#infamous evil route

[rorsry]

im sleepy this is all im doing

[infamous-if]

I finally signed up for the patreon and played through all the povs in one go and can I just say

you.

evil. i love you lol. god getting inside g's brain was so insightful, the way they think is something so interesting to me. I'm so excited to play their route in the future. also that recent valentines day special for seb? SETTING THE TONE FOR THE RELATIONSHIP MAYHAPS? I have concerns but also very heartwarming. and Victoria is just so. ugh. she deserves nothing but hugs and a good life. August surprisingly I feel might be the most comforting/heartwarming route? but I have no doubt you have surprises in store for us.

and seven. love and hate is thin line seven. the way they're so scared of being hurt and won't be vulnerable for even a second because of it. and so scared that mc feels the exact same way so is always playing games? seven let yourself be loved, platonically or romantically god damn it.

your writing is fantastic, and you put a lot of effort in, I hope your pillow is always the perfect temperature. thank you for blessing us with infamous!

hahahahah the valentines specials are definitely supposed to be a peek of how the relationships are when they're 'good' of course it won't always be that smooth sailing lolol funnily enough, even when it's 'good' the valenreign relationships are still pretty messy due to the affair which is like a dark cloud constantly over your head....

thank you so much! <3 im glad they were insightful heheheh

[babelrevived]

Back to continue this conversation with the amazing @angelinthefire after putting it on hold for like 7 days (sorry). I have just had a very busy week but now I am here to do what I love doing most: complain :)

I will also get into dialectics at the end as promised

I'm really glad you brought up ideology again because this gets to the crux of why I dislike the Felicia addition, as I was telling op in the other post. I think s1 presents it less as "ideology vs love" and more as "love for your people as a whole vs love for the individuals you personally know". Of course, these are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but there are definitely times when they clash. Che Guevara himself was from a middle-class family so I highly doubt he was motivated to be a communist out of love for them specifically lol, but he WAS motivated by love. However, when you become a revolutionary, there are many sacrifices you end up having to make for the greater good, especially in your private life. It's Stalin refusing to exchange a prisoner nazi general for his son because "all of them (Soviet prisoners) are my sons". It's Zainab Nasrallah saying she hadn't been able to see her father at all for the past 10 years. A revolutionary is a doomed man, as Huey Newton said.

I want to talk about Silco first since I think you are mostly referring to the infamous "is there anything so undoing as a daughter". Silco is kind of a tougher nut to crack because all his actions and motivations are really clouded by trauma, but I do think he was motivated by love from the get-go (if he wasn't then he would have been motivated by revenge or power, which is just something that we don't see at all). I don't think he was motivated by love for the Zaunites of the present, but those of the past who gave their lives and those to come in the future. He says it himself, "I'm doing this for us, Jinx. All of us. The sons and daughters of Zaun deserve more than their runoff." Except when he is put in a situation where he does have to choose between a loved one and his people, he chooses the former. "For us. All of us" becomes "it's only us." But that "it's only us" was itself a follow-up to "they can all burn". He wasn't giving up on his political ideology, he was merely changing his motivation behind it. And despite the fact that he just went against his principle belief of "letting the monster out", he still believes in it.

When it comes to Vander, in s1 when there was the assumption that he didn't know the girls, he also followed a similar route. He gave up the fight not because his goddaughters were hurt by it, but because he saw two little girls who were orphaned as a result of the fight. His decision to change his ideology was motivated by the same feeling of love that made him want to fight in the first place. This is why I made the distinction between him viewing giving up as a "necessary evil" and as a "failure", because those two terms imply completely different things. Then, when he is faced with the choice to bring out the monster and kill Silco, which would have been better for his people (in his opinion), or saving his daughter, he chooses the latter.

The point is, whether Silco chooses Jinx or Zaunites as a whole, his end goal is still Zaun; and whether Vander chooses his kids or Zaunites as a whole, he still doesn't go back to being violent (against Piltover). This is something that Silco didn't understand about Vander.

Now what s2 implies with the addition of Felicia was that on the bridge, it was his motivation that changed. He gave up because he couldn't handle seeing the people he personally loved get hurt/die. He still believed that Piltover could be defeated (which, in S1, he didn't) but he didn't believe that the cost would be worth it. It does kinda make him look like an idiot tbh like what did you expect lol.

I just think the s1 version of him is more nuanced, better executed, and so much less cliche.

I think you are misunderstanding why I keep bringing up that the tone of their s1e3 conversation was political. That whole part in the cannery was the only interaction we get between them. It is what shapes our perception of their relationship, and what we got from it is that the texture of their relationship is political. The content of their relationship is given to us through its feeling. The fact that the personal/emotional stuff kept threatening to come up and they (mostly Silco) kept shoving it back into the subtext is exactly the point. If we go by what s2 says about them, then their whole fallout had little to do with political disagreements. It doesn't expand or give depth to their relationship, it just makes the tone inconsistent. It ruins the texture; the whole conversation now makes no sense. Like this is your brother who tried to MURDER you because he blamed you for the death of your mutual friend, why are you talking about politics. And if Vander really was looking to patch things up then why not start with that, where was the energy we saw in his shitty letter? Why is he talking about politics? And I'm sorry but the explanation that people can add new things in later seasons is unconvincing and unsatisfying. Because why did they feel the need to change Vander and Silco's story (which people loved and praised) to a story that is honestly boring and cliche in comparison. It doesn't fill the holes in the last season, it just creates completely new ones.

To piggyback off of that, when I watched s2 I initially thought it was an example of what Susan Sontag would call "programmatic avant-gardism," which she described as experimenting in form at the expense of content (ahem. Black rose). But other than that, the... ummm... uniqueness of the form in s2 feels less experimental and more accidental. A product of trying to fit so much in such little time. But the consequence is still that often times, form is very divorced from content, and that's why a lot of characters had to end up giving very on-the-nose explanations of what was happening, whatt they were thinking, etc etc. This is why your idea of the structure in s1 being technology imposing on magic, and s2 being magic causing chaos doesn't really work for me. At least not when it came to the writing. Actually I think this is another example of s2 trying to do something that s1 already did and then failing miserably at it lmao. In s1, we did have a couple of instances where magic does reign supreme and upends chaos, but the main vessels for it were Mel and the hexcore. And that brings me to the Meljay/Viktor dying scene, which was the perfect example of writing and animation working together to create this beautiful scene. Like I felt the seduction of magic and I felt its danger simultaneously. It doesn't outright tell you what's happening, it makes you FEEL what's happening. It is content being portrayed through form, through style (which is what I was trying to get at when talking about the texture of Silco and Vander's relationship lol). Yk I have a lot to say about Meljay because I love it so much but that's a conversation for another time. Another example of this is s1 was when Powder bombed the cannery , which was happening while Viktor and Jayce were harnessing magic through hextech. What's interesting about that scene was that the magical chaos of it was conveyed through slow motion. It is so beautiful and yet it just destroyed Powder's life.

If there was any magic in s2, most of it came from the animation, despite the writing. Compared to s1, there is no meaningful creativity to the writing. Don't get me wrong there were definitely scenes that I loved, but none came close to the meljay sex scene, the amazing ending of episode 2, the Ekko/Jinx fight scene, the drowning, Powder freaking out while the monkey toy is ticking, the whole final scene, etc etc etc. The only thing I saw which could be considered chaotic was the introduction of various plot lines, themes, and character arcs and then the impulsive abandoning of them. And I'm sorry but that's just lazy. I promise there are many better ways to convey chaos lol.

On the theme of duality, I guess "wrapped up" was the wrong term but I can't really think of a better one so I'll just explain what I mean. In s1, the theme of duality was heavily tied in with the theme of "past vs. future," where the latter is more heavily dependent on the former. We see this mostly in Jinx but it's also present in Silco (and Vander before they butchered him but I'll get to that later). At the end of s1, Jinx makes the decision to be Jinx and completely let go of Powder, let go of her past. This was a great set-up to now put more focus onto the theme of "past vs future" and show only the flavors of the theme of duality through it. The inverse of what they did in s1. This would have also given Vi and Ekko a lot to do. Instead what they do is they try to bring back the theme of duality, say nothing new about it, and remove all the nuances from it that were present in s1. I would argue that they are barely even able to portray that there is duality at all, especially in the case of Caitlyn and Vander, but I'll get to that later.

Now for the fun part, dialectics :D

A quick summary for anyone unaware of the term. It's basically the notion that within a system (or anything in which all the parts are connected), it is the struggle between internal contradictions (oppositions that are mutually exclusive but need each other to for the whole) that gives that system its basis for development. Change is not possible without these contradictions. there is more to dialectics than that but this is all that's going to be relevant for what I'm gonna say.

I think where we differ here was that you were using dialectics mainly to analyze the characters' personal philosophies (something that they are conscious of), while I was using it more as a narrative tool. I think it can be applied to both here but I'll focus on the latter.

The addition of Felicia removes any contradictions in Vander that were implied. Vander's personality alternates between "dad" and "dad who feels guilt 🥺". Even in the Flashbacks, before he became a dad, he still acts like dad Vander, but happier. And that is exactly the problem. Where is the "Hound of the underground"? Where is monster Vander? Why is everything so happy in the flashbacks? And you could argue that that's just how Vander remembers it. But really??? That's how he remembers himself? That's how he remembers the past? Everything was really great until Felicia died. Vander being a monster becomes an isolated incident in which he wasn't being himself. He lost his head. It wasn't a part of him. That is NOT duality.

Felicia becomes the external basis for change. And it's not even permanent change lol it's just one incident. You'd think most of Vander's guilt then would lie in the attempted murder since that's the only time where he is a monster, so when Silco offers him forgiveness why doesn't he take it.

Vander is dad until someone he loves dies or his agency is taken away, then he is a monster. The writers said one fridged female character isn't enough, bring in another

(As an aside: I think, based on their actions, that neither Vander nor Silco really believe in duality. That's why it was a failure on his part when Silco chose Jinx because he still wanted to be the "monster". But it wasn't a failure when Vander gave up because he didn't want to be the monster anymore. Both of them tried but neither of them were really able to seperate these two parts of themselves)

I think that instead of the cute flashback and pastel watercolor miners, they should have shown us the Vander who built the lanes, the air that clogged your throat, the struggle. Maybe the drowning from Vander's POV.

I think Caitlyn's arc was fumbled in a very similar way as Vander's was. "When she died, I lost my head. But now I am back to being myself and I'm weawy sowwy 🥺"

Caitlyn was portrayed as not being herself when she was a dictator, the monstrous side of her is not really a part of her. This is fine in and of itself, but it is not duality even though it is clearly trying to be. When they did that anything interesting they tried to say about how her class affects that duality went down the drain. Actually they already said interesting things about it with Jayce in season- (gunshots)

[seraphimcollections]

fading part. iii

photo cred: I don't own the photo, couldn't find the artist.

pairing: johnny silverhand x reader

summary: mortal enemies from birth. the devil and the angel, good versus evil. you, the prodigy netrunner and hidden child of the Arasaka global empire. him, rebellious outcast and infamous rockstar of Night City. Sworn enemies with the odds stacked against them, but fate is fickle thing.

warnings: gun violence, murder, blood, kidnapping, grooming (not by johnny), rockstar behavior, angst angst angst! sexual implications, eventual smut, slowburn, secret enemies to lovers, fluff.

a.n: hey everyone! so sorry this took me so long to get out, school and work as been a lot lately. but it's here, yay!

word count: 3.2

masterlist

///??/ [memory shard recovered…initializing]// [ERROR - FOREIGN BODY DETE-][Biomon operational]///[memory shard calibrated][Night City, 2010]

Night had fallen over the city and your plan was already well along its way. You knew your uncle would likely not visit you the rest of the night, leaving you to be attended by numerous staff who you knew were instructed to report your every move back to Saburo. But you had a little trick up your sleeve that not even your uncle knew about. 

The first step was to dress in clothes that wouldn’t garner much attention among the population of Night City. Opting to wear a pair of baggy cargos, a loose fitting sweater and a ball hat to hide your face as much as possible. Tomie’s words stuck in your head as she suggested your disguise half an hour earlier. 

“I suggest you find an attire that sufficiently conceals your implants. Night City is not appalled to Scavengers who will be happy to have your…assets,” Tomie said in the same doctored tone that she always had as an AI, but you could feel the sinisterness she alluded to. 

You stared at yourself in the mirror in shock, never had seen yourself in such different attire. You twisted as you looked over your frame, making sure there was nothing that could possibly give you away. You took in a shaky breath as you smoothed your hands over the fabric. 

“Alright, step one done,” you said mostly to yourself, “on to the next. You have my route ready, Tomie?”

“Yes, young mistress. You will need to find the elevator located in the courtyard and that will take you to the lower level parking garage. However, there are several obstacles that stand in your way, mainly in the form of staff and surveillance.” 

You nodded, slipping on a pair of sneakers, “already got that part covered.”

You stood tall before looking toward the elevator hesitantly. Once you passed that threshold, there was no going back but you weren’t sure if this terrified you or thrilled you. You let out another breath before walking toward the door, letting the doors slide open on their own. You looked over your shoulder back into the safety of your temporary home during your stay in the infamous NC. That nagging face clawed at you, telling you to give up all this foolishness and pretend you never concocted such a silly idea to flee from your uncle’s gracious safe haven. You knew your uncle would be furious, beyond furious if he ever found out. And it would be so easy, just one slip up and your uncle would immediately hear about your elaborate plan. And then you would be never let out, possibly until your hair grayed. The thought instilled a dagger of pure fear in your heart, but the thought of never stepping out on your own to experience life as it truly is, terrified you even more. 

Your hands clenched into fists as you stepped into the elevator, the doors sliding closed behind you, sealing your fate. The elevator began its descent into the lower levels but not the parking garage seeing that this was only a private elevator to the penthouse suite. This would only get you as far as the courtyard.

“How many?” You say to Tomie, turning to face the doors. 

“I detect 12 staff members, 8 Arasaka security,” Tomie said. 

You nod, closing your eyes to focus, initiating your cyberdeck to 15% maximum power. 

“Are you sure 15% is enough, mistress? There are also the surveillance cameras that will need to be taken care of,” Tomie said.

“The human eye can see 30 to 60 frames per second, calculated by the Kiroshi Optics of each of the security, you can raise that to 90 per second respectfully. But if I can move faster than that, I won’t be able to be seen,” you recite your plan you’ve gone over hundreds of times in your head. 

Tomie hummed, noting the extensive upgrading to your chrome you’ve done over the years, knowing full well that this feat wouldn’t serve much of a problem. 

“And the cameras?” Tomie pondered.

You couldn’t help but smile, “they were down the minute we stepped into the elevator.” 

“Impressive, young mistress,” Tomie hummed.

You let out a nervous smile, steadying yourself on your feet as the numbers counted down closer to the lobby, “count me down, Tomie.”

“Of course. T minus, seven, six, five, four, three…” 

Your breaths became shallow as you felt the crackle of energy released from initiating your chrome. 

“Two…” 

Your eyes ignited in a luminous blue hue before the elevator dinged and the doors began to slide open. The air caught in your throat as the world snapped closed in an electrifying haze. It felt like your body moved in slow motion, slowly pulling apart from the destination to the present. The air around you sizzled on your skin, almost becoming unbearably hot. But the moment you felt it, it was gone. You didn’t dare blink, taking in your new position quickly. You were crouched behind a pillar connected to a planter, just across from the target elevator. You finally let out the breath you didn’t know you were holding, steam floating past your soft lips. You poked your head over the planter, gaging the reactions of any of the employees or security you had narrowly avoided. Each seemed undeterred, unknowing that you just slipped through their grasps in a blink of an eye. 

You let out a faint huff, a tiny bit surprised your plan actually worked. You slowly crept to the elevator, the doors sliding open before you could reach it. You squeaked seeing a few people inside beginning to step out. Feeling much like a scared cat, you panicked and threw yourself against the corresponding wall. You tried your best to seem calm, kicking your leg up to rest your shoe against the wall with your arms crossed, making sure to keep your head down. 

“Did your assistant send over the schematics?” A woman corpo leads the group at the front, her other lackeys following her like lost puppies. 

“Y-Yes, but it looks like we are missing some of the key, um, data. Must have been lost during the trade off,” one spoke as the group passed by. 

“Ugh, typical. Fucking nomads, should’ve sent a fleet ourselves but of course the higher ups wanted this under wraps.” 

The corpos passed by you without even more than a glance, giving you enough time to slip through the closing elevator doors. Once the metal doors slid shut you let out another shaky breath, your shoulders slumping. 

“That was close,” you sigh. 

“One could argue, too close,” Tomoe comments. 

You roll your eyes, pressing the screen labeled “Garage.” 

“You worry too much for an Artificial construct,” you smiled.

“Yes, I believe it was you who designed me that way.”

You nodded with a smile. You couldn’t shake the strange thrill that curled in your stomach and made your fingers vibrate. You couldn’t remember the last time you felt so alive. Could have been the time you hacked your way in the NUSA’s military files? No, maybe the time you flipped Netwatch a huge bird last year when they tried to plant a virus in your code? No, none of that came in even close to the adrenaline rushing through your veins. 

The elevator gave a cheerful ding before the metal doors slid open once more. You poked your head out, looking around for security cameras and personnel. 

“You see anyone Tomie?” 

“There are two security personnel stationed at the garage entrance. The gate seems to be controlled by their computer system in the small office,” Tomie explained, “both are heavily armed. There is also one security camera, which I have already disabled for you.” 

You grinned as you tiptoed behind a black unmarked van, “you’re the best Tomie.” 

“Thank you, young mistress.” 

You peeked your head over the hood of the van, your kiroshis scanning the security standing by in the small room. Your scan quickly picked up the wall interface. 

“Bingo,” you smirked, turning your attention to the monitors blaring the NC’s daily news behind the employees. 

In a blink of an eye, the monitors began to spark and smoke. 

“What the fuck!?” The man shouts, immediately turning his back to the garage gate. 

You took your chance, dashing toward the garage gate. You crouched down low to hide underneath the glass windows. 

“The gate is still-” 

“I’m aware,” you whisper, your eyes glowing blue before the gate begins to slowly lift open. 

You scrambled underneath the metal gate, full out sprinting out to the main street. All the while, you couldn’t wipe the massive grin on your face. Your legs kept pumping underneath you, pushing through the few pedestrians stumbling through the street.The burning in your lungs forced you to stop at an unknown corner. You panted for breath, keeled over with your hands on your knees,sweat dripping from your brow. People moved around you, some sparing a glance but nothing past that. Your gaze moved to your surroundings, carefully scanning for anyone who might have followed you. 

“Tomie?” You whispered. 

“It seems you are clear, young mistress.” 

You let out a heavy sigh finally curling up to stand at your full height. Your wide eyes tried to absorb the world around you. There was so much. Cars bursting with music from the radio, ads all the like shouting to “buy me, fuck me, shoot me!” No matter how long you stood at this foreign corner, you doubt you could have seen everything. It was almost overwhelming, and yet, exhilarating. 

“Night City,” you smiled in wonder, beginning your walk down the sidewalk. “But, where are we?” 

“You are in the Corporate Plaza. This is where corporations head their businesses, including Petrochem, Millitech, and of course, Arasaka.” 

You hummed, spinning around to take in the massive skyscrapers that simultaneously blocked out the sun while reaching up to the gods. 

“Fascinating. Such huge buildings, they must employ so many of Night City,” you murmured to yourself, walking backwards. 

You yelped when you felt yourself hit something hard. You quickly stumbled back to meet the burning yellow eyes of an enormously tall and scarred man. 

“Watch it, gonk,” the man’s voice was garbled with synth. 

You gulped and held up your hands as a surrender as you helplessly gazed at his mutated face irradiated by lumps and wires weaving underneath his taunt skin. His attire was similar to yours, less to the standards of those who worked amongst the towering buildings. Unprovoked by your obvious gawking, the beast of a man grunted before walking across the crosswalk. You didn’t tear your eyes away from his hulking body, absentmindedly making a scan. The man’s NCPD record immediately came up, along with the glowing brand: Afterlife affiliate, Mercenary. 

“A mercenary…” You whispered in awe. 

“Yes, mercenaries are not of short supply in Night City. Best keep your distance. I also suggest being aware of your surroundings. Night City ranks high in the percentage of gun violence per capita.” 

You frown, stuffing your hands in your jacket pockets before continuing your walk, “I’ll keep that mind.”

Just as quickly as you uttered those words, you were wrapped up in the bustling of the city. You swore it was alive, thumping at your feet and grabbing gently at the soles. Threatening to swallow you whole. You couldn’t shake the little bug inside you that urged you to turn tail and pour out your misdeeds to your smothering uncle. You shook your head. No way, if he finds out I’ll never see the light of day again. 

“I think you mean once he finds out,” Tomie chimed in. 

You sighed, the guilt threatening to weigh you down. 

“What am I doing? This is absolutely insane,” you grumbled, running your hand through your hair curtained over your shoulder.  

“But you are right, young mistress.” 

“Not exactly making me feel better-” 

“You are right that if the emperor does find out he will certainly make sure that you will never leave his sight again. Even more reason to make this little escapade of your’s count.” 

You blinked at the AI’s words, “wow Tomie, that was strangely philosophical.” 

“Again, you programmed me.” 

You smirked, shrugging your shoulders, “just take the compliment. But you’re right. I need to make this one count. No turning back!” 

You looked around you for any source of direction, the reality of being a stranger in this city becoming even more apparent. 

“Alright, well first things first, we have to get to the venue,” you said more to yourself than to Tomie. “Where was that again?” 

“I believe it was at a local dive bar by the name of Red Dirt. The show seems to be starting in 15 minutes.”

Your eyes widened in shock, “Fifteen?! Tomie, directions, now!” 

A path lit up before you, a virtual waypoint illuminating beyond the buildings. You broke out into a sprint, weaving through the people, bumping into a few along the way. You ran as fast as your feet could take you. You yelped as you barely dodged cars as you ran through oncoming traffic. It only took a few angry drivers honking before you made it to the other side, jumping over the yellow metal rail. Night City was beating underneath you pumping feet and soon your heart began to beat in rhythm.  

“Damn it, we’re gonna miss it!” You cursed yourself. 

“2 minute faster route to your right, young mistress.” 

Your eyes immediately narrowed in on a dingy alley, taking a sharp right into it. Your boots thud and splash in the runoff from the streets, breaths ragged. You partially looked at the people sitting amongst the filth at the corners of the alleyway, their gazes far off. You knew it wise not to stare as you quickly carried on your way. 

“I really need to get out of the chair more,” you half-whined. 

“Should I renew your lessons from your martial arts master?” 

You groaned and shook your head. Finally the light peaked through the canopy of buildings, leading you to the main street. You coughed and panted, anything to get back your breath; your hands on your knees.

“Can’t stop, gotta keep going.”

With that you were off again, following Tomie’s directions faithfully deeper into the jaws of Night City. 

Your legs burned as you finally rounded the last street corner (a whole two minutes and 30 seconds early), the sun just beginning to set. You leaned tiredly against the streetlamp as you observed the bustling dive bar from across the street. The place was wrapped with people and illuminated in an ominous red glow. The front doors were swarmed with people but sealed shut, a fairly scary security bouncer standing in front of them. A quick scan could see how much chrome he was packing, but something told you observing him from this far would tell you enough. 

“It looks like they aren’t letting anyone in from the front, so…” your words trailed off as you gave the building a quick scan, a backdoor illuminating in a hopeful golden hue. “Back door it is then.” 

You hurriedly made your way across the street, your head on a swivel to make sure no one saw as you hacked the back door open. You slipped into the darkened hallway, your ears honed into the sound of cheers and electric guitar. The hall was dimly lit by old neon signs directing you out in the main hall. You kept your steps light as you snuck through the hall. You let the music guide you, the sound becoming louder and louder as you finally reached a pair of swinging double doors. The music drowned out your ramming heartbeat. You pressed a palm to the door, hesitating. You found your clenched fist tucked close to your chest, urging it to rest for just a moment. 

“Are you feeling alright, young mistress? Your heart rate is highly elevated.” 

All you could do was nod, taking in a few deep breaths, hearing the crowd roar just beyond those doors. And before long, a smile broke out across your lips. 

“I’ve never felt better.” 

Adrenaline pumping through your veins, you finally pushed past the doors. There wasn’t much room to open them fully, which meant you had to squeeze through. Your eyes squinted amongst the darkness of the crowd and the flashing spotlights. The music roared, beating against your eardrums, but the crowd was even louder. You pulled your cap down further, pushing through the crowd aimlessly. The sea of bodies bumped and swayed you around like sandalwood before you finally found reprieve by the stairwell that led up to the catwalk that encircled the room. You leaned against the cool metal railing, your eyes scanning the rowdy crowd. And before long, you found the source of their rowdiness. Your gaze trailed over their heads until they finally landed on the center stage, holding the five members that had been plaguing your mind within the last few weeks. 

One of the gelled spiked up hair and gaunt face was definitely Henry, the bassist. Next to him playing the keys in her golden leotard was none other Bes Isis, the woman who coined the name Samurai. Then there was Denny on the drums, confidant in everything she did and wore. Kerry Eurodyne -- he took center stage, unmistakable in his vocals and guitar, but it was but strumming strings compared to the final member. 

Your breath as your gaze ran up the last man’s body, noting the egregiously tight leather pants and shaggy ink black hair. He wore an old, probably rusted pair of Ray-Bans -- vintage, had to be. But that wasn’t his give away, oh no. It was how he used his chromed fingers belonging to his mechanical arm that made all the difference. You felt as if you were underwater the way your breath was robbed from you as you watched. Him, the one and only, Johnny Silverhand. The pinnacle of what your mind had been wrapped around. He was mesmerizing, the way he moved, shouted -- everything. It was all with reckless abandon, like the music was moving through him and he moved with it like a puppet on a string. A vessel to the music, and no one else, it seemed. 

“Not backing down! Never backing down! Not backing down!” Kerry shouted over the mic, Johnny supporting with second vocals. 

The crowd cheered and roared, singing along to the lyrics. You knew them well, lip-syncing along quietly, eyes glittering. You must have looked like a fool -- if your Uncle could see you now. But absolutely none of that mattered, not in this room. The world had completely faded away, leaving you completely in this moment. It started with the clapping of your hands and the bobbing of your head but quickly spread all over your body. Finally, you let go. Letting the music take you, wherever it wants. It was terrifying, that little bug in your chest digging deeper and deeper but at the same time, you’ve never felt so free. Like you were just a normal person. You laughed as you danced, most likely not entirely on beat, but you couldn’t care less. Completely lost in the crowd and the music, you didn’t notice the jaded dark brown eyes boring into you from over a pair of beat up Ray-Bans.  \\\[memory shard complete…deletion in progress]\\\[ERROR FOREIGN B-][ERROR]\\\

Tag list:

@moldonfruit @gatorism @0moonjelly0 @groupies-do-it-better

@queen-leviathan

[geraskierfanficprompts]

Prompt #2

There is not NEARLY enough Rapunzel AU fanfics. I'm thinking of mighty witcher Geralt coming across a lone, tall, moss, ivy, and lavender covered tower out in the woods, and being surprised to find a young man imprisoned there. I love the idea that instead of paintings like Disney's Rapunzel used to fill up her time and tower, that instead he sings and makes songs, so there's like.. Lyrics and sheet music scribbled onto the walls.

♡!Optional addons!♡ • Geralt is tracking down an evil infamous mage, of whom turns out to be the captor of this gorgeous musician he found

• Jaskier has blonde hair until it's cut like in Tangled, to call back to his Dandelion roots (hah.. Roots... Like hair... and dandelions..) • We could go the Disney's Tangled route and have there be a lost Prince Julian that Jaskier just so happens to resemble (and secretly is)

• Perhaps Jaskier is physically bound there by magic or chains, Or perhaps he's there out of nothing more than guilt, shame, and/or fear toward the person keeping him there • Perhaps Jaskier is a painter in this universe, and above all, wants to see real buttercups, dandelions, etc, out in the wild, for they don't grow near his tower, and the best he can get is his own paintings of their descriptions in books.

• Maybe if we feel more adventurous, Jaskier could be part harpy, kept in a mage's tower in a birdcage, kept for his magical hair activated by his magical singing (Ooh, this gives me more bird jaskier ideas.. You might see those soon)

• Or perhaps, after Blaviken, a witcher is sealed away in a tower, only for some dumbass (affectionate) struggling bard to stroll across and think it a perfect shelter from the oncoming rain.

[damianbugs]

Hello✨👋. What's your favorite era of Batman? What's your favorite costume? I love reading your thoughts on everything. What do you think caused the writers to decide to make Batman darker even though at the time he had stories that touched on interesting themes. If you were a writer what characters would you develop and in what direction? Are there any underrated characters you love?

HI !!! this is so sweet, thank you for asking so many things! i would love to answer :]

my favourite batman era was the 90s !! i think it's more honest to say there's not been a single era i didn't like entirely (even the infamous new 52 had its good stories) — but when i add up all my favourites, a large majority of those comics are found in the 90s! it was a time for those darker stories to thrive without relying on ridiculous plot-twists and unnecessary violence for a shock factor.

just to name a vew of my all time favourites from this era: Batman Venom (1991), Tales of the Demon (1991), Batman Night Cries (1992), Batman The Ultimate Evil (1995), Batman Prodigal (1997), Batman War on Crime (1999), Batman & Dracula Trilogy (1991-1999) OKAY ILL STOP HERE BUT BASICALLY IT WAS ALL FANTASTIC

on that note, i think the turning point for a Darker Batman was in the 80s, and there's many reasons for it! one of the main ones i think is that for comics as a whole, the 80s was a chance to START exploring explicit adult themes in comics — due to indie titles! despite popular belief, back then the big 2 of comics weren't churning out nearly as many comics as it seems like on paper, with much more maturer and 'gritty' independent titles gaining popularity. i think batman writers noticed and were keeping up with that was becoming interesting in the meta. then of course the 90s was all dark and gritty and everyone wanted a chance to revitalise the accepted picture of batman. after all, everyone remembers a sad story.

then of course, probably the biggest turning point was... jason todd's death. i truly do think it was this event that changed batman as a character, an idea and a story forever. the comics that followed ADiTF were written with this young ghost perpetually in the background, bruce's grief heavy in the pages whether or not jason was explicitly mentioned — so the stories had to be, in turn, dark and mournful.

my favourite costume is blue and grey with yellow symbol batman suit, especially by the artists neal adams and norm breyfogle :) bruce looks so good in this style and the blue reminds me of such wonderful stories. it might seem like a weird detail, but the other than the satisfying cape dynamics, i love the way they draw his legs and boots for this costume!!

if i was a writer i would sink my claws into stephanie brown and never let go. EVER. the role she could have in gotham as a vigilante closely tied with a community would be literally fantastic for her character and backstory. if i could, i think i would write her leaning towards the Huntress route compared to the Batman route, but still keeping her ties to cass, tim and babs (and bruce, i say tentatively). i would also bring back her adorable relationship with damian IMMEDIATELY!!!

and last but not least, the most underrated character of all time ever, JACE FOX. my batman. i love him. i have literally fantasised someone with a darker and less 'deserving' backstory, growing as a person, reforming and learning from their mistakes to become batman AND HE DID. HE DID THAT. no matter what people say, i think jace fox is a character who encompasses everything you need to be batman, including all the flaws that come with that mantle. one day i hope we get to see cass and jace bond and grow, reforming a duo ready to succeed bruce.

THANK YOU FOR ASKING THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN TO SHARE !!!!

[girlstuffnorp]

Julie and the Phantoms Song Recs: McFly Songs that are Sunset Curve/JATP Coded

So, McFly are a big British pop/rock band that have been around since 2003, and are still releasing music and touring at the time of writing in 2024. I saw them perform live in 2023, and loved it. 💖 That tour was to celebrate the release of the most recent album (at the time of writing) - Power To Play - and listening to that album immediately gave me Sunset Curve vibes, and then I subsequently realised that they had been making Sunset Curve/JATP-coded songs throughout their whole career. 🥺💖

Edit: So, McFly are really popular in Brazil, and they released a song with popular Brazilian band Fresno in 2023 as part of the Power To Play album - Broken By You... and I've just discovered that Fresno actually had a cameo in Julie e os Fantasmas (the original Brazilian show that Julie and the Phantoms was adapted from) in episode 3, so this whole post has gained a lot more validity in a '6 degrees of separation' kind of way 😍👏

I wanted to make a list of songs that I could see Sunset Curve/JATP performing/recording for their potential albums, some that just remind me of the boys, and some fun gems in between - these are all my personal preferences/opinions, so you may think differently, but here is the current tracklist in no particular order. (All with YouTube links of varying quality since a lot of the music videos/live performances give Sunset Curve/JATP vibes too IMO. All [except one] of these songs are also on Spotify etc.):

🎶 God of Rock & Roll (link here) (Screams Sunset Curve for me)

🎶 Where Did All The Guitars Go? (link here) (Also screams Sunset Curve for me)

🎶 Air Guitar (as McBusted with Busted) (link here) (Always reminded me of when the boys realised that people could see them play with Julie)

🎶 Ghostbusters (Live cover of song by Ray Parker Jr.) (link here) (On Youtube, but sadly not on streaming) (Maybe a bonus/hidden track on the album or they would exclusively play live at the gigs - I couldn't not share it because it's awesome from start to finish, and the boys would totally cover it as a joke 👻Also, imagine the boys getting the crowd to do call-and-response with them - iconic 😍)

🎶 I'll Be Ok (link here) (Gives me vibes of the boys helping each other through their crappy family lives in the 90s 🥺)

🎶 Five Colours In Her Hair (link here) (The song written during a jam session - the boys just having a laugh)

🎶 Make It Out Alive (link here) (As soon as I first heard this, the angst and melodrama of the song gave me vibes of the boys being cursed and under Caleb's control at the HGC 🥺)

🎶 Route 55 (link here) (A song all about friends having a great time together during an endless summer)

🎶 Don't Stop Me Now (Charity single cover of Queen) (link here) (They would have totally covered Queen during their jam sessions - respecting some of the best but putting their own fun spin on things 😂)

🎶 Transylvania (link here) (This song always gives me HGC vibes - so gothic and melodramatic, and Dougie's vocals in the chorus?? 😍)

🎶 Party Girl (link here) (Such a guilty pleasure song of mine~ This music video is slightly NSFW since it contains clips of the band's infamous vampire-themed short film that they all starred in 2010 to promote their album at the time [which even the band realise was a bad idea in hindsight, since it was clearly riding the Twilight wave]... but! Listening to this song also gives me ideas for a possible evil Julie possessed/controlled by Caleb - maybe sometime I will write them down~ 👀)

🎶Tonight Is The Night (link here) (A spiritual sequel to I'll Be Ok in my mind - when the boys realise that they're not really okay and need to ask for help to process all the shit that has happened to them - think what Luke went through in Unsaid Emily [and what we presume Alex and Reggie would go through in subsequent seasons] and the boys helping each other through it 🥺)

🎶 Too Close For Comfort (link here) (The obligatory break-up song on an album, and this performed live is everything - just heartbreaking 🥺)

🎶 Umbrella (Live cover of song by Rihanna) (link here) (Julie gives the boys a lesson in popular music during the 25 years that they've been dead, and they decide to surprise her with a fun rock cover of Umbrella to cheer her up one day)

🎶 The Heart Never Lies (link here) (The dramatic love song on an album that is really about the band's bond and sticking together through thick and thin)

🎶 Falling In Love (link here) (The love song that has a music video full of tour footage, which always make me think of the boys in Sunset Curve absolutely loving playing for a crowd, and the bridge/quiet part of the song giving the vibe of Julie, Luke, Alex and Reggie cherishing the moment at the end of Stand Tall before the boys cross over 🥺)

🎶 One For The Radio (link here) (The defiant song for everyone who dismissed Sunset Curve and JATP - I could imagine this as a song written in response to either record companies who wouldn't sign Sunset Curve/JATP, Bobby/Trevor or Caleb. It also gives me vibes of the boys appearing back onto the stage of the Orpheum to perform Stand Tall with Julie - defiant celebration)

🎶 Lies (link here) (The break-up song that gives me vibes of the boys standing up to Caleb. Also is it just me, or does Tom [you can see him at around 0:43 in the video] give Luke vibes in his styling? 😍)

🎶 Forever's Not Enough (link here) (The true love song that Luke writes for Julie, but will never admit that it's for her because he makes the lyrics vague enough 💖)

Tagging @ri-jane @phantomwriter95 @hemeraomara @1mnobodywhoareyou @legolasghosty

@floating-in-the-blue @60sec400

[sunder-the-gold]

Please name the best games that allowed you to become an anti-hero, the villain protagonist, or even just replace the antagonist as the true villain of the story

The communists in charge of Star Wars: Outlaws told themselves that they wanted you to play as a free-spirit rebel and pirate, but they were so terrified of actual misbehavior that they would only allow you to attack strong and wealthy targets. Because they cannot accept the idea that a criminal would EVER do the sensible thing and prey upon the weak, because that's the sort of thing that only The System does!

I know that in the first BioShock game, you could sacrifice the Little Sisters in the name of expediency, and this had some effect on the ending.

While you could argue that nothing you did could make you worse than the antagonist of BioShock, so that you would be an anti-hero at worst, you couldn't argue that the more heroic and moral path would be to spare the Little Sisters.

Mass Effect only went so far as to allow you to play the anti-hero with its "Renegade" path. You weren't allowed to do anything so bad that you became the biggest evil in the galaxy, but you were at least allowed to save the world while being an impulsive, rude, selfish asshole. If I have the right of it.

inFAMOUS and Prototype allowed you to play as either the most heroic your character could possibly be (given Alex's shitty circumstances and monstrous abilities) or as anti-hero like the Punisher or the worst interpretations of Batman. But I forget if you could ever just straight up replace the central villain as the world's biggest threat.

In Undertale, where the Pacifist Route and ending are unambiguously the most moral and heroic path you can take, and the Neutral route contains too many possibilities to generalize, but the Genocide Route has you become a villain antagonist without ANY 'greater scope villain' to serve as your antagonist. The monster Flowey doesn't even try to fight you, only the Biggest Damn Heroes among monsterkind.

Soul Nomad & The World Eaters also allows you to become the greatest scope villain, who ends the game by killing the universe. As well as lesser variations of villain-protagonist or anti-hero.

[kouvisart]

Just watched Disney's "Wish" and here is how I would rewrite Magnifico's character arc and the movie.

*Spoilers Ahead*

I understand that the audience and the movie wanted to make him a fun, campy villain as reminiscent of the older Disney villains, but what they established was the opposite. The movie is trying to do two things with him: being sympathetic and being outright evil. These two are difficult to combine, and it is clear that they didn't how to do that.

They not only gave him a tragic past that was never elaborated on, but his descent literally isn't himself, but of a magic evil book that makes your eyes green. They had such a clear setup to pursue why he would use it now of all times, but they didn't. People can be asshole narcissists without being evil. And it is clear he did care for Amaya, and the people of Rosas. So the movie needed to push him more and give him some struggle of morality. Unfortunately, this route will turn him into a tragic villain. If they wanted true camp, they needed to make him always evil, and was always using the wishes to power himself up. But that is for another day.

"HIS MOTIVATION"

One of the weaknesses of Maginifico is that he has no clear motivation. And if it he does, they don't line up with what his surroundings are. When the power of Star nearly made the wishes in his chamber fall and the city shake, he was pretty paranoid that something was effecting his magic. Or overpowering it. Then when his people started questioning PLUS demanding more wish ceremonies, you can see why he is so irritated by them and thinks they don't respect him. When they basically gamble away their wish VOLUNTARILY and don't actually respect him as a king, more like a wish granter. He even said something akin to, "that is all you ever think about is wish ceremonies?" And the crowd responds with yes.

To further show his descent more, there should be another scene where he is just alone, without Amaya there. And his eyes are involuntarily drawn to the magic book. Widened, and mesmerized, his irises turn green and suddenly he snaps out of it. Hinting that the book, despite behind the glass, can draw people towards it. Beckoning almost and using their most innate desires. Now lets see how his motivations tie into the infamous villain song.

"THIS IS THE THANKS I GET"

What I'd change would be the must needed tonal shift in the second half. The songs stays way too poppy and doesn't clearly identify his corruption. The moment when he nearly gives himself to the book. It seems so simple, but the this section of the song really shows his reluctance, and that he thinks what he is doing is a necessary evil.

"I didn't wanna do this I swore I'd never do this But I'm hypnotized by how these pages flip 'Cause I refuse to have my power stripped A potion, a spell, a summon, a curse? Anything to make that light reverse To this book, I don't wanna be tethered, but Desperate times call for desperate measures Brr, where was I? Oh, yeah"

Instead of the "brr, where was I?" line, I would make the music stop, and Amaya's voice could be heard from behind. Freezing Magnifico in his tracks. The green around him disappears, and it is only him and his Queen, surrounded by nothing but themselves. She sings softly to him. A reprise of "At All Cost."

His subconscious knows it's wrong to use the book (as seen in the first two lines of the bridge and the last two lines, offset 1), so it conjures up Amaya, who tries to remind him of his good. The song grows in distortion as Amaya begs, yet he feels pushed to this predicament.

Going back to his motivation, it is hinted he wants control because in his eyes, the only way to protect everyone is if he oversees everything. But that doesn't mean he thinks his powers would be stripped. I think this is the one line that gives hint at a motivation that really doesn't fit his character, " 'Cause I refuse to have my power stripped." There is no hint throughout the movie that his magic is weakening, and when the people demanded and disrespected him, he is more irritated than antagonized. Instead, it should be he is afraid he doesn't have enough power. He feels he isn't powerful enough to stop whatever magic is happening in the kingdom, and knows the book will grant him this to achieve what he wants. Which is to protect Rosas "at all cost."

The goal here is to make his worries justified but his actions an overreaction. And make it a descent into madness than suddenly becoming evil out of the blue.

MOTIVATION CONT.

Also, to up the stakes because there is literally none, for when Asha sneaks into his castle to retrieve Sabo's wish, she accidentally releases all of them, even the violent ones. So we can have a character parallel between Asha and Magnifico where they think they are both doing the right thing, and are using overreactions for issues that could've just been brought up peacefully.

During their truce, he sees just how dangerous people can be with violent wishes, and the will they have to do them. Slowly making him angrier and angrier and further justifying to himself what he he did. After they are forced to work together to bring back order, the evil book has already taken its toll, and he comes to the realization of why is he even doing this for the people who don't even respect the man that gave them a safe haven. That without him, it would have descended into chaos long ago. He starts to extract the wishes involuntarily out of people, trying to keep them safe from themselves. But as he does, he takes it into himself for safe-keeping and ends up voring them. Growing in madness and in power as a misplaced, extreme martyrdom.

Now for the ending. I would either have the evil dispelled from him, but he dies from the magic exhaustion. Or to go the route of the movie and have him trapped, while Amaya, instead of being nonchalant about her husband's predicament (which is weird in the movie since it is shown they love one another yet now she doesn't care?). Who thanks Asha and tells her she will find a way to free her husband and rid of the curse, even if the book says there is no way to reverse it.

[alilabaroli]

— “[...] Is there something more disarming than a smile? Sharper than the right words? More enchanting than the cadence of the voice? To know how to control those easily fawned by you – to hold near the mastery of manipulation. Isn't this the softest form of evil?”

—————

TAKEN FROM GHARIAS’ PERSONAL ANNOTATIONS:

Excerpt from PAGE 38,

Subject: Jacqueline Inacia Francisca Pompeia Delacorte. Also referred to as:

Madam Delacorte (by most people)

Francisca (by Lady Vampire. Which came to me as a shock, because why does she hate her wife? Why would someone do this? ‘Jacqueline’ is right there. )

Jackie (by close friends)

Personality: She's so much like you that it gives me a headache. She has all that politician flair about her — winning smiles, soft-spoken words, way more cunning than she lets on… Truly, you two would be inseparable. She's laidback, curious, and easygoing, and there's a rumor that she deals with some dirty business. Her younger brother has been managing the house while she's here. I think I'll send someone to look at it — knowing more about the Delacorte Heir will give us clear leverage. Appearance: Being rather tall, with 1,88m, Jacqueline has an average and defined build, green eyes, tan skin blushed in all the right places, a crooked, long nose that's more elegant than flawed, thin lips, and high cheekbones. Her waist-length, voluminous black hair is often set in styled waves and a long side bang. She opts for long, flowing dresses in tones of pearl, white, silver, and cream, almost always held by a tight and intricate corselet, and she never leaves without her lace gloves. Jacqueline has acne and sunburns on her cheeks that she often covers with makeup, and freckles and beauty marks all over her body.

OTHER:

Excerpt taken from What's This Bird I Hear?, a gossip newspaper common in Horse's Hoof and Vidente:

Jacqueline Delacorte is the name of the moment, especially with her recently dead parents and the leadership of the Delacorte business. A beauty to witnesses and a rarity to acquire, she brought uproar when she assumed her marriage with a non-noble. Now, she's highly infamous amongst her peers and cautiously dealt with. There's no denying Madam Delacorte lost some of her power, but one is simply ignorant to underestimate her reach.

— Gharias, year 1236 A.D.S

—————

The one responsible for your swift path to retirement, Jacqueline has been a familiar face as your boss for the past seven years. Your relationship has always been professional and to the point; you never saw the need to change that, except when she extended a branch by offering you the means to your objectives.

But should you go any deeper and blur the lines? Find more in her charming words than empty promises?

{  only available to nb and female mc's. Poly route with Caroline }

[neontrickery]

Drawing and Reviewing a Random Pokemon #4: Hoppip

Hoppip --- Rating: 7/10

It's surprising I've been getting mostly cute small mons from the random poke generator (minus stonehenge over there) cuz I expected to get one that's a complete pain to draw by now. Like Guzzlord or Inteleon or somthin. But these small mons definitely have an overall advantage in my rating system. I'm the type of person to give my boys everstones to keep them tiny forever. Like an evil witch.

Hoppip is pretty cute. I always lowkey liked it. My favorite out of the line is, weirdly, Skiploom. But Hoppip definitely has the best colors and most ~marketable~ design. I think it would make a great plush or plant pot. The card game art of Hoppip always feel especially serene, like if only I were in that field, or dare I say that meadow, with those silly Hoppip, all would be right with the world.

However, when it comes to gameplay, there are some problems...

Partially for experience distribution reasons and partially based on my arbitrary whims, I don't like catching multiple pokemon on the same route. I like having 1 "baby" of the party to raise up, then once their level is the same as everyone else's or they can carry their own weight without switch training, I can catch something new. But I don't like having multiple babies at once because I'm not ready for that kind of responsibility. Unfortunately for Hoppip, Mareep/Ampharos are some of my all-time favorite pokemon, so almost every playthough of HeartGold I've ever done, I've caught Mareep on the route south of Violet City. Which just so happens to also be where Hoppip lives. It doesn't help that Mareep is great for the first and second gyms and gets Thundershock pretty early (and Hoppip starts with SPLASH), while grass types have infamously bad matchups for most of Johto.

Overall, I enjoy such a creachure as this. Just not enough to ever use it instead of Mareep or Chikorita. Sorry, Hoppip. You deserve better.

[ferhog]

Getting into Metroid This Past Month:

I first learned about Metroid (as well as most Nintendo franchises that weren't Pokemon and Mario) through my friend's copy of Smash Bros Brawl at around the age of 9. Samus being a hot lady underneath the cool set of power armor left enough of an impression for me to try and draw her from memory, but I otherwise had no interest in actually playing her games for most of the following decade and a half. In that time I learned a bit of her lore from Smash Trophys, Game Theory videos, and watching the first few minutes of Other M cutscenes to hear the lady from Smash Bros talk, but it wasn't until shortly after the release of Metroid Dread when I watched some late game cutscenes from the game and GameXplain's Metroid movie pitch video that I became interested enough in the story of the games and Samus as a character that I decided to downlo- I mean obtain copies of Zero Mission and Fusion for my Visua- I mean Gameboy Advance, which I held off on starting until I worked through my gaming backlog more, and it was earlier this summer that I decided the time had come.

The Metroid Manga: Before starting Zero Mission as my first game I read the manga so I'd get a good sense of Samus' backstory before starting. Now I knew what to roughly expect thanks to the Gamexplain movie pitch adapting much of the story, but overall I enjoyed it more than I was expecting. I probably don't need to tell you that Ridley was the absolute highlight. His pure evil is matched only by Louie from Pikmin in terms of Nintendo villains and it got me very invested in his rivalry with Samus throughout the games. Aside from that, my favourite part of the manga was Samus' characterization and her relationship with her bird dads. I have a real soft spot for all adoption related tropes so I really like the idea that Samus was taken in by what was once the most important race in the galaxy and inherited their legacy of keeping the peace, which she basically turned into a job via bounty hunting. However a lot of what the manga does is better in concept than in execution, as the art is hard to follow a lot of the time and much of the story is sped through quite quickly, no thanks to how much time is spent with the extensive cast of side characters. When Samus started her zero mission I held off on finishing the story until I played the game, and while I'm glad that they went with adapting the game at the end because we got to see a climactic fight against Ridley it is super bizarre that they didn't commit to the idea and just stopped when Samus reached Mother Brain. The manga is absolutely worth reading but best thought of as a companion to Zero Mission, probably best read afterwards.

Metroid Zero Mission: My experience with Metroidvanias was basically just Hollow Knight, the first Dark Souls, and Bloodborne, and while I was excited to experience the same sense of adventure I also feared getting lost as per this franchise's reputation. However I surprisingly managed to make my way though the whole game with only one thing I had to look up, which embarrassingly was the same mistake David Jaffe infamously made in Dread, as I failed to realize I could shoot a ceiling open even with enemies there to hint that I could. I think the game has the perfect balance between freedom and guidance as someone's first Metroid game through the chozo statues that mark your next destination without telling you how exactly to get there. Combine that with it being a remake of the first game and I think it was just the perfect game for me and anyone else to start with. My biggest issue gameplay-wise was just the fights against Mother Brain and the two black Space Pirates were very frustrating, the latter because the combat just didn't feel designed for a fight that reflex based, at least not for a newcomer. After finishing the game I felt compelled to earn the Zero Suit Samus ending, which I accomplished by constantly scouting out the optimal routes and resetting so I could get through them as fast as possible.

AM2R: I wanted to play these games in story order so I knew I had to play some version of Metroid 2 next. After trying out the original Metroid that you unlock after beating Zero Mission I figured the pre-NES games weren't going to be fun for me so I wanted to play either AM2R or Samus Returns, and I went with the former as it would be easier to find and would be closer to the game I just finished. The game is a very impressive feat for a fan-made project, though I think it was the one I had the least fun with overall. A few hours into the game I listened to the Some Call Me Johnny review which mentioned it being very hard, and that made sense considering it was a fan project by big Metroid fans for big Metroid fans, but it did result in a few of the bosses being quite frustrating with how much skill they demanded, particularly with the space jump which I struggled to understand the timing of. I didn't feel like instantly replaying it as I did with Zero Mission but I really loved how they adapted the ending.

Super Metroid: "This SNES game probably won't hold up that well right?" Thought the guy whose first console was the PS2.

Super Metroid is one of the greatest games of all time.

Metroid Fusion: I was real intrigued going into this game given what I'd heard about its linearity and extra story focus compared to the prior games but it was still a shock going straight from 2 playthroughs of Super Metroid to this. It didn't even really feel like Metroid, especially with how you were essentially playing through levels via Adam sending you through specific locations with specific tasks. Eventually I got used to it and fully accepted it as a Metroid game as I was increasingly required to be more explorative, though I think of all Metroid games I've played it has the most needlessly abstract methods for mandatory progression. The example which I eventually gave up on and looked up was the yellow Space Pirate X which which could only be damaged with a shot to the back apparently? There was seemingly no visual hints for that and the doors didn't even open if you absorbed the X before they formed the Space Pirates. While I figured out the other examples on my own I just felt I had to blow up way more seemingly random walls than normal. The bosses were generally very fun except for everything about Yakuza. A super long lead up to a boss that kept killing me super easily before I figured out how to avoid its grab attack, followed by a struggle to regain health for the ensuing SA-X encounter with how little health you get from enemies that could fly in out of nowhere and do more damage to you than you were regaining. Speaking of the SA-X, it wasn't in the game as much as I was expecting, but each encounter was quite memorable, especially when I was hiding behind power bomb blocks and it dropped a power bomb. Overall I didn't like most of this game's choices, but I like it when franchises try new things so I wouldn't say anything should have been changed except for how much health you get from enemies. This was the 2nd game I didn't feel like instantly replaying.

Metroid Prime: As of writing this I am currently a few hours into the first Metroid Prime, specifically having just gotten the boost ball. The Metroid formula was very well translated into 3D and the visuals have aged amazingly. I may be playing a remaster but most remasters still don't look this modern. But curiously this has been the Metroid game I've spent the most time away from during a playthrough, going several days without picking it up again. It's not that I dislike playing it, I just don't feel as much of a strong desire to keep coming back to it. Maybe I just feel the need to catch up on other stuff after playing so much Metroid. I do think I'll get around to playing the rest soon enough.

One of my biggest impressions overall is that Metroid is actually quite underrated despite how iconic it is. Samus seems mostly remembered as a Smash Bros character and her iconic twist as one of gaming's first female protagonists, but it doesn't seem like that many people actually play the games. It's also funny that while Samus is famous as a sex symbol in the Smash Bros and general gaming fandoms, it seems that the actual Metroid fandom prefers their Samus cooler than sexy. Anyway I'm looking forward to eventually picking up Dread, the game which first hooked my interest into this franchise, and the other 2 Prime games. Maybe I'll even pick up Other M if I see it around.

[originmade]

HEADCANON - THREE GRAND FAIRY SPELLS

Fairy Tail as a guild is rather famous ( or infamous ) for many things, but one that exists more as a legend than a known fact are the Three Grand Fairy Spells. The term was coined by Fairy Tail's second guild master, Precht Gaebolg, as a way to describe three powerful spells created by Mavis during her lifetime and the knowledge of which has been passed down from generation to generation within the guild via the guild masters. This post will go over the creation and purpose of all three spells based on their introduction within the series.

ONE. FAIRY LAW.

Fairy Law is an iteration of the black magic spell 'Law', an extremely powerful and ancient spell used as a means of judgement, purging what the caster deems as evil from their target, leaving behind what they deem as good. This spell, while lost to the ages, is known for its steep learning curve and disastrous consequences for being cast in an incomplete state. Despite all of this, Mavis herself cast the spell, knowing it was a last resort and there was no time to master a spell. The cost of the spell is unparalleled, but Mavis also understood the versatility and importance of a spell like Law, which brought her to the conclusion of altering it, in the hopes of preventing anyone else from falling into a similar fate as her own. There were two primary school of thoughts when she began her work altering the spell. One. Prevent anyone from falling victim to the same fate as herself upon casting it. She needed to implement a fail safe into the spell in case it was being cast in an incomplete form, and thus decided the best course of action was to have the spell call from the casters life force. Because the intended use of Law, and by extension, Fairy Law, is to be used on a limited target at a limited range, Mavis believed this cost of casting was the safest route to go, and would also deter the misuse of the spell, both in terms of large scale battles or careless casting. Two. To ensure that the caster is fully aware and accepts the price of which they are paying to cast this spell, a secondary fail safe was put into place. With a spell as powerful and dangerous as Law, the last thing Mavis would have wanted is the spell to be used against someone without proper intent or realization. This lead Mavis to alter the spell to be only be effective on those who they believe to be their enemies within their hearts. This prevented the spell from being misused in a moment of rage or disagreement and would cause the spell to be fundamentally useless against those in who both the heart and mind do not agree upon as an enemy. Fairy Law was the last of the spells to be created, as its inception lined up with the second trade war following Mavis' realization that if she herself could find and cast an incomplete version of Law in a moment of desperation, what was stopping an exhausted wizard soldier ( someone who held very little stakes in this conflict ) from finding and casting Law themselves in hopes of ending the conflict. Thankfully, the war had come to its conclusion before Mavis was able to complete the spell, but that did not stop her from making the knowledge of the spell readily accessible to those within the guild. The instructions on how to cast Fairy Law were written and published by Mavis to be held within the guild library, with the goal of someone coming across Fairy Law long before they find Law itself and will cast that version instead. Following the revelation of her immortality due to casting Law, Mavis had relentlessly cast Fairy Law upon herself, hoping that her altered spell and it's cost of the caster's life would counteract the immortality and take her own life. These attempts were unsuccessful and caused Mavis to exhaust her magic supply on multiple instances, leading her to pass out in isolated locations for multiple days on end ( something she truly didn't mind considering what her end goal was )

TWO. FAIRY GLITTER

Fairy Glitter is a spell created to vanquish those who the caster deem as wicked by gathering the light of the sun, moon and stars and concentrating the light into a singular point, this being the caster's forearm before being directed upon their target. While little is known about this spell, even within the guild itself, Fairy Glitter stands as the strongest of the three spells created by Mavis. As the first of the three grand fairy spells, the spell itself actually proceeds the guild's existence by almost a year as it's creation was primarily out of grief and as a way for Mavis to channel the energy she would have used mourning into something she would deem productive ( a destructive habit Mavis has always had since the siege of Red Lizard ). The sole inspiration for Fairy Glitter came from Mavis' final moments with Zera, watching her best friend and only true support system vanish away in a blinding light and become what she could only describe in that moment as glitter. The pain Mavis felt in that moment, being blinded by what she could only tell herself was the light of the heavens and the universe, awoke an almost cruel part of her mind, wanting to find a way to channel that pain into something effective, eventually leading to the creation of Fairy Glitter. It's strength was both fully intentional and an extreme oversight on Mavis' part. Mavis wanted the spell to be something anyone could wield, as long as their conviction, will and heart were all in the right place, it didn't matter if the caster was alive or not, physical or illusion. This implication of the spell lead it to being effective against the intangible ( thought projections, illusions, souls ) and cause damage to the origin as well. Mavis found it almost fitting that it carried this additional effect, almost comforted in the fact that the caster could use the spell to defend themselves from things others may not see. Within a year, Mavis had refined the spell, channeling its power within a magic circle which would be imprinted on the casters arm as a beacon to summon the magic energy to. This process does cause damage to the caster's arm, as all the energy of the spell is held within that point until released upon their target. Multiple castings of this spell and in rapid succession can lead to the caster's arm becoming permanently damaged. Despite it's immense power and high versatility, very little people know of the spells existence. This was a spell made of grief and almost as a memorial to Mavis' closest friend, and thus wanted to keep it to herself. The only people who knew of the spells existence were the other three founders, as they were with her upon placing the spell in Zera's grave on Tenro as it's final resting place. Mavis had also placed a spell upon the grave, believing that Zera's spirit was still residing on the island, and thus gave the decision on who could wield the spell to her deceased friend. There have only been three mages to wield Fairy Glitter since its inception: Mavis Vermillion, Yuriy Dreyar and Cana Albarona

THREE. FAIRY SPHERE.

Fairy Sphere, known as the ultimate defense spell, forms and impenetrable sphere around the casters by harnessing the energy of multiple mages and the bonds they share to materialize. The strength of the spell is partially dependent on how many people are casting the spell and the strength of the bond of those involved. Created a few months before wizarding guilds were pulled into the second trade war, Fairy Sphere was originally supposed to be a healing and support spell. Healing magic was already considered a lost magic during this era but Mavis was always considered rather stubborn and determined, so she took whatever available knowledge she could find and began developing a spell. Her attempts kept ending in failures and she was almost ready to abandon the project before Warrod approached her with the idea of making a defense spell rather than a healing spell, which caused her to shift her trajectory and began researching defense based magics instead. Although she is credited as the sole creator of the spell, a large portion of the ideas and concepts came from Warrod himself, although he would never take credit for it, claiming that he was just spit balling ideas at Mavis and wasn't a real help ( something Mavis would greatly beg to differ ). It was Warrod's input that lead to Mavis altering the spell to require multiple wizards to cast it, especially considering Warrod was one to protect those he loves above himself and where he drew his strength from. Although it's primary function had shifted to defense, Mavis was still determined to create some form of healing within the spell. She eventually came to the conclusion that she wanted those within the sphere to be protected from existing ailments, poisons or curses. Her solution to this was to implement a strong nullification magic within the sphere, with the intention of pausing whatever was causing the ailment from spreading. It was a large oversight on Mavis' part that the nullification spell could be cast improperly and cause time to pause within the sphere. While she was the creator of the spell, she never intended for it to be able to stop time and prevent aging. By the time of the spells completion, wizarding guilds had been pulled into the war, leaving Mavis preoccupied with tactical meetings and the development of Fairy Law, which lead to Warrod being the one to write down the instructions on how to cast Fairy Sphere. Of all three of her spells, Fairy Sphere was the only one Mavis had not been able to cast within her lifetime, only successfully casting it following her death on Tenro. However, Mavis was made aware that the spell could be cast successfully after word had gotten back from her that Warrod and Precht and successfully casted a much weaker version of the spell during a battle. While all of those involved in the war were aware of the spells existence, most knowledge of it had faded to obscurity after peace was establish.

[blimbo-buddy]

Okay I'm curious. Why is Artie on the evil bad guy side? What is that little green thing up to?

So I have a few ideas on why he ended up joining the bad guys’ side but none of them are purely solid yet.

He felt malice for the other Sprunki’s for some vague reason. Likely for having a chance to help him out in a horrible situation and not being able to recognize it fully, subsequently leading to inaction (If I go this route it might be tweaked around a lot due to its similarities to a character from my Mobilewashing Au)

He’s a victim of Black/TopHat’s manipulation

He wanted to make himself infamous because he wanted to be remembered for something, even if that Thing is deplorable

He has a horribly strong and twisted sense of justice and felt that the others don’t get enough punishment when he himself is supposedly the only one who goes through it

These are just some rough ideas though and the route I take for him in the end may very well be completely different. But hey that’s lil’ Artie for you.

[pinklocksoflove]

A detachment of the Gerudo stand at the mouth of the pass between Ordon and the Gerudo Desert. The tower of Larusi stands out in the dustance. Several archers were stationed in the tower to provide support against the oncoming horde of monsters lead by the now infamous Gruddoc Steelmaw. The cool air blowing in from Ordon was damp, a storm moving this way no doubt. Many of the Gerudo shifted and fidgeted nervously in anticipation of the oncoming battle. Group leaders were doing their best to keep morale high. Though the sight of a large number of the stalwart members of the group clad in the heavy iron knuckle armor, among them a young woman who would stand before Demise himself if it meant protecting others.

Zavira volunteered for this deployment as she could not sit idly by as this warband raided villages along the way. They were looking for a fight, and if the Gerudo had anything to say about it, they're going to get exactly that.

The young woman grips her great axe tight in her armored hands. Droplets of water start plinking against her armor. A crash of thunder in the distance. Then came the drums, the shouts and battle cries. They were coming, and there was a lot of them. From lowly bokoblins, to the bulk being bulblins and even a number of armored hinoxes. This wasn't going to be easy. Blood will be spilled no way around it. Formations tightened up as the iron knuckles moved in front, forming a wall with just enough space for the front row of polearms can stick their blades through to repel shock charges.

A deep breath to calm her racing heart. Not even concerned if she would survive this, more to see her sisters in arms protected. She will be their shield and the mighty axe lashing out to cut any foe down.

The sounds grow louder, ground beginning to rumble as the mass of charging feet grow ever closer. They came into view, anger boiled in Zavira's blood as she saw them, cruel creatures born of evil. The archers let fly their arrows. Many of the front line creatures, those that were not killed immediately soon became trampled underfoot. Many creatures frothed at the mouth, driven into a blood rage, howling and roaring. They charged right into the Gerudo line. With every swing of their axes the iron knuckles cut bloody swathes, limbs blood and chunks of crude armor flew in the air. The first wave of lesser creatures soon lost heart and began to rout.

The next wave was the bulblins, significantly tougher and much more bloodthirsty than the others. Many shrugged off what would be grievous wounds to others. Zavira lopped off one's arm, the thing completely unbothered by the loss of a limb, rather seemed annoyed by the idea. Hits kept bouncing off the armor of the iron knuckles. However pieces of the armor began to crack and break off. As tough as the metal was it could only take so much punishment. A sudden concern for the others hit Zavira's mind, not that she could do much about it as now standing before her was a massive bulblin in crude plate armor. One that could only be Gruddoc. The bulblin let out a grating laugh making a swing at Zavira.

She was growing tired from the constant fighting. Arms numb from all the swings and hits. Bits of her chain mail broken and split as blood dripped from numer knicks and cuts. Still she had to keep going. Her axe raised to block and deflect the oncoming blow. The beast was incredibly strong however. Even with the block the axe came down and into her helmet. Thankfully it took most of the impact, blood still began to dribble down her forehead, the helmet not split open, letting the cool rain hit her head. She saw stars for a moment from the hit, not realizing how incredibly close to death she was at the moment. The only thing that mattered was survival. Her axe pushed his away followed up by a strike to the chest, and another, starting a flurry of furious blows. She had to end this. The only things she could see was her opponent, his axe and her own weapon. Nothing else mattered at this moment.

The combatants traded blows for what felt like an eternity, both their sets of armor were becoming tattered and broken. They seemed to be evenly matched, his strength may have been superior but her will and skill bested his. A strike to his arm sent the warboss' weapon flying out of his hands. The beast stumbling back. Through the now very broken helmet he was smiling, up until she raised her axe hoping to plant it in his skull. Before she raised her axe she felt a massive blow to her chest, powerful enough to break open her chestplate and send her flying. Everything went black as she lost consciousness upon impact with the ground.

What Zavira could not see was a hinox took an opportunistic swing at her with her focus occupied. However Gruddoc seems to have had enough, perhaps lost his fighting spirit after nearly losing his head, a retreat was ordered, the Gerudo had won the day.

Zavira would awaken quite some time later in a nearby Gerudo village being tended to along with the rest of the wounded.

[logicmaru]

i love how ranmaru kageyama is doomed by the narrative from the very fucking beginning and i hope his minisode is even more miserable.

warning i'm gonna talk a lot. ranmaru is very blatantly described as a boring guy, who's underneath the average height for guys, doesn't have any notable likes or dislikes, unless you count his hatred for happy couples + people who are happy in general, which ngl comes into play later

i'm gonna try and explain this as simply as i can bc if i try to word it like an essay i'll confuse myself aha,,,,

it kind of shows us that ranmaru can get jealous pretty easily? and he's upset at the kind of trust keiji and sara share, even though he probably knows that's because they've known each other longer than sara's known ranmaru, but it probably still pisses ranmaru off idk

he wants to prove himself to sara, even though sara already sees him as something alike to an ally, but he wants something more than that. in the logic sara deleted scene, ranmaru states that he would want to be sara's best friend, and he admits how wants to go home with her and laugh casually over jokes together and treat life like nothing's wrong

i like to believe this was deleted because it would be ooc for ranmaru, that he would probably be very reluctant of sharing such an ideal with sara, and him suddenly spilling about wanting to be sara's friend in one moment would probably cause more shock factor, and not do much good for the lore, idk it just seems very "ah omg" and less "how interesting"

i really love how ranmaru is. not a good person. i know how strange that sounds, but ranmaru is, kind of, in a way, a support character for sara. And u would think, well support character, must be someone kindhearted and encouraging, right? well, in ranmaru's case, yes, but no?? he's more like "i will go to lengths for your survival, you NEED to win" instead of "you got this! i'll help you escape!" and it's somewhat refreshing? i'm not sure maybe i'm just not normal

anyway enough about evil ranmaru, emotion ranmaru is just very Sad, and again, doomed by the narrative

he doesn't get any kind of character development iirc, in the infamous ransara "win for me" scene, he just talks about how he knew this was going to be a bad idea, and how he has no right to be sara's friend, but from that point on, we don't get any remarkable moment where ranmaru gets some sort of character redemption, and instead we get a moment where ranmaru AGAIN goes through with some sort of wild plan to make sure sara escapes, which is erasing his personality / replacing it with the joe ai's personality.

gosh, if ur friends with me, u probably know how i love and hate this part of the game, mostly because of how interesting it is and how it could've fleshed out into a whole other issue, but i dislike how it's totally overshadowed by both the fandom and the game itself

sara herself doesn't seem to react too strongly by ranmaru's choice to erase himself to become a "vessel" for joe's personality, which really i'd love to explain but honestly idk,,, i definitely thought there'd be a bigger deal about it, but perhaps it was overruled since the modified maple boss fight was literally like,, moments after that

in emotion route, ranmaru shares little to no information with anyone, though he does come close when he tries to tell sara, which he does successfully tell sara about the asunaro human in the group, but i believe that is the only moment where ranmaru goes "sara, hold on" and actually tells sara about what he was actually going to say, which, on one hand, had me on the edge of my seat, but on the other hand, was nice to see since it was really showing how untrusting and reserved ranmaru is, no matter how much he trusts sara, he's not entirely sure if she trusts him in return, or if he trusts sara to not share this information with anyone else

i love ranmaru kageyama