely positive lmao so not a complete win)

the casting for aang made me so happy. it’s no secret that aang is my baby, so if they did him dirty in casting i wouldn’t have even made it past episode 1, but gordon actually did such a good job with what he was given and i really wish the writing would have given him the chance to actually be aang. cause he has aang’s adorableness and goofiness (that we see from bts) so idk why it wasn’t utilized, but this isn’t the section for me to start talking about that

aang sending zuko away on the boat after the blue spirit rescue was everything. idk but it was done so gently and in a way that was just so aang that it makes me wanna scream

koh the face stealer. i don’t even think i gotta explain this one, but they did good with koh

so now lemme talk about what i didn’t really fw about this live adaptation. the negatives, if you will

(disclaimer: i have no issue with adaptations straying away from the original source material to make some changes or add some twists. in fact, i love it when they do. but the changes should add to the story and characters, not take away from them!! and that’s a short lil synopsis of my issues with this show)

them getting rid of sokka’s sexism. the reason the show got rid of this was because the creatives didn’t understand that the og show never presented sokka’s sexism as a good thing. he was constantly and immediately humbled when he said something stupid, and his thought process made sense for his character because he’s a boy who has never ventured outside his tribe. all he knows are the gender roles within his own culture and we see that throughout the show as he mets other people, he starts to realize that way of thinking is wrong. them removing this aspect of his character also got rid of the tension between him and katara. sokka undermines katara a lot in the og and it’s clear that that kind of underestimation is one of the fuels firing the burning anger within her. and it’s that anger, provoked by sokka’s sexism, that leads her to releasing the avatar and driving the whole show in motion. because they got rid of this, sokka and katara don’t really have any huge issue to work through, so they had to add in this weak older sibling vs little sibling conflict instead. katara blowing up because he treats her like a little kid does NOT have the same punch as her blowing up because he treats her like she’s incapable. and it also muddies the real dynamic between the two considering they’re both constantly taking care of each other due to them BOTH having to grow up quickly

sokka and suki’s development was done DIRTYYYY. again, because they got rid of his sexism, they had nothing for suki to challenge. he never questioned her legitimacy as a warrior. instead, he was immediately impressed and felt a lil insecure at how skilled she was. and she just immediately liked him cause he’s attractive ig. the whole sequence of them training together (which he didn’t even wear the kyoshi warrior outfit during DINT GET ME STARTED-) is literally just a few long minutes of them stopping to catch their breaths every couple seconds cause they’re so insanely attracted to each other. that’s all it is. suki thinks he’s cute and eyes him up and down (????? literally why), and sokka does absolutely nothing but stand there to attract her to him. SUKI??? the insanely talented warrior who humbles him multiple times, and who sokka literally begs on hands and knees to train under so he can work for her respect, was watered down to “pretty girl who likes pretty boy”

katara. literally just katara. what did they do to my girl? HOW DO YOU MAKE THE KATARA OF THE SOUTHERN WATER TRIBE BORING?? first off, water bending is not a struggle for her?? aang just gives her a very confusing pep talk where he says basically nothing, and suddenly she’s able to make a perfect water sphere without even really trying. nevermind the fact that before aang got there and spewed nonsense at her, she could barely make a ripple in the water let alone pick it up. she was also just handed the waterbending scroll—literally handed—and got insanely good off of that. no master needed, she just picked it all up no problem. the og show makes it clear that while the scrolls can teach you the basics, they do not compare to a real master. in the og, katara fights tooth and nail to get her hands on the scroll and then to later get a master. she’s so determined and works so hard to perfect her element that when she finally reaches mastery level, it feels like a reward. it feels right. but in this show, she literally doesn’t have to work hard AT ALL and only needs to hear a few encouraging words from other characters to become a master. there’s no real development in her skill. one day, she can barely make a ripple. the next? she’s sending ice spears at pakku like it’s nobody’s business. where was the development? it wasn’t there. and because she’s so good at water bending already, she has no real motivation or purpose. she’s not driven by her desperate want to learn how to waterbend under a master. she doesn’t have any real reason to be driven by anger cause what is she so angry of? sokka doesn’t undermine her. she’s already insanely talented at bending with no real training. sure, pakku won’t let her fight but that’s a stupid conflict. a stupid conflict that’s the result of them making her too skilled for a master. cause instead of her frustrated that he won’t teach her, she wastes time trying to get him to let her fight in the upcoming battle. but why does she need his permission to do that in the first place? it’s not like he’s gonna try stopping her? he and everyone else will be too busy trying not to die to care if she’s out there slicing people with ice. so really, katara is just there. she has no drive, no personality, no reason. and it feels insane to even be saying that about katara cause she’s literally katara. but natla fucked up with her and i am not about to forgive them for that

aang. i could scream. natla aang is not aang. it’s literally identity theft. where is the joy? the whimsy? the child-like qualities that make aang aang? he’s so fucking serious all the damn time. he’s 12 years old, freshly out the ice, and already behaving like he’s been at this avatar gig his whole life. he doesn’t play around or get easily distracted like he does in the early books of the show. every pitstop they make on their way to the northern water tribe isn’t the result of aang wanting to have some fun, but because people are literally telling him “hey, you should go to *insert location* because they need help and you’re the avatar”. in fact, their whole reason for going to the northern water tribe isn’t because he or katara need to learn water bending (she’s already so good and he just doesn’t feel like learning??), but because kyoshi took his hand and explained to him that something bad was about to happen and he needed to be there. literally every decision he makes is the result of someone repeating exposition we already know and telling him what he needs to do. the show literally walks the audience through everything that happens. it literally even explains to us countless times that aang is a really goofy kid who likes playing airball with his friends, but we never see it?? he never goofs. he hardly even smiles im not gonna lie. he just introduces himself as a super goofy person and we’re supposed to just take his word for it. why is he already so intense, man? not even book 3 aang was that damn serious all the time. them eliminating his joy and optimism and childishness literally makes him a shell of a character and it PISSES ME OFF. not to mention his dialogue is written like he’s always on the brink of breaking out into song. no shit i thought this show was a musical for a good few seconds cause i fully expected him to start singing when he was venting to appa 😭

aang’s “running away” scene. don’t piss me off. this show was so afraid of giving their characters any actual flaws that they got rid of one of aang’s biggest sources of guilt: him intentionally running away from the air temple. no instead, he was just clearing his head up in the sky “where everything makes more sense” and just happened to get trapped in a storm

kyoshi yelling at aang. this one goes hand in hand with the previous one, but i’m giving it it’s own bullet point. in this scene, she yells at him for running away and tells him that he better not ever do something like that again because now the world’s gone to shit and needs its avatar more than ever, essentially placing blame on him for 1) something that literally isn’t even his fault—unless they get rid of roku admitting his involvement in the war beginning—and 2) didn’t even happen?? aang didn’t run away in this version of the story. he just went on a ride with appa and got caught up in a storm. so why is kyoshi acting like it was intentional when the show makes it clear that it wasn’t?

the death of the moon spirit. the plot point about kuruk’s knife was so stupid LMAO i’m sorry it was pointless to me. and why did nobody do anything while zhao was attempting to murder the moon spirit. everyone just stood there 🧍 like hello??? more importantly, why didn’t aang do anything?? in the cartoon, he tries talking zhao down and zhao plays along like it worked, setting the moon spirit back down into the spirit water before killing it anyways. in this version, zhao never pretends like he isn’t about to kill the koi fish. and nobody makes a move to do anything until after it happens im crying 😭

aang becoming the ocean spirit. my main gripe with this scene is that it’s framed in a way that’s all about vengeance and just pure rage more than anything. but aang becoming the ocean spirit has always been, to me at least, a depiction of grief. it’s pain that the ocean spirit is expressing as it washes away the fn soldiers and ships. it’s done in a way that is, yes brutal, but also graceful and conscious. the ocean spirit is mindful of what it’s doing. it’s intentional and emotional. it’s not just striking anything and everyone out of pure rage, which is how this scene was choreographed and shot in my opinion

[razorblade180]

Sounds like you had fun this patch. What are your thoughts on it? Also, did you do the boss fight pre or post nerf? I did it day 1 and I barely made it out with my King Yuan. Those dice were not kind to Tingyun.

I didn’t even know there was a nerf. I have no clue if I did it pre or post nerf. All I know is genuinely do not know how I would’ve beaten it if I didn’t have Acheron and Gepard. I don’t have Argenti, Misha, Jing Yuan, Kafka, or Jingliu. I fundamentally do not have the characters to match that bosses weakness AND win the dice game reliably.

It felt like another Yanqing situation where you’re given Serval and most likely have a Sampo, but if you didn’t luck out with Welt, pull for Dan Heng IL or Loucha, then you’re forced to struggle.

Other than that, the patch is good. I was one of those people who didn’t have an opinion and the Loufu but halfway through this quest I thought, “man, the Loufu wishes it was half this interesting.” I didn’t mean to binge 2.1 it just happened because every moment that wasn’t the Trailblazer’s pov was super interesting. Aventurine has me hooked and all the characters said really interesting things.

The one real negative I have isn’t the game’s fault but the community’s. I won’t spoil it on here but the big twist near the end would’ve been interesting if I didn’t see a certain theory and discussion wasn’t everywhere for a month. I never even looked into it but it became such an echo chamber of a thought that 15 minutes into the quest I went “God damnit, are they right?” So I was basically waiting for the shoe to drop instead of being surprised.

[cringefailcabitha]

So earlier I said that I’m of the opinion that Test Tube has almost always been a character that becomes stubborn and aggressive when she thinks she’s in the right and that it’s one of her best and worst traits, and then I also sort of joked about her being a hater. I wanted to compile some scenes I thought illustrated that so this was born:

I thought it was appropriate and a little silly to have the first clip being her shattering because of the thought that she might be wrong about something.😅

-

-

Also side-note (I did not include this in the video) but it’s wild to me for a couple reasons that in her exit interview they have her say the following:

“She’s pretty cold… in a way that I think I once was, so maybe she could change too. That said, I definitely have my doubts. I really don’t see her making any friends in this— including myself, honestly— if she continues to see everyone as just a list of bullet points; it’s just… it’s not genuine. In the game or otherwise. And I feel sorry for her and I wish her luck, really I do…”

Firstly, what’s up with having zero faith in Cabby’s capability to grow and change as a person? She literally acknowledges that she was just like this not too long ago. I’m not saying it’s hypocritical to criticize someone for something you were guilty of in the past, but it’s not like Cabby was “worse” than she was, so Test Tube saying she has doubts Cabby can change when she believes herself to have changed successfully seems needlessly critical to me.

Secondly, what happened to “feeling sorry for her” and “wishing her luck” in III 15? There’s like… zero evidence of her feeling this way in the rejoin challenge lol. Worse she’s been out of the competition since 10 so she would have no idea what Cabby was even doing in the 4 episodes between 10 and 15 unless people eliminated after her said something. The only characters I can see having any negative story to tell about an experience they had with Cabby would be Paintbrush, and I feel like that whole situation wasn’t something they would necessarily relate to her as Cabby being an asshole or whatever, assuming it ever even came up. So how does Test Tube manage to say that in her exit interview then come back to the island in 15 as Cabby’s biggest hater 💀. It doesn’t add up to me.

[synchodai]

I don’t mean to be too negative but uptil now I could kind of see how people could perceive certain events differently and choose to look at the events in the show as fair somehow but after the finale I just genuinely am baffled that the son for a son thing wasn’t addressed at all like truly had everybody in universe forgotten about b&c. I don’t wish to be so conspiratorial about this but it’s just such a exhaustingly annoying move that rhaenyra gets a whole scene of literally sewing the kid’s head back on and when it was about exploring daemon’s pain then we get such unique framing but for the green side we genuinely don’t even have a single acknowledgment like dude I feel a bit drained right now cuz I’m at a point where it’s like how is nobody seeing through this agenda and I really am hoping and praying that actual critics don’t give this episode glowing reviews cuz the writers have been shown to change things up as long as the audience is extremely vocal about it but I desperately need things to change even slightly

Hello, anon! Thank you for sharing your opinions with me. It's okay to be negative sometimes. Criticism is necessary for improvement after all. And I understand how people whose favorite characters are the greens will find this show extra frustrating to watch. Jaehaerys barely being mentioned and Daemon never being punished by Rhaenyra but somehow the blacks aren't narratively punished for that atrocity is such a travesty.

So I feel your frustration, but if you feel drained from watching the show and interacting with other viewers, then maybe it's not worth watching anymore if it brings you no joy. I only enjoy it because I detach myself from how other people see the characters and events. I try not to have my personal enjoyment be affected by how my favorite character will be treated or perceived by others. It's super validating to see someone criticize and love something as I do, but if they don't share my feelings and opinions, I try not to let it hamper me to the point that it drains my joy. And remember, you can always block people for any reason — even if it's just for having takes you disagree with.

Season 2 is definitely less consistent and well-written than the first season, but it had a writers strike to deal with. So I'm optimistic things will get better next season. However if your favorite character is one of the greens, I can understand why you would likely tune out at this point. I am deeply sorry to those on team green who were promised something else in Season 1 and ended up with...well, Season 2.

If it makes you feel any better, this show isn't without its critics — same for when Game of Thrones was at the height of its popularity, there were many who voiced their dislike of it despite rave reviews (me included). I stopped watching after they introduced Talisa Maegyr and never looked back. I guess you just have to find out when enough is enough for you, anon. I hope if you can't find pleasure in watching the show anymore, at least you can still enjoy the many fanworks that take the greens in a different direction and are more faithful to the source material. You'll always have the books that made you so invested in this world and these characters in the first place.

[cyberfunsupporter]

for the character ask game, brittany? and rachel?

for brittany:

how i feel about this character

i LOVE her. she’s so funny to me and also i find her compelling personally, even though they didn’t really give her much story… i like the scraps there are 🩷

all the people i ship romantically with this character

santana. that’s it i fear

my non-romantic otp for this character

this is kinda hard. but probably quinn? i know they don’t interact much but honestly brittany doesn’t really have THAT many friends that are properly shown anyway 😭, and i like the idea of her and quinn hanging out!

my unpopular opinion about this character

this is less about brittany but like i didn’t mind brittany and artie dating. not because i ship them or even find them cute or fitting, but because it needed to happen for the story to progress and imo i thought that was a relatively decent way to make the s2 brittana plot happen. and it’s very hard for glee to make anything like that decent. so

one thing i wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

damn. this is kinda hard. mostly i would’ve liked to see more carefully handled depth but i do recognize glee’s a comedy show it’s just still like. augh 💀 the flatness……….

for rachel:

how i feel about this character

honestly, i liked her a lot in s1! she got more irritating as the show progressed which initially annoyed me and made me hate her but after my rewatch… i don’t hate her. i think she’s funny and important to the show. it’s just kind of her little ongoing joke thing that she’s selfish and irritating and i don’t mind it anymore! plus s1 was just. so strong for her. it really won me over

all the people i ship romantically with this character

quinn. ummm. yeah that’s it really. jonesberry is very cute though and tbh i don’t hate finchel either they’re a relatively good match 😭

my non-romantic otp for this character

mercedes and kurt! also quinn eventually too, i like them as a ship and just as friends (with romantic tension though because that’s inescapable idk) also i like her and blaine being friends. they’re funny

my unpopular opinion about this character

idk how unpopular this is but. i’ve seen a lot of negative takes on her and i have a lot myself, however she’s not that bad. she’s just more outward and less overtly humorous about her faults compared to the other glee characters, but they’re all pretty much bad people and selfish at times or even a LOT 😭

one thing i wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I WISH SHE DIDNT GET INTO NYADA… at least not the way she did? or in conjunction to kurt failing i guess… that irritated me. the chase for nyada wasn’t so upsetting, more so the fact she ended up getting in and kurt didn’t. so i guess that’s more of a kurt thing although, if kurt still failed his nyada tryout, i wish that rachel’s chase for a nyada acceptance didn’t work out in the end and she had to retry with kurt in the fall. simply because that win was a bit out of nowhere and i didn’t really like the whole setup for it with tina, even. yeah idk if that made sense but that’s what i think about sometimes. after all this show’s about losers…

[kasmis]

Shinigami / Death Mark II Follow-Up

Hiii.. again LOL. Back in December I posted my initial thoughts on Shinigami / Shibito Magire / Death Mark II. I’ve since replayed it and I’ve had some time to think more about my experience with the game and the themes and elements within it. I wanted to include some additional thoughts and update some of my opinions, and while I still agree with most of what I wrote in my first post, there are a few things I want to talk about that I avoided discussing initially / didn’t fully know how to verbalize. Since I talk about more specifics, please be careful if you’re trying to avoid any spoilers.

I guess I’d like to preface this by saying I still enjoyed the game and my positive opinions on it still stand true. I don’t really want anyone to go into the game expecting to feel a certain way about it (positive or negative), but I just want to reiterate that I don’t think it’s a bad game.

But, I think my initial excitement for the game made me more forgiving in general when I made my first write-up. I still agree with what I said about Death Mark and Shinigami feeling like totally different games, but I think because of that, it’s not fair to use what DM got right (and wrong) in order to give Shinigami bonus points. And if I’m going to judge it as a game standing on its own, I’d honestly say it wasn’t the best LOL.

I guess to start; I still think that the mystery premise Shinigami introduces is really interesting. I really liked that we knew of Shibito from the very beginning and slowly uncovered more about her, compared to Death Mark where the true villain wasn’t revealed until the very end. But I think Shibito’s identity becomes so obvious so quickly, it gets a little frustrating having to play the game as if you haven’t already figured it out. There were times when I just wanted to shake Yashiki because he was walking into a bad situation, both because it was obviously a set-up, but also, honestly, just because it was a fucking stupid thing to in general!

On that note, speaking of Yashiki... I tried to downplay it a bit in my first review, because I felt a little bad saying this as someone who’s just a fan, but I really think some of his characterization in this game is just not good. Again, he’s not the same person he was in Death Mark, and I anticipated that there would be a change in his personality / general demeanor. It was one of the things I was looking forward to. But some of the things he says and does in Shinigami just feel so completely... off. Like... I don’t want to get into too many specifics, mostly because it’ll make this even longer and might make me kind of mad, but from time to time it felt like he was just a completely different character.

I still like Yashiki in this game for the most part, because I still like Yashiki. But I feel like so much of his character was, for lack of a better word, scrapped for the purpose of male-player enjoyment. Like I said before, I still think some of his newer characterization works, but I think it’s become more obvious to me that these changes probably weren’t done for Yashiki's benefit / development, but rather just so Experience (the company that makes the Spirit Hunter games) had an excuse to add certain wish-fulfilment elements to the story. And I think that’s the most disappointing part of all, for me.

(Please skip this next paragraph if you don’t want outright spoilers) I also decided I like Michiho and Douryou more than I did initially. But I really, really dislike the way they were set up to interact with Yashiki. To be honest, I was kind of excited when I realized they were the main antagonists because, and maybe I was expecting too much, I thought it would be an interesting way to at least explain why they received so many gross fanservice CGs. I think it’s insanely sinister to realize the uncomfortable, fanservice-y situations they get put into are actually their own doing, and even more so when you realize it was all done deliberately to entice Yashiki. That Yashiki, and you the player, are being manipulated into leering at these girls, and it’s something that should make you sick. It would have made it more interesting to me if this was acknowledged, at least. But I realized I don’t think Experience intended that at all. I think this lack of self-awareness about sexualizing their characters, to the point where they set up an almost perfect meta-commentary about it and then did nothing with it, is so insanely frustrating. I think this is best seen with the True End; a happy end route that basically involves a reset button, where Yashiki gets to enjoy the company of two high school girls who have a crush on him, doesn’t really make sense. Yashiki deserves to be happy, but honestly, I find it hard to believe the Yashiki we knew in DM would genuinely enjoy what happens in this ending. It’s not satisfying, and it does nothing for the narrative overall.

Regarding the endings in general... in Death Mark, the tension that builds over the course of the game culminates with the reveal of Mary’s true nature and Yashiki’s true identity. For me, both the Normal and Good Ends in DM were extremely cathartic. They tie up the loose ends nicely and they set up an interesting future for the world (whether it’s one with or without Yashiki in it). In Shinigami, I felt the Good Ending came close to replicating this feeling, but it wasn’t nearly as cathartic. To be frank, it felt like the events in Shinigami, in this specific chapter of Yashiki’s life, weren’t really that meaningful overall. And in a game that’s supposed to be setting up how he transitions into a “spirit specialist,” I see that as a major failure on the game’s part.

Also, I was disappointed that Shinigami didn’t do much to expand on the world building introduced in Death Mark and NG. It felt like NG dumped insane amounts of lore throughout the game, but none of it was ever really expanded on. Conversely, it felt like Shinigami added nothing to the existing lore; no new ideas were really introduced, and no older concepts were elaborated on (like I mentioned with the Hyakki Yagyo in my first write-up, for example). Another example would be the dolls; while we get a new doll character, we never really learn more about dolls as a concept. Additionally, while the doll’s role in the game is markedly different from what we’ve seen in DM and NG, nothing new is really done with her. When new things did happen, such as some characters getting possessed, there is no further explanation besides “it just happened.” Again, it feels like everything that happens in Shinigami is mostly pointless in regards to building up the Spirit Hunter universe as a whole.

Finally, to bring up the Suspensive Act system again; it really feels unpolished and impractical as a mechanic. I think it's an interesting idea, and I like that it adds some flavor to the world with the pass and fail messages, but after the second chapter it feels a little pointless. I wish they’d spent more time refining it, since it feels like it doesn’t really fit in this game.

I’m glad that we got more Mashita content, and I’m glad that we got some interesting stories about individual spirits. But if I’m being completely honest, I don’t really know if this game was necessary. I don’t think it did much to add to the world of the Spirit Hunter series, I don’t think it did much to develop Yashiki in meaningful ways, and I don’t think it did anything new and innovative within the genre of horror itself. And I think Experience did the series and Yashiki a disservice by fully playing into the uncomfortable tropes that go along with having an adult protagonist in a school setting.

Anyway, I feel like this addendum is very critical, but I think it’d be disingenuous not to talk about the problems I have with this game. And I’m sorry that I wasn’t this tough in my initial write up, because I really did want to love Shinigami. I still liked the game overall and I encourage people to play it when it gets released in English. And as always, I’m happy to expand on any of my thoughts or opinions. Thank you again for reading!!

[m-y-fandoms]

COMMISSION: Aoi Asahina x Female Reader Part 2

Info: SFW, fluff with a little angst - slow burn, friends to lovers, Trigger Happy Havoc Spoilers. Reader uses she/her.

7K words split into two parts - Part 1

The third time Hina made her feelings known, Y/N was denser than a concrete wall not to notice.

Though they found a way to spend every day together, Hina often had to claim her time in between Y/N’s long sprints of slave-like labor. Even as their friends were picked off one by one, as everyone’s hope diminished and moods soured, Y/N was as selfless as always. People like Makoto and the level-headed Kyoko reminded her it was okay to take breaks, to rest, and always refused her services when she offered to add more to her plate. Hina was the only one she truly listened to, the only one who could make her put down whatever task she was currently doing and see some sliver of reason.

Today, now done with her rounds of chores and a makeshift therapy session with Hiro, Y/N was in the kitchen, enjoying making donuts from scratch with Sakura and Aoi. Hina was obsessed with the fried dough treats, but always seemed to keep her figure no matter how many sweets she consumed.

“If there’s one thing that's positive about this horrid place, it’s that we never run out of food,” Y/N mentioned. She forced a smile, having just witnessed the death of Chihiro and Mondo the day before. Class trials chipped away at her constitution. They were the epitome of conflict and betrayal, a tumor of negativity.

“Yeah, that’s true,” Aoi replied. “Sakura and I have been able to bulk up and even get vitamins on the side for our training, although…” she huffed, “I need to lay off on the carbs and desserts. I’m all for enjoying myself but if I keep getting rounder and rounder, who’s gonna want to marry me?” she pouted. Y/N noticed this about Hina. She had this tiny insecurity about not being feminine or womanly enough. It came out rarely, and was often short-lived. Sakura was her rock in this regard, helping validate and reassure all self-doubts. Sakura was living proof that a woman could be strong, opinionated, driven, unconventionally attractive, honest, wise, and still radiate beauty and femininity.

“You’re so silly,” Y/N leaned her head onto Hina’s shoulder. “Anyone would be lucky to marry you.” She spoke casually, nearly yawning. She meant every word. Aoi, not flustered often by flattery, felt her heart skip a beat.

“She’s right, Hina.” Sakura conceded in her low, steady voice.

“Really, you guys think so?” Hina sighed, kneading dough dutifully.

“Of course,” Y/N stated plainly. “I mean look at you. You cook, you’re athletic, beautiful, funny.” She teased, pulling at Aoi’s apron. All three of them were covered in flour and oils despite their attempts to protect themselves.

“I just don’t have any experience. No one in middle school ever had a crush on me, much less wanted to date me. I think I’m just too forceful and manly. Hey… Y/N,” Aoi perked up, a mischievous note in her voice. She took a bit of flour from her hand and bopped it onto the tip of the more timid girl's nose. “Wanna be my practice girlfriend?” She cackled as if she was joking, concealing the true meaning behind her words while testing the waters, though Y/N was oblivious as ever. Y/N’s flush underneath her cheeks, blood rushing to her face and the tips of her ears. She played along with the joke that she wished wasn’t just a joke.

“Yeah, of course! I’ll help you train in the ways of the heart, just like you and Sakura train for any sport!” She furrowed her brow, flexed her arm, feigning the determination of an Olympic athlete. The girls all laughed. “Step one: dinner date. Step two: sneaking out past midnight. Step three: pocky game?” She quipped.

“Sure! I actually asked Makoto to be my practice boyfriend, but I think I scared him off. I was just joking, but that's kinda embarrassing, huh?” Aoi scratched the back of her neck sheepishly, feeling like the world’s biggest bonehead.

Huh? She asked Makoto? I didn’t even know they spent time together. Y/N’s mind raced. Why was she feeling a little jealous right now? It was so unlike her. She shook herself out of it, changing the subject.

“I’m sure he got over it. Anyways, I’m glad to have you two in this messed up life we are all now stuck in.” Y/N hummed sleepily. She’d have to turn in for the night soon.

“Speaking of, I got you a little gift, Y/N! Well, it’s not really a gift. I just saw it while exploring the school with Sakura and thought it would be perfect for you, since you’re always cold and all.” Rummaging around in her bag, which she’d placed on top of the crates of non-perishables behind them, she pulled out a pack of reusable hand warmers, and handed them to Y/N.

The fourth time Aoi expressed her feelings, it nearly shattered their friendship.

The trials slowly crushed Y/N’s resolve. Usually, Hina and Sakura carried her through them. They answered questions for her, took punches aimed at her. They defended her ferociously. She could usually get away with being pretty silent the whole time, and didn’t talk about the trials much after they were done, but that didn’t mean that on the inside she wasn’t dying slowly. This trial in particular though had been a hard pill to swallow. She spoke up more than ever this time around, providing defenses and alibis. It didn’t go unnoticed by Aoi. She was especially shaken by the execution of Celeste, and it was this unwavering, unearned loyalty to the gothic gambler that had lit a fuse under Hina that night. They had their first ever fight over the loss of a girl who didn’t give a damn about either of them.

“Why are you crying over her? I’ve never seen you cry over the deaths of our classmates before now, so why?!” Aoi interrogated Y/N, who sat in her bed sobbing. They were in the privacy of her room with the door locked, ready for the confrontation Aoi had been holding in for hours.

“I just saw the corpse of my f-” she paused and corrected herself, “classmate for the like seventh time, Hina! Maybe it’s just all weighing on me and I’ve been holding it in!” Y/N spoke through bouts of tears.

“Ah ha! See! You were about to say friend! I know you, Y/N, you think that bitch was your friend! You’re crying because her death hit you harder than the others. She wasn’t your friend just because you spent a lot of time with her, Y/N! She was using you!” Aoi spat.

“Stop it!” Y/N didn’t want to hear any of the truth that she already knew deep down.

“No, I’m gonna say it because I held it in during the entire trial when I wanted so scream at you in front of everyone! You piped up to defend Celeste’s honor at every opportunity, and for what? Because she made you feel needed and useful? You’re being dumb and naive! You always act like this!”

“That’s not true, I-”

“What about the people who ride or die for you? Would Celeste be here for you right now as you sob over someone who doesn’t deserve it? Has Celeste carried you through the trials because you’re too weak to handle the heat?” Aoi slammed her hands on the bed frame before her, needing to release some of the built up rage.

“You’re not being fair!” Y/N hiccuped, wiping her soaked eyes onto her sleeve.

“No, you’re not being fair. You were up there defending a demon who killed two people in cold blood because she was motivated by greed! What about them and their souls? You know you had no right defending her until the bitter end. You’re stupid if you couldn’t see that she was guilty as sin! You always wanna see the best in people,” she mocked the friend who was folded upon herself in a sad lump on her mattress, “but in here, it will cost you and the people you care about their lives! I’m there every day for you, and you’re crying over someone like Celeste?!” That part caught Y/N’s attention.

“Now, hold on! You-”

“While you were doing Celeste’s laundry, relaying information about our new surroundings back to her, making her meals, what did she ever think to do for you?! Who was up every night with you? Who spoke up for you when that asshole Byakuya accused you in a trial? Who asked Monokuma for extra blankets for your room and saves you from nearly every abusive situation you get yourself into?” It was clicking in Y/N’s brain.

“This isn’t about me defending a bad person, this is about you and Celeste, isn’t it?!” Aoi was taken aback by this. She was instantly embarrassed by the accusation, and Y/N knew by the red that rushed to Hina’s cheeks that she was right.

“W-what?” Aoi stammered.

“You’re jealous of her, that I spent any time with her at all!” Y/N sat up, part of her sadness transforming into indignation.

“That’s not what this is about at all!” Aoi wasn’t one to back down from an argument, and she steeled herself again. Backing down proved Y/N right. She was already this far into the fight.

“Aoi, I don’t want to fight with you. I can’t take it right now. You know I hate this! I hate disagreements, let alone having someone rage at me! Just - !” she sighed, putting her head in her hands. She didn’t want to look at her anymore. She didn’t want to think. “Just leave me alone. Please.”

“Y/N...” Aoi felt a twinge of guilt. Her friend was too soft, too kind-hearted to handle even her. She suddenly felt like an asshole for even pushing her there in the first place.

“Leave, please…” her voice shook, and she refused to make eye contact. Aoi stood in silence, reluctant, pensive for a moment, before crossing her arms across her chest - suddenly feeling very small and vulnerable - and left, slamming the door behind her.

The girls didn’t meet up to talk, didn’t ask to speak or hang out for days after that. Who knew if they would ever speak again. In this place, you were friends one day, dead the next.

The fifth time Aoi expressed her feelings for Y/N, it healed what was.

Y/N lay balled up in her bed, lights off, facing away from the door. She’d cried so much she didn’t have any tears left. She’d been broken so badly, she didn’t want to do her daily rounds. No one was served lunch, no one had her shoulder to cry on…

She was done.

Her bedroom door creaked at the hinges as it opened. She didn’t lock it anymore. What’s was the point? No one was safe. A soft light from the hallway flooded in.

“I knew you’d come… I was hoping, anyway…” Y/N sniffled, nose runny. She was met not with the sound of a voice, but of footsteps that sounded involuntary, dragged. It sounded like a zombie, a person losing control of their lower body barely pushing on. Hina stood in front of her bed, hair released from it’s signature high ponytail and cascading down her shoulders, framing her face like a funeral shroud. She wore her night clothes, comfortable shorts and a camisole covered in tear stains.

Sakura was dead, nothing else mattered.

Hina lifted up the pile of many thick blankets and slid into the bed beside what was left of their trio of friendship, their shattered sisterhood. Hina wrapped the blankets snuggly around them both - knowing Y/N was no doubt cold - then wrapped her own arms securely around Y/N. For many long, silent moments, they lay in each other’s embrace.

“I’m sorry…” Hina spoke first, though she didn’t want to. Every word, all energy expended at this point had to be forced out. Y/N knew that. She felt the same way.

“We don’t have to say anything…” Y/N croaked, throat sore and dry from screaming and crying all night.

“Say you forgive me, at least,” Hina’s voice cracked. “Please.”

“There’s nothing to forgive…” Sakura would want it this way.

“I miss her…” A tear ran down Aoi’s cheek and fell into Y/N’s hair.

“She knows,” Y/N replied.

“She’d want us to keep going. Monokuma… whoever is doing this to us, we won’t let them. We have to eat, bathe, stay strong. The others need our minds. Together, we escape. Only together. Right?” Hina’s chest shook as she breathed in shakily. In response, Y/N buried her face into her bosom, the warmth essential for her healing.

They spent the entire night together, crying, mourning, angry. The pillows were soaked by the time the sun began to rise. Dawn would be the start of a new fight.

Aoi leaned down, and placed a feather-light kiss upon her forehead. She felt their relationship shift, just then.

The sixth time Aoi expressed her feelings toward Y/N, she would see them for what they were.

They exited not as victims, but survivors. Breathing in dust and ash as the large, once impenetrable door opened before them, Hina squeezed onto Y/N’s hand so hard she thought it would break. Y/N looked to her right, then her left. Toko, Kyoko, Byakuya, Makoto, Hiro, Hina, and herself, all stood before a world that they once knew. It was unrecognizable. Crumbled buildings, a blood red sky, polluted puddles, the sound of sirens and screams of agony in the distance, this was their reward for pushing through all of these hardships. They lost their friends, some of which had become like family, for this world? All at once, they realized that nothing could have prepared them for this disaster, regardless of how hardened, how strong they’d become through the crucible of the killing school life.

Y/N began to shake at the sight before her. Even Byakuya and Kyoko, two of the strongest mentally among them, stood rigid, their mouths agape in shock. Aoi’s hand shook where it connected to her own, and their eyes met. Y/N saw that familiar brow crease, the angry, determined look Hina got when someone tried to see her broken and beaten.

“She didn’t win.” Hina stated confidently, firmly. She looked to her friends around her.

“No, she didn’t,” Makoto responded, taking the first step out into their new world. He led the group as always, their Ultimate Hope.

Junko didn’t win.

The thought resonated in Y/N’s mind. Aoi released her hand briefly, shaking off her red tracksuit jacket and placing it around Y/N’s shoulders before taking up her grasp again.

“There. It sure is cold out here,” Hina forced a smile, to be strong for Sakura, for everyone they’d lost, and for Y/N most of all.

And Y/N knew, there's no one she’d rather brave this demented new world with.

END

[khytal]

octopus adventurer 2 thoughts :)

-negatives first (this is the only one). my biggest criticism is how the beastlings were handled; we got rid of the awful dancer design but received “‘savage and uncivilized’ natives” in return. which. what the fuck

-if you liked ot1 to any degree you will enjoy the sequel I can almost guarantee it (but try the demo first)

-there are improvements in nearly every aspect (essentially there’s a lot more variety in everything, but especially the sprites for both regular characters and enemies)

-most importantly the party feels like they’re actually traveling together :) and the crossed paths chapters are fun, although I wish they were a little longer x)

spoilers section (only to be read if you’ve seen the credits roll)

ochette: -aside from the shit subplot between the colonizers and beastlings (which was resolved by abruptly slapping a bandaid on it in ochette’s last chapter) I thought ochette’s story was passable -it wasn’t anything super special but I like ochette as a character. she’s fun and honest and her travel banter was very sweet (especially the one about gil’s piano playing wahhh) -she also gets the “tempest on the battlefield” song, which only plays 3 other times in the game so. yeah :]

castti: -hey check out how hard i can cry -my favorite comparison between alfyn and castti is that even though both of them were forced to take a life to save several others, for alfyn it made him reconsider what it meant to save lives while castti had ZERO qualms about killing trousseau -apothecaries also get the best pre-boss fight prelude themes for no reason -idk how else to describe castti other than “strong”. in more ways than one. she’s my favorite of the girls for sure -and she definitely had one of my favorite stories (although I guessed pretty early on that malaya was already dead x’) ). I love how her path/job actions played into the last few scenes o(-<

throné: -yeah hi what the fuck -genuinely just. what the fuck -i don’t even know what to say. I love throné I like that she’s socially awkward but not necessarily shy, and she’s not exactly closed off either -she’d look better with pants (it’d also be way more practical for her job) but that’s beside the point I guess -good god her last chapter had me reeling. I thought they were going to reveal at the garden that all of the blacksnakes were like. clones grown in a laboratory and that’s what the garden was but it was so much worse. wdym this guy’s been fucking for decades -oh also shoutout to the writers for letting throné actually go through with killing mother in front of the little girl desperately begging her not to do it (bc usually that leads to “maybe i should reconsider” but that didn’t happen and it was nice for a change lmao)

osvald: -you know how I said I didn’t really care much for him. yeah that opinion flipped by chapter 4 -idk if this is accurate or not but the travel banter between him and the rest of the party felt like it got more amicable as it went on (obviously this is. tracked in the “wasted time” series but I mean in like other travelers’ conversations) -I’m glad he got his daughter back, and that he at least plans on reuniting with her instead of being like “no I must stay away for her own good forever” -also the voice acting is really good. it’s really good across the board but especially for osvald’s last 2 chapters

partitio: -sorry before i say anything I need to mention that partitio’s ch1 is one of the 4 times that “tempest on the battlefield” plays and it’s SO funny to me that it’s even there. because otherwise the song plays during 3 major, high-stakes confrontations and meanwhile partitio’s here beating up some thugs in the mines sdkjfhgkjdf. anyway -i love him he’s everything to me -honestly surprised that they managed to make partitio more connected to the overarching plot than agnea, who was only tied in because she encountered tanzy. the fact that he’s so selfless that he was able to give one of the antagonists hope in humanity.,.,.,augh -the scent of commerce stuff was fun and I liked that that, along with his story, really did end up taking him all over solistia -he doesn’t kill anyone BUT he was absolutely prepared to end giff’s life in ch1 so I 100% believe that he wouldn’t have any issues with committing murder under very specific circumstances (hope this explains why I put “murder is okay” for him in that one meme) -huge props to his VA. unfortunately “yeehaw” is now a part of my vocabulary because partitio was my protagonist and I have 104 hours logged lmao -also something he and alfyn (my fave from ot1) have in common is saxophone being their associated instrument x)

agnea: -she’s so sweet I love her.,,.. -her story was also really good!! again nothing special but I enjoyed the execution + her final fight was really cool (esp with the unique song wahhh) -did not think she would be one of my favorites but she’s definitely up there :)

temenos: -temenos. -I ended up liking him a lot more than I expected x’) -me when characters have a seemingly infallible, confident mask and it only slips because they’re angry on behalf of another. me when temenos does this twice for crick’s sake o(-< -god. what do you MEAN crick is dead. orz

hikari: -in ch2 I was like “haha what if kazan betrays hikari” and I was relieved when that wasn’t the case. and then I went into the final chapter. -ngl i did tear up a little in the scene after the fight with rai mei. the voice acting was fantastic there -also the travel banter with osvald where hikari smashes osvald’s train of thought by going “but you have magic”. lmao -I really expected a moment where the cursed blood forces hikari to take a life against his will and he has to deal with the consequences afterward but that didn’t happen. probably because mugen was the endgame rather than figuring out what the cursed blood was -related note everything about the archmage dar’qest went in one ear and out the other I do NOT remember what he did x’) -other than that I liked hikari a lot. I’m glad he wasn’t a brooding character, though he’s not exactly one for jokes. he’s just very humble and polite. straightforward

final chapter: -I was so SO excited that there were scenes where all of the travelers got to talk together. one of the few things I desperately wanted out of ot2 and I got it :’D -ALSO I’m glad that this was a mandatory chapter bc it really pulled everything together in a much better way -my only complaint about it is that at vidania, only the protagonist you chose talks. and I know hikari has a comment about kazan before entering vidania but it’s just a little weird that they don’t all have something to say when directly facing kazan/vide. like of all the times to cop out on the travelers being together.,...,,.lmao -having all 8 travelers on the screen was SO cool btw -the epilogue was really sweet too I had a huge grin on my face when it was over :’)

thanks for reading all this sorry that it’s so long o(-< anyway this is a standout sequel it’s very very very good. easily one of my favorite 2023 games so far

[cq-studios]

20, 15 and 3 please :3

3. a character that fandom has helped you appreciate

The fandom has helped me appreciate so many characters way more than I did initially but I’ll have to say the most drastic is Kairi. 100% Kairi.

Like when I got into KH I kinda just branded her as bland anime girl love interest with nothing going for her (which is a mindset I’ve been working hard to get out of and I’m confident I’ve made progress in) but the fandom actually helped me see there was more to her than that. And I know in a lot of situations it ends up being the opposite but learning about the evidence for and shipping Soriku (specifically Violet Howler and Tennelle’s videos) actually helped me understand and like her more. Taking her out and away from this ‘fated’ romance with Sora for a bit actually helped me see the traits that I otherwise would have dismissed. Because her not wanting Sora to leave her behind (because she’s in love with him) became her not wanting Sora to leave her behind (because she’s afraid of change, because she’s scared he’s going to drift away like Riku did, because she doesn’t want to become an afterthought) and other stuff that I could probably write more about if I wasn’t half asleep rn lol

I think part of the issue is that I have a sort of negative knee jerk to straight romantics relationships because they’re so often poorly written or I just don’t connect to them because I’m Ace/Aro and I already have a hard time connecting to any romance in general (queer stuff is easier for me to connect to because it’s representation and it feels like a victory when it happens) and that leads me to just sort of write off both characters who are involved as boring to me (for a long time I wasn’t really a huge fan of Sora either, which feels insane to say now lol).

Sora was saved a bit faster just because of his sheer amount of screen time and focus. I hope Kairi will get a chance to shine in a future game, and that opinion is mostly because the fandom helped shine a light on the things I missed that make her a character.

15. the character that always makes you smile

See it’d be cheating to say all of the NULs (like, man, I love those guys so much, but y’all know, you’re here) so I’ll switch it up today and say Xion. I love her so much. And I mean, I think literally in my last post I was gushing about her, but you know sometimes I just have to talk about Xion. I feel like I don’t talk about Xion enough. Like, she always makes me so happy (except when everything goes wrong at the end of Days then she makes me sad, so very sad but in a good way lol).

She and Roxas were my favourites before KHUX came in with the steel chair, and while I still like Roxas, Xion was the one who’s still up there with the NULs despite it all as a comfort character. Love her, wish I had smart things to say about her lol

20. your very first fandom!

Littlest Pet Shop and/or Pokémon. I honestly do not remember… I was like 3 or 4, I think.

I used to watch so many LPS YouTube skits and series and just scroll on Google for hours looking at Pokémon fanart. I avidly collected (and still collect) both things. I probably shouldn’t have been able to just have free rein watching/looking at all that at that age, but my parents didn’t really know how to parent yet (I’m their oldest kid lol).

Probably watched some Elsa-gate level stuff at some point because I remember my mom telling me not to watch any LPS skits that were made by men???

Also y’all remember Pikachu X Ketchup? I think about Pikachu X Ketchup every day…

[mister-e-muss]

Alright. I’m late but here’s my backlog report for January. How did my first month of 2024 go in terms of games?

In a word, rather well.

Trails from Zero:

The first game of the new year that I beat. Would you believe me if I said this whole thing only took me about a week of concentrated play to beat?

Anyways, it’s probably the most solid title in the Trails series so far. As I’ve said before my journey into Trails was a bit screwy, due to only having a Switch and a standard laptop. It was surprising to find that a lot of the good that the series accumulated was actually added in this entry specifically, from attacking enemies on-screen, to bonus experience, to being able to use combo attacks a la Chrono Trigger.

Also, music good.

Star Ocean Second Story R:

I’m a sucker for anything that can blend science fiction and fantasy, which means that this was almost as good as drugs.

The only two negative things I can say about it is that 1.) the music wasn’t really bad, but not what I’d call my favorite, and 2.) I wish that characters had more interaction in Private Actions. I like the Private Action events, but I wish more involved more than the protag and the character in question.

My complaints with First Departure, mainly that the combat felt very barebones and there was no fast travel, have been destroyed here with extreme prejudice. The breaks and sidesteps are fun additions that don’t break the game, and the fast travel system not only gives you easy access, but also notes when and where events are available, so no more cursing yourself for not having the exact timing to recruit a character.

Gunvolt Chronicles 2:

If you liked Mega Man Zero/ZX, chances are you will like or do like this series. I myself have been a fan since the 3DS days.

Unfortunately, while I did enjoy my time with this, I was a little bit disappointed.

In terms of gameplay, Copen no longer feels like Copen. The high-speed human pinball has been grounded and his range has been shortened. While he gets his wings back once the kudos reach a certain threshold, this means that I was constantly cursing my muscle memory, having to remind myself that I only had one air dash and the attack button was no longer a straight shot but a melee saw.

In terms of story, while I like a few of the ideas and the new character of Null, I found it hard to truly get invested. None of Gunvolt Chronicles 1’s supporting cast is present aside from Kohaku, and we frankly don’t spend enough time with Null or Ypsilon for them to be compelling. Also ‘character falls into portal because reasons!’ is a trope I hate. They explain it eventually, but it’s just the perfect encapsulation of how break-neck fast this story moves. Prologue movie where characters get isekai’d, short two-sentence long introduction to Null, and Bam! Months long time-skip.

I feel like Inti-creates and I just have different opinions on the Gunvolt series’ identity, but that’s a discussion for an entirely separate time. I make these reports to have fun, not to vent.

Final Fantasy IV (DS version):

Would you believe me if I said this one took half the month?

Anyways, I first encountered this game on the Wii’s Virtual Console shop, back in the good old days of owning your own retro software. Being a kid of average intelligence, it completely escaped me that you could save on the overworld, which meant that despite trying to get into it a few times, FFIV was the first game to be booted when I needed memory space.

A few years back I finally got my hands on a copy of the DS remake with 3D models and voice acting by the likes of Yuri Lowenthal. And it rocked.

I think the augment system is undercooked, but that is the only complaint I can think of, because the music, the story, and the gameplay are all great! Let me put it to you this way: FFIV’s active time battle system was so good that they used it for five more games straight, and borrowed from it heavily for 12.

I know that the Crystal Remasters have come out and gained notoriety, but I still prefer this version because of the solid voice cast, fun art direction, and balanced yet challenging difficulty.

[teegeeteegee]

Super Mario Bros Wonder Review

Well, I went ahead and wrote a review about this wonder of a game (pun intended). It's a long one, so be prepared! 😂

Super Mario Bros Wonder is the latest 2D platform from Nintendo starring the company’s beloved mascot: everyone’s favorite heroic plumber Mario. I recently finished the game and thought to do a review of it. If anyone is interested in my thoughts, keep reading.

Before I begin, I will issue a warning. There will be spoilers posted in this review, so for anyone who hasn’t seen or played the game yet and doesn’t wish to be spoiled, I suggest you stop reading right now. Also, everything said here is purely my own opinion. If there are any insults or flames because of disagreement of my opinions, they will be deleted, and the posters will be blocked. With that said, on to the review!

Plot:

The plot of SMBW is Mario and company are visiting the Flower Kingdom via invitation of its ruler, a caterpillar-like creature named Prince Florian. Florian shows off a Wonder Flower, which is a prized possession of the Flower Kingdom. The gang is in awe of it; however, this would be short lived. Bowser, Bowser Jr., and Kamek arrive much to everyone’s displeasure. Bowser takes the Wonder Flower and uses it to merge with the Flower Kingdom’s central palace. Furthermore, he uses his newfound power to wreak havoc over the remainder of the Flower Kingdom, much to the distress of Florian. Mario and company leap into action to stop Bowser and restore peace to the Flower Kingdom, with Florian joining them in their endeavor.

The plot isn’t anything special, but this is typical for a Mario platform game where gameplay takes precedence. It’s one of the rare times in which the plot isn’t Bowser kidnapping Peach with Mario setting out to rescue her, so that should be a positive for those who are tired of that plot. For the record, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I don’t mind that plot and hope Nintendo doesn’t completely do away with it, but I digress.

Now I’ll split this review into things I found positive, negative, and neutral about this game.

Negatives (although it’s not so much negatives as it is not really caring for them):

Lack of Unique Abilities for Characters. I mentioned this earlier after watching the SMBW Direct, but one thing I was disappointed about was everyone playing the same outside of the Yoshis and Nabbit. I would’ve liked to see everyone have their own unique abilities such as Luigi’s higher jump with less traction, Peach’s floating, Daisy’s double jump from Super Mario Run, the Toads faster running, etc. The badges supposedly were to make up for the lack of individual abilities. An idea that comes to mind is having the characters keep their abilities; however, they cannot equip the badge that would give them an ability they already have. Speaking of badges…

Badges. Yeah, the badges were a bit of a letdown. While the customization idea is nice, they could’ve been implemented better. I only used a few in my playthrough (Parachute Cap, Floating High Jump, and Safety Jump for certain levels). The most disappointing badge was the Invisibility one. The ability to disappear sounds cool in theory; however, it was executed poorly. Not being able to see your character at all, not even an outline or something, was a problem. This was especially true in the Badge Challenge levels, including the Final-Final Test Badge Marathon where Nintendo evilly made it the final stage (no, I am not bitter about it, why do you ask? 🤣).

Boss Fights. The boss fights were completely underwhelming. It was disappointing that Jr. was the only boss you fought in the palace levels at the end of some sections. Furthermore, there wasn’t much variety in said fights. It was practically Jr. retreating into his shell trying to steamroll you along with some Wonder effects after every successful attack on him. Also, the airship levels were disappointing. I would’ve liked to see a boss fight at the end of the stage instead of going across a conveyor belt and pressing a conspicuous button that shuts down the airship. Seeing that Kamek was the one to summon them, they could’ve had him be the boss (as an aside, Kamek was seriously underutilized in this game). If not him, at least use Boom-Boom and/or Pom-Pom. The last criticism I have is they could’ve at least had the player battle Jr. and Kamek one more time in the final stage before taking on Bowser himself. The gag with Jr. appearing at the beginning of the final stage fell short.

Positives:

Variety of Characters. Although I lamented their lack of inherent abilities, I love how there is such a wide variety to pick from. Anyone can play as Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Blue Toad, Yellow Toad, and Toadette for regular characters as well as four Yoshis (Green, Red, Blue, Yellow) and Nabbit for beginners. Speaking of the Yoshis and Nabbit, I don’t mind that they’re beginner characters although I never used them (though I was tempted to a few times). If anything, it encourages more players of different skills to enjoy the game. Going back to Daisy, her appearance as a playable character in a mainline game has to be great for her longtime fans.

Visuals/Designs. The game is absolutely gorgeous. The colors pop out vividly, and the Flower Kingdom itself is well designed. The level designs fit the mood of the stages well, and I liked how they added the playable background a la TTYD. The character designs were great as well, although it was kind of jarring to see Peach and Daisy the same height as Mario and Luigi since both princesses are taller than the brothers. However, that’s a minor nitpick. The Poplins were also nicely designed, and the buds opening on their heads when happy is a cute touch. Finally, Florian himself was adorable. I still remember there was wild speculation that he was Prince Haru. 😂 Fortunately, that's not the case here.

Powerups. The new powerups are Elephant, Bubble, and Drill. I enjoyed using all three of them and found them useful at times; however, if I have to pick a favorite, it would be Drill. For starters, the colors are the best, IMO. Also, the ability to KO almost every enemy from above makes jumping a lot less stressful to worry about. Finally, there’s the drilling ability itself. Being able to burrow in the ceiling or underground is something I certainly took advantage of. As for the other two, Bubble was the least useful for me, but it still has its merits. I had fun trapping enemies in bubbles and using them to reach items and enemies trapped in walls. Last but certainly not least, Elephant was great (I particularly found the tails wiggling as they enter doors hilariously adorable). Everyone saying ‘Wowee Zowee’ when transforming was really cute. In addition, whacking everything away with the trunk and squirting water was addicting, especially the former. It’s too bad the water couldn’t be used to attack enemies, oh well.

Talking Flowers.To be honest, I thought these guys would be fun to listen to at first then become more annoying as the game went on. However, I found myself smiling at them throughout the entire game. They weren’t there just to talk; they had some encouraging words for the players as well as hinting at things such as hidden objects or where to go. The only time I found them somewhat irritating was when I kept failing some of the Badge Challenges, but that was more of a lack of skill on my behalf than them.

Wonder Flower Effects. This was hands down my favorite aspect of the game. From changing the level dynamics to turning the player into something weird such as a rolling spike ball or even a goomba (which honestly was my least favorite effect), nearly every single Wonder Flower effect was a treat to experience. Some were more difficult to go through than others: the main one I struggled with was the Secret of Shova Mansion level. I thought the Bowser statue had to be pushed back towards the Shova; it wasn’t until I accidentally pushed the wall on the right when I learned what I had to do.🤣 One of the best and most popular effects came from Piranha Plants on Parade, in which the Piranha Plants sang and walked.

To be honest, I’m more partial to The Semifinal Test Piranha Plant Reprise, but both are great to listen to.

Speaking of listening…

Soundtrack. The soundtracks from Mario games are typically very good, and this was no different. Each song fits their atmosphere nicely. There was not one point in which I wanted to turn the volume down, and that’s pretty much all I can ask for. My favorite tunes came from the Fungi Mines and Deep Magma Bog worlds. While it’s not my favorite overall soundtrack from a Mario game, it’s still a pleasure to listen to, and there will be some songs I’m sure will be some songs that will assault my mind for a little while.

Level Design. The level designs were great, even without the Wonder Flower effects. Besides the regular levels, the additions of the KO Arena and Search Party levels were a blast to play through. The Special World levels each provided a unique set of challenges. Then of course, there is the Final-Final Test Badge Marathon level. That was the most frustrating level I have played since Crown Champion’s Road in Super Mario 3D World. However, I felt a huge sense of accomplishment when I finally completed it (it only cost me 40 lives and 80% of my sanity). As I mentioned earlier, however, having the Invisibility Badge section last is pure evil. Fortunately, I was able to get the gold flag post on the first try; otherwise, I may have destroyed my controller because I had no intention of going through that again just to get it. The last badge was funny to use (the one thing I won’t spoil); however, it was underwhelming as a final reward. Besides that, the levels get an A+ in my book.

Neutral:

Voices. As we all know, Charles Martinet stepped away from his role as the voices of Mario, Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi a couple months back. However, it was also revealed that Deanna Mustard no longer voices Daisy, which is sad to see. I’m happy Samantha Kelly is still around, and I hope she gets to voice Peach in Princess Peach Showtime because it would be a shame for her to not voice Peach in her first solo game in almost two decades. Back to Wonder, Kevin Afghani is the new voice for Mario and Luigi, and this is the game in which he makes his debut. He has some big shoes to fill seeing how beloved Martinet is in the Mario community. I used Mario during my playthrough, and I have to say he did a very credible job voicing the heroic plumber. He kept the cheerful energy Mario is known for, and that’s the main thing I hoped to hear. I’ve only heard a few clips of Luigi via online play when other players used him, however, so the jury is still out on that. The same can be said for Giselle Fernandez, who is the new voice for Daisy. Those are the only reasons I have them here in the neutral section.

The Final Boss Battle. I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, the aesthetics, music, and concept were interesting. It was a fun experience. On the other, the battle itself was one of the easier ones. It was over when I felt it was only getting started. At the end of day, if there’s a word on how I felt about the Final Boss Fight, it would be ambivalent.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, Super Mario Bros Wonder was a great experience like I mentioned previously. While there were some things I didn’t care for too much, the positives far outweigh the negatives. As a longtime Mario fan going back to the original Super Mario Brothers, the main thing I wanted was great gameplay and to have fun, which is a staple in the Mario series. SMBW gave me all of that and then some. 😁Although I’m going to take a break from it now thanks to the Final-Final Test Badge Marathon level draining me, I can safely say I will pick this up and play it again some time in the future. Maybe it will be after I play the Super Mario RPG remake (which I preordered and hope to play on the day it arrives). It is one of the better platformers and a step up from the New Super Mario Bros games (for the record, I’m probably in the minority when I say I enjoyed the NSMB series considering how maligned the games are. Having said that, I will not tolerate any shade towards it. 😤). I probably missed a few things in this review, but I’d like to think I hit the majority of the topics I wanted to talk about. 😂

Score:

8.8/10

[driftingballoons]

Do you have any opinions on the other mystery dungeon games? Like obviously explorers is the best but how do you feel about the others?

Ooooh you’ve opened the floodgates :D

I never played red/blue rescue team, but I watched a playthrough once, it looked like a lot of fun! I considered the remake, but it’s very $60, so still not sure.

I overall enjoyed Gates, really had fun playing with the new-at-the-time gen 5 pokemon (god that was eons ago). The whole twist with munna and hydreigon got me, I do like a twist villain/ally ahaha, although it felt a little like a rehash of explorers. Also I liked how they got kinda meta at the end, talking about how they wish you could come back while looking “at” you. I think the big issues I had were that I was going in still thinking about the impact of explorers of sky had, and the plot here just…didn’t do it for me. It all seemed kind of small scale, I found many of the characters quite forgettable, and the relative lack of post game was kinda disappointing. Also, while there were lots of beautiful visuals with the 3D art, I did miss the older style and sprites.

As for super, I think they improved over a lot of the stuff from gates. It felt like there more world building went in to it—I loved exploring all the different continents, lots of eye candy! I also liked the emphasis on connections throughout, and how each pokemon was more of an individual. It also made the missions more compelling than in explorers; instead of saving 1000 budews from various dungeons, the way you could do the mission for one and then see all their “connections” really helped flesh out the characters. Plus the callbacks—I’m a sucker for callbacks, so seeing all the past teams and everything was really fun (although it did make me question the timeline of explorers; the guild members and everyone were there, but also the future trio ahaha). The plot felt more compelling to me than gates as well, although again, I found the characters quite forgettable :( Also having partner be the one to disappear had more impact for me…cried more than gates for sure 🙈

other drawbacks…again the 3D sprites (I played as snivy and hnnng they kind of struggle to render it and it’s evolutions faces in 3D 😅). Otherwise maybe just the predictability of some of it? Like I was already expecting a twist villain, and having the main villain be another conceptual entity was a bit boring. Also, it felt like the great negativity it was supposed to be wasn’t as prevalent throughout the game as the hopelessness in gates. Also, the logic behind hero/partner losing their memories was a bit weird to me…like if you failed in past attempts, I should think you’d wanna remember so you can LEARN from your mistakes 🤷🏼‍♀️

explorers wasn’t perfect either, but I think the plot, themes, style, and the time it came into my life was what made it my favorite of the series :3

[firsttarotreader]

Speaking of unhinged fans, I really need people to stop reviewing the show before it comes out. Seeing the review bombing on rotten tomatoes, metacritic, IMDB, etc is stressing me TF out not because it's all negative, but because people are giving false reviews on a show that's not even out yet. Are people really THAT worried about a show succeeding or failing? It's scary how people think it's okay to just... lie about something like that like the false 5 stars will prompt people to retaliate with smear scores and both are dishonest and I can't imagine this not impacting the show in some way. I wish all the websites listed would block reviewing abilities until the day after an episode/show comes out cause this is just effing madness and (I hate to say it) makes me kinda sick of the show already and I love the game. I think I may go dark regarding the show until after all the episodes air so that I can just... form my own opinion after how suffocating everything and everyone has been in the last few weeks. I hate that for all of us, I wish we all had the mental and emotional capacity to not ruin things for people.

But I don’t think the fans are doing that, anon, it’s the dude bros, the bitter assholes who were pissed off the casting wasn’t their dream one. But I think the real fans will make the score better for the show when it actually premieres. 🤷‍♀️

[queer-and-dear-books]

Title: Love Somebody

Author: Rachel Roasek

Genre: YA Fiction | Romance | Friendship | LGBTQ+

Content Warnings: Parental Abuse | Abandonment

Overall Rating: 8.9/10

Personal Opinion: This is The Half of It but set in a progressive town. But it’s a pretty good story formula if I’m being honest. Girl helps the boy get another girl but ends up falling for the girl herself. You can’t really go wrong with it, especially with characters with as much depth and personality as Sam, Ros, and Christian. Sam views love as a game, Ros thinks love can only hurt you in the end, and Christian thinks love is a light. Who’s right? Well, the answer is pretty obvious. But there isn’t just one way to view love, as this book will show.

Do I Own This Book? No.

Spoilers Below For My Likes & Dislikes:

Likes:

- The depth of the characters is what I really like. Sam wants to be like Emma Watson when she grows up. She doesn’t want to be a nobody so she pushes herself to the point of breaking just to prove that she can be somebody. Ros saw the way losing his husband broke her dad. She became fearful of letting people close because she was so afraid of losing them. Her idea of love is that it’s tragic. Christian is a genuinely nice guy who is always agreeable even when something doesn’t necessarily agree with him. He’s a doormat like his best friend says. These three people are so different but the connection they have makes them so interesting to read about. Seeing Ros open up to Sam and Christian, seeing Christian become braver because of the girls’ influence, seeing Sam realize that she doesn’t have to prove anything to anybody (definitely not to a mother that basically abandoned her), that’s where the story is.

- The people in the main three characters’ lives are also truly special. Monty is a good best friend for watching out for Christian and urging him to do better for himself. Aimee is just downright adorable. Nana is so sweet for always supporting Sam in every endeavor and making her a priority in her life. And Ros’s dad is such a good man in general! He’s a wise man whose love for his kid is almost palpable.

- Ros’s final submission for the Bellerose Assembly was just perfect. I mean, I thought her original idea was very cool even if it was morose. But I love that she took what everyone’s idea of love was and put it into her presentation. I do wish she would’ve gone up to the lectern and finished it off by saying what love meant to her but this was still good. And I think a good way to show Sam that she still cared about her.

- I’m sort of obsessed with Loredo too now. I think it’s such an interesting detail to include about a character. Sam, as a little girl, wanted so badly to go to Loredo but then her mother denied her. Told her nobody important came from Loredo. It became their inside joke to always talk shit about tiny towns like Loredo and Sam used that as her motivation to push herself. She even kept the map! It’s such an intriguing character trait.

- I was most interested in the Will storyline to be honest. He just disappeared and Christian never questioned it because his parents were okay with him being gone. But it makes me so happy that Christian made contact with Will and even went to New York to find him.

Dislikes:

- I’m not sure Sam and Ros had the most chemistry. I felt it, it was there. But I guess I just wasn’t sure if I felt the love between them since most of their starting interactions and thoughts about each other were largely negative. We spent so much time with all the characters assuming things about one another, we don’t get to delve as deeply into their interactions. I know, I know, Ros fell for Sam through the bits she saw in Christian. But I didn’t feel the love between them! I just didn’t. I don’t know, maybe it’s because my love languages are physical touch and quality time so I don’t get it.

- Fuck Christian’s parents! It’s no wonder Will decided to leave. I know parents like that. The kind that expect their children to be carbon copies of themselves and impose their values/beliefs/wants onto them. It’s wrong. And I am glad Christian is learning to fight it and that Will got to escape from that situation. Hopefully Aimee doesn’t have to suffer as much as her brothers did.

- Ros using Christian like that as, what, some sort of petty revenge against Sam was so wrong. But I get why she did it. Still, going that far? Yuck. Girl, I know virginity is a construct but you still deserve something better than that. 

- Sam and Christian didn’t know that Ros found out about them lying to her. So why was it written like they did know that? All they knew after Monty’s party was that Sam confessed her feelings to Ros and then Ros and Christian had sex. Why were they talking to Ros later like the problem was the lying? It just feels like a mistake in the editing process.

[reasonsichanged]

R

R for running away.

K and D told me they’re pregnant two days ago and I’m suddenly (unsurprisingly) thinking about my future and all the possible timelines and what could become of them. This is the first year I feel truly old and recognize I can’t go back in time to do college over again, redo the last five years of working fro home. Can’t redo all the suicidal years. And I won’t be able to redo whatever decision about children I made with C. I don’t want that to be something I trust him on without expressing my deep reservations. I think if I went off this medication, I would die. It’s the only thing tethering me to earth, because nothing else matters when you feel so hopeless and unimportant that you just want the world to go dark. There’s a manifesto somewhere in a journal justifying why dying will always be the answer.

I don’t think C knows me in that way. I said it once and I think he forgot — I can’t hold it against him because of his ADHD, but I do somewhat at the same time. “I wish he was as curious about me as I am about him,” from the ADHD Partners subreddit. I come outside and he talks about himself and his own revelations and then gets up and leaves. I wrote I felt heard in that book about why I love him, but it wasn’t exactly true when I wrote it and it isn’t true now.

Today I was writing a cynical post about one of the Newbery books and he seemed upset that I felt so negatively about it. He apologized for pushing his own newfound views of mindfulness and Buddhism and whatnot onto me, and I said I was afraid that he would see me differently. He didn’t really answer the question, but I think he would. I think I will always be like this. What C finds profoundly cynical and negative is what I’ve learned from other people.

Just because he’s older doesn’t mean he knows everything. I think he’s wrong about having children. I’m now as old as he was when we met, more or less, and I’ve been with him since that time. He’s had no other experience with kids, just things he likes on Bob’s Burgers. It just isn’t that way. It’s messy and unfair (of course it will be, because of his weak stomach and forgetfulness). I don’t know how to express that I don’t trust him to step up. And once again, if the decision is made and it doesn’t work out, I will shoulder the burden — like I’ve shouldered it before, and perhaps always will. The cheerleader.

I told that to C and he gave the opinion that being a cheerleader is a good thing, and I told him that it wasn’t the right word. “Cheerleader” means being on the sidelines of someone else’s life at the expense of missing your own game. It means being the bottom of the pyramid, supporting the weight while they score the winning goal. It means going home on separate buses after the game until the following weekend. The football player doesn’t trade places with the cheerleader. The roles are set and clearly defined.

I think C would say that that’s not always true, but here’s the cynicism coming out again, as it always will. I will compulsively take on things I don’t want to do, do favors I don’t want to take, and be unable to say no or speak up for myself when it counts. I will sit at home in bed and not go to the weekly crafting sessions at the library. I will never walk on that wilderness trail by myself, the one I’ve seen and wanted to explore since moving to Mt. Lebo three years ago. I’m jealous of C for having no barriers to doing anything he wants to. He’ll stop in and buy a plant from a hole-in-the-wall shop or go renew his passport without any problems, yet I actively dread having to do those things. My world is so small. His is unencumbered, and yet he chooses to stay at home doing nothing. He chooses to not go make friends. Maybe it’s because of me that he doesn’t do that.

He’s going to come outside and I’ll be close to tears and he’ll ask what’s wrong, and then he’ll say that journaling can put you in a bad mood and he doesn’t want that for me. I hate when he says “hey” and wants me to look at him when I’m upset, as if eye contact will make it better. I hate that and need to tell him. Eye contact is the last thing I want, when he has to see me at my ugliest. If that’s my biggest problem, I could never have kids.

I feel like I’m hurtling toward some future that I don’t think I want. Maybe I don’t even want to be married. Maybe I want to wake up and just start driving somewhere else. Being available to other guys made me feel worth something, just like having a relationship in high school did. I could show I was desirable to someone enough for them to want to be with me. But marriage can be chalked up to just two weirdos. I’ll be put in a place I don’t want to be but have always belonged. The sustaining “something could happen tonight” feeling will be gone for good.

If only C could do something to make me feel like I need to prove something to him, like I need to charm him to gain his affections. I can do that much, when it feels like I have to earn compliments. When you have too much of something, it grows old. When you have too many mashed potatoes on your plate, you don’t want to eat them anymore, even if they’re your favorite side dish at the buffet.

If that’s the case, can I structure my life to purposefully have less and always be wanting more? I can postpone an Amazon delivery a few days, but I can’t change it when kids are involved. Kids are always too much, an addition you didn’t want and will always mess up. I don’t know how people aren’t scared to death. I love my parents, but there’s a limit that they drew themselves and a line that I don’t cross anymore. I keep some distance, whether they know it or not. They are deeply flawed people who shouldn’t have been together since 1998, when dad left the first time. When people show you who they are, believe them the first time. And yet mom is still there, letting herself be treated poorly by Ken because she doesn’t understand what a healthy relationship looks like. And dad will never, ever say anything to inconvenience anyone or be a burden because he tries to be exactly what his father isn’t: an annoying, egotistic old man. But when you model a lack of self-worth, it leaves a mark. When you model inconsistency because you have your own attachment issues to figure out, it’s passed down.

It comes across as noble to say “I don’t want to fuck up any future humans,” but no, it’s not. It’s selfish because I don’t trust myself to not be abusive or hurtful or say things in anger that can never be unsaid. I don’t trust myself to not say “you made me hit my dogs” or call a kid ugly in every way but verbally. I don’t trust myself to not retaliate when my ego is at stake. And I don’t want to give up being the main character in my own story. I’m supposed to have all the answers for future kids, and if I don’t, I risk what dad did — telling me I should be happy with the three friends I have because that’s all I’ll ever have in life, or that if I feel bad about the way I look, it’s my fault because only I can fill my own cup of self-worth. Advice instead of comfort, and then anger when that advice isn’t heeded. “Now I’m just a man in his 50s and you’re a 14-year-old, but…” There is no “but.”

I just can’t even imagine the childhood C must have had for him to ever want to produce life. I will never be able to do that. I have to tell him that, and I’ll have to run away if it does happen because I’d never be able to face him again and he can have a chance with someone else. The way I think about it now, it feels completely inevitable that that’s the future I will have. I think we will reach an impasse that we can’t recover from. I don’t look forward to it.