#i wish there was more lore or mention or emotions about these guys in game

[whentheydied]

scintillation

[meanbossart]

So, not sure if you've covered this. But I thought I'd ask. How do you feel about the durgetash subtext? Are you pro or against? How do you treat the "relationship" / "partnership" between them? I'm curious to know how their interactions would play out hahah. (Im very pro Durgetash, cause... well. Yeah.)

First of all, obviously I'm all for people interpreting subtext however they wish to interpret it, and I think there's more than enough in the game to imply a canonical romance between The Dark Urge and Gortash; some of my favorite artists on here delve into that and I think both their art and theories are brilliant. Especially as the canon stands now, I think it's more likely that they DID have something going on rather than not, though I doubt Larian will ever confirm it one way or another to allow the player freedom with their avatar's background.

That said, in the lore I decided for DU drow they did NOT have a romantic relationship, although they did have a complicated one. My first impression upon meeting Gortash at his coronation (this was long before all the dialogue Larian added) was of someone who wanted desperately to butter me up to get his plans back on track. Yes, I do think he was happy to see the drow, but that's because he knew DU drow would honor their initial agreement (had his memories not been erased, at least) and was indeed more reliable than Orin - who clearly wanted to achieve things on her own instead of entertaining their alliance even before betraying her brother.

I did a write-up a while back on what DU Drow's perception and plans for Enver were here, but I would like to make some additions!

First of all I didn't clarify this, but when I talk about "love" in that post I did not mean the romantic kind. What DU drow had for Gortash was a tenderness that he could not bring himself to entertain in earnest because of his profoundly skewed sense of empathy and emotions. He did relate to Gortash, He did admire how he had lifted himself up from nothing and how he easily brushed off DU drow's attempts to get under his skin. DU could simply never admit such a thing or even recognize it in himself - had he been a more sane man they would have been dear friends, and there would be glimpses of that could-be friendship in how they interacted before. Gortash was probably equal parts annoyed and charmed by the Bhaalspawn's high eccentricity, his gaudy style and extreme bluntness and shamelessness- he thought he was fascinating enough to put up with his attitude, not to mention that he was reliable and got things done when he set his mind to it.

(More under cut)

Alas, DU Drow wasn't raised to entertain friendship or tenderness whatsoever prior to getting a clean reset to his brain - this doesn't change the fact that he is, by nature, a very intense man, and those emotions had to come out in one way or another. Hence his weird preocuppation with Gortash and how he made him feel. He is primed to become extremely conflicted in his feelings towards anyone who sticks around in his life as anything but a pawn or a victim, and Enver constantly tried to pose himself as a friend - arguably a even more baffling concept to DU drow than if he wanted to be a lover - because then he would at least be seeking out sex from their interpersonal exchanges. This is also why a lot of DU drow's focus when insulting/trying to torment him would have been sexually charged, besides a simple desire to shock and objectify himself and others as sacks of meat to be fucked and killed.

But Gortash grew up in literal hell, I think his capacity to withstand abuse from others (and swiftly brush it off) would have been extremely well honed, especially if it will ultimately get him what he wants. He never flinched at the guy's constant allusions to perversion and cruelty, likely rolled his eyes at it even lol. This would have been very disarming to DU drow and kept him coming back for more, and fostered (along everything else I mentioned) the admiration brought up in-game in that one letter durge writes to Bhaal. That letter would have been a very rare moment of clarity and introspection between DU drow and his father - perhaps the only entity he could ever disclose this kind of conflict to, much like a man having a crisis of faith is still likely to turn to the very god he's doubting for comfort.

I haven't yet decided how Gortash felt towards him, though, besides the aforementioned fascination mixed with irritation. I do think that after being tad-poled, when DU drow shows up in his coronation room looking so dramatically different from the man he knew (hair unkempt, clothes reduced to their practicality, shell shocked stare, the absence of his usual, lecherous grin) he would have thought what a shame that was, that this relentless beast he knew would never allign himself with someone beneath his caliber, often to the point of being unreasonable, had squandered his own ambition and was now in such meager company lol like he's got this half-elf girl just short of hanging onto his arm, this squishy wizard that he would have chewed up like hide in his teeth once, and the smug little elf? That's just his type, but the man Gortash knew had eyes for no one but his sister - regardless of how often he tried to warn him of her duplicitous nature. Ohhh what a mess she made of him, he wishes he remembered anything so he could at least say I told you so.

[bratgoatswiss]

Apologies for length, have to save the cut for spoilers.

I FINISHED VEILGUARD!

I have. So many thoughts and emotions about it and I'm still processing but I just wanted to counter some of the vitriol I'm seeing from people who are doing the Fandom thing with what I hope are reasonable, normal thoughts. Ha. Haha. Anyway. Mostly spoiler free but there's one small thing and one BIG thing that is that I'll put under the read more.

There was a lot to like about this game. The combat was fun and I think upon a 2nd playthrough it'll be even better. Some of it could get repetitive but its not a big gripe.

The characters were very endearing and felt well fleshed out as people and I enjoyed spending time with them. Most of the side quests were related to your companions in some way and I thought that was clever. Some were more interesting than others.

The writing has been contentious and I can see why. It can get cheesy and predictable in places, but overall I thought it was very similar to DA2. I enjoyed it and thought it reflected some realistic responses to what was happening around you. If you're here for gritty edgelord shit 24/7 go play Dark Souls you weirdo.

I can only speak for the Lucanis romance cause I love an angsty man, but it was perhaps, underpadded. It was slow and sweet and I did like it very much but I could have used some...more you know? I didn't even get to see my own tits and that's tragic.

Solas. I did not romance the egg in DAI. I do not like the egg. I liked how I got to handle the egg. So much. I've seen the Lavellan romance scenes and if there's any uproar from the Sollavellans (one l or 2?) it's because they didn't let you see the 2 of them fuck nasty in high definition for an hour. It's Rooks story now. You're fine. Go write fanfiction.

The lore. Hoo boy. Honestly they really did put everything in a blender and fished out what they liked. Everything is made up and the points don't matter. I don't LOVE that they retconned so much of what was in Origins. Zevran and the Crows especially seems really odd. I THINK the idea is that it's been like 20-30ish years since all that and stuff has changed or information was wrong or inaccurate or whatever? But that seems lazy. I wish they'd addressed it more with SOMETHING. But also there's 3 games worth of lore, not to mention comics and novels and like. I get it. But consistency guys. Add more codex entries or something. This is my biggest gripe. It did not impact my enjoyment too much. I loved what was added.

Spoilers below

That ending was so ABRUPT?! At least with DAI you got a ending party and final scene with your LI but here you get some end cards and voice over? I would have accepted that if we were getting DLC but this?? This is insane! Bioware I am begging on my knees to give us at least a "well we did it!" scene. The ending was epic but the ENDING was a disappointment.

Now. The suicide mission. I spent [redacted] number of hours investing blood, sweat, and tears of friendship into these 7 assholes and there is NO way to save 1 of them?? And you have to choose between Harding and Davrin??? Just those 2?? There should be a way to save them! Don't give me the no matter what crap! I don't want CONSEQUENCES I want FRIENDSHIP. If you could do it in ME2 you should be able to do it here. Also. Can we not have it be 50/50 heroic sacrifice with a black man? Like. I know you can technically choose but like why make it an option. It just feels weird.

So yeah. Initial thoughts and feelings. Overall good with some stuff I really disliked. I will be normal about this eventually.

I'll probably regret sending this out into the world when the sollavellens find me. Oh well.

[izar-tarazed]

Welcome!

What this is: This blog is mostly dedicated to my Elden Ring OC Izar (and well, her companion Ensha – more about them below). There might also be other content (other games, DnD 5e, writing) unless I’ll feel the need to create specific sideblogs for that (unlikely, I lack the energy).

What I do: I’ll mostly share screenshots, headcanons, storytelling, and writing snippets. (Here's my tag list!) While this is not a pure RP blog I very much enjoy RPing, so feel free to shoot me a prompt/starter whenever you like! (For more information regarding RP, flip through the Stargazer's Cookbook over here!)

Who I am: You can call me Zari. I’m over 30, she/her. Not a native English speaker, so bear with me if I say strange things. Expect occasional ramblings about the glory of freelance life, and know that there is never enough coffee.

Izar Tarazed, Tarnished Astrologer

Izar barely remembers anything from the time before her awakening in the Lands Between – just her name and what she knew of the stars. However, the stars above the Lands Between are different, their lore mostly lost to her, so she gathers stories and bits of information wherever she can.

Her most treasured possessions are her telescope and her map-making tools.

Whenever she gets the chance, Izar will sit and work on her celestial maps, preferably beneath the golden light of grace, trying to figure out constellations and their possible meanings. Working on her maps also calms her down and helps her focus.

She’s often more driven by her astrological curiosity than by the ambition to become Elden Lord – she’ll confront Rennala mainly because she wants access to the library of Raya Lucaria, and Radahn because she wishes to set the stars back in motion.

Izar relies mostly on her sorceries – the Comet and Night Comet are her favorites – and only starts improving her skills with melee weapons and a shield when Ensha insists on teaching her.

Personality

Izar is a little geek when it comes to astrology and will talk about it with neverending enthusiasm. At a new place, its (potential) view of the night sky is usually the first thing she’ll check.

She values the friendships and alliances she makes, being protective of those she cares about; that might be both her greatest strength and her greatest weakness.

Upon meeting someone for the first time, she'll rather be calm and cautious, but much more confident, cheeky and bubbly once she feels comfortable.

The fact that she doesn’t remember who she was before bothers her more than she lets on.

Izar soon realizes that she isn't as ambitious about taking the Elden Throne as she maybe should be. Her true dream is running the Academy of Raya Lucaria and turning it into a welcoming place where knowledge is not hoarded but shared.

When upset, she can be pretty defiant, sarcastic and snappy.

Sir, That’s My Emotional Support Skeleton

Izar spares Ensha’s life when he attacks her at the Roundtable Hold.

This leads to them being sent out on a mission together to track down Latenna (which, of course, doesn’t go as planned). While they start out deeply suspicious of each other, teaming up only reluctantly, they eventually come to trust each other and, despite some challenges, become close friends, which leads to certain tensions considering his loyalty to Sir Gideon.

(I’m not entirely sure what Ensha is, but I’m leaning way more into the headcanons of the somehow animated armor/actual skeleton with some kind of relation to the ancient king mentioned in the description of the Royal Remains set, rather than just being some guy with a skull mask.)

Ensha will often travel with Izar, having her back and finding picturesque dungeon walls to lean against and ponder how on earth this careless astrologer can still be alive. (He's exaggerating, of course. Izar can definitely handle herself ... most of the time.)

Ensha tends to be more wary of others than Izar is. He's extremely perceptive and quite good at reading people (and finding things). He often encourages Izar to put in the work to improve her skills, and be more disciplined about her goals. However, he's also surprisingly fine with engaging in all kinds of mischievous shenanigans with her.

Since Ensha doesn’t speak, their communication process is a little rocky at first but improves once Izar gets better (and eventually good) at understanding his sign language. From then on, they'll often have some partially silent banter going on, and are able to communicate subtly if the situation calls for it.

Izar is also able to sense Ensha's emotions to a certain extent (more on that headcanon here).

[theultimatekamehamehavoc]

As of lately, I've been pondering about Kyoko. This is going to be chockful of spoilers (even if Danganronpa isn't that new anymore. Mostly just the Hopes Peak Saga stuff) but I digress. Also, since I asked a few questions during this, I shall mark the questions with a bolded blue to make them more easier to find. Also, color is fun :)

Anyway, regarding Kyoko and her burn scars on her hands, how bad ARE they? I am unsure if it is established if they still hurt or if they don't hurt at all. She clearly uses her hands after all but that doesn't mean that they still can't hurt her. Like, maybe BECAUSE she uses her hands a lot for detective work, they might hurt more? Or maybe have more tolerance? After all, Kyoko could have a high pain tolerance for instance or, since she's pretty decent at hiding her emotions for people, she could just be suppressing that pain really well. But, again, I am unsure if it has ever been established if they hurt her in any way. They definitely used to hurt her since they are burn scars, but that's the only thing I can say is definitive about them. I may be wrong on some things though which is why I ask this. Also, I am unsure if this is a dumb question or not but could her burn scars be considered a kind of disability? I tried looking it up and it just gave me stuff about Veterans. Not that I'm that good at research but still. And, besides, Kyoko's not a Veteran! She's Kyoko! So, I don't know. I also tried looking up just burns in general but I didn't get stuff about burn SCARS as well. Though, maybe since they're scars, they don't count?? It's also not like I know a lot about burn scars. I wish to educate myself though which is also why I ask this too! Another thing I want to note is that just hit me that there are like, only a few actually confirmed disabled characters and that's also not really delving into if they are good representation which I don't feel is my say if they are. But anyway, for the characters, all I really got is Toko with her DID and also Nagito too. He probably qualifies too to some extent with all those illnesses he has going on. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong though! I'm sort of bad with the second game anyway as THH is more of my jam in regards of all the lore. Also think Nekomaru also counts but that I am also unsure of. Also have no clue how to rank him with his robofication that didn't really last that long since the guy croaked soon after. I could also maybe say Miaya Gekkogahara from the Danganronpa 3 anime but she's like, a robot or something! She was a person too, but I do not remember if she needed some mobility device like how the robot version of her had the chair and Monomi that she used to speak. Then again, it doesn't help that I'm not the best with remembering everything from Danganronpa 3. Am worse at all the lore in Danganronpa 3 than with Danganronpa: Goodbye Despair. Sure has been a while with both but especially with Danganronpa 3 But, yeah. Pretty sure the number of canon disabled characters in Danganronpa can be counted on a singular hand or at least a hand and a half. Are there other characters with canonical disabilities that I am missing though? If I am missing those, I wish to know or something! One other thing as I dunno where to add this, but I could maaaaybe see an argument for maybe Hajime since of what happened to him with the Izuru stuff. Not really sure because I am unsure on how one would rank that since Izuru's got the whole "having every talent" thing. Though, I'm not too well versed with Hajime to begin with which is why I wanted to at least mention it. Hope I didn't get too confusing in all of this. These are just thoughts.

[fudge24-7]

Spamton for the send the character thing 👍

Send Me a Character & I'll Tell You✨️

My first impression:

I thought he was a fun character, I didn't think about how odd he was nearly enough though, he reminded me of mad dummy a bit with how he jumpscared me from some trash and wanted my soul, i was also reminded of mettaton when he mentioned showing off our soul, in general spamton felt like a classic undertale interaction, which I should have realised was odd to have in deltarune where practically no one else even mentions your soul, was a bit surprised how much everyone was into him because I never did his side quest due to misunderstanding his instructions, but I also couldn't blame them because he's pretty fun

My impression now:

God, I love him so much, I want to kiss this puppet scam artist so bad, And His lore drives me insane in a good way, so damn tragic, Yet he's also really dang funny too, it's honestly a shame I didn't get to do his sidequest blind before getting things from it spoiled, or maybe it is good I nearly cried watching my sister beat spamton neo when I already knew what was gonna happen, I can only imagine how much emotional damage it would have dealt if I experienced it blind, all in all a wonderful character he's been living in my head rent free for almost 3 years now

Favorite thing about that character:

Hmm, that's tough, maybe a tie between his lore and his dialogue/personality, I frigging love how much there is to this guy, I might have to go with dialogue honestly though there's so many good lines of his

Least favorite thing:

Probably the fact he calls noelle a hoochie mama (well "hochi mama" but its not hard to geuss thats what hes trying to say), sir that is a teenager why are you basically calling her a whore- (I should probably clarify I don't see this as like a writing flaw on Toby's part, it's just probably my least favorite thing about spamton personally)

Favorite Line/scene:

Line wise it's a bit silly, but "YOU'VE GOT [guts] KID! THATS [Discomfort and abdominal pain] IN MY [guts]!", idk it seems like he's going to say something positive about kris having guts, and then he says that, hilarious to me, "turn up the juice turn up the juice make sure to not get any on your shoes" is pretty dang great too though

as for scene, deffinitly the one where you've almost cut all his strings during the neo fight. Obviously it ends very sadly with him just falling on the ground and realizing he'll never be free but, idk him finally realizing kris is trying to help him, it's bittersweet, he's probably been pretty convinced for a while no one would ever genuinely want to help him, and he seems so touched when he finally realizes kris does, it gets to me, the scene after he falls on the ground is really good too

Favorite interaction that character has with another:

His interactions with kris is kind of an obvious one, but Honestly, I think his interaction with noelle we learn about from the sweepstakes is really sweet, how she was the first person to read his emails, so he sent her that code for a pipis in that game she played, which his brackets imply was probably the first gift he ever gave anyone, idk to me it shows a sweeter side to spamton you don't usually get to see, also the implication that even when he tries to do something nice he ends up sending a suspicious link that crashes a cumpter is pretty funny (also kind of sad when you really think about it)

A character that I wish that character would interact with more:

Hmm, maybe noelle I geuss? Or berdly maybe that would be pretty damn interesting to me, I do get why we never see him do so in chapter 2 though

Another character from another fandom that reminds me of that character:

Hmm, I can't think of any that came to mind while i was playing, do ones you think of afterwards after seeing them count? Theres honestly quite a few... but you know what you can have one that deals me slight psychic damage, jack frost from the 3rd Santa Claus movie, yeah you know the movie trilogy that started with a man becoming Santa after the original died from falling off his roof? Jack frost from the 3rd one kind of reminds me of him

A headcanon about that character:

I like to think his brackets quoting ads and things in the internet constantly is like when autistic people quote things from movies and things like that to help communicate, Yes this is basically me headcanoning him as Autistic, actually there's more related to him being autistic where that came from, the fact his smile is an "award losing" one being the result of him not being able to control his facial expressions well, him being a spam email while his peers are regular ads could work really well as allegory for being autistic among allistics as well, especailly being undiagnosed with how the addisons say he was "just like the rest of us" and don't seem to want to acknowledge or say that he's different from them in any way, even though he is, and how because he most likely didn't realise he was, he tried really hard to be like them and failed and didn't get why (before he gets that phone call even), (idk of toby fox intended for it to be, part of why its with headcanon stuff, i just think it could be interpreted that way)

this one's a bit of a stretch, since he probably is willing to push boundaries to get what he wants if how he acts when you try to decline his deal is anything to go by, but he also doesnt seem to ever acknowledge how uncomfortable he makes kris, going all the way up to their face even though they backed up from him, I could see that being him being bad at picking up social cues, and also struggling with boundaries like how close you should get to someone (like i said, it's deffinitly a stretch)

A song that reminds me of that character:

Too many, I have a private 2 hour long playlist on spotify full of songs that make me think of this guy, if I typed out every one that would be a lot of songs so just have a few, 'Everybody Loves Me' by OneRepublic (specifically him during his big shot days in 1997), 'The Drunk' by Kiltro, and 'Shake My Hand, Look In My Eyes' by Rinse & Repeat

An unpopular opinion about that character:

Was going to say not believing in acid theory, but I feel like that isn't unpopular enough so, I don't think he was as much of a shy wittle soft guy uwu as people make him out to be pre big shot days, I mean it's not impossible, but the one thing we learn about him is that he'd run his mouth about making it big some day every night he was at the cyber grill, which tells me he was probably more like, ambitious and confident really, I mean I'm sure deep down he had his doubts but I don't think he was that open about them

I mean there's nothing wrong with portraying him as shy, and once again he could have been for all we know, but I think it's refreshing when people approach addispam differently, and it would be nice to see more takes based off what we're given rather then what would seem more sad

Favorite picture:

Every. single. one. Ok actually to be more specific one of these two, hard to pick, love how messed up he looks in the right one from the door knob thing, but I also love the left one because look at him, he's so happy to be eating that nice big cheeseburger, he should get to eat big tasty cheeseburgers forever <3

[thegeminisage]

ohhhh it's tng update time. i have a lot to catch up on. wednesday we did "ensign ro" and "silicon avatar" and last night we did "disaster" and "the game."

a brief interruption to amend an error on my previous tng liveblog concerning the episode "redemption." i did NOT mention the part where data got his own command and the first officer was racist to him about it. my brain was so numbed by klingon happenings - and again, they're fine episodes, it was MYYY fault for watching both of those episodes at once AND the second one with a bad connection (we had to reconnect like 1000000 times), but due to this i did straight up forget about data's role here. my thoughts are: this could and should have been the a plot of an entire episode, not the b plot of worf's episode. this late in the game, you kind of run the risk of data's big episodes becoming too same-y - that usually what happens is that someone is misguided or prejudiced in their beliefs about him and are in the end proven wrong - but i think the first command is different enough to be distinct. data building genuine trust with his actions and not his words would have been really fun!! especially if he models his captaining like he does his art - by picking bits and pieces of his real-life examples, like riker & picard. it's a shame they wasted this on a b-plot :(

ANYWAY.

ensign ro: i have to admit i wasnt sure about my girl ro at first. i absolutely support her cause and her beliefs but there was one part where. and i dont remember specifics because this was on wednesday. they like asked her to do something and she didn't and i support her but GIRL if you fuck around and dont do your job they will send you back to space jail. so i was worried that she was stupid in like the literal sense

fortunately she fucking RULES. i liked the part where bev and deanna were like can we sit down :D and she was like no <3 and they had to leave. but i also liked guinan getting through to her and becoming her friend too. i think ro should kiss some women about it (more on this later)

i was kind of bummed riker wasnt the one to let her put her earring back on since he was the dick who made her take it off, but at least she did get to put it back on. i was soooo mad when he made her remove it

LOVE to find out more about the cardassians. i'm excited for that freaky guy and the dr he wants to fuck in ds9, this feels like a real prelude moment

also, love the barber in this episode. in a world where they no longer have to even cook food, haircutting is miraculously still done by hand

silicon avatar: i had a lot of mixed feelings about/issues with this one initially but the ending ultimately took it into watchable territory on account of it popping the fuck off

biggest issue is that they basically retconned the hell out of the first episode this crystal monster was in (the iconic datalore aka "ARE YOU PREPARED FOR THE KIND OF DEATH YOU'VE EARNED LITTLE MAN")

in that ep lore was DEFINITELY able to communicate with it without all the drama and he also communicated enough with it to be like "hey, if you don't eat me, i can show you where lots of edible people are" which solves the question of it's intelligent and whether or not it understands it's eating people. the fact that were uwu woobifying this giant people eating death machine is hilarious but also it stretches my suspension of disbelief way too far. like, get outta here.

second biggest issue was the emotional whiplash from this old lady. first she's racist to data and then she wants to butter him up for therapy reasons and finally she's delusional enough to believe her dead son is in there. i actually did like her arc and the idea that she did something monstrous, but it felt like we had too many things crammed in there...again, i love data and i love when data gets big episodes and moments but i wish we could pump the brakes a little with EVERYONE who meets him being anti android or whatever. even the episode where he gets a gf was a welcome change despite it not being very good because it wasn't just more people having doubts because data is an android. and if I'M tired of it, imagine how HE feels. geez. there was no point in having her start from a place of hostility when it didn't go anywhere and actually i probably would have been more tricked into believing she was normal if she HADN'T come at data like that

THAT SAID, the core story of "i will murder this sentient life form because it killed my son even knowing he would hate me for it" is actually metal as fuck. i really liked it. and i think it was sneaky and clever to have her basically ask to use data as a tape recorder before she fully fell off the deep end because who wouldn't want to hear a recording of a deceased loved one? but it's when she asks again, and basically asks data to roleplay him, that you realize her grief is making her bonkers - or that being around data is bringing too much stuff up.

anyway issues aside the end really fucked. she was like data absolve me of the murder i just committed in my dead son's name and he was like sorry queen i can't! and then they just rolled credits. bonkers.

also, can we pour one out for riker? he got uh. i mean he had all of that going on with beverly like just a handful of episodes ago and i was SOOO hoping he was gonna get laid but instead he got. trauma :(

disaster: i LOVED this one. i loved that it paired characters we don't normally see together - like geordi and beverly for instance - and i loved that quite literally everyone got to get up to batshit insane shenanigans at the same time. picard has to learn to interact with the world's most adorable children. deanna is captain of the starship and she should kiss ro about it. geordi and beverly are gonna open the cargo bay to space some radioactive barrels and while they're holding onto a metal ladder with their BARE HANDS. riker is carrying DATA'S DETACHED HEAD around the crawlspaces and meanwhile in ten forward worf is delivering a fucking baby

side bar which uh exit do we think klingon babies come out of. like if they've got two of everything does the baby just pick one or do they have two whole wombs too...do you think klingons are like "oh most of us come out of the right side but watch out for that guy he's fucked in the head i think he came out of his mom's left vagina" i think that'd be hilarious

anyway worf did a great job.

also pleased with the kids this ep...normally star trek kids aren't uh. great. like they're annoying or weird or just not great actors because, you know, kids. but all 3 of those kids had distinct personalities and they were all extremely charming. absolutely masterful casting. they were so fucking cute

idk why but when deanna became enterprise captain she immediately looked 10x hotter and gayer. her disagreements with ro were FRAUGHT with sexual tension. THEY SHOULD KISS.

that said my one true pairing for tng is always gonna be riker e worf e deanna. hands down best moment for these three so far was when riker was like you just cant stay away from the big chair can you ;) and she was like oh im not cut out to be a captain but maybe i could be first officer since i HEAR there aren't many qualifications and worf gives riker this incredulous double-take like "are you gonna let her get away with that" and he's grinning like oh yeah he's Gonna. there truly is such a horrific lack of sexual/romantic energy in this show but whenever deanna and riker start flirting we finally get fed

the game: MY BABY BOY WESLEY IS BACK..........he got tall i MISSED HIM

i loved the opening of this episode. riker seems to have a 50/50 chance these days on whether or not any given encounter with a woman is gonna be an ethical slut moment or a close encounters moment and i am now referring to this phenomenon as riker roulette. is he getting ethically seduced and/or ethically seducing others? or is it....................you know. anyway rip to him for metaphorically bringing an std back to the enterprise from risa

what was this whole thing with deanna eating chocolate also. is all of season 5 gonna be like this? to be clear i'm not complaining. we have a fucking dearth of, sorry, flirty fun and fresh shippy moments for anyone in tng, generally speaking. it's about time they picked up.

my one gripe with this episode is that it is REALLY AWKWARD to have them set this up as "this VR headset is giving people orgasms" and then twice have wesley's mom try and force one on him. like they didn't say orgasms but the subtitles kept going "pleasured gasp" so idk what i was supposed to think those headsets were doing. like i get this was probably unintentional on their part but i still hated it

also it sucks that wesley got to have a little tea break with picard but didn't have time to hang out with his mom...she was barely in his departure episode, too. the writers clearly prioritize his relationship with picard BECAUSE WESLEY IS THEIR AFFAIR BABY! i will die on this hill. those guys fucked and had a baby and got embarrassed abuot it and now wesley doesn't know he's going to inherit male pattern baldness

okay. that concludes this tng update. normally this is the part where i say, "next, we are doing..." and then i list the episodes. i want to take an extra moment to bring added attention to it this time because this time we are doing two VERY. SPECIAL. EPISODES.

NEXT: UNIFICATION PART I AND PART II

NEXT: SPOCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[fyonnkalnonn]

I've been gone for a hot minute. That's because the HDMI cable I use for my Steam Deck went out, so I took the one from my PC instead. While I was gone, I finally got around to Marathon 2, Halo ODST, and Halo 4.

Marathon 2 is a tabletop RPG campaign where the DM has all this cool back story and high-level faction moves planned but they forgot to make space for the player characters to be involved. Also you get total party killed by a dragon when it just flew in circles and breathed fire repeatedly because, quote, "Well, when you think about it, that's how a dragon would really fight." There's still so much to love in Marathon 2's writing, and in its mechanical design, but it's largely failed by its level design. After a certain point, it was so reliable that walking into a new room would spawn 5-12 guys more or less on top of me that I started walking into rooms backwards so I could kill the guy who was going to be blocking the way I came in ASAP. It's like Doom monster closets but literally every single room and without any of the IWBTG-esque "I can't believe that switch was actually a door with eight imps behind it, you got me lmao" interplay between the player and level designer.

Halo ODST fucks. The character writing is kind of boring and trope-y, but the writing knows it and gives them exactly as much screen time as their tropes can sustain. Breaking up Halo set pieces with down-key navigation segments set to an astoundingly forlorn and romantic jazz soundtrack is brilliant. The combo makes the sometimes exhausting All Killer No Filler of Halo campaign design go down so smooth that I played the whole thing in one sitting, only stopping to eat. I wish had more to say about it but it's a case of "executed exactly what it set out to nigh perfectly, no notes."

Halo 4 continues the excellent mechanical design of Halo with the addition of Knights. Playing Halo games on Heroic taught me to play carefully, dismantling enemy groups from cover, advancing slowly. Knights and their entourage demand the same approach for dismantling enemy groups, but outright defy attempts to do it safely. To fight a Knight, you need to be right up in its fucking face, and you need to not give it even a second to breathe or it will recover. They make low-accuracy, high rate-of-fire weapons and shotguns really desirable in a way they tend not to be in other Halo campaigns. Which can you do more reliably: land six consecutive head shots against an enemy that can teleport or dump an Assault Rifle magazine into its face at point blank?

The campaign levels are solid, though it sometimes feels like it's missing je ne sais quoi. But the plotting is wretched. The game opens on a masturbatory lore nerd acknowledgement that is never relevant to the story even once. One of the characters is just 343 inventing a type of guy for Master Chief and Cortana to be smarter, braver, and more competent than. Over the course of the game, Halo 4 proceeds to Everyone Is Here! so hard that it's clear that on a long enough timeline for Halo 4-style writing, literally every character ever mentioned in Halo lore would meet Master Chief personally and either give him a blow job or get into a fist fight with him.

There are some really insufferable moves regarding making Master Chief the Ultimate Special Boy in an incredibly boring way that the franchise had previously avoided beyond "this guy's like fucking terrifyingly good at his job." Oh, and the Covenant don't speak English any more! One of the cornerstones of Halo, imo, is the game play complementing the serious storytelling by bringing the goofy comic relief.

Also, I spent the entire game uncomfortable with Cortana's Halo 4 design. It is unsurprising to me that they swerved to "AIs wear clothes now, actually" starting with Halo 5. Cortana spends the game frequently confused, having emotional breakdowns, frustrated with her decaying ability to focus, audibly distraught while desperately apologizing for outbursts and mistakes she has no control over, and in every one of those scenes she's naked in a way that makes her prior designs look restrained and modest.

[smol-grey-tea]

Top 5 games, that's a good question 🤔ᴴᴹ.. Lemme list some games first so ik what to choose from

Dandelion, Nameless, Mystic Messenger, Ssum, Doki Doki Literature Club, Five Nights at Freddy's, Danganronpa, Undertale and Deltarune, Stanley Parable, Beginner's Guide, Presentable Liberty, Zelda, Minecraft, The Walking Dead Game, Life is Strange, Until Dawn, Fran Bow, Cinderella Phenomenon, ummmmm, Detroit Become Human, Beyond Two Souls, Little Misfortune, Papa's Pizzeria, Sonic Heroes, My Sims, Kirby's Epic Yarn, Mario Kart

Ok I can't rly think of any more games so I'll just rank these..

1. Nameless. Duh. ʕ͡°ʖ̯͡°ʔ

Is anyone surprised? (◉0◉)ᵎᵎᵎ It's my favourite game of all time, I identify w the whole game so much, such an emotional and gripping story, I love theorising, I love the art, I love the voice acting. I love the pure amount of passion you can tell was put into the game

It's been my favourite game for the past 7 years - it was actually my 7 year anniversary of first buying the game yesterday!! I so wish I could have official merch.. Gotta go to Korea myself one day 😊😊😊

2. Zelda

I'm being purposely vague since I kinda don't have a favourite specific Legend of Zelda game? All the Zelda games I've played before include (in order): Breath of the Wild, Link's Awakening, Age of Calamity, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Skyward Sword and now finally Tears of the Kingdom. The only games of the mentioned that I've actually completed tho are just BotW, AoC and TotK so I can't rly have too much of an opinion on the other games..

Zelda games are kinda known for their puzzles but my favourite parts about games (or really...anything) would be the story/lore and the vibe/atmosphere. I love the whole setting of the Zelda games, such a gorgeous and beautiful art style as well w the newer games, n fun adventure too!! Hell, maybe I'll even get Zelda tattoos too? Idk. I just fuckin love it tho

3. Danganronpa

I'm sorry, I like it!! I think it kinda has a bad reputation cuz of the fandom but imo the games themselves are fine (could be much worse..) and I rly love solving the mysteries!!! They are actually difficult puzzles!!! I love it!!

And the characters are so good too :) Especially w the 2nd game - the 2nd game is very good at creating characters who you can really root for or really hate and I think that's so cool. I wonder if I can be able to do that too with my own writing

4. Undertale

Bruh it's the nostalgia 😫 also it's a rly good game. I almost prefer Deltarune idk but good puzzles good characters good story and theorising material and good difficulty and-

Undertale good. I can't wait to see where Toby Fox takes his games in the future!!

5. Wii Plaza

I joke!! Haha!!

5. Ummmm idk, Five Nights at Freddy's??

It's not even rly about the game itself tho is it. It's what you associate w it. Ppl who went to see FNaF at the cinema didn't go to see a good movie, they went to see a love letter to their childhood

I remember being 11 yrs old and first finding out about FNaF by hearing my sister screaming from downstairs. I remember talking about it to my friends at school, doing impressions of the animatronics. I remember ppl talking about Markiplier and feeling guilty for watching his videos because at that age my parents weren't yet comfortable with me hearing swearing, but I still watched him anyway and I'm actually rewatching his Five Nights at Freddy's play through right now. Isn't that so cool?

I loved seeing the film at the cinema and holding my sister's hand everytime a jump scare startled her

The games are very good themselves too, even tho the guy who made them supported Trump and he also probably should've finished the series at Ultimate Custom Night and now the games are steadily losing quality and also logic but who actually cares about that in the end? Does it matter? Does it matter if the games themselves are actually good or not? I love them not just despite that but almost because of that

My hands are dry

I also rly highly recommend the other games I listed at the start too!! All of them are good, a majority from my childhood/early teens, all w fond memories attached. I find that my favourite types of games are choice based games/games w more than 1 ending (like Undertale, Walking Dead Game, Until Dawn) or visual novels (like Doki Doki, Nameless, Danganronpa). Adventure kinda games tho I think are super cool too :) 😊😊😊

(*ˊᗜˋ*)ᵗᑋᵃᐢᵏ ᵞᵒᵘ so much for asking!!!!! 😁😁😁 I hope you enjoy my long responses 😊 when I think about it, I guess ppl don't usually have long responses to these kinda asks, they usually have short ones. I do love a good ramble ٩(๑˃́ꇴ˂̀๑)۶ᴳᴳ (๑`✪̤◡✪̤)◞ღԵհɑղƘՏღ

[jerichoes]

okay here goes nothing cause i'm going insane over here:

genuinely can't tell if the writing is good or bad because it keeps oscillating between juicy as hell and mind-numbingly bad. i kept going "i like this -> no i don't -> no i do -> no i don't".

they kind of bombed hard with relationships on this. like, all of them. for a game that was advertised as being all about the companions and your relationship to them - they have relationships with anyone but rook. it sucks absolute ass that we can't talk to them unless they ask for something and somehow, even though the veilguard is a small team that should feel personal, rook feels more like "a boss that's detached from everyone" than inquisitor ever did. i don't know how they managed this, but here we are.

brother DON'T get me started on romances. first off, they were gutted to hell compared to every other dragon age game AND every mass effect game. again, if you're going to talk about how personal the connections with companions will be, do. the damn. connections. with rook. including the romantic ones. don't. half ass. them.

special mention for the aspect of romances that's been driving me up the wall this entire week. lucanis romance... was not thought out well. or maybe they got lost on the fantasy of pairing up npcs. i can't even say it was for the yearners because he brushes rook off constantly. which, you could say "well he's an awkward guy". but he will at the same time casually flirt with neve, he will write about neve in his notes and he will be very worried for neve above all after the city choice. even if rook is a shadowdragon who also lost their home to venatori. not to mention players getting locked out of his romance if they choose to help minrathous - a grave wound he will not get over, unless it's for neve. even for a shadowdragon rook. like..? and the flirting will happen even if the player is actively trying to romance him? idk it's all just kind of bizarre cause he's written in two different ways.

i like the choice variance within the game itself (save for that romance hickup)! i wish we could have more old choices, even if they were just mentioned in the codex (like the south resisting the blight better if you kept the wardens or something). but honeslty i though the three choices we got were okay.

the south is just gone, huh?

this is a petty one, but lords of fortune were an afterthought, to the point where there is no lighthouse theme for them and their area fully opens up waaaay close to endgame. i get it, most people probably played warden, crow or veil jumper but why have the faction at all then? dwarves get a theme and lords don't?

this ties to the previous one and also to not being able to talk with companions outside quest markers - when i got taash and went on a mission with them and bellara, the first few banters were all about bellara asking about lords of fortune. this is hours into the game and hours after getting bellara. and she asks taash and not rook. okay.

kind of have no notes on the elven or dwarven lore. ok maybe some notes on the titans (mountain that looks like a guy? subtle) but eh. i mostly enojoyed all of that.

i get that rook is more pre-determined that other protags. but i genuinely couldn't tell if emotions for responses did anything. i expected them to work like da2, and maybe they did, but it felt like emotion variation wasn't there. idk. maybe i'll notice a difference on replay?

i understand the intent of the davrin/harding choice. but it still feels really bad.

solas trying to outscheme rook twenty times in a row becomes very funny when you constantly pick the "i don't trust him" options. like i see you, villain.

the executors are just evil, huh?

crows got stripped of their more unseemly elements, tevinter got stripped of its more unseemly elements. times move on, sure, but based on the codex, they haven't changed much in tevinter at least in the last ten years. it's all a bit toothless now.

some of the writing felt too modern and also too cyclical. we're doing cycles, i get it, but can we stop saying "one step at a time" and "i'm so sorry" every five minutes please.

i've seen so many people say taash was annoying and i couldn't see any of that in the game. at least when people called sera annoying, i could understand why.

dorian is an archon now, huh?

i'm tired and i need to sleep on this for a week.

it's 3 am and i have to get up early af tomorrow but i just GOTTA write about this game RIGHT NOW

[tyb1]

If It’s The Right Thing To Do (4)

Words:2886

Character: Seth Clearwater

Note: let’s imagine your Sam’s little sister 

Dialogue prompt:“So let me get this straight when I need you you’re nowhere to be found but when I do something dumb you magically appear.”

Series List

tag list:  @alecvolturiswifeforever​ @scoverdale1​ @anndaydreamer​ @fae-lore​ @queen-of-embracing-uncertainty @nickangel13​ @bi-bi-spencer​@a-vild-bluemyrtle​ @little-miss-naill @crystalxavlove @ilovesethclearwater

Seth Clearwater Masterlist

A/N: message me or comment if you’d like to be on the tag list. sorry it took so long I love you guys:)

“I’m sorry Seth but you and I both know that what you’re saying is bullshit.” I snatched my hand away from his chest, the feeling of his racing heart was no longer there. I knew he wasn’t lying about what he said but for his and my sanity, we both needed this to end here. This entire relationship was causing too many problems...well before he decided to join the Cullens. 

“What (Y/N)....what are you talking about?.” He stood there with tears in his eyes, I’m surprised he didn’t let them fall like I was letting mine fall. That was one thing I hated about him. He held in all of his emotions and then when it came to the breaking point he would explode. Trust me when I say it’s not a good sight to see.

I had to put off a bold face for him. I couldn’t let him know that I was actually dying inside. I was letting a few tears slide down my face but that didn’t compare to the aching feeling that I was feeling inside of me. It was the same feeling I felt when he first left me.

“Fine since you want me to say it so badly”- I roughly pointed my finger in his face.- “ Leave me alone. We’re breaking up so don’t call me, or text me until you get your priorities straight. I’ll be home when you get your shit together.” 

Seth couldn’t look me in the eyes, he started to kick the dirt with his feet. The sand below him started to change different colors from the tears that were falling upon it. He started to mumble a few words but the only thing I could hear was. “You don’t have your priorities straight either (Y/N).”

“It’s because I’m dealing with your shit! I’m around here following you like a lost puppy when you only play mind games with me! I’m so done with you and your bipolar ass!” I spat bitterly, I turned my back to him then marched towards Sam. I turned around to look at him once more, I instantly regretted it. He stood there with his hands in pockets with his head still hanging low. His head shot up instantly making eye contact with me, I quickly snatched my gaze away from him. This was going to be a new start for both of us so I didn’t need to be drawn back in with his puppy dog eyes.

Seth POV 2 weeks later

 I was too much of a coward to say goodbye. I was truly heartbroken. I wish I could run to her and tell her that I love her and tell her that I cherish everything about her but I know she wouldn’t believe me. I was all out of options. The only thing that felt right to do was to cry and that’s what I did. I cried so hard that day that Jake had to carry me home on his back. It’s been two weeks since I have last spoken to (Y/N), two of the longest fucking weeks of my life. I thought losing my dad was painful but this...this has won the race. I couldn’t bear the heartbreak so I started to stay out longer. I asked to take over Leah and Jake’s patrol hours. I don’t even remember the last time I ate. I can only remember our last encounter, it’s like a nonstop movie in my head it was causing me to go insane.

I hate it here.

I have been spending most of my days down at the border. I was monitoring the days where Colin and Brady patrolled, they were my best option to trick into letting me cross the border. It was my only way to apologize to (Y/N). So here I was trying to wave down Collin and Brady so I could continue with my ridiculous plan.

“Hey! Colin, Brady pshhh, come here!” I yelled out in the distance to the two wolves. I was standing at the border waiting for them to shift as well. I wasn’t in my wolf form. The last thing I wanted to do was be a threat to them. 

Brady was the first to walk from behind the tree while Colin stood behind the tree too nervous to face me. I could read their body language from a mile away, they were very uncomfortable with being around me. 

Brady snarled at me, I observed as all of the muscles in his body grew tense as he spoke. “I heard you got into it with Paul. He should have ripped your fucking head off.”

“Wow I wasn’t expecting that from you Brady, but thanks I guess.” I wasn’t trying to be an ass but it just rolled off my tongue. Straight away I regretted it, it only pissed him off even more. 

Brady pulled Colin by the collar of his shirt pushing him towards me. The kid could barely keep his posture straight or his eyes focused on me. He had no confidence in his steps and started to trip over the branches on the ground.

Brady pointed between the both of us with his thumb. He had an irritated facial expression plastered on his face. “Tell him what you told me when he left.” he spat bitterly, a small smirk was rising on his face but soon faded as Colin spoke.

“Do I have to?” Colin mumbled, he waved shyly at me. I took this opportunity to wave back to him. I gave him a small smile as well. Colin, Brady, and I were always close but Brady was always the fiery type while Colin was timid.

“Yes, you have to say it!” Brady exclaimed.

Colin rolled his eyes, “Fine, I said that you were an ass for leaving us behind. It wouldn’t be the first time that you left us.” Brady glared at him to continue, “I also said that you have a reputation for turning your back on us.”

I noticed Brady smiling at Colin; he must have felt accomplished. I must admit, I did feel bad, I left them behind but it was some things that they have not come to reality with.  “Listen I need a huge favor. I need you to let me cross the border so I can see (Y/N).”

Brady rolled his eyes, “Wow so you just completely ignored what we have to say? Why would we let you cross the border and jeopardize us? Yeah, that was a stupid request.”

“You’ll do it because I am your superior. In Jakes’s pack I’m the beta...but don’t ask Leah or else she’ll lie. She thinks she’s the beta because she’s older but in reality, Jake named me the beta.” 

Colin had a questionably look on his face, by now he has grown more comfortable with me and now is standing face to face just like Brady. “Why would you want to see someone who doesn’t want to see you?” 

I was taken aback, “Why do you mean? She wants to see me, there is no way that she would not want to see me.”

“Umm I highly doubt it, she’s been living well since the accident. We went skating last week with us and the others. Not once has she mentioned your name.” Brady slapped Colin across the back of his head. I watched as the two bickered back and forth. Brady pushed Colin away from him. He snapped his fingers to gain my attention from my feet. I hadn’t realized that I was getting sidetracked but I was trying to figure out why (Y/N)  wasn’t heartbroken.

“She made it clear that she didn’t want to be around you anymore Seth. Dude if I were you I’d really leave her the fuck alone. She really wants nothing to do with you. If you try to see her she’ll probably freak out on you. You’re pretty much dead to her.” Brady then smirked, “There’s also another guy that has been keeping her busy lately.”

Ouch. Well, that hurt...it actually hurt a lot. I cleared my throat so I could stop the tears from arising. We’re not about to cry in front of them!

Colin now slapped Brady beside the head. “You could have said it nicer, idiot.”

“What! Her words, not mine!” 

“Just forget about it.” I spat bitterly, If you wanted to forget about me and everything we had then so be it. I could forget you just as fast as you did me. I could care less about those stupid ass memories we made together. Just like you said I really didn’t love you it was just the stupid feeling of you being my damn imprint. 

I continued to walk and degrade our relationship. Jake tried to stop and talk to me but I just shoved him out of the way. He started to piss me off as well. He had his nose shoved so far up the Cullens ass he couldn’t tell you what roses smell like. Then here comes my second problem, Leah.  I didn’t dare shove her. I didn’t want to pick a fight with her right now. I could explode on her and say some things I didn’t mean. 

“Where the hell have you been!? Were you down at the border again?”

“Does it really matter?” I rolled my eyes at the screaming woman. If she wanted to be my mom then she should have birthed me out. She tugged me backward pulling her face up to hers. I stared into her lonely eyes as she did the same with me.

“You’re my little brother so you are my business. Stop doing dumb shit, Seth.”

 I ripped my face from her hands. “So let me get this straight when I need you you’re nowhere to be found but when I do something dumb you magically appear.” I already knew where the conversation was heading. I was not in the mood to hear her shit right now because I was a walking bomb ready to explode.

“Did you go see (Y/N)?”

“No! I didn’t see her. Why do you make everything about her? I could care less about her.” I couldn’t control myself. I threw my fist into a nearby tree. It cracked and fell to the ground. I didn’t realize I was crying until I felt the tears roll down my cheeks.  As much as I wanted the tears to stop falling I couldn’t. I have never felt so empty in my entire life. That same feeling of heartbreak resurfaced throughout my body. My chest began to tighten, a sharp pain shot throughout my body as I tried to walk forward.

”Make it stop hurting Leah.” I began to sob uncontrollably. “It hurts so bad, why did she have to go? Why is everyone leaving me? What did I do to deserve this….I just try so hard to make everyone happy but when will it be my turn to be happy?  Mom is fucking dating Charlie now. We barely see her anymore only on fucking holidays!  Why did dad have to fucking go!? And you only check on me when it’s convenient for you Leah! Why is everyone leaving me, Leah!?”

“Seth I-”

I cut her off, “Don’t say it.” I knew I was going to apologize about the accident that happened with dad. I never blamed her for the accident. She didn’t mean any harm by it. I could never bring myself to blame her.

 I started to wipe my tears with the sleeves of my flannel shirt. It brought back the memories of the time that (Y/N) would take my flannel and wear it with her converse and shorts. I started to cry all over again at the thought. I started to choke on my words, everything that was coming out of my mouth was undetectable. “(Y/N) was always there for me and now I chose the bloodsuckers over her. She doesn’t understand that it was the right thing to do. They were going to kill a baby. Leah, I don’t have anyone else. I’m so fucking lonely!” 

“I know how it feels Seth. It hurts like hell but you’ll get over it. I’m sorry that you felt like I wasn’t there for you. I must admit that I was being completely selfish. I love you Seth and don’t you forget that.” I started to relax under her embrace. I haven’t seen this side of her since she and Sam were together. It was good to have her back though. “I love you too.”

I followed her gaze, she was staring up at the stars. “I want you to cry it all out, Seth. All of that heartbreak and sadness you have deep within you I want you to let it the fuck out. If you hold it in it’ll turn into anger then that anger will turn into bitterness. I’ll come back and check on you in the morning.”

I don’t want to be alone…

Leah’s footsteps started to become faint, I was left alone in my thoughts once again. I honestly didn’t want her to go. All I wanted for her to do was to hold me and tell me everything was going to be alright. I was stuck on ground zero like I was when my dad died, no one was there for me except (Y/N). She would probably hold me in her hands while whispering the things I wanted to hear. I wish you were here right now, maybe I wouldn’t be so angry at the world. 

“Fuck it!” I started to yell out in the night air. I threw punches in the nearby tree to try and let my anger out. I hit each syllable of the words in the tree. “Fuck you, Sam! And Fuck you too Paul!! I’m not scared of you!” “I don’t care what anyone does and says to me. I’m going to see her and no one is going to stop me.” I didn’t stop until the tree flew back by the force of my hits.

I shifted into my wolf and ran towards her scent. Brady and Colin were still on patrol however they were both on the other side of the forest. It would take them a while to catch up to me at the speed I was running at. A sinister laugh escaped from my lips. This power or maybe it was the adrenaline….no, this was most definitely power. It made me feel invincible, By no means this was me finally sticking up for myself, or how (Y/N) would say, this was me finally growing some balls.

Her scent was in the direction of the beach, oh how could I miss that scent. I followed the dominating scent but there was something a bit off with her scent. It was a mixture of something foreign. I gazed out to the beach scanning every person that was out there. It seemed like there was a party, there were so many teenagers out around the bonfire. I growled out as I watched you sit on a log with another guy’s hoodie on. His cheap polo cologne filled my nostrils. You were sitting there laughing at something that he said which probably wasn’t that funny. 

“Tch, I want to know what’s so funny.” Anger arose in my body causing my teeth and claws to sharpen. My breathing became irregular and there was a tight feeling in my chest. I tried to ignore it but the harder I breathe the more painful it becomes. I took a step forward and instantly collapsed on the ground. My wolf form quickly disappeared and there I was laying on the ground in the fetal position. I tried to crawl but my body felt numb. The only feeling I had was the tears falling from my eyes down my cheeks and onto the ground. I even tried to scream out your name but nothing came out but a gasping sound.

Was I dying?

I started to cry even harder, the thought of dying always freaked me out but the thought of leaving you with guilt made me feel even worse. The sobs were coming out more frequently than I anticipated. I didn’t have time to catch my breath or even think straight. Everything felt like it was closing on me. The air around me started to thin out making me feel dizzy. The pain in my chest starts to become more unbearable. 

“(Y/N) wait...I..I...can’t breathe!” I choked out the words barely having the strength to do it. My head started to pound from the lack of oxygen I was getting. My hearing was becoming undetectable. I felt my body go stiff and my eyes fluttered shut as well, everything became dark and warm. 

It took every bone and ounce of energy to draw a tiny heart near me. If (Y/N) found me like this then she would see the heart. She’ll know that I died loving her...right? Was I even dying or am I just being dramatic? I don’t know, I just want to embrace the warmness that surrounding me right now. 

[rosemary-bells]

okay so i. um. coughs. i f. i finall y read the luke anny ssr card story. voice acting and all. and. i. h. hoo boy.

i'm just gonna go in and start screaming for a few paragraphs maybe possibly. im not one to review things at all but whatever i have like a hundred years worth of things to say. i was gonna go n post abt this as i read but then i was like na h ill just make a bunch of memes and cry later

like first part(s) of the story i was already screaming and crying over that flashback where hes arguing w aaron. highkey i was like bro is this rly the time to tell luke to make this romantic. rly. then later on it was nothing but sadness and heartache and crying and i was like yknow what maybe he was right about this

first meme! i saw peanut and i was like oh m y god. my little boy. my baby. hes back. highkey i miss the kid. he's not present enough in luke stories lmao. the fact that luke styled the lil handle on peanut was. hooo. i was like man i cant believe this is the perfect man maybe? (im kidding. hes far from perfect but he is baby.)

also highkey during his classical music lore session i was like "lmao shouldve made it fur elise" and then i was like Hm. i also highkey love the fact that they changed the music for the music box bits. that was cute. love that they used the main theme on the default card screen too. very nice

every time he mentioned larping schumann or brahms i was like man is this rly the time lmao. altho i am happy it brought him resolution

meme two i dont have that many memes again most of this is just me ranting for a bit. the voice acting was literally peak though. every time he yelled, or even every time he was quiet, you could really get all that hesitation and heartbreak, all at once. it was amazing. it was heartaching. loved it. i cant speak for the other dubs since i use jpn but like. i bet they were. immaculate.

also highkey im still so miffed that they didnt give rosa voice acting. i could rant abt this for hours but to keep it short, like. mhy is always at its strongest when its not making a self-insert, yknow? in some cases, self-insert characters work, but when your choices don't matter too much, in an otome game, which are mostly character driven, trying to make her too basic is just kind of eh ig. she does get a pretty solid character from what we have, though. like, shes got a strong personality. very passionate abt justice to the point of embarrassment. very honest. is generally driven a bit more by her heart than her brain. like seafood. that sort of thing. she's already her own character, so i just wish they gave her a va. its gotten to the point in which ive literally started imagining a va for her. she kind of sounds like shirayuki (jpn) in my mind...

also man fr he really did think that romantic partners were the only way to receive proper emotional support. she has friends, man. she's a strong kid who you left for like, 8 years. have some faith in her, yknow? also god, that line where he was like "As long as he can make you happy." god. that just stung, man. im thinking abt him in other routes and like, 3/4 times he really just gave up, didn't he?

on that note i also thought the towel that he was using to dry her hair was just. on top of her head the entire time, so thinking abt all these dramatic scenes w her just doing that was funny. ik thats not how it worked but like still. also did she rly run to her parent's house in that outfit? in the storm? ik she wasnt thinking but oof dude shes gonna catch the worst cold after all this blows over

that kiss scene though. man. the orchestra music playing. i always love that theme, even if it does feel mis-timed at moments. it just feels so refreshing. rly does make it feel like a "kiss of fervor" (also how he just caresses her arm during the kiss. how gentle. what a sweet guy. he rly just wants to comfort her.) he even used 大好き instead of just 好き like man. ... man.

and then that bit where they called each other their greatest treasure... and then, how he said "I swear, I will do everything I can to live, so that I can be with you." man. it was cheesy but it rly did feel like the rainbow after the storm. it rly is all abt learning to love yourself because of how loved you are. like wow. man. it rly is abt loving someone so much that you want to live for them. live w them. man.

all in all, super cheesy card. it was a short-ish storyline, but i highkey loved it. it was cute. it was precious. i nearly cried. (more or less did when i found out his badge was called "Luke's Vow" like hooo. oh my god) i Enjoy. looking forward to the 2nd anny's cards....

the final meme. its another version of the last one but hey accurate lmao i was shaking crying screaming sobbing throwing up the entire time but by god was my heart full

[starrysmiling]

so... recently, i had a revelation...

sometimes i feel like fern is like a pokespe-ified version of francis. i mean, his starter pokemon isn't one of the available starters and has probably met articuno in his childhood somehow and also has (awkward hand gesture) the childhood emotional trauma that seems to be universal amongst pksp protags or something. not to mention the, uh... accidental fear of fire he got from getting his memories mixed up with v1 protag's in the ruins of void when he got cubed. haha!

anyway. i think fern's pksp dexholder title would be the guardian. it fits with his father's title and the game's plot. there's no doubt that he holds strong feelings towards the region in which he lives — if not, perhaps he wouldn't have succeeded in saving it. i think this one fits a little less than the other two in terms of personality, but he makes up for it through his actions.

i wish i could explain fern lore in some concise way or another because there is A Lot of it and one day i will talk about him. someday the world will know about fern.

as it stands, ace would be the pursuer. i think this is pretty easy to grasp in name and reason, given his goals and his personality. ace has surely been chasing his parents for years — and all the way from hoenn, too. not to mention, even after he finds them, his title defense match speech is insane for implying he finished his gym challenge just to challenge fern. this guy chases with 150% effort i don't think there's a better title he can get fr.

...and our good friend jax is the learner. (i should also note that jax does not have a dex. log only gives them to ace and the player. justice for jax please.) i think jax goes more into hc territory here because i have so many thoughts about him, but his champion battle speech about himself getting stronger is so, so important... i can't imagine him as anything but the hardworking type. he's constantly learning and training and trying to become better; after all, he and fern drive each other higher. i can't think of a title more fitting for him.

[goji-pilled]

MK-S: (not sure if I’ve brought this idea up before.) Random thought about Kyubey and incubators. Haven’t rewatched one a while, but I think there was a scene in which Madoka was pondering what to wish for, and Kyubey said that him suggesting a wish was against the rules. That always sort of caught my attention. “Against the rules”…whose rules? Are the incubators in some way commissioned in their task? It’s unlikely to be their own as it’s their own efficiency they’re hindering. Or perhaps they weren’t always emotionless, but became so through a wish of their own. Perhaps they set rules upon themselves in an attempt to save themselves. The rule of no suggesting a wish to prevent the clever from manipulating the naive. Another rule that no lie could be told, hence the evolution of manipulation and half truths. Removing their own emotions to remove their ability to wish for themselves as it had become their curse. But then they found life across the stars, and what was once a possibly peaceful race came to find that it had changed itself into little more than an unfeeling and undying cosmic parasite.

MK-S: On a different note, while I wait for a few months for a Steam sale of Dark Souls 2 & 3, I’m going to see if my PC can run Elden Ring. (Since the latter is new, I don’t expect a sale any month/year soon. Can I afford all three games right now? Yes. But why would I, when I can wait for a sale, with something else to pass the time.)

Don’t worry, you won’t be getting any Elden Ring spoilers from me. (I may recommend an elden ring lore video from time to time, but if I do I’ll be sure to mention that said video contains spoilers. Really, I only have one in mind, by the guy who made that Pinwheel video I sent a while back. I do recommend looking at his Dark Souls “Prepare to Cry” series. So many tearjerker moments in this game that can easily go unnoticed.) Or DS 2&3 spoilers.

I will forver be impressed by how you come up with this stuff

[butchbarneygumble]

Got tagged by @lucky-lacmac ! I always grasp the chance to talk about my comfort characters so HERE GO They vary depending on hyperfixations so I'm going with what comes to mind rn and thus they're not numbered wheeeeeee Prohyas Warrior (Mighty Magiswords)

I just. I was just smitten by this guy from day one. I was in Florida, caught the first episode on TV. Wasn't too enticed by the show yet, but soon found myself dreaming of the characters. Gave it more of a chance when I was back home, and eventually got way too into it and it moved from Background Noise to Hell Yeah I Love You!!!! The show in general brings me so much joy but something about Accordion Man just... speaks to me. He insist he's manly and has a killer bod, but he's also openly fond of cute things like dolphins and lil bugs and is super motherly. I just love when characters defy gender expectations. And I love his design, his attitude, his voice, the sense of humour he brings, and that hair, man. That hair Sends Me. He's probably one of the reasons I dyed my hair blue.... not to mention both he and Vambre are just unapologetic manchildren who just try to have fun with their job and adult life. I really relate to that and wish CN would do more cartoons about that. I'm tired of children protags jhckgfgs

honestly every character in this show gets comfort character vibes from me (just please give vambre a break with the hornyposting she deserves so much more) and the fact it has like no fandom at all is criminal

Conker (Conker's Bad Fur Day)

Imagine if you will, I was 6 years old or so when Bad Fur Day released. I had no knowledge of it until my dad bought it for himself from the bargain bin in a local Intertoys that is now gone. Playing it through a bit (sneakily) my mom caught me JUST at the moment he threw up during the opening cutscene. I cried out of secondhand embarrassed, mom consoled me and it went into storage until I was 13 Then I found footage of the Great Mighty Poo on Youtube and snuck in that damn game again. Now, I had actual knowledge of English and as a teenager, the concept of an adult game was just very exciting. I fell in love with Conker, but in a different way a lot of people do. I see him as a normal guy who's just having a really weird day and his greed ruins his life. It's poetic, and I want to hug him a lot. But also slap him for being a little shit. He was there for me in my strange teenhood, when I was exploring adult subjects when I probably shouldn't, but it's been good all the way through. Probably my gateway into the furry fandom as well. As an adult I find myself enjoying the non-edgy stuff more - and it reflects in the fan material I produce of Conker. He is still very important to me and I love him a lot.

Barley Lightfoot (Onward)

Rarely was there ever a character I could point at and be like "me." Girls in animation were always just... There, or very girly to a point I couldn't see myself in there. Surprise, surprise, Renée, you're not even a girl!!! Barley is one of those characters that I saw myself in. I do not have a sibling, but sometimes do wish I had one - and live vigorously throughout media portrayals of them. He is me as my best self - supportive, loud, clumsy, outwardly scary but otherwise just trying to do the right thing. He's one of those "Do I want to date you or do I want your gender" types. Ian is a good boy too ofc, but Barley to me is especially personal. His choice of fashion and body shape, right down to his big jawline, I feel mirrors myself. However, where both Lightfoot bros shine is that I share the experience of having "half a dad".

When Barley and Ian were going through the underground river and he was talking about the last memory of his dad, I saw me. I cried buckets. My dad was diagnosed with ALS somewhere around when I first read about Onward's development, and when I saw it with him he was already paralyzed and wheelchair-bound. He was smiling all the way through. Fergy Fudgehog (Viva Piñata)

Lilshit. Absolute trash animal. Why do I love you so much? I dunno. He's kind of awful. Whereas originally characterized as a scaredy-cat who hated the idea of parties, he eventually got flanderized into a nasty little so-and-so who would sell his own adoptive brother if it meant he could get a snack out of it. When he's not that, he's a whiny manchild. Yet he entices me. His colour pattern, and my fondness for hedgehogs... him making weird noises a lot. I like him enough to have had a role play account for him for a while that's still around!! Sometimes you don't know why you like a character and that's okay.

Luigi (Super Mario Bros) Mario (Super Mario Bros)

When I was 12 I first got into Mario. And I don't mean playing the games and enjoying them, but actively into the characters, lore, and stories... for as much as you can say Mario has story. Mario and Luigi are just such pleasant looking characters. They shouldn't be cute but they are. They were my first crushes and recently I've gotten back into it and I'm just here for it. Mario and Luigi are cute and I should say it!!!!!I legit find them attractive, physically and mentally. Also shipping Luigi with Peasley gives me happiness and I hate teenage me for having bad taste and hating it.

Donkey Kong Diddy Kong Dixie Kong

Donkey Kong is the Absolute, the Eternal. He has always been there in my life, and so have his games. Something about that ape makes me feel comfortable and happy and I just want to hug him. I love the lore of the games, the aesthetics - toony-yet-realistic, and it influenced the HELL out of my own art style. Donkey Kong is just a Cool Soft Gorilla who WILL kick ass. Diddy and Dixie were also super influentual to me. DKC2 is one of my most favourite video games, starring two of my most favourite characters, and my favourite aesthetic... though, in a fun case of chicken-and-egg situation, I dunno if my love for pirates came from DKC2 or other way around. Lars Barriga (Steven Universe)

Babby's First Gender Envy When Lars' entire arc happened, I was in college, constantly trying to discover myself. I enjoyed the character before the arc but the arc just elevated my love for him to the stars. He's just a fella, so nervous about what other people think about him... later in the show you get an insight on why he's like that. Then, he's dragged to space, forced to confront his emotional constipation, Fuckin Dies trying to save his new friends, and is brought back to life as a badass pink space zombie. Something about that just vibed with me super strongly. And how Steven always saw the good in him even if he bullied him. I love him so much. I love them both. That's the main ones! I tag whomever wants to do this I'm bad at tagging jdkfghjd

[carmenxjulia]

I put together a transcript of the 2 hour Q&A Interview the Carmen Sandiego Discord did with Showrunner Duane Capizzi. All of the questions were submitted by server members. You can read everything below the break!

Duane Capizzi:

Hi there!

Am I in? Is this thing on?

PizzaHorse:

Hi, welcome!

Yep, you're in the right place!

Duane Capizzi:

Sorry I'm late, I was wandering around some empty Discord hallways looking for the right room haha

PizzaHorse:

No worries. Let's get started!

Who is your favorite character?

Duane Capizzi:

Moose Boy!

KIDDING!

Alright, how to NOT get myself in trouble if my answer isn't "Carmen" haha.

But really, they are ALL my babies.

So I know it's going to sound like a cop out to some that I can't pick just one. But hmm, some for instances...

I love that she's so morally evolved at such a young age; her ability to always take the high road and never lower herself; her drive and conviction and dedication. Her ability to kick serious booty and look good while doing it. Her progressive values, her fashion sense. I could go on and on. But then there's Shadowsan and his arc; Chase and his. Julia, who's every bit as strong as Carmen but shows it in different ways. The Cleaners don't get enough love.

I'll close that question with an anecdote about The Cleaners ...

I love that all our characters are embraced and that everyone seems to have favorites. Our sound engineer Marcel is a pretty serious guy: he has a serious job that takes high levels of focus and attention. He's always deeply focused and not prone to small talk. Anyway, we were in the middle of our first or second sound mix, and he suddenly stops in the middle and turns around to face us. I'm thinking, "uh oh, we're giving too many notes." That's when I notice he's freeze framed the Cleaners. He says "I really like these guys." Then he turns around, hits play and gets back to work.

PizzaHorse:

What was the biggest challenge for coming up with new stories and plot for the reboot?

Duane Capizzi:

THE biggest? Sigh. I'm not sure I could come up with just one. Plotting is always challenging and we had the brain trust of the room, our trusty white board, and writer assistant to keep the threads of the ongoing storyline together. I think the single biggest ONGOING challenge was tracking which character knew what at any given time.

The caper part was challenging - coming up with new capers and keeping them interesting and fresh. But, it was the characters and their interactions that kept things fresh and interesting. Another museum heist? That's okay - Chase is on the case and he gets to interact with "X" this time (for instance).

There were also some episodes - Duke of Vermeer and Crackle Goes Kiwi come to mind - where there was SO MUCH SET UP needed to get the payoffs to work. I was really worried about too much talk/too much detail. Very "Swiss watch!" It took a lot of work to make sure it all clicked and was clear - hopefully it seems effortless on screen but I can't say there wasn't some sweat and the occasional tear (mostly from me - I'm a big cry baby

But really, what made it fun was that we had so many buckets to draw from: sometimes a story germ initially began with a character idea; sometimes it was inspired by global location; sometimes it was a clever way to update or reimagine an idea from old Carmen lore. Usually, it was some combination of all of the above!

PizzaHorse:

What was your favorite scene to write?

Duane Capizzi:

I think we have a theme here! "How can I pick just one ...?"

As a film buff, I got to indulge in some serious fan nerdery on this show: I got to write spy movies, yakuza movies, spaghetti neo-westerns (though turning it on its head: spaghetti westerns usually involve REVENGE and because of Carmen's character make up, this was sort of anti-revenge).

Is writing coming up with the idea or typing it? Haha. An "if a tree falls in the forest" question. The writing team and I had so many cathartic "that's how it goes" in the room. But on my own, writing the Pilot, was a very inspiring time for me: I remember laughing out loud the moment I thought of Chase falling on his own car (in part because of doing my spin on "that trope" that we've seen in so many hard boiled movies recently). But also how emotional I got when I imagined the simple but potent image of Black Sheep deciding to take her destiny into her own hands and walk that long corridor to the Faculty who we were about to meet for the first time.

I think I've cited this in another interview, but there was a period where I was completely immersed in Chase's arc and the scene where he would crack the location of VILE island ... by listening to Julia in a dream ... was a big one for me. It revealed he was finally open to admitting he needed Julia more than he would ever admit - yet, it was his own subconscious speaking.

The next morning, after cracking that scene, I bumped into Raf Petardi (voice of Chase) ... at the supermarket! It was very strange and hilarious

PizzaHorse:

Did you scrap any lengthy or funny scenes that you would be able to share?

Duane Capizzi:

With few exceptions, most scene cuts are done at the script stage so that the story board team doesn't waste effort over boarding. A variety of trims to any script are common, but they are usually for the better

The easier question to answer might be scenes were part of our "wish list" at writer room stage, but never made it to story or script. I hesitate to go too deep here (in the event that we might ever do more Carmen episodes in this canon - I'm not giving up hope). And there were cases where things we wanted to do earlier in the series wound up getting nixed or not fitting for whatever reason, but we got them in later - USUALLY FOR THE BETTER. So there's sort of a reverse Murphy's Law/rule of good fortune somehow in these things. But some fun things that didn't make it into the show, that leap to mind were: a Bollywood dance sequence (!). A Vegas caper involving Brunt wanting to steal an Elvis jumpsuit against the backdrop of an Elvis impersonator convention. We also thought it would be neat to get Maelstrom imprisoned so that Julia could interrogate him and he would play mind games with her - very Lector/Clarice!

PizzaHorse:

Were there any different treatments of Carmen you pitched before settling on the one we ended up with?

Duane Capizzi:

I was one of several "pitches" that I'm sure HMH heard before running with my version. But I can honestly say I've never pitched anything as fully formed: the take on Carmen felt so right to me, and clearly HMH and by extension Netflix agreed

I'll answer your question with an anecdote: I had the entire Pilot pretty well worked out, and pitched it in the first meeting. But one key thing that changed (much for the better!), simply because it wouldn't have fit without slogging things down ...

In my Pilot pitch, Black Sheep's escape on the boat was off screen: we see Shadowsan corner her, then we cut away. The rest of the Faculty show up to find SS's broken sword on the rocks, and are led to believe BS killed him (!). In the present, Crackle points his weapon at Carmen and prepares to pull the trigger. We know that Chase is on the way and may rescue her. The compartment door opens to reveal - not Chase - but Shadowsan! Big surprise! Then we cut back to BS's escape and find out what really transpired etc etc.

Crazy, right? SS would have been hanging out with the gang in season 1; we might not have gotten to 203 with his back story, since his sword was broken and he couldn't return it. Just one of those magical things where "things work out" the way they are supposed to. THAT SAID, it made for a heckuva pitch

PizzaHorse:

Are there any characters that ended up taking a direction you didn't initially anticipate?

Duane Capizzi:

GRAY.

I didn't know we'd make him amnesiac when I wrote the Pilot, that was something we came up with in our first week Writer Room.

And even then, when it became clear he'd be a key piece of the bigger puzzle, we didn't know how exactly (mostly the Season 4 stuff).

We did get very deep with a version where 404 ended with his protective streak for Carmen kicking into high gear, and they would be fighting off Vile Guards back to back in perfect tandem. Then, having chosen Carmen over VILE, it was Carmen who actually orchestrates Gray going "off grid" so that VILE can never find him again. Funny, I know that is arguably the version of Gray's arc that many fans might have preferred seeing. But in the tradition of spy thrillers and film noir, and for a lone wolf character like Carmen who is focused on her life mission and not romance, we stand behind where we went with him. We felt it was so much more compelling ... and truly more emotional that he totally has a get out of jail free card when he sacrifices everything (including his life, potentially) to save Carmen.

when she needs him most!

I know I made some controversial comments about Gray "not being good enough for Carmen" and I'd like to clarify that I meant, until that final episode. What he did was so selfless and heroic. Is there hope for them in the future? Who knows?! But I do hope we get to explore that one day

I'm sure Gray is living off the grid somewhere now, inspired by Carmen's selfless good and thinking of her from time to time.

PizzaHorse:

You mentioned in the interview with Alicyn that Carmen is a love story, but you were cut off before you could finish discussing. Could you elaborate on your answer now?

Duane Capizzi:

Ugh, yes! Sorry about that. I actually answered that privately for someone so will cut and paste that response here. Let's see if it works.

Something we never said in the show, but something I imparted to the creative team was: Carmen Sandiego is (among other things) a LOVE STORY, where every character in our ensemble is in love with Carmen in one way or another. Even if they don't know it! That love can take different forms: we see how spurned by Carmen Coach Brunt feels and why she retaliates so excessively. Chase eventually comes to realize that he too loves Carmen, even if he wasn't initially aware of it haha. One of the most moving things to me about the series is how all of the different factions come to Carmen's rescue at the end when she's not "in her right mind," without knowing the others are there too. It's a massive group effort to bring back the Carmen they love. But we weren't looking for a fairy tale ending for Carmen with ANYone - Carmen's a classic lone wolf anti-hero, that goes with the territory. At least at this stage in her journey.

PizzaHorse:

Were there other locations that you wanted to feature in the show that didn't make it?

Duane Capizzi:

I think we managed to cover a lot of ground and "cadence" between different countries/cultures/continents was important to us. Many "iconic" locations of course, and it would have been nice to explore some lesser known locations if we had more episodes.

One that we almost did was Niagara Falls, Canada - actually literally going to the Falls and doing a big hydro-electric caper, where Player could actually get into the field with Carmen and the team.

But ultimately, we wound up bringing Player into the fold the way we did and wound up stronger as a result. It made his "first face to face" with Carmen even more impactful, IMO.

PizzaHorse:

Were there any changes in production between the first half and the second half of the series?

Duane Capizzi:

Well, there was that Covid thing

But while it was no doubt a colossal undertaking to get the entire staff transitioned to work from home (animators! and their equipment!), we managed to make up for lost time WITHOUT a dip in animation quality. My fedora's off to our amazing team at Wildbrain for pulling it off!

We did lose some staff between orders, but that is a natural part of production unfortunately. Namely, one of our episodic directors Kenny Park, our first storyboard artist Dennis Crawford, and our story editor May Chan were among those who moved on to other shows during the break. But, as hard as their shoes were to fill, fill them we did!

PizzaHorse:

What is your favorite season?

Duane Capizzi:

Easy. Hands down, Season 3.

(crickets)

KIDDING!

Again, another "they're all my babies" answer (and yes, I love Season 3 equally

It's hard, because really when you step back I'm sure you'll agree it's a series, with stand alone capers; but it's really all ONE BIG MOVIE.

Season 3 is like the scherzo of a symphony: the shortest movement of four, and the one that tees up the big finale.

That's my hoity toity answer but I'm going to put to rest all of the various theories on what happened with season 3. It was a combination of two things: Netflix's desire to experiment with different ways of "dropping" seasons, and their desire to do a holiday themed drop (in this case Halloween, naturally). It became our challenge to come up with a theme (easy enough: masks), and the bigger challenge to serve their need while not interrupting our ongoing narrative. A challenge to be sure, but a challenge met. I think the biggest bump was perception: it was a short season and I know that was disappointing to many. But, by design.

So, Season 3 = an essential part of the whole. I don't think there's a wasted episode, and it gets everyone into position for the big finish. I can't pick a favorite season - you can't make me

PizzaHorse:

Were there any characters you had wanted to give more time to but couldn't due to time/plot restraints?

Duane Capizzi:

Well, there's the "what was on the white board" answer but hopefully some of those ideas will see the light of day in some way, shape or form some day. I think if we had more episodes, we would have shaken up the internal dynamic of VILE a bit more (as hinted at Brunt's displeasure with Maelstrom for leaving her hanging out to dry at end of 405 - a seed we planted "just in case," as some have noted). And we had more scenes in mind with Chase's partnering with Carmen for the first time that we had to cut to the bone because of what little room we had in that otherwise packed episode (worry not: it's mostly more gags, more embellishment, more twists and turns - but the important stuff is there). Mostly, and I don't think it would have been right for Season 4 but I hope to tell in the future, I think there's an interesting history between Shadowsan and Lady Dokuso - possibly tragic - that I would love to explore one day. (She was a cameo in Duke of Vermeer at the dinner party BTW, I'm not sure if anyone noticed. And we built a bigger role for her out of that)

PizzaHorse:

What are some pre-2000/nostalgic Carmen references you snuck into the show? Do you have a favorite reference that was included?

Duane Capizzi:

Doing that was so much fun! I'd say roughly 60% of the characters were from previous iterations of Carmen, though often in name only. We had fun reimagining most everyone to make them more relevant or updated or giving them a more colorful personality for starters.

"Suhara" was Carmen's Japanese mentor when she worked at the ACME Agency in a flashback episode in the 90's series, for instance. I don't think I need to spell out how we turned that one inside out

And Tigress was also one episode only: she was a "rival thief" to Carmen, but revealed to be an ACME agent in disguise - a persona created solely to bait Carmen. It was really cool of course, but it seemed like untapped potential so we made her an ACTUAL Vile Thief.

My own internal rule was to make sure the references/easter eggs wouldn't confuse anyone - they were there for those who were in the loop and window dressing. The one and only time i broke that rule was Dark Carmen's line from 407: "I do it for the mental gymnastics." It was one of the most absurd lines from the 90's series (IMO) and i was determined to have it come out of Dark Carmen's mouth. I'm sure it left some 7 year olds scratching their heads

aside from that, the key references were the music: I still tingle at how we worked the Rockapella theme into the Interactive Special; and the 90's main title theme (composed by Mozart!), in our Vienna episode ("They're playing my song"). If you wanted Rockapella or Carmen as a bad guy, well ... be careful what you wish for!

PizzaHorse:

Was there any improvised content from recording sessions that made it into any episodes?

Duane Capizzi:

Yes! Not much, because a lot of it would have pushed us into TV-MA haha

Mostly Mary Elizabeth - Coach Brunt has a POTTY MOUTH!

Mikey and Abby usually riffed their banter WAY beyond what was on the written page and had us in stitches. Some bits definitely made it in! But mostly there was too much or it would get off point (hmmm, much like my interview answers maybe? haha)

Sharon Muthu did rise to Pun Goddess status with "Mask and you shall receive." And Raf pitched me "Chasse means hunt in French" after one session and I said: "I'm going to write that in." I don't think he believed me. You can't say I'm not a straight shooter.

PizzaHorse:

If you could get more season, would you do it, and what type of story would you tell?

Duane Capizzi:

Well if that hasn't been clear so far, ABSOLUTELY

There have been discussions of course. It's up to the powers that be at this point. I will say this: the beauty and tradition so far has been that every iteration has been its own thing. I definitely think there are more "different canon" versions of Carmen that can be had and be a part of this wonderful tradition. After all, there were many naysayers for our version when it was first announced.

I will also say that if we don't get to tell any more stories in this canon with these characters, we've left a perfect gem that will stand the test of time. I would rather go out on a high note than overstay our welcome.

All that said, we worked within the allotted episodes given, ended it as we wished, but left the door open for other stories. I'd love to do an expansion and a deepening: pick up where we left off; find out what happened in those two years; and proceed to do the equivalent of Godfather II or Better Call Saul as related to the amazing originals they followed.

Let's hope! Keep putting good vibes out there!

PizzaHorse:

If you could pick a character on Carmen Sandiego who'd you switch places with for a day (you get to control their life and they get to control yours) who would you pick, and why?

Duane Capizzi:

Okay, THIS is difficult. So you're going Freaky Friday on me?

on a Sunday?

Hmmm, I know Ivy would get along with my cat ... but then I'd have to hang out with Zack!

That's the trick: I can't pick my favorites cuz I couldn't hang out with them!

(not that I have favorites - they're all my babies haha)

Okay, I have one: ROUNDABOUT. I could fill Shadowsan's seat - how cool is that? Then, I could enact all my evil fantasies - but still have a get out of jail free card cuz he'd be sitting at my desk!

(cut to Duane being brain wiped - D'oh!)

PizzaHorse:

Who are two characters who don't really interact in the show that you think could be good friends or work really well together?

Duane Capizzi:

Hmmmm. Okay, now I'm going to give you quick and sassy answers. Gray and Julia! They'd be so cute banding together to rescue captive Carmen (for instance). And they could also duke it out and maybe settle things between themselves re: shipping controversies instead of dragging me into it

PizzaHorse:

The FINAL QUESTION. Have you learned anything super impactful while working on the show?

Duane Capizzi:

Aside from Iceland's terrifically low crime rate?

I think I have learned to never underestimate how meaningful characters can be to fans. Social media has obviously brought us a lot closer to our fan base in more immediate ways: it's been really gratifying to hear/see/read feedback and not be writing things in a vacuum. It's been gratifying to see that ideas that were meaningful to myself and the creative team on Carmen that were crafted with care, have also resonated with our fan base. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE who has traveled on this journey with us - for embracing Carmen's world view, and her friends and foes alike. Take care everyone! Stay safe! This has been fun, thanks for having me!

PizzaHorse:

HUGE thank you to Duane Capizzi: for being here today.

Thank you everyone for watching and reacting!

Duane Capizzi:

Okay, gotta run - just gotta find the door

Anyway, really: THIS HAS BEEN AMAZING. I speak for everyone involved in the creation and production of Carmen: it has been an amazing and inspiring series and we're elated to see it connect with such a CREATIVE, TALENTED and INTELLIGENT fan base. Take care everyone! Until next crime...