#it’s the fact a lot of the remakes feel like they’re missing something

[artist-issues]

I’ve enjoyed a lot of your thoughts on Disney movies and I was wondering what you thought of the movie Enchanted(assuming you have seen the movie xD)? I rewatched it recently and I really enjoyed it(I personally like that even though Giselle does evolve throughout the movie, her wish of finding true love stays the same) so I was curious to know your thoughts :)

I

LOVE

Enchanted.

Morgan is the kid that represents Disney’s audience. Robert is the well-meaning parent of that kid, who is missing the point of the Disney movies. Giselle is the Disney movie.

I love it. It’s so good. It ranks right up there with Mary Poppins, in my mind, as Disney getting itself right.

Disney has been accused of two things, prominently. On one side, you have people being like “oh Disney doesn’t have any courage to do new things, they’re just bowing to whatever the culture says, they’re remaking everything, etc.” That’s nowadays.

But in the early 2000s, when Enchanted was released, it was much more punk rock and edgy and popular to criticize Disney for not being “feminist” enough, for having characters who are stupid or silly—“what, they fall in love in just one day? What, they sing about their feelings? Look at all the dippy magic in their movies! Ha! Corny! Cheesy! Kiddie! Gag me!”

But then Disney whips out Enchanted.

Enchanted is Disney saying “Yeah our princesses have undying faith in love, and to them, magic is normal, and that’s a good thing, and our world needs more of it.”

furthermore

like this video so perfectly captures:

Giselle is this character who is (at first glance) the typical Disney Princess: that is, she’s all about faith. Having a dream of the special someone you’re destined to be with is one thing, but believing he’s out there in real life and you’ll find each other? You kind of have to believe in a higher power (fate, destiny, a horse, a wishing star, God) making that happen to get there. And then, what comes with faith, is this positive, joyful, innocent happiness that she carries everywhere.

When she meets somebody new? She trusts them to help her. When she calls to vermin? They answer her and befriend her. When she gets lost? She trusts her friends or her Prince will come find her. No need to be suspicious, to pretend to be something she’s not, or to despair; everything will work out, because life is full of wonderful things happening, and she knows that love exists and that love is often directed toward her—so why worry?

That’s so Disney. (The REAL Disney.) “Maybe something wonderful will happen.”

Enchanted celebrates that ideology by having her teach it to a guy who is from our world—and he’s basically the opposite of Giselle in every way.

He’s been hurt by someone he thought loved him (his ex wife.) He works with people who used to trust each other and spends all day helping them legally dismantle their once-loving relationships. He has his own girlfriend, but he is way too uptight and controlling to take the next step with her—because he’s afraid. Afraid, afraid, fear, fear, the opposite of faith.

Giselle has that belief in the good, the beautiful, the true, in the world. Robert has zero belief. He thinks that kind of faith is just going to get everyone hurt by the cold hard ‘real’ world. But she teaches him that the most real things in the world are the good, the beautiful, the true…

She really does love him truly, there really is magic, and those two facts really do have power. That he’s the one who hasn’t been seeing things 100% “how they are,” because he leaves love and faith out of the picture.

…and we have to talk about what he teaches her. Which is that there’s something worth getting angry about and protective of—before him, none of her beliefs were challenged. I really think by getting angry with him specifically because he refuses to take that leap of faith and believe in anything (which is exactly what his current girlfriend is angry with him about), she realizes that she can be angry with him, that she can disagree with him—and like him anyway. That it’s a choice, to love someone—which is what everyone thinks fairy tale princesses don’t have, and they couldn’t be more wrong.

Meeting a man and finding out enough about him on your first day to love him isn’t “boy meets girl, therefore they must end up together.” It’s her, knowing what is good, being insightful enough enough to see it in him even in a brief interaction, and then what ladies and gentlemen? Choosing to love him. So there’s Giselle, proving us all wrong about fairy tale princesses again.

I think it’s so good, because while he does help her to think more deeply and realize things about herself, he doesn’t change that joyful, faithful part of her. He just deepens it. It’s like a real life object lessons why “compare and contrast” is such an effective way to exercise your belief in something. Giselle believes in true love. Robert doesn’t. But she’s never met someone who doesn’t. By interacting with someone who’s trying his best, but is getting it wrong, she has a better appreciation for what she already knew was right.

I mean you could say “no she just realized that she has a right to be angry, women don’t have to be positive all the time” but that’s totally out of context. What’s she angry about? She’s angry that he keeps refusing to have faith, when she knows it would be good for him. It’s anger, for something worth being angry about.

And the songs are so good.

“That’s How You Know” is such a good song to refute critics of Disney Princesses and explain faith. Faith is believing what you know to be true and acting on it regardless of how you feel in the moment. In ‘That’s How You Know,’ Giselle is proving that princesses do actually need that truth component to have faith. It’s not blind faith.

It’s Ariel saying “I know humans are good because Truth 1: they make beautiful things, Truth 2: I saw one risk his life to save an animal, so I’m going to choose to love him.”

It’s Belle saying, “I know the Beast looks vicious, but Truth 1: he’s kind, he gave me a library and my freedom, Truth 2: he’s saved my life, and even though I’ve seen him break furniture and fight wolves, I’ve also seen him try to eat with a spoon and dance with me gently, so I’m choosing to love him.”

It’s Jasmine saying “I know this Prince Ali lied to me once already, but Truth 1: he saved my life and shared that he knows how I feel, and Truth 2: he keeps showing me the new things I want to experience without letting me get hurt in the process, so I’m going to trust him.”

It’s Snow White saying “I know I’m homeless in the woods and my only caretaker is trying to murder me, but Truth 1: I’m engaged to a Prince who promised to give his heart to me, so I’m not going to act despairing and fearful.”

Before the song starts, Robert is assuring Giselle that his girlfriend Nancy knows he loves her. But he doesn’t tell her all the time. He doesn’t do anything to show her. Because that would be vulnerable, and he’s a self-protective guy. Self-protection is the opposite of selflessness, and selfless action is love. So Giselle is telling him, “you have to do something, love is an action, and that action shows Nancy a truth she can base her faith, faith in your love for her, on.”

Not to…over-analyze a really catchy song.

But they’re all like that. This is the whole movie. The whole movie is Giselle being the Disney movie, walking and talking, proving the people who don’t get Disney movies wrong.

It is that deep!

And guess what? Robert, the guy who doesn’t get Disney movies? He falls in love with Giselle, the walking talking Disney movie. So there.

We haven’t even talked about the villains or Pip or Edward or Nancy, but they’re all amazing, they’re all perfect for this movie, but I’ll save it for another post.

I love Enchanted.

[h-worksrambles]

Sonic X Shadow Generations fascinates me. Because it feels like something I shouldn’t be excited for. And yet I absolutely am.

Don’t get me wrong. I love Sonic Generations. It’s my third favourite game in the series and my favourite 3D Sonic game (with Sonic Adventure 2 in a close second). I’m very happy to see it getting a re release to expose it to new audiences, and playing it in 4K60fps on my PS5 is a very enticing. Likewise, I really like Shadow as a character and I’m excited to play as him again.

And yet, his new bonus campaign promises to basically be a bunch of nostalgic pandering for Shadow the Hedgehog, a game which I consider to be, simply put, crap. It was boring, dull, colourless and embarrassing trend chasing. And pretty much everything I hated about it is on display in this trailer.

We’ve got gritty, grey cityscapes, we’ve got the rather blah alien villain, Black Doom returning, we’ve got the looming return of the series’…bafflingly executed lore. In a word, Shadow was a pretty much everything I didn’t want Sonic to be shoved into a blender. I’ve given my thoughts on revisiting past excesses and failures for the sake of nostalgia. I wrote a whole thing about Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and my fears that it would go overboard pandering to the 2000s spin offs (which I dislike a for lot of the same reasons as a lot of Sonic stuff from the mid 2000s). A faux attempt at maturity that sacrifices Sonic’s camp and colour, and lacks the writing competency to make its tone shift work is pretty much my worst case scenario for the series. And now we’re invoking that for nostalgia? Again, I should hate this.

So if I dislike Shadow the Hedgehog so much. If it really is so emblematic of Sonic’s worst excesses that I want it to leave behind in the 2000s…then why am I so damn hyped for this? Why am I not feeling the same dread as whenever VII Remake implicitly threatens to bring back Genesis?

I think it’s because of the specific relationship Sonic has had with its past for the last decade. So much of the stuff from that time period is material that Sega has seemed actively scared to touch again. Sometimes with good reason. But I think that’s why some material from that time has gained such a strong nostalgic cult following, and why they’re held up as such bastions of missed potential. There’s never been anything quite like Shadow or 06 since they came out with how safe Sega has subsequently played things. And in many respects, that’s a good thing. But I can see how it build a sense of mystique around them. It was kind of sad to see 2010s Sonic so…scared of itself. Terrified to invoke its own history but not really committed to a new direction either. And this is pretty much the exact opposite of that hesitancy.

Basically, the reason I react to seeing Westopolis or Black Doom with ‘holy shit let’s go!!!’ rather than ‘why, god, why?’ is because I genuinely never thought I would see them again after this long. It’s just exciting to see Sonic Team throw caution to the wind and embrace all the parts of their franchise. Even the parts I personally dislike. Plus, Sonic Generations is kind of the perfect game in which to reimagine that stuff and make it..actually good this time. This was the game that made Crisis City of all things into a banger level. The game that took Silver, one of the most notorious boss fights in the series, and gave him a kickass encounter.

If they can fix that, they can do anything.

Plus, the fact that the trailers already show all these trippy stage effects and anime af boss fights and set pieces tells me we’re not just gonna be running through the same drab washed out burning cities that made Shadow 2005 so boring. Again, there’s evidently an effort being made to rehabilitate and reimagine this stuff, not just repeat all the same mistakes. And that’s exciting.

So yeah, Sonic X Shadow Generations has somehow managed to get me genuinely excited for all the parts of the series I typically balk at. And that’s pretty impressive.

That said, if I see Mephiles again, I’m leaving.

[destinygoldenstar]

Things I Want In A Tomodachi Life 2

(If they remake this game on the Switch 2. They did MiiTopia for Switch 1 after all.)

The customizing tools from the MiiTopia remake (AKA makeup & wigs) are also here. Just like in MiiTopia however, I imagine you can't put hats on if you give Miis wigs. So I imagine wigged Miis just will never ask for new hats.

You can edit your Mii's gender identity and sexual orientation. I feel like this is something they HAVE to do for a present day audience. Of course, this affects who your Miis can get attracted to. You can have straight relationships, gay relationships, or any combo you want depending on binary and preference. Though I feel like only hetero married Miis can have babies. Unless one of the same-sex pairs is trans. Or you can even have aro Miis and disable their ability to fall in love entirely. (ARO REP!)

I know some people want to be able to control who their Miis befriend, fight with, and fall in love with. But aside from the above point, I think control misses the appeal of the game. I would personally keep it as random as it is. (Like, no offense, but if you want that sort of thing, play Sims.)

Yes, the voices are dated by todays standards. But I personally found that appealing in its charm. So I wouldn't change it.

The personality customization gets a complete makeover. (I do not really like it in the original game personally) What I imagine is something like the Sims 3 where you can grant a variety of personality traits that really specify who your Mii is. (Up to 5) And each one gets its own quirk that affect that Mii's capabilities and asks in the game.

(Ex: Outgoing Miis will ask to be friends with other Miis more often. Introverted Miis will ask this less often. Artistic Miis will sometimes ask to want to paint something. Athletic Miis will sometimes want to play a sport. Goofy Miis will crack jokes more. Gluttonous Miis will ask for food more even if they're not empty. Hot headed Miis will fight other Miis more often. Etc.)

Potential Traits: Outgoing (Will ask to be friends with other Miis more often), Introverted (Will ask to be friends with other Miis less often), Kind (100% Chance of forgiving Miis after fights, and resolving fights is a guaranteed success), Coward (Miis will always get scared of storms, the dark, or other sketchy events), Brave (Miis will never get a fear-related task), Romantic (Miis have a high chance of falling in love with whoever they meet), Goofy (Miis love to tell jokes and play pranks), Vegetarian (Miis will always hate eating meat. Large chance their worst/worst ever foods are a meat item), Materialistic (Miis will ask for new items like clothes and interior more often), Hot Headed (Miis will get into fights with friends more often), Picky (Miis are picky about what they want, specify what they want more often, and dislikes things more), Intelligent (Miis have a habit of telling you some smart facts), Gluttonous (Miis will ask for food a lot, even if they’re not empty. Have a larger stomach compacity than other Miis), Clumsy (Miis will trip often and often lose contests), Hard Working (Miis will never get tired from jobs), Pet Lover (Give this Mii a pet and they get more happiness points, will play with pets a lot), Artistic (Miis love painting), Athletic (Miis love playing sports), Virtuoso (Miis love instruments and music), Culinary (Miis love to cook), Designer (Miis love to make clothes), Lazy (Miis will nap and sleep more often), Dreamer (Miis will always dream when they sleep), Geek (Miis love video games), Gloomy (Miis will be harder to cheer up when they’re sad)

More Age Variances. Child, Teenager, Young Adult, Adult, Senior. Children Miis can't fall in love. Teenagers Miis can fall in love but they can't get married. Teenagers can only fall in love with other teenagers.

More dreams.

More news reports.

More vacations. With this one, I imagine instead of photos, your Miis look around and tour the respective location area they're visiting. You can still take photos if you want because they'll occasionally pause and pose at some stuff. You can then back out and return home when you're done.

The Miis ask to interact with items more. I sometimes forget about some of these items because the Miis never ask to use most of them (At least in my game). So they can ask "I want to paint something" "I want to play a sport" "I want to play an instrument" "I want to be hypnotized", etc. And depending on if your Mii has a trait that is reactionary to specific activities, they will ask for certain things more often.

Some of these items include: Books (The Mii will read you a random story), A Lab Set (You can play with the Mii and come up with some crazy chemistries to see what happens), Tinkering Kit (Works like frying pan/sewing machine, the Mii will tinker a random item you can keep), Skateboard (Take your Mii on a fun obstacle course outside (random), you can win a prize if you complete it), Sports: Baseball, Soccer, Tennis, Hockey, Golf, Bowling, Archery (Play with your Mii in a minigame. Homage to Wii Sports), Game Console (Play a minigame with your Mii, usually a random one each time, you can win a prize if you win), Movie Disk (Watch a random mini movie with your Mii), CD (Your Mii will dance to a random song. If you make a song of your own using the theater, there's a chance they can play that too), Comedy Mic (Your Mii will tell you jokes), Painting Easel (Works like frying pan/sewing machine, the Mii will paint a random picture for you), And Instruments: Guitar, Violin, Drums, Piano, Trumpet (Play with your Mii. Homage to Wii Music). And of course, the items from the previous game are here.

In regards to some of the items, your Mii has an extra bio sheet regarding their skill of certain items. And the more you have your Mii use these items, the higher their skill is. Miis that have a cooking skill have a higher chance of making a rare food item if they use the frying pan. Miis that have a fashion skill have a higher chance of making a rare clothing item if they use the sewing machine. Same with the Tinkering Kit. Same with the Easel.

In regards to some other skills, this will make it so the Mii's skill level is higher, so when you have the Mii use the item again, the mini challenge will be more difficult, but the prize is greater if you win it. (They don't level up if you fail.) The Skateboard, the Sports Items, and the Game Console.

The Miis with a high instrument skill have the option to play that instrument in the theater when you're making a song and arranging a group, if you want that role for them. But Miis without the instrument skill won't have this as an option.

Your Miis can have pets: A cat, a dog, a fish, or a hamster. You can name them whatever you want and you'll find your Miis playing with them from time to time. When visiting a Mii, you can have the option to see the pet and play with them. (Each Mii can only have one pet)

MiiTopia inspired clothing. Because I need it.

Altered Clothing Options. (MiiTomo style, I'm thinking.) Tops, bottoms, full body, & hats. When your Miis ask for new clothes, they'll say "I'd like a new top." "I'd like some new pants." "I'd like a new outfit." "I'd like a new hat."

Altered categories for food items & clothing items with a filter to see what each item classify as. (This is something from the original game that frustrated me, because I never understood what exactly the type was they wanted when they specify.) Pop in a filter to see options, and you'll see what food/clothing item classifies as so you can give your Mii what they want. (Food: Hot, Cold, Meat, Produce, Deli, Deserts, Grains, Dairy, Drinks, & Foreign Types cause sometimes that would ask that sort of thing in the original. So Chinese Food, Japanese Food, Mexican Food, Indian Food, Italian Food, etc.) (Clothing: Cute, Cool, Casual, Lively, Costume, Boho, Punk Wear, Street Wear, Luxury Wear, Preppy Wear, Hot Weather Wear, Cold Weather Wear, Feminine Wear, & Masculine Wear) So if they specify they want something specific, they'll say that specific thing, and you can use that filter to know what they want.

You can assign Miis jobs. Store Cashier, Teacher, Gym Coach, Lifeguard, News Anchor, & Gardener. Rabbit holes. This will make it so your Miis aren't available all the time, but when they are, you'll see a little notification on their window ($). When you visit them, you get the money they earned. You can have the Mii quit their job anytime if you want them to be more available to play with.

At the beginning of the game, you can select the type of island you want. All the islands will have the same features, just with a different aesthetic. (And you can change it whenever you want.) Classic (Similar to the original), Tropical, Desert, Jungle, Rocky Mountain, & Snowy. You can also get some special island types such as a Fantasy Island, a Spooky Island, a Cloud Island in the sky, a Space Island in space, a Cheese Island made of food, a Futuristic Island, and of course, a Mario-themed Island. But they're VERY expensive to buy. Some of the most expensive things in the game.

There's weather in the game. Depending on the day you boot up the game, you get a random weather day for your island, and the News Tower will have an option for you to see the Forecast. This includes Sunny, Cloudy, Rainy, Stormy, and snowy if it's winter. Sunny Weather will make it so that you'll see Miis doing outdoor activities more often. Rainy Weather will make it so that most of the Miis are indoors, though some can still be outside. Stormy Weather will make it so that Miis will never leave their apartments unless they're at a job. Miis can comment on the current weather. Stormy weather can spook out some Miis, especially ones with a coward trait, (Miis with a brave trait will never get this), and one of the tasks you can get is to calm them down.

A museum. (Like in Animal Crossing) This is where you can store your prizes and your collectables and see them.

More leisure places your Miis can go. Like a Gym, (Events can be a training session with a Mii, or a sport contest between two Miis), A School, for the child and teenager Miis (Child/Teen Miis will be in school during hours) (Events can be joining in on a lesson and solving some problems for prizes. Remember this is a kids game.), and a Botanical Garden, where on top of your Miis visiting, you can plant your own seeds that you can sometimes get as a prize to plant stuff and take care of. Once they're grown, you can harvest their contents for cash. But watch out cause you have to pop in to take care of them or they will wilt and you get nothing. You have the option to hire a Mii as a gardener and they'll take care of it for you when you're not playing, so you won't have to worry about it.

On top of making songs, you can make theater productions. Just like the songs, you can edit the dialogue. Genres are Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi, Romance, Action, Adventure, Fantasy, and Mystery.

The kids last longer. This frustrated me in the original because I never find myself being able to interact with the kids. So instead of days it's weeks of each age. First Week is the newborn (The cradling minigame). Second Week is the infant. Third Week is the toddler (The play minigame). The Fourth Week they can walk. The Fifth Week they're a full child (The spinning minigame). The Sixth and final week they're grown up into a full child Mii and you can choose to either send them to travel or have them move into the island. This way, you actually CAN interact with the kids and you feel even more for the scrapbook credits because you got to experience them grow up too. So basically, they last a month in a half.

With the exception of sending kid Miis for travel and the streetpass items, YOU GET THE FULL GAME EXPERIENCE EVEN IF YOU'RE OFFLINE.

The gameplay itself is mostly the same, just with adjustments to the layout because of the console. You can still click and drag items to your Miis with a pointer. The bio stuff is its own pop up option so you can see their relationships, favorite foods, etc.

AUTOSAVE.

Multiple Save Files. (Probably 5 Max.) So you can have more than one island.

I know some have said "More than 100 Miis", but the reason they do that is because if you had infinite Miis, some people will go crazy, and the game can't keep up with that amount of memory and just won't work. So this is the better solution in my opinion.

You can celebrate your Miis birthdays. If you pop into their apartment, you can pop into a party they're having. If you give them a present, they'll gain a lot of happiness points.

Yearly Tomodachi Holidays. The Miis will be celebrating the holiday and asking to do some holiday-related tasks that can only appear during the holiday.

These include: Valentines Week (February 11th-17th) . Couples will ask for some dating advice and doing some dating event minigames, and success will increase their relationship. And there's a higher chance of love popping up. Fools Week (March 29th-April 4th). Miis will prank you. I think that'd be funny to have Miis just screw with the player. The Summer Solstice (July 1st-July 7th). Miis will ask to do some summer-related activates with you, like swimming or getting tans or playing beachball (like the frisbee). Halloween (October 28th-November 3rd). Miis will ask for costumes more often and give you candy when you visit their apartments. There's some spooky-related events at some of the leisure places, and a haunted house that appears, including a minigame inside that only comes during this holiday. Christmas (December 22nd-December 30th). Miis will ask to set up Christmas trees and give presents to their friends, reactions vary and positive ones will increase their relationship. That Christmas music from the original game also comes back. And New Years Eve (December 31st). The Miis will be hyping up the New Year, and from 10 PM to Midnight, there will be an event: A get together where some of your Miis are gathered at the Fountain to countdown to midnight.

What would you want to see in Tomodachi Life 2?

[starlight-time-machine]

Week in Review

12/15/2024 – 12/21/2024

Sunday

Week 45 of missing Cipher Academy

What’d I say about Drama Queen. I’m not even going to dignify this shit with going into my records, get the fuck out of here. This really is just Chainsaw Man for people with no reading comprehension.

Undead Unluck is so good…I’m going to be so sad when it ends… Everyone’s come so far…

True to my word, I finished Piczle Cross fairly quickly. It was a really solid picross game, and the Story of Seasons theming was a nice little cherry on top. I do wish there was more Trio of Towns music (since that’s my favourite Story of Seasons game of all time), and some of the pixel art left a little to be desired, but overall I had a fun time. I love the changing season mechanic – the different color palette always comes just when you’ve gotten sick of staring at the same thing for like three hours straight. (I do wish the farm had anything on it in the wintertime, but I guess it wouldn’t really make sense). As always, I wish there were more puzzles, but I had a lot of fun regardless. 8/10.

Monday

Read Sammy Keyes and the Night of Skulls in the dead of night and on some dark bus rides today, and it really added to the spooky vibes of this instalment. Compared to the previous Sammy Keyes book set around Halloween, this one really turns the horror energy up to eleven – we’ve got graveyards, grave robbers, funeral parlors, morgues, and a whole thematic arc about death. Van Draanen has really got things down to a science at this point in the series, and the way the mystery and Sammy’s personal life and growth moments intertwine is always entertaining to watch. The mystery itself was fun, though maybe a little all over the place – the motives were weak and we just never really get closure with one of the red herrings, but overall it was still pretty solid. I also appreciate the adults in Sammy’s life who really do care about and look out for her in their own ways like Borsch and André…it’s so sweet. I’ll give this one an 8/10.

Tuesday

Started playing Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and…hmm. For background, my first entry into the Paper Mario series was Origami King, and I absolutely loved it (so much so that it’s in the STM Awards). I’m almost certainly going to replay it in 2025 (which is something I rarely ever do) (and it’s because Thousand-Year Door has left me a little wanting…) so I’ll go more in-depth about my thoughts on it then, but I’ve watched playthroughs of the original Paper Mario on the N64 and heard about how the Paper Mario franchise has “fallen off” for years and years, to the point where it was just something I took as fact. So when news about the Thousand-Year Door remake came out, I was excited to finally play what people call one of the best games in the series. But…not gonna lie…so far…I’m not having as much fun with it as I did with Origami King… People complain that the newer instalments don’t have as many unique characters, and I get where they’re coming from, but I feel like Origami King still had amazing writing despite their restrictions. What they lacked for in a bigger cast with their own lives and stories, they made up for by focusing in on the few partners that you did have and creating much more cinematic moments. And while the former has its merits, I can’t help but prefer the latter since the Olivia and Bobby plotlines were so moving and memorable for me. Like, what other Paper Mario partner storyline has its characters actually sacrificing their lives and learning to deal with grief? Even small stuff like Bowser mentioning his worries about being a good dad still stick with me to this day…

Characters and story aside, I also love the world in Origami King a lot more… I can’t begrudge Thousand-Year Door too much for this, of course, since it’s about twenty years older than Origami King and had way more technical limitations, but it’s hard not to compare the two when they’re my only points of reference. In Thousand-Year Door, I really feel the sense that I’m just going from room to room, and each room will have its own puzzles to solve or secrets to find…the openness of Origami King allowed for the puzzles and secrets to feel more organically built into the world, I suppose, rather feeling like they were purposely put there as a challenge for me, the player. I also just can’t really wrap my head around the Thousand-Year Door dungeons thus far – because most of them are just similarly themed rooms connected randomly by door or pipe, I have a hard time remembering what connects to what…and this gets especially bad in the sewers where everything looks the same. And then there’s the fact that once the puzzles have been solved, a lot of the rooms are just empty halls for me to walk through if I get lost or have to backtrack for a secret. I think this element of dungeon design is something that has been objectively improved over the years – I think about places in Origami King like Shogun Studios or the final castle, where the rooms have personality and worldbuilding and flow into each other like a real lived in space while also holding puzzles for me to solve. But going from that to Thousand-Year Door makes its lacking areas really apparent…especially when I have to backtrack…

Here’s my big confession: I don’t really like having so many partners. I mean, the different moves are cool in battle, and it’s fun to have a little party going on an adventure together, but the way they’ve locked things behind partner ability checks kind of annoys me… Like, I hate when I’m going through a dungeon and I see something that I can’t reach because I don’t have the right partner yet, and I know I’m going to have to come back later and comb through every room again just to find a Star Piece or whatever. (Not to mention how Flurrie’s ability in particular has been pretty badly indicated thus far…why did no one tell me about blowing those Punis off the ledge…or how she can randomly blow away stuff that doesn’t have the dog-eared edge indicator sometimes…) And all of that is especially annoying when, like mentioned earlier, backtracking itself is a boring task because most of it is just going through empty rooms with their puzzles already solved.

One last gripe I have with Thousand-Year Door is…I don’t really care for the Peach and Bowser scenes. They’re fun bits of extra story, I suppose, but I wish they’d built up the TEC stuff instead of immediately being like oh you fell in love at first sight with Peach. If we had seen them build up a rapport and a genuine connection over the course of the chapters before TEC had its realization, it would’ve felt like a stronger arc in my opinion… But now it just seems like TEC likes Peach for her looks, which is a little lame. Bowser’s scenes are just for comedic relief – which is fine – but because they don’t contribute much to the story, I find myself wanting to get them over with so that I can get back to actual gameplay…the little platformer part was pretty cute and funny, though. That’s been like the one time Thousand-Year Door has surprised me with actually “going there” with a concept. (As opposed to Origami King’s non-stop barrage of those types of moments, but I digress…)

(Sorry, I just remembered one last gripe for real this time. I don’t like the plane mechanic because I’m bad at it and I don’t like the timing on the attacks, it doesn’t feel as intuitive as the attacks in like the Mario & Luigi RPGs.)

Anyway. All of my complaints aside, I’m having a decent amount of fun…just not as much as I’d hoped, I suppose.

I read the latest chapter of Takatora-kun, and I like the complicated relationship dynamics that Asada is exploring here with the unique challenges that an ABO society would have to contend with (especially in terms of consent). Pheromones turning otherwise rational people into sex pests had always seemed silly to me (and eye-rolly because it’s usually just a convenient vehicle for sex scenes), but the way Asada is engaging with it on a realistic level is really interesting.

Wednesday

I realized that the end of the year was quickly approaching, and so far I’ve only watched like, seven movies this year? If I don’t do something to rectify that, my Favorite Things of 2024 list is going to look pretty barren on that front, so I finally pulled myself together and started up Movie Roulette again! For the uninitiated, Movie Roulette is where I run a random number generator that picks a movie from my “to watch” list and watch it – it’s an extremely simple concept, but it helps me actually work up the energy to sit down and watch a movie. So today’s pick was Ocean’s Eleven, which I’d been looking forward to because I actually really like heist movies, and this is the quintessential heist movie…and I’m glad to report that it didn’t disappoint. Everything’s quick and snappy and clever, and everything that gets set up gets beautiful resolved later. It’s just a superbly tight script and I had a fun time, so I’ll give it a 8/10.

Thursday

Conceptually, I really like the setup of Chapter 3 of Thousand-Year Door: since the previous dungeons’ puzzles weren’t that fun for me, trying to rise through the ranks of a wrestling org was immediately a lot more compelling. Or at least it was, in theory. In practice…it’s a little repetitive. And while the rumblings of shady business going on around the arena are juicy, the area itself is a little boring to explore, and having to unlock things on X’s timeline is a bit of a drag. I do enjoy the worldbuilding being done with the other wrestlers and the growing sense of mystery, which was something that I felt was sorely lacking from the previous two chapters, but other than that it was just marginally better than the previous chapters.

Friday

Read the latest Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 2 chapter and it was fine.

Saturday

I got some puzzles and so I’ve been in my cave doing nothing but puzzling for like ten hours straight

[prettylonelys]

If you don’t mind share the takes! I have all the time in the world

okay well uh we talked about it for hours so there’s no way i’ll remember it all 😭

but generally ->

we both think sobbe is the best evak and we think a lot of that comes down two factors

1. most of the evaks despite being teen relationships are taken quite seriously, which is totally fine and a great take and obviously we’re dealing with quite serious subject matter like internalised homophobia and mental health so that makes sense. however we both feel that’s what’s missing from a lot of the evaks that sense of like teenage first love giddiness especially for characters like the isaks who (cris excepted) are experiencing their first relationship that actually aligns with their sexuality. i think all the evaks definitely have moments of like sweet teenage romance but i think sobbe are the only pairing that really emphasise that and get it right consistently

- a lot of the credit for this goes to willem h who perfectly and consistently portrays a sense of like giddy happy wonder about sander from the very first moment they meet he seems so believably shy and awed and just GIDDY im gonna use that word 800 times because it’s true! you see it in the supermarket scene, at the pool, when he apologised to sander at the bike racks and ESPECIALLY during the cuddle clip and any scene where sander texts him it’s so clear how young and happy and in love he is that he can barely keep it inside which i really think is what a first love first crush should feel like.

- additionally i think they perfectly capture it in scenes together, first with the cuddle clip where they genuinely just feel like teenagers who are young and in love who can’t get enough of each other, and then again in the 21:21 scene which in most remakes is quite intense and it is with them too but idk something about the “stomme schoenen” and them being dumb and happy and falling off the bed feels so much more real and authentic than any more carefully shot love scene ever could. i also think the fact that they’re extremely touchy and down bad for each other once again feels extremely realistic for a teenage relationship. if i had to explain it i’d say sobbe get to be so immature (in the best way) and mature in equal measure and that balance is very unique to them (though not saying the other evaks don’t have that or aren’t these things just not to the degree that robbe and sander are)

and

2. the second reason we think they work so effectively is because they already feel like boyfriends. with a lot of the evaks even though they’re technically together during their seasons they don’t feel like a settled couple until the final episode of their season and then in s4 but with sobbe they feel like a solid couple from the second they get together and maybe it’s because we got so many scenes of them just hanging out at robbes, going to meet each other, texting each other etc etc

we both also really love robbe and despite the lack of religious trauma plot, we find him to be one of the most nuanced and interesting isaks

we both really love the way he’s played like he is arguably the least or one of the least “bitchy” isak characters (once again i love my bitchy isaks that is not an insult theyre icons) but robbe is played so different hes so interesting because he generally seems to care a lot about others feelings and is very very sweet when he’s being himself. moments that showcase this:

- him (as i interpret it) almost coming out to jana at the end of season one and having him apparently tell jens that jana kissed someone else in a moment of drunk regret that he feels openly bad about rather than as a calculated move like isak did and not blaming it on him being in love with jana

- him sitting down at the cafe with the girls in season 2

- him complimenting noor in the bathroom instead of insulting her like some of the other isaks do

- him not leaving the weed behind at the house for other people to deal with (i know this is more because plotwise yasmina wasn’t at the party but i think it adds to his character)

- him texting amber that they were going to the supermarket even though sander told him not to worry about it

- him sitting down and properly breaking up with noor

- all of this culminating with the reason him and sander staying apart after his manic episode having more to do with him wanting to do the right thing for sander and not wanting to hurt him (as everyone was telling robbe the best thing for sander was for sander to stay with britt and for robbe to stay away) rather than just because he was scared and unsure. which really makes sense with the way they had robbe and his mother have this really beautiful close relationship which you can feel the warmth of even though she’s never on screen which again thinks adds to his characterisation and what makes him such a good partner for sander because he’s really at his core gentle and patient and good (as we see in the ohn scene which in my opinion is one of the best remakes of that scene specifically because they go for something different)

also i think they did a really good job setting up his internalised homophobia like s1 and s2 make it so clear why robbes mindset is the way it is at the start of season three with having the boysquad be much harsher and more awful to robbe through out s1 and the girl squad laughing and gossiping about his potential queerness in s2 culminating with milan trying to out him in front of all his friends it’s so clear why robbe acts the way he does in season three though it doesn’t justify it. but having and isak deal with such an openly homophobic environment that extends even to his closest friends was a really different and in some ways more realistic choice

[justpottytime]

The first time that stoic character came to their sunshine for help wasn’t actually because of their bladder shyness. They suffer from awful nightmares due to their not-so-nice past, and one night they woke up with the sheets soaked beneath them. They managed to shove their emotions down long enough to shower and strip the bed, before realizing with horror that they don’t know where their new team keeps the extra bed sheets. So they go to the only person that’s been consistently kind to them since they moved in: sunshine character. And they’re scared and shaky and they can barely force the words out, but then they do and they fully expect to be laughed at or even punished for what they’ve done. But instead sunshine character takes them by the hand and shows them the linen closet and helps them remake the bed. And stoic character can feel some long missing shattered piece of themselves peeking its way out in response to the kindness. And then sunshine character does the unthinkable and offers a hug and stoic character just falls apart in their arms. But their tears are met with understanding and kindness and nothing is okay but at least they don’t feel quite so alone anymore.

AAAAAAAAAAAA yeeeeeees, we're back in full-force! Stoic character has been dealing with their problems all by themselves for so long now, including frequent nightmares. They're used to pushing down that terror and waking up feeling sick and shaky and panicked... And let's face it, it's probably not the first time they've woken up to wet sheets either, and they know how to suppress everything until they're all cleaned up and the bed is fixed, because crying certainly won't fix it. But they realise too late that they have no idea where to get new sheets, and if someone comes to wake them in the morning and finds them sleeping on just a stripped mattress, they'll instantly know what happened! God, they REALLY don't want to ask for help from anyone, but they have no choice, so of course they seek out the nicest team member, the one least likely to be cruel about it... Or perhaps it's more accurate to say that they think sunshine will probably be the least cruel out of anyone, because at this point, they never assume that someone just won't be cruel at all. It's so very hard to choke the words out, to admit what they did, and they're already bracing themselves for laughter... So it comes as a total shock when sunshine is gentle and sympathetic and helps them find the new sheets - somewhere they NEVER would have found on their own, probably, because this damned linen closet is impossible to find unless you already know where it is - and stoic figures that's where the help will end, since it's kind of the middle of thr night and sunshine probably needs their sleep... But nope, sunshine follows them back to their room and helps re-make the bed, as though that's just a normal thing that people do?! Since when did anyone ever care enough to help?! In fact, stoic probably says something along those lines, and that's what makes sunshine pause and hold their arms out, offering a hug. They can't believe that their new friend really doesn't expect ANY kind of sympathy or kindness, but thinking about it, suddenly a lot of their behaviours and quirks make a lot more sense now... And then suddenly stoic has collapsed in their arms and is sobbing helplessly, letting out all that pent-up emotion from the embarrassment and the nightmare and probably a good deal more too... And sunshine stays right there until it's over, until stoic has cried themselves out, then gently helps them back into bed with a glass of water and a promise that no-one will find out what happened... And perhaps they gently ask that if stoic needs help with anything else, anything at all, please, just come find them? And that promise stays in stoic's mind as they drift back to sleep, too exhausted from their breakdown to keep their eyes open...

Geez I went a bit hard on this one... Anyway, thanks for the ask! <3

[beehindblueeyes]

Fandomization: IT , a similar story

So I’ve talked about fandomization several times on this account, it’s still pretty prevalent and ive now seen some other people calling attention towards it…. In ways that miss the mark. They’re right there. Right on the issue. But then call it something other than what it really is. Blaming some other factor of fandom. Basically I’m here to ramble again so sit tight

Let me take you back to 2017-

The IT remake is at its absolute peak. Content is being pumped out every few minutes. Fanart, fics, little analytical pieces on clothing , scares etc! It’s great… but as months go on… it’s a very similar picture. Fandomization settles in. Characters are reduced to tropes and singular personality traits. Ideas and fears are gone in place of high school AUs set in the modern day. One ship rules them all and if you even dare to think you’d get content about anyone else? I pity you.

A similar thing happened with Stranger things. It was also brand spanking new at the time and set in the 80s the same way. I think it’d be season 2 or at least filming it. Same situation of deteriorating. there was not a singular ship to rule them all… there was two and they are still fuckinh fighting to this day. However with it also being set in the 80s there was crossovers with IT…. Without taking into account that It takes place in 1989 and season one and two of stranger things is 1983-84 …. Guys the IT kids are like Holly’s age.

What are we seeing with the black phone? Starts out same. Fanart, fanfics, analytical content, gifs, screaming and fanning over characters and background details, soon? Characters slowly Start getting reduced … content becomes a X reader only, one ship immerges on top. However Black phone is unique because it’s without a doubt the first time I saw it almost exclusively x reader and not have at least a few ships more popular than that.

Same with IT and stranger things there’s a LOT of sexualisation of the underage cast, either by adults are kids the same age… which, is different but not all the much better. Point is. Circle

Kids-

Here’s something… back in 2017 a good majority of us were kids! I know I was making wildly ooc stuff trying to keep up with my friends in the space no matter how frustrated I was with bad characterization (Richie is still fighting to this day rip fam). It’s understandable, and for me to judge a bunch of us when we were 13-16 wouldn’t be fair? I feel like the same is sort of similar with the black phone, it makes sense the kids are around the same age 13. I get it

As Much as I can understand it doesn’t mean I can’t be annoyed a bit. The issue is that’s all their is. Analysis, gif sets, background detail posts, none x reader fics are …. Almost non existant now. All the other content that I like to engage in now and did back then is just.. a drop in a huge sea. And if your like me and you complain a little bit but then don’t make the content you want to see? Cmon now….

Confronting bad criticism-

Going to keep this Anonymous and vauge as this is not a call out! It’s more a look at fandom cycles as a whole. But this is me looking at and addressing that criticism I was talking about at the beginning so close but so far. basically It was talking about the “It-ification” of the black phone fandom. Which, I agree with…. But then said “by making into a gay rom com” and compared Brance to reddie - sit down we have a lot to unpack.

1.) The problem was never Reddie as a ship in itself. It makes sense and it’s sort of backed by every version of IT.

The problem was the fandom wide characterization. It’s when they become so universally ooc that it might as well be ocs. This is the “owo softboy” and “edgy talkative bad boy” thing comes from. It’s the oocness AND the fact that was all there was. Soon there was nothing for anyone else in the movie- if there was they were in the background or a mouth to talk to in relation to Reddie. It was rare to just see something of all the kids hanging out and being kids.

2.) Brance is not remotely comparable

The number one criteria Is that it has to have taken over everything. It has to be all there is. It has to meet that certain level of almost fandom wide ooc characterization. Brance just… doesn’t. Hell it’s relatively popular but again it’s a small drop in the sea to X reader or Rinney. If we are going to compare anything it’s Rinney. I can already see hints of them doing the “Finn is a soft owo boy” robins the “bad boy” thing… but the black phone is a unique case that comes with a lot of modern horror in that most actual character content goes to the wayside for X reader.

3.)softer content not automatically bad

Now I hope you can see where I’m going with this If you sat here long enough. None of this stuff is automatically bad or a problem but it becomes so if that’s all there is. I can’t blame kids for writing something fluffy and more care free about characters they love, but at the same time… hey it won’t kill anyone to have some dark and more serious content about a movie that’s like 90% dark and serious. You know? Like I 100% get where the criticism is coming from… I didn’t enjoy fandom being 99% fluff piece for one ship either but “gay rom com”?? Idk something doesn’t fit right with me with that wording.

All there is-

So stated again before but back to my whole point. The problem isn’t x reader or ooc characters but that it’s the only thing out there! Kids and younger fans should be able to go as wild as they want, I or anyone else shouldn’t dictate how they relate to the movie or just have fun but it becomes annoying and a problem when there’s nothing else. When there’s not a lot of in character, non x reader , fics , art, analysis , rambling etc for there to be a balance.

There’s no balance! Is that I’m saying. This isn’t to say there’s not other stuff out there but there’s more people with the complaint then actually making that other content! I can’t work alone I’ve said this a million times, make what you want to see and we can have a wide array of content and stuff to engage with and everyone’s happy.

* brief note-

I have nothing against x reader fans or people who like x reader but I’ve just never been a fan. It’s awkward to me and I’ve never had a thing for a character in that way and when it’s the only content out there? Well I get really annoyed and sort of paint a broad brush/pin issues. I’m sorry, it’s nothing personal but I want to talk about horror movies every once and awhile and not just that? You know? Idk

[battstatix]

Danny “Ghostface” Johnson Headcanons - Part 3

Relationships!

Main Relationships (that I write):

Dwight: Danny adores Dwight and is deeply fascinated by his competence despite being the kind of person most people wouldn’t offer a second look. Dwight’s ability to outsmart Danny quickly became an attractive trait, furthered by Dwight’s sweet shyness and the eventually obvious fact that he is somewhat aroused by the cat-and-mouse games himself. Finds Dwight very fun to tease and fluster.

Anna: Anna’s hunting prowess became an easy source of entertainment for Danny, who realized he missed being hunted down. Of course, things got sexual quickly given that she’s a big beautiful woman and always found a way to catch him. That being said, he might have accidentally developed feelings for her and they genuinely get along. He likes pampering her and hyping her up. 

Killers:

Evan: Despite Evan’s exceeding disinterest, Danny sees him as an ear for his woes, which are usually related to getting owned by survivors. Evan tolerates him but is not particularly invested in his problems. Ji-Woon: Danny fucking hates him (the feeling is mutual) because he’s the only other killer whose ego is as big as his own. He scoffs at the Trickster for being too over-the-top and without tact. Yes, he also thinks he’s very sexy, and he’s mad about it. Is completely oblivious to how similar they are as people.

The Legion: Danny is their friendly but strange uncle figure. He continually gives them terrible life advice and backwards pep talks in a way that seems like he is genuinely trying to be helpful to them. (Evan usually butts in with “don’t listen to that guy”). Surprisingly protective of them, though it’s not as if they really need his help with anything. Might see a bit of himself in the rag-tag group of overly frustrated kids that didn’t get proper support.

Michael: Tall, evil and handsome, so of course Danny has a crush on him. Like most things, it is unknown what Michael thinks about this.

Sally: Danny talks about her like she’s a droll party pooper but in actuality she kind of freaks him out.

Philip: Also sees him as a bit of an Eeyore but puts... something of an effort into cheering him up in his own weird way. It typically doesn’t work.

Amanda: They kind of have a half-jokingly antagonistic good-friends-with-benefits type thing going on. Danny hangs out in her realm a lot when he’s bored and has a tendency of touching things he’s not supposed to. She’s probably the most willing to share (or listen to) hot gossip about the other killers.

Adiris: She literally barely registers that he exists, he goes constantly back and forth on whether he is attracted to her beauty and power or disgusted by the... well. The plague part.

Kazan, Nemesis, Pyramid Head, Pinhead, Carmina: He would like to know them carnally.

Max, Rin, Sadako, Bubba: Similar to his relationship with the Legion, he sees himself as some kind of self-appointed guardian figure to them, which they mostly amusedly tolerate.

Demogorgon: Can regularly be found playing catch with Demo (probably using someone’s arm as the stick)

Lisa: She tried to take a bite out of him once. Avoid.

Jeffrey (Clown): Did some pre-contact snooping on the Clown and decided no thank you. He thinks his particular brand of serial killing gives the lot of them a bad name. (He’s the only one who thinks like this)

The Twins: He wants to put the moves on Charlotte but Victor both freaks him out AND keeps trying to kick his ass.

Herman: He doesn’t particularly like Herman because it’s impossible for him to be sneaky anywhere near him. Herman seems to think they’re best friends for some reason, which Danny sort of grimly tolerates.

Caleb and Talbot: Both of them think Danny is super annoying and have very limited tolerance for his presence. They see him as immature.

Freddy: Nobody likes Freddy because he’s the shitty remake version

The Entity: Danny considers himself particularly devoted to her and is willing to do an awful lot of things to remain the Golden Boy. (Some of those things might involve tentacles) Unknown if the Entity had an influence in his life prior to the fog, though he suspects it could be a possibility once he hears the way others talk about their experiences. 

I haven’t really fleshed out his relationships with the other survivors, but Dwight is definitely the closest he’s gotten to any of them. Mostly, he’s amused by the others and their antics, but keeps them at an arms distance and doesn’t really have any personal relationships with them.

[docholligay]

Not trying to convince you to watch Perfect Blue as I havent seen it either, just want to give some context that the tonedeaf person missed. I have seen several posts that showed how Black Swan copied a few scenes from Perfect Blue frame by frame. There was an allegation that the BS director claimed he got permission from PB director but he actually didn't. I never looked into it since I didnt follow them but that is why this subject is tense in some anime community.

Okay so I wanted to be very thoughtful before I answered this, because I undersold myself a little bit in the off the cuff last post--I was on my phone and freshly annoyed at the memory.

But first, I want to admit to some bias in this topic, and it's not the bias you think! The bias is: I very much like several media properties that have come out of Japan. But.

I Fucking HATE the "anime community." I cannot at all deal with their weird sense of Japanese supremacy, and their intense desire to suck off Japan so hard it blows out the back of their head like a .44. People snackin on pocky in their anime t-shirts talking about how they're learning Japanese because Tokyo is THE DREAM and oh my gosh I would LOVE to live in Japan, they annoy the shit out of me, often! It is possible to learn Japanese like a normal person, but often the people I come across in this ~line of work~ are NOT those people. Japan is a major colonial and imperialist world power in the east and I have no idea why so many Westerners stan for it SO DRAMATICALLY, so when I am talking about this issue, I am bringing ALL of my baggage with that to the table. The jump to call an anime version of an idea superior raises my hackles immediately. And I want to call that out as a specific bias of mine!

That being said. I am not a normal denizen of the internet, I guess? When I see a claim, if it sparks something in me, I try to actually chase it down.

I undersold myself when I said, "I went to the wikipedia and read the plot" though that DID happen, and that, honestly, WAS enough. I went on a deep dive on this issue, and frankly I know the plot of Perfect Blue so well at this point that Jetty was trying to remember what she says into the mirror at the end, and I supplied it immediately. I have read every breakdown, considered the issue from every side.

Cut because this ended up being super long

There is a word I think y'all would REALLY benefit from learning, because I think that so many of these conversations would benefit from it, and I legitimately feel y'all do not know it!

The word is: Derivative

Black Swan is no reasonable way a copy of Perfect Blue. None. Zero. Zilch. To say that it is means you have not seen one or the other of the works. But if someone said, "I found it overly derivative for my tastes" that would be fine!

All derivative means, to simplify the literary term, is that it draws upon earlier works. I think it would be fair to call Black Swan derivative of Perfect Blue, though I maintain that the idea of double lives and personalities, the Jekyll and Hyde this, is old as the fucking tides, and I do not find Perfect Blue to be ~shockingly original~ or whatever (which doesn't mean it can't be good, or even excellent. Again, I'm very frustrated it all came down this way because I think I would have liked Perfect Blue QUITE a lot.)

It's interesting and important to note: Aronofsky OWNS the American rights to Perfect Blue. He PAID for them. If he just wanted to remake the movie, he ABSOLUTELY could have done that. Because he PAID for the privilege. He did in fact "get permission" because he paid for it with fucking cash.

Aronofsky is a huge fan of Kon and has never made any bones about it. He contributed to a tribute book of Kon's work. They've met and "expressed admiration for" each other's work. (I read that article in translation from the Japanese, so its sketchy, but I got the gist) This is the actual quote what Aronofsky said re: the similarities:

"Not really, there are similarities between the films, but it wasn’t influenced by it. It really came out of Swan Lake the Ballet, we wanted to dramatize the ballet, that’s why it’s kind of up here and down there, because ballet is big and small in lots of ways."

There are ABSOLUTELY individual SECONDS, SECONDS LONG scenes that mirror Perfect Blue, but the STORY does not. I have no FUCKING idea how you can read the cliff notes versions of both and be like, 'Oh yeah that's the same story." So if we want to get into a discussion/argument about theft versus homage, that's great and all, but it comes down to Aronofsky lifting visual moments from Kon in the same way other directors lift from Kubrick or Welles or whoever they happen to be obsessed with. It's a thing directors do.

The similarities between the two are surface level. They deal with entirely different takes on the central idea of of pressure and womanhood. Black Swan is "A rip off of" Perfect Blue as much as every magical girl show is a "rip off" of Sailor Moon. See how that's unfair and overly reductionist? But its five girls in color coded outfits and one of them is chosen LOL RIPOFF but its fine because anime is life.

Also, uhhhhh....Aronofsky didn't fucking write the story. Heinz did. He is the writer. Aronofsky optioned it because clearly these kinds of stories are His Thing. His idea to make this kind of movie came from a screenplay he optioned called The Understudy, that also had the idea of the double personality, and the stage. IS everyone on earth just cribbing from Kon? Or is this just maybe a thing that's staggeringly common in horror stories?

Really, the loser here is me because I could have had "two cakes!" but now every fucking time I think of Perfect Blue I realize how much I hate the way people interact with anime, and wonder how many delightful things do I miss out on because people refuse to be Be Normal.

[out-of-this-dimension]

Hypothetically Rewriting Assault’s Story + Some General Assault Opinions

There’s a game my husband and I like to play when we watch a movie, play a game, or read a book that has a story that we don’t really enjoy or we enjoy certain parts of but not others.  We look at things we’d keep and things we’d change and we build a story from there-- sort of like an AU but we don’t really go into the writing part, we just stick to theorizing and mapping a general story.

I decided to play that game with Star Fox.  Not because I think Star Fox has a bad story but because sometimes I think the stories could have been handled better.  Note: for the rewrite game, I only really look at story, even for video games, I don’t really look at gameplay mechanics, but I do understand those have a lot to do with story potential so I do take it in as a factor... I just don’t bother to “rewrite” the mechanics, if that makes any sense at all.  Some of my list today will include boss encounters but I wouldn’t necessarily say those are mechanic-related... more like “event-related”.

I’ve mused a bit in the past about rewriting Adventures and Command and I do have plans to do a mock up of an Adventures remake eventually.  However, today I was thinking about how I would go about handling an Assault re-write in particular.  Much like Command and Adventures, I don’t have any beef with the core story but I do think there’s a few things that could’ve been better about Assault’s storyline-- like they had good ideas rolling but they didn’t quite refine them.

Under the cut because SUPER long.

My basic feelings on Assault are pretty positive.  I think the game is generally just fun and I like that it feels like the natural progression from SF64.  I liked getting to see planets we haven’t seen since the N64 era in better graphics and I liked seeing Star Wolf return.  I also just thought the aparoids were neat enemies. 

Generally speaking, though, when it comes to Assault, I think it suffers from the thing it tries to push the most-- the story.  I think a lot of people get caught up in thinking the story is better than it is because it’s the first game since SF64 that really follows the same Star Fox vibe without retelling the Lylat Wars.  Don’t get me wrong, the overall plot is great but the execution and pacing are... wonky.  Certain characterizations also take a hit in some regards but no one really talks about that when Command exists. That’s something we’ll talk about later on with this post.

That being said, Assault really does have a lot good going for it.  An absolute banger of a soundtrack, some great dialogue, a neat story synopsis, the introduction of cool characters like Panther and Beltino (who existed but was always off-screen), and just good levels.  

So, here’s what I would add, I suppose, if I were to somehow have the ability to rewrite Assault.  Originally I had this in paragraph form, but I’ve made it into more of a list under topic segments with main points bolded for your viewing pleasure.  Some of these points might be considered nitpicky and while I do understand that yes, this is a game about space animals, I do hold the developers in high enough regard to make a game with a continuity that makes sense.

The Story Changes

- Reduce Pigma’s storyline in Assault.  This is the biggest one for me because a bulk of the plotline feels like a giant chase to just get at Pigma and it feels like it derails from the actual plot with the aparoids.  We only go to Sargasso because of Pigma.  We only go to Fichina and then back to Meteo again, because of Pigma.  That’s 3 levels in a 10 level game devoted to just tracking down Pigma and chasing him.  While it makes the build up to fighting Pigma kind of nice, I personally feel like the plot could be reduced to 2 levels.  If Assault overall was a longer game, I could see them making it 3 levels.  Overall, though, in its current state, I feel like the side plot overstays its welcome and the aparoids promptly get shoved to the side in favor of “Oh no, we gotta get to Pigma!” And I get the main motive here is to show how the aparoids affect people and because of the build up, it does a good job at showing how utterly terrifying the aparoids are.  But it’s still too long given the length of Assault’s story. The only alternative to this is make Assault longer, which... honestly, it should be.  

- Revise the scene with Tricky.  I’m obviously not well-versed in dinosaur biology but I’m pretty sure dinos didn’t grow that fast from what studying I HAVE done.  And why is he suddenly king now?  Did his parents die?  He seems not affected by this at all?  Like it’s a funny scene with him, Fox, and Krystal, but it’s odd if you really look at it.  Give us, as players, more context because I’m still not even sure what happened to make Tricky suddenly the leader and... big.  As a note, you’re gonna hear me gripe a lot about the Sauria level in this post.

- The Star Wolf + Peppy sacrifice is a low effort way to raise tension/stakes and then cop out.  Oldest trick in the book, imo, is to act like you’re going to kill off important characters only for them to be alive miraculously.  And let’s face it, as an audience we all know they aren’t going to kill those characters because it’s Nintendo and those characters are too beloved.  I would’ve forgiven them for only doing this with Peppy or Star Wolf, but when you tack them both together and throw in the fact they make it seem like you’re going to have to kill General Pepper too... yeah, it’s just a bit much of the same trope over and over again.  I wanted to put a note in here about how I’m fine with the Great Fox being “sacrificed” but overall, it needed to return to the series because of it’s icon status, but I think that’s more of a gripe at Command instead of Assault.

- Keep Pigma alive.  This will conflict with a point I have later on about the game consistently having characters cheat death for easy drama points but with Pigma, I would’ve kept him fully alive... but maybe with some physical damage from the aparoids.  I understand he’s semi-alive in Command and tbh I don’t know where I stand on that.  Why keep Pigma alive, you might ask?  I feel like his character has a lot more potential than being “just the greedy guy”.  Like he’s got good potential future villain material for future games and... if I’m honest?  I just don’t see Nintendo wanting to keep Pigma dead so why even bother killing him off?  They couldn’t even commit to him being dead in Command anyways so it seems very moot.

- Bring Bill and Katt back.  Assault is acts a bit like a big reunion of all of our SF64 favorites but our two favorite side characters are suspiciously missing.  Wouldn’t Bill be out on the front lines fighting against Andrew in the beginning?  Or maybe back in Katina?  And wouldn’t Katt inevitably show up in the midst of the invasion, maybe to pointedly check in on Falco?

- Bring Andrew back for the final fight. I think Andrew being defeated early into the game is fine overall but I think bringing him back in for a reunion final fight against the aparoids would serve to really solidify that it’s really everyone vs the invading aparoid force.  It would show that not only is Star Wolf willing to put aside their differences but so is basically everyone in the Lylat System in the name of survival.  Imagine the Venomians and Cornerians working together against an aparoid fleet, giving Star Fox and Star Wolf time to attack the queen?  I just think it’d be neat and it’d open up the potential for some fun banter mid-mission.  I do understand that quite a few people consider Andrew canonically dead after Assault but personally, I feel that his defeat left his fate questionable (I’m a staunch believer that unless there’s a body, they’re probably alive, especially for Nintendo games because, again, they never like to kill people off) so him returning in Command never really bothered me.  

- In general, reconsider some of the character portrayals.  Unfortunately, when a series has a different studio for each game, character portrayals will inevitably have inconsistencies.  While I give Namco a lot of credit for putting in oodles and oodles of detail into the game (particularly the levels), I think they failed in their portrayal of Fox, at the least, and Wolf is a considerable offender as well.  While it’s obvious that Fox in Adventures was effectively modeled off of Sabre even in terms of personality, Rareware was at least able to justify Fox’s newfound jaded attitude with the passing of many years and a distinct lack of steady income, resulting in the team being in disarray.  Assault’s Fox is a stark contrast to his cynical interpretation with seemingly no explanation other than maybe “Oh, I have more money and a gf, maybe I should behave myself”.  As if the sudden change in personality wasn’t random, Fox also just seems very blah, like a blank slate stereotypical shooter game protagonist dude with little to no emotion.  Wolf is less obvious but gets slated into a mentor-like role midway through the game and ends up in a respectful rivalry with Fox... which there’s nothing inherently wrong with that except for it happening abruptly (and, I mean, Peppy is right there).  But I take less issue with this and more of an issue with the fact that there’s an entire level establishing that Wolf now runs a crime den with effectively what seems to be an army and no one bats an eye at this.  He doesn’t even call on them to help with the aparoids.  Did they all die when the aparoids attacked Meteo?  Are they safe somewhere else?  Where do they go?  How was Sargasso able to operate without the CDF being on their doorstep with warrants for arrests?

- Don’t kill all the dinosaurs.  A bit of a dramatic statement but the ending screen that showed all the damage to Sauria really bothered me.  While I understand that the dinosaurs had less of a chance against the aparoids than a more technology-focused society like Corneria, I was a bit disappointed that the decision was made to just state that a lot of tribes had been wiped out.  I know this could easily be retconned in a future game and I feel like it should be.  “But why, Amalia?  Why are you disappointed by that?”  1) It’s a little too grimdark for my tastes.  2) The fact it all happened off-screen felt very hand-wavy.  And 3) It brings into question the entire point of Adventures.  Why did we bother to save this planet if it was going to be reduced to rubble and ash 1 year later?  Where were the Krazoa in all of this?  Why did they not make an appearance at all to try to stop the invasion with their alleged powers?  It just raises too many weird questions and I feel like Namco didn’t think it through too much.  Which I mean, sure.  Family, kiddo game.  I’m not asking for bigbrain plot and lore but I’m squinting at this bit because it does feel very contrary to the lore from the previous game.

- Make the aparoids more relevant.  As nice as it is to have a random bad guy from another galaxy, I feel like there was more that could be done with the aparoids in terms of their origins.  Tiny things, mind you, not huge revelations.  Off the top of my head, they could have been tied into Krystal’s backstory to help alleviate some of the complaints that she was too random to be added to the series’ main cast.  Alternatively, they could have been a product of Andross or even a weapon prototype from Corneria that fled the lab (I actually thought the game was leaning in that direction for a bit then just Nothing Happened).  I get that the vagueness of their origins leaves room for people to speculate and speculation is nice but... when you leave too many things unknown, it starts to feel less like giving fans room to interpret and more like just doing random things for the sake of it.  I think a lore tidbit here or there would work wonders for the aparoids instead of leaving them as just borg/zerg clones.

Level-Based Changes

- Add either Aparoid RedEye or Aparoid General Scales as a boss to Sauria.  Given that this level mysteriously lacks a boss, which is just weird compared to the other levels, I think that they had the opportunity to add something cool to go along with the cinematic feel they were going for with Assault.  Assault’s cutscenes do play in a movie-like fashion and it’s clear they’re trying to make the game as epic as possible.  It’s a shame they had so much fodder for a great boss here but they failed to go through with it.  Alternatively: Add a Krazoa-Aparoid fusion.  Why?  Because Star Fox is about cool epic sci-fi and that would be cool epic sci-fi incarnate.

- Add a boss to the Aparoid Homeworld Level, aka the penultimate level.  Another one I felt was personally weird that there was no “final defense system” to challenge the team.  Would be cool to do an aerial battle over the aparoid planet with some giant flying aparoid.

- Be kinder to Sauria.  The level had some good homages but overall was incredibly small and incredibly short.  It felt like a bone tossed to Adventures fans but was not entirely true to the setting built by Rareware.  I’m... not even sure where the Sauria level is supposed to take place?  I presume it’s Walled City but it doesn’t really have the same color scheme or aesthetic?  Also where is my revised Adventures music?  Why do all the other levels get it but Sauria doesn’t? 

- Put some of those funky items from the multiplayer into the main campaign.  I don’t know why some of these things, items especially, were omitted unless it was purely due to time constraints.  I remember having missile launchers and jetpacks in the multiplayer and was a bit sad that they were not in the main campaign.  Retuning the levels and adding those in would be a nice breath of fresh air for the more tedious on-foot missions.

- More levels.  Self-explanatory.  Still sad we didn’t get the Zoness or Titania levels in the single-player mode.  

I think all of the above changes would improve the game, though I recognize all of this is being said 16 years later after lots of time to contemplate Assault’s weaker points.  I’m not entirely certain how long Star Fox Assault took to develop but given that there’s obviously quite a bit scrapped from the game (an entire arcade mode was scrapped as well), I’m going to assume that the studio felt pressured to shove the game out the door and into the hands of customers.  It’s a shame, really, because I think a little bit longer in the oven would have done a lot of good.  Still, the product we got was good in its own right and a game that many people look back on fondly.  I haven’t gotten to replay it in years but I hope to quite soon.

You might wonder why I bothered typing this all out and I guess my point was this-- Assault was great but it wasn’t perfect, and while a lot of other games fall under a crushing amount of scrutiny, Assault seems to dodge it.  And don’t get me wrong-- I adore Assault.  But given that not many takes exist out there about rewriting it, I decided to give it a shot.  For variety’s sake.  

I do want to a mock up of a revised Assault story, which I think I will get to work on after completing this while all my ideas are still fresh in mind.  So stay tuned for that sometime in the near future.  I will also be doing my Adventures mock up at some point but probably not for a little bit as I do wanna focus some of my free time on actual fic-writing.

Anyways, if you stuck around this long, thank you for reading!  Have any changes you’d like to see to Assault if you could time machine your way back to the early 2000s?  Feel free to post in the comments, I’d love to read your ideas!

[saanphoenix]

“Why do so many old-school FFVII fans think that Cloud took Zack’s memories?”

Alright, so first things first. We gotta start from the beginning. We gotta start with Jenova.

Jenova is the name given to the alien entity known as the Calamity. “Heaven’s dark harbinger.” This being, assumed to be female because of the body she was in at the Crater, was basically godlike in her natural abilities. Historically, she was able to shapeshift. She was telepathic. She had a nigh indomitable will. And she used her abilities to infect the race of human(oid)s that happened upon her crash site--the Cetra.

Now, Ifalna, within the English translation of the OG, states that Jenova turned the Cetra into monsters, nearly wiping them all out, and that the wee few that remained basically had to be sacrificed to seal Jenova away before she could do anymore damage to all life on the planet. The notes Sephiroth finds within the Shinra Mansion seem to corroborate this version of events, as he tells Zack that the Cetra chose to fight the Calamity while the other humans “hid”, thus being spared Jenova’s shenanigans, allowing them to become the dominant race on the planet, but ultimately being cowards unworthy to be the shepherds of any star, to quote Emet-Selch from FFXIV. Stay with me now.

We also know that the notes Sephiroth reads within the Shinra Mansion do not, in any way, call Jenova the Calamity. They still refer to her as a Cetra. Meaning that those notes are outdated, before the discovery of a living Cetra, a Cetra who is 2000 years removed from her own people’s history. Right? So.

(’Ah, but what about Genesis point-blank telling Sephiroth the truth? He knew what was up!’ Yes, because Hollander and Hojo found out from Gast’s recordings, and Ifalna herself, what Jenova actually was, and then Hollander told Genesis, who then said some stupid ass shit to trigger Sephiroth into looking into the wrong information, and now Nibelheim is not Nibelheim anymore and Cloud is missing one more family member than he was when he joined Shinra. Also, fuck Genesis. Anyway.)

HOJO, yeah? Hojo, in two separate novels written by Nojima himself, states to Aerith and Tseng separately that Jenova 1) will inevitably infect all life on the planet with her “cells” because of the very nature of the Lifestream and 2) turned the Cetra against each other via subtle manipulation and illusions of their loved ones, dead or alive, conceived from their own memories. She didn’t show up looking like the Eldritch horror with the eyeball nipple, she showed up looking like a run-of-the-mill Cetra. And she would further disguise herself as people a Cetra knew in order to gain their trust. And then, after she had gained that trust, she would say shit like, “Hey. Your friend over there hates you,” or, “Hey. Your friend over there wants to kill you.” And thus the Cetra, at the very least morally but probably also physically, became monsters and tore themselves apart.

You ever wonder why everything the Cetra had was booby-trapped and hidden behind riddles and self-sacrificial bullshit like their Temple? My guess is because Jenova made it so they couldn’t trust anyone, even themselves.

“Why did I read all that? What does that have to do with Cloud voring Zack’s memories?”

Because we gotta understand the mechanics of this bitch first so that we know what to look out for.

Now, we have an alien in stasis--presumed dead but definitely not--and a buncha scientists who really want a coveted spot sucking President Shinra’s dick as head of the Science Dept. who all think that taking the genetic material of a Cetra and splicing it into a modern-day human’s DNA will give them a Geiger counter to the Promised Land. Which they want to use as fuel because only some of them really understand what mako is and the others are just fucking stupid. Anyway, my guess is that they archeology their way to Jenova’s still-kinda-alive corpse and do some DNA testing and go, “Ah! We’ve found a Cetra. It has to be one! She’s by the crater, after all, and that’s where some of them were nuked by a Meteor! :) We’re geniuses!” And Jenova, in the Lifestream, went, “GOTCHA, BITCH!”

And through the power of dino DNA, out pops a lot of nonviable lifeforms, some monsters, and, eventually, a relatively normal kid with a flare for the dramatic who will become wholly obsessed with apples and very boring literature that he will insist on repeating every five goddamn seconds. As he was no Geiger counter to the Promised Land, out pops another relatively normal kid who will grow up to have dreams, and honor, and steal food from his neighbors because he was so damn honorable that he just could not ask for a handout.

With Hollander and Gillian’s experiments not producing anything of note other than children that need love and support, Hojo and Lucrecia decide to take a slightly different sample of Jenova’s cells and just start sticking them everywhere. They’re in Lucrecia. They’re in Lucrecia’s fetus. And...something strange starts to happen.

Lucrecia starts to feel the effects of Jenova. Lucrecia’s mind and body start to kind of deteriorate. Not the way that Genesis’ and Angeal’s do later on, but she is plagued by shit like severe depression and fatigue. She falls out on the floor multiple times. Her bodyguard is a little late on pulling the trigger of the gun aimed at her husband and, instead of doing anything productive about her husband proving he’s an amoral murderous fuckhead, she just decides to play doll with her kinda undead bodyguard, get even sicker, and then, finally, pops out a very strange looking baby. In fact, he looks a little alien.

“No, seriously, what does this have to do with anything?”

Genetics. How Jenova cells work. Whatever clump of cells they injected into Lucrecia, clearly different from those used in Project G, seemed to focus more on the mental fuckery aspect of Jenova than the physical, shapeshifting aspect of Jenova. I would also argue that one of the reasons Lucrecia was so adversely affected by the cells and Gillian was not is their mental well-being. Gillian, even when we meet her, seems very upbeat and doing pretty okay despite her husband having died from exhaustion a coupla years back. Lucrecia was depressed and very subservient even before she married Hojo. Losing her mentor--Vincent’s father--probably exacerbated that. And, later in Advent Children, that sort of mentality--hopelessness and despair--is what Sephiroth’s Geostigma feeds off of. That and thoughts of death/dying. But that is more speculation than anything.

So, Sephiroth’s cells are different from Genesis’ and Angeal’s, and they were all three bred differently, but they’re all kinda chimeras of Jenova’s. And once Genesis learns about his origins, it’s like the lightbulb goes off. This guy’s creating clones by infecting his 2nd and 3rd Class SOLDIERs with his own cells. And when he does that, their physical appearance becomes his own. As does their will. Whatever Genesis wants, the clones also want. And then he just grows a wing for shits and giggles. Once he tells his BFF Angeal the sitch, behold! He’s got monster clones--maybe because he realizes how fucked up overwriting a human being with yourself is--and wings, too. ...Why?

The power to do all of this shit was always there. It was genetically always there. They just had to be made aware of it, to have the puzzle piece put into place. When Sephiroth dies, that puzzle piece is put into place. And then he starts fuckin’ with shit. And turns into monstrous angels. And then dies again. And then comes back and finally grows himself his own wing. He did it, fellas. He’s a big boy now.

But we’re not here to talk about Sephiroth--ignore how much I talked about Sephiroth and his mommies previously--we’re here to talk about ZACK and CLOUD.

“What’s up with Zack and Cloud?”

First, what we must realize is that even though Hojo says that both Zack and Cloud are failed clones because they 1) didn’t take on any physical characteristics of Sephiroth, 2) didn’t seem controlled by Jenova (or Sephiroth) and, 3) didn’t exhibit the other signs of a Reunion impulse like the other clones in Nibelheim that does not mean that Sephiroth’s cells, Jenova’s cells, are not working on them.

As we’ve observed in other 1sts, abilities do not always manifest immediately or even noticeably. Clearly, Sephiroth’s physical appearance is a bit of a hint, but Genesis and Angeal look pretty damn normal and, if it weren’t for their mako injections, they probably wouldn’t be showing that much of an increase in physical capabilities. Theoretically. Maybe 10-year-old Angeal had biceps the size of a man’s head. I mean. Pff.

Zack’s tolerance to Jenova was strong due to his previous exposure in the SOLDIER program. Cloud’s mind broke pretty early on. Neither of these results matter to the fact that they both now have Sephiroth’s cells within them--just as Genesis’ and Angeal’s clones had theirs--and that their very wills are now going to be affected by Sephiroth’s. But they are also going to be a little bit like him in terms of power.

Zack’s hair, when ingested by a Genesis clone, a clone of a Type-G SOLDIER, transforms that clone into a monster. Zack doesn’t even have to do anything. The Jenova/Sephiroth cells within his body can just Do That, cause that change in another life form, of their own accord. I’m honestly shocked that, whenever they gave Zack these S-cells, HE didn’t turn into a monster. But that’s neither here nor there. I wanna talk about Cloud.

Cloud has mako poisoning, which the Remake describes as his spirit/soul being stuck between his body and the Lifestream. Weird. Anyway, he’s not fully aware of his surroundings at all times, and he clearly can’t control his body that much. He somehow has the ability to kinda get his feet shuffling, and I’m going to go on a limb and say he can chew whatever food Zack gives him, but most of the time, he’s a puppet with cut strings.

But he is also still recovering from a mind break caused by Jenova cells. The same cells that are just chilling in his body, like they are in Zack’s. And all the months Zack is dragging his ass across a continent, an ocean, and another continent, they and Cloud are listening to whatever the fuck Zack is saying. Cloud is also constantly in physical contact with Zack.

In The Kids Are Alright: A Turks Side Story, Kadaj has the power to not only read surface thoughts and memories just by being near someone, but he can also read deeper ones by making physical contact with someone. Because Jenova. And Sephiroth, whose cells Cloud and Zack have, in the OG demonstrates that he, too, can glean thoughts and memories from others. Because Jenova.

If this power is a genetic trait, as it is with Genesis and Angeal, then, sitting pretty underneath their skin, Zack and Cloud have this ability. Dormant. Snoozing. Kinda like the 1st Class Trio’s wings.

But Zack has a high tolerance and a high ignorance to Jenova and just what he might be capable of. Cloud’s mind is floating in and out at best. He’s not in control of himself. And when you have a situation like that, it is very, very easy to come to the conclusion that Cloud’s Jenova cells are passively absorbing the memories of Zack’s time in Nibelheim. That they are knitting these memories together with what little remain in Cloud’s head. That when Tifa comes across Cloud at the train station and calls him by name and remembers who he is that Cloud’s Jenova cells latch onto those memories in Tifa--as Sephiroth tells them they did--and they knit those memories with Zack’s and Cloud’s and the end result is the man we get at the beginning of the OG.

Because Cloud has visual memory of shit he never saw. It’s not just a visual medium telling a visual story. You wanna know how I know that for a fact? Because, in the Remake, Cloud remembers Sephiroth walking up to Jenova’s tank in the reactor from Sephiroth’s perspective. He is looking through Sephiroth’s eyes, through his memory, up at “Mother.” In that moment in the Remake, Cloud is Sephiroth. He’s not Cloud anymore.

Cloud sees Sephiroth delivering the speech of being an Ancient. Cloud wasn’t there. Cloud didn’t see that. Zack did. That is Zack’s memory.

The man writing the Remake is the same man who’s been at the head of MOST FFVII writing. He was on the OG, he wrote Advent Children, he wrote the novels, he wrote Crisis Core, he’s writing the Remake. He knows what these cells can do because he’s crafted this world-building for decades.

Cloud didn’t take all of Zack’s memories. He didn’t need to. Kadaj, in the novel, doesn’t glean everything from someone right off the bat. Because he doesn’t need to. Only when he needs to learn something else does he go digging. The same is probably true for what Cloud’s cells most likely did to be able to know what he knows. Hell! Kadaj gets punched in the novel and he ACCIDENTALLY picks up the emotions and memories of the guy who punched him. He didn’t want ‘em but he got ‘em!”

There is evidence within the OG, and even more within the Compilation, that lend weight to the theory that Cloud unintentionally read Zack’s mind when it came to the events of Nibelheim.

For years, people have wondered, “How the hell does Cloud know that if he wasn’t there?” For years, people have wondered, “How can he use the Buster Sword if he was just a little grunt that used a gun all the time?” The logical answer is, “Because of his Jenova cells. They can just do that shit.”

[catstailtavern]

Genshin impact characters as gamers

Characters: Abedo, Kaeya, Diluc, Childe, Zhongli, Jean, Hu Tao, and Lisa

content warnings: Childe being kinda an asshole lol.

authors note: I might do more in the future! These are just my headcanons so if you don't agree that cool! Feel free to let me know what you think they're like as gamers!!

Albedo:

what they look for in a game: Albedo seems like the type to enjoy games with vast worlds that involve lots of exploration and puzzles. I also feel like he like more quiet gameplay- if that makes any sense. Very much "Show, don't tell." Likes walking simulators!

things that turn them off from a game: He dislikes when games over-explain themselves/their plots. He likes to be able to unfold the mysteries and plot threads himself instead of being spoonfed. He also dislikes voice chat bc people are mean. If there is a VC he mutes basically everyone even if it makes teamwork difficult.

how much time do they devote to videogames: Albedo really only plays videogames on days off or when alchemy research has hit a lull.

a game or games that I think they'd like: outer wilds, shadow of the colossus, and journey.

Kaeya:

what they look for in a game: Story-rich games with unique art that explore heavy topics or philosophical themes! but also really likes multiplayer games where he can troll lol.

things that turn them off from a game: If he dislikes the art he finds it hard to play or pay attention to. This doesn't mean he demands picture-perfect graphics! He's mostly into unrealistic and eye-catching graphics/art he likes games with style and flair!

how much time do they devote to video games: Kaeya likes to play after a long day of work to unwind and relax!

a game or games that I think they'd like: Disco Elysium and the persona series!

Diluc:

what they look for in a game: Diluc is a very busy man who likes to be in control of his life and the things that affect it. Therefore I have come to the conclusion that he likes simple and sweet games with low stakes where he is mostly in control if not basically god haha.

things that turn them off from a game: Games that involve him to be emotionally invested or have lots of stressors are not his thing. Games are played to relieve his stress, not make him cry over character death.

how much time do they devote to video games: He likes to play a little bit on his break when he gets the chance or a little bit after work. Doesn't like to play for too long each day or he feels unproductive!

a game or games that I think they'd like: the sims, planet zoo, my time at Portia, stardew valley, and ANIMAL CROSSING!! (I dont care if this is OOC okay. Diluc plays animal crossing on his lunch break. His favorite villagers are the bird ones. His favorite fruits are apples and cherries, and he loves terraforming his island. He finds it therapeutic.)

Childe:

what they look for in a game: loves gacha games, he's a total whale, and loves to flex his pulls. Also loves games with intense competitive multiplayer and couch co-op games. Absolutely a sore winner who everyone hates playing jack box with.

things that turn them off from a game: Dislikes the story mode of most games bc they usually fail to keep this attention. He'd much rather be making yo mama jokes and shit-talking n00bs over the mic like the little asshole gremlin he is. The only exception so far is "The Last of Us," because of one time when the internet was shitting out on him during matchmaking. He decided to play the story while his connection got itself together and ended up liking it.

how much time do they devote to video games: Stays up late playing them at night a LOT. They're usually the reason he's tired the next day.

a game or games that I think they'd like: mario kart, smash bros, arknights, mortal kombat, apex, and dead by daylight.

Zhongli:

what they look for in a game: Zhongli likes simple games with cute graphics and easy controls. Mostly a mobile gamer as he finds most console game controls confusing. Loves virtual remakes of classic games that he used to play with other people physically.

things that turn them off from a game: Really dislikes first-person shooters. He finds them loud and disorienting. Poor old man.

how much time do they devote to videogames: Barely ever plays, might play while having a cup of tea or to pass the time while waiting for something!

a game or games that I think they'd like: mahjong, solitaire, candy crush, and those lumosity games for training your brain.

Jean:

what they look for in a game: At first when jean thought of video games the only thing that came to mind was "a waste of time." As the acting grand master of the knights of Favonius she rarely has time to socialize or even date. That's when she decided to maybe just maybe give dating sims a shot. She's a bit insecure about it, but they give her butterflies without the strain of a real relationship.

things that turn them off from a game: Really dislikes games that glorify villainy or have you play as the bad guy. She also really hates horror games. Fun fact, she played doki doki literature club but missed the warning somehow and WOW she got really upset-

how much time do they devote to video games: As mentioned previously Jean is a busy gal. So she really only gets to play games on her rare days off or maybe just a little before bed.

a game or games that I think they'd like: I don't know a lot of sweet and fluffy dating sims but I feel like the sweet and fluffy ones are her favorite! I've really only played one dating sim before and that was monster prom so I'm gonna use that for the example lol. I know there's a lot of mischief in that game but she always chooses the more moral upstanding choice even if it cost her a date haha.

Hu Tao:

what they look for in a game: Hu Tao is partial to games with gothic aesthetics and horror elements! Specifically really loves psychological horror and unique creature design. Enjoys difficult gameplay and feels a sense of accomplishment when she succeeds!

things that turn them off from a game: When a game is too easy to play she gets bored rather quickly.

how much time do they devote to video games: Frequently plays really late at night while listening to a paranormal podcast or other spooky content.

a game or games that I think they'd like: Dark souls, Darkwood, The cat lady, rule of rose.

Lisa:

what they look for in a game: Like Childe, Lisa likes competitive gameplay. But she's more into fantasy MMO RPGs! She just really loves fantasy things it doesn't have to be multiplayer. Also really likes games with lots of lore and digs strategy turn-based combat! Other game types she likes are visual novels or anything with a good story-driven narrative. Loves being able to discuss fan theories online in forums.

things that turn them off from a game: Mediocre writing, poor/inconsistent world-building, or a lack of lore. She needs a story to sink her teeth into or she just won't play.

how much time do they devote to video games: Probably plays a lot. Really only pausing to correct people's behavior in the library!

a game or games that I think they'd like: World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, League of legends, Darkest dungeon, and slay the spire.

[vexedtonightmares]

hey :) do you mind sharing some more about the skam austin panel today?

yeah for sure!! i’ll put what i remember under the keep reading tab for ppl who wanna hear about it :) i only went to the panel, not the rewatch (bc money lmao) so there are probably some other things they talked about that i missed, but i’m sure there are other ppl on here that can fill you in on any gaps that i miss!

it was valeria (jo), julie (megan), and lakeisha* (shay), and pedro (p jo) on the panel (he was the moderator, the other three did most of the talking), though they did mention other castmates throughout :,) 

*lakeisha was the name they went by on the panel, and in the info before the panel it said they use they/them pronouns, so that’s how i’ll be referring to them throughout this 

all of them started out by talking about what they’re doing currently, julie said she’s dropping out of school because her therapist told her “you as a person matters more than you as a student” which i thought was a great sentiment as well 

lakeisha said they’ve been making a lot of clothes and music (also throughout the whole thing they kept showing us their shoes and they left to pee like halfway through something they were answering one time hfjskaj)

they then talked about their audition processes (val had the most chaotic series of audtions omg i would love to see her audition tapes)

val originally read for either jo or megan, and she had literally just moved there like right before casting and almost didn’t go to her audition

she said that she decided to be the loudest person in the room so that they couldn’t ignore her, and that carried her through most of the rounds of auditioning

she said that at the end she said “if you don’t choose me, which you should choose me, but if you don’t, please choose another latinx actress because you have no idea how much it means to see someone who looks like you on screen”

julie auditioned because she was hoping julie (andem) would bring lisa and tarjei and she basically wanted a free meet and greet djkfshk 

she found out about skam og on tumblr !! she’s one of us 😌 

she thinks julie andem is the coolest person in the world 

they told her that she was pretty much everything they envisioned megan to be, so they cast her fairly early on and then had her partner with the marlon prospects 

giovanni, who eventually played tyler, auditioned for marlon and they kissed during their audition even though they weren’t supposed to

julie went to high school with till who ended up playing marlon and people would always ask her what it was like to get to make out with him and she was just like .... we just working bruh

lakeisha found the ad to audition on instagram and decided why not because it said it was a paid job 

they looked up a bunch of improv games the night before because they had no experience and had no idea what they were doing

in the audition julie asked what the tattoos on their hand meant (and also the one thing lakeisha was excited about being out of contract was that they could get as many tattoos as they wanted without asking for permission)

they all had a lot of love for julie andem and loved working with her

val said that she’d always try to make julie laugh and she said that julie is the reason og and austin are so good, because it’s her story and her vision 

they roasted the shit out of fb too (as they should)

basically fb ghosted them and never renewed the show but also never cancelled it so technically they don’t even know if anyone else could get the rights to reboot the show somewhere else (lakeisha said ‘skam austin onlyfans’ lmao)

i don’t remember which one of them said it but they said fb is like an inconsistent dad lollll

they also think that fb sort of finessed julie/her team because they were under the impression that it would be like og where they had their own website for the show and everything, but then it ended up just being a facebook page

they also filmed promo for season 1 that never ended up being used but they don’t know why 

lakeisha felt super disrespected by the fact that not only did they not get their season, but also the fact that they just dropped the show like it was nothing and none of them even found out that they probably weren’t getting more seasons until they saw that their instagram accounts were gone

everyone was upset about the igs getting deleted too because they put so much work into the content on there for it all to just disappear 

val said “no one tells a story like the one that was about to be told” and everyone agreed

val said that if the show would have continued, jo would have been undocumented and they would have shown her trying to navigate college (not only were we robbed of a jo season, we were robbed of college seasons 😤)

jo x jo were definitely going to be a thing

val said that when they wrapped s2 she was like finally!!! because now they could get into the stories that they really wanted to tell and really knew would make a difference (everyone vehemently agreed)

they were proud of the fact that they’re the most diverse cast and that they don’t just treat the characters of color like sidekicks like the other remakes do

julie talked about how skam france was the only remake to have jonas not accept isak right away when he was coming out and how it was suspicious that he happened to be the only non white jonas and that was the choice they made

val said that druck is the only remake she’s watched but she likes it

they also talked about how, even though it’s great that the cast was so diverse, practically everyone behind the scenes was white

val said that she didn’t really think about it much at the time because she found it hard to speak up since she was very young and inexperienced but looking back she wishes jo’s body wasn’t so fetishized as a latina (she didn’t clarify whether she was talking on a production level or within the fandom, but she talked about costuming so i assumed she meant more on a production level)

they all wished there was more representation off screen as well as on

shay x megan was brought up and julie said that shay was going to have her own love interest (am!even !!!!) come season three, and that it wouldn’t have been megan 

she also said that megan was mostly just confused and like ‘haha i kiss girls when i’m drunk’ but then she also said that megan and shay never had feelings for each other at the same time so 👀 

she was upset that they made megan and marlon get back together at the end of season 2 because she wasn’t a fan of them together, but she said it also makes sense because a lot of teen girls go back to their toxic exes even when they know it’s not good for them

lakeisha said that they hated shay’s acrylic nails because it didn’t make sense to them for her to have them (especially since shay was a musician)

they also said that they’ve been pretty confident and open with their sexuality since they were around 12, and that one time in middle school they dated a boy because he had an xbox and then they were like oh no is this toxic am i using him because he actually has feelings for me?? hdskafja 

they also said that the cfgc music happened because they heard that the boys from og also had a song and at first i was like wtf are they talking about but now i think they meant the penetrator song 💀💀 

julie has a cfgc shirt :,) and they all stole a bunch of clothes and stuff from set, val said she took a bunch of outfits that jo never wore which makes her sad to think about now 

val’s favorite scene to film was the car scene in s1 before the party (she said it was one of the best moments of her life) and julie said she liked that one as well (val said there’s a shot of her looking into the camera and flipping it off but they didn’t include it in the show, i feel robbed)

people asked how it felt for lakeisha to be the first lesbian isak and they said that they didn’t feel like they were, because they didn’t really get the chance :(( but they also said that the idea itself was very intimidating and there was a lot of pressure around it

they also said that they and gio were very very close both on screen and off, they said it wasn’t even like they were an extension of one person, that’s how close they got

there were a lot of improvised scenes, particularly with val, and she also said that incorporating spanish into jo’s dialogue was mostly improvised 

julie, val, and pedro also all talked about how they’re all mexican, and how each of their life experiences vary so much from one another, on the show and off and julie said megan’s upbringing was a lot like hers 

they all also said that they liked the music the show used and a lot of them have emotional attachments to a lot of the songs 

val said she wishes they used more frank ocean and i agree 

they also said they’re not sure if there are bloopers or anything, but they’d love to see them if there are 

i’m trying to think of anything i missed ahhh i feel like they talked about so much but i think i’ve got the key points soooo

that’s all !!! hope this was interesting to ppl who still care about austin like i do :,))

[genaleah]

ANSWERING WILDCARD QUESTIONS

For the first time in about a year maybe??? Some of these might be even older than that.

Yes, it is Korka! I definitely want her involved, she’s a wonderful character and there is a *lot* of fun paranormal stuff going on in this setting that she can help them research. Also, I’d just love for her and Nelson to become friends!

Thank you! I love him a lot, and it’s fun to picture him interacting with the other guys. They’d all make for some interesting uncle figures, but they might not be that great in terms of role models.

OHOHO. Devilish laugh. That’s a wonderful idea, and a good way to keep him occupied at some point. He’s a great character, but he’s incredibly powerful, and I want these dudes to solve their own problems whenever possible. 

A good question! I don’t remember most of my dreams, but there’s usually a consistent look to the vivid ones. Lots of water, mountains, creeks, and high, winding roads. There are also a lot of buildings that are closely integrated with nature, even though I have almost never seen construction like that. 

I had not, but now I have! Here’s a trailer, for anyone else that missed it:

https://youtu.be/33HXHaaagsw

I really like these new models! I’m looking forward to watching a playthrough when that’s available. Just like with Rhombus of Ruin, I don’t think I’ll be able to play this one myself.

DOUBLE FINE, I WISH TO SPEAK WITH YOU- no, I’m kidding! I think great minds think alike. But I’m really excited to learn more about that character and possibly involve them in this whole au eventually. 

I’ve actually tried to avoid almost any info about Psychonauts 2 so I can go in mostly-blind, and a lot of the characters are vague to me. It’s fun to look forward to, but it’s also a little harrowing because I don’t know how to anticipate for it!

N...NO..... I NEED TO... Honestly those are old enough that it might be a good idea for me to re-make them, as well as the playing cards I made for the mega playlist cover. I think it’d be nice to remake them as vectors... that might make for a nice art stream sometime. I’ll mention publicly if I start doing that, and sharing any of these conceptual Wildcards arts when they’re done. 

And if you’re just curious about what the tarot cards for the other characters are going to be, it’s this:

Eddie: Judgement, The Magician, The Emperor

Manny: Death, Justice, The World

Sam: The Chariot, The Tower, Strength

Max: The Devil, Wheel of Fortune, Joker

Although! I may actually give the Moon card to Max instead of the Devil, and replace the missing card from Nelson’s selection with the High Priestess?  🤔  I’ll decide when I get to it.

Could be! I’ve flip-flopped occasionally on if I want the split-a-cab gang to participate much in the story. I think they deserve a break, and splitting an apartment in New York seems like a good situation for the four of them.

Oh boy, that must be so disorienting for him. The Psychonauts deal with a lot of hippy-dippy weirdness in a seemingly organized way, but it seems like they’re not as paranoid about safety as a real federal organization would be. Not necessarily a good thing, considering one of their camp counselors went AWOL one day, and the head of the Psychonauts got kidnapped the next. They kinda need to get their act together.

Fun fact, in one of the earlier drafts of Chapter 3 I was actually going to make Nelson get scanned by the equivalent of a metal-detector for malevolent thoughts at the door and get really spooked by it, but I decided against it.

YEAH IT’S ON THE LIST

Honestly, a big bulk of the plot in this just regards characters having to face their mental health struggles... via facing it as literal internal demons, unstable powers, etc.  It’s going to take a little while for any of Eddie’s teammates to realize how MUCH he has going on under the surface because he does a pretty good job of hiding it. “Needing to help others above ever helping themselves” is a hard issue to notice if you’re not looking for it. But it’s a guarantee that once they find out he needs help, they’ll give it; whether that’s making sure he’s not working himself too hard, or fighting off demonic cultists. Care comes in many forms.

SHE NEEDS TO REST.... POOR SYBIL (on the upside, they don’t TECHNICALLY work there, so she might be fine most of the time.)

Strong Bad isn’t a Psychonaut! He’s just a vlogger and a petty (psychic) criminal. It’s honestly not very different from canon.

Free Country, USA is a smalltown hotbed of psychic activity. Nearly everyone there has some mild capacity for supernatural powers, but nobody really notices or cares. Strong Bad just pops the tops off of cold ones and.... sometimes alters reality, a tiny bit. But mostly just in regards to media. The cartoons, comics, etc, that he invents and talks about have a tendency to suddenly voip into existence and nobody knows how. I swear, there’s actually a line of him saying something to this effect, but I can’t find it anywhere.  Don’t worry about it! Nobody in town is ever going to do anything truly nefarious with their powers, so it’s not a high priority on the Psychonauts’ radar, just a weird footnote.

The only reason Homestar is an actual agent is because he seems like exactly the kind of guy to sign up for a job like that on accident and then stick with it. And he’s a talented telekinetic! None of his other friends know about his job or notice his absences.

And just for fun, here’s some weird instances of psychic overpowering that happened in the cartoon:

---

(Poor Strong Sad)

I’ve actually answered this one before! BAM  Pretty sure all of it is still accurate.

Nelson: He sees floating sheets of paper containing notes, questions, etc. Anything that he wants to know more about regarding that person. The notes are subject to edits, cross-outs, ripped pages, etc.

Guybrush: He sees the item that the person is carrying that he wants most. As he gets to know people better, he sees them for their useful skills first.

Manny: His view of most living people is not very kind...

The people he’s closest to will eventually look a lot less garish. More like a flattering, camera-ready versions of themselves.

Eddie: Sickass sketch drawings that look like they belong in the margins of a composition book. The illustrations improve as he gets a better picture of where they’d fit in the internal lore of his mental world.

Sam: A lot like Nelson; Sam pictures case files, though his are a bit more in-depth.

Max: Max’s visions of people are highly personal and uncomfortable for those who witness them. He sees Nelson as a puzzle with a piece missing. Guybrush is a ripped up voodoo doll. Manny is a forgotten ofrenda. Eddie is a powder keg with a long, lit fuse. Sam is Sam, but he’s the wrong one.

I also got two questions that were pretty big subjects, or that I didn’t want to repeat, so I’m gonna cover them pretty broadly:

REGARDING [X] CHARACTER OR SERIES INCLUDED IN THE AU

Sure, I support it! I’ve gotten this question a few times in regards to things that I haven’t had time to delve into yet, or I’m not interested in, so I’m not going to include it into the AU myself. But if you want to explore an idea like that, feel free! This AU is pretty dang collaborative.

My main focus is just on the main 6 properties: Psychonauts, Puzzle Agent, Monkey Island, Grim Fandango, Brutal Legend, and Sam & Max.

But my general rule of thumb for “characters that exist somewhere within the background of this story” are any other properties owned by Telltale, Lucasarts, or Double Fine. And considering all of the licensed games that Telltale was getting into before it kicked the bucket, that includes some really weird characters, even up to the Venture Bros. I loved that series, but I’m not really interested in doing anything with them for this story! Partly for my sanity, the canon I’ve picked are already a lot of content to play with. 

ASSORTED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE WILDCARD AU DISCORD

There’s no particular criteria needed to join the discord, and it’s not strictly on a need-to-know basis! Because it’s been a long while since anyone has joined, I've been hesitant about adding new people in... But I‘ve decided to try sending invitations again! Everyone who had asked about it in the past will be getting a ping by me in about a day or so, since I want to double-check if you’re still interested. If you’ve been nervous to ask you can reply to this post or message me privately.

Some things to keep in mind before asking or accepting the invite:

If you’re not a friend or a follower I recognize, I will likely double-check your tumblr along with some other current members before sending the invite. 

Here’s the Rules page, so you know what to expect before you join: 

Be Mindful - Respect other people's boundaries, don't do or say things that would cross the line. If your behavior makes other people feel uncomfortable or unsafe, I will remove you from the chat. In most cases I will try to resolve things with you and offer a chance to do better, but that will depend on the severity of the situation. And if you have any concerns regarding another member of the chat, you can contact me privately.

Health Boundaries - While discussions of mental health do occasionally pop up, do not rely on the chat for help. None of us are equipped to handle serious mental health concerns, and it will only cause distress for everyone. Please seek real help if it is needed! If you rely on people beyond the point that they have asked you to stop, I will remove you from the chat.

NSFW - Generally speaking, try to keep NSFW talk to a minimum. Swearing and humor is fine, but don't get too explicit please! Discussions should usually keep to a PG-13 / occasional R, but no NC-17.

Spoilers & Censorship - Please use the spoiler function to hide story spoilers, as well as discussions and graphic depictions of gore/excessive blood/body horror/severe psychological horror. Include a content warning so that people know what they could potentially be seeing when they click on the censored content. If the spoilered content is the subject of a back-and-forth discussion, please use another warning when you are switching to a different spoilered topic. (Note that these rules were added to the chat later, so be careful when using the search function or back reading.)

The canon series involved with the Wildcard AU are Psychonauts, Puzzle Agent, Monkey Island, Grim Fandango, Brutal Legend, and Sam & Max. Please be mindful of story spoilers!

Channel Organization - Also be mindful of which channel you're in and move a discussion over if need be! That way they don't get too clogged with unrelated info.

Creative Criticism - When it comes to writing, art, or character creation; try to be open to suggestions from others! Nearly all of the creative work in the chat is collaborative, so input from others is important! Creative criticism is not the same as judgement, and is not a personal attack.

Have fun! - Discussions move quickly in this chat! Don't feel bad if you ever need to step back, whether it's because of the speed or a disinterest in whatever current topic we're focusing on. If you ever want to come back, we're happy to have you and can give quick explanations if you feel out of the loop! :thumbsup:

We’re a group of approx. a half dozen to a dozen people, either posting very very quickly in a span of a few hours or barely anything for a few days. We’ve been in an activity uptick lately and there’s about a year and half of back content, too. If it’s hard to keep up on, not that interesting to read through, or you just have a hard time gelling with the group that's already there, there’s no shame in just lurking or dipping out if you need to.

We also talk a lot about Psychonauts OCs, so anticipate that.

[lesbian-in-leather]

So it's a little late but I finally made the extended version of this post

I'm just going to rewatch the trailer and write down all of my thoughts, but actually expand on everything this time (and it'll actually be mostly in order)

Maybe it's just the cut for the trailer, but the lawyer scene feels very rushed. BBC made it comedic in its own right, not just a setup, but here it feels very much like "have some exposition so we can get to the ghosts". The ghosts should not be the only point of comedy - they're important, sure, but "Samantha" and "Jay" should be able to carry a scene by themselves

"Samantha" doesn't think it through. At all. She cuts off the lawyer after his first buyer suggestion, and "Jay" doesn't seem to be on board with the idea. In the OG, they were both into this (admittedly bad) idea, so the responsibility was on both of them. Yes they rushed into it, but it was way more thought out than just hearing the words "bed and breakfast" and deciding that's your new plan

Why did they age down Pat for "Pete". I hate it. He's younger and skinnier and there's no reason. Like yeah, the OG doesn't have AMAZING diversity, but it's better than this - don't take out diversity in a remake. Didn't think I'd have to spell that one out

The sage joke is admittedly funny. However, it gives us some insight into the ghosts that I'm not the biggest fan of, and let's us see a lot of their new designs. Let's go across, shall we?

"Issac" is so much less dignified than Thomas. I understand that Thomas isn't always as poised as he'd like to think, but there's a level of class that's missing from "Issac", right down to the way he stands

"Flower" looks high. How can a ghost be high, you ask? No idea. But here we are.

"Sasappis" (I read in an article that this is a character name and I believe tis the Native American guy) has such a tiny reaction I almost missed it. He barely moves while everyone else freaks out. I'm hoping they didn't create this character out of the 'emotionless Native American' stereotype but... I guess we'll see

"Hetty" is the replacement for Lady B, and she's super expressive, protective of the others, and so much younger. She was supposed to be a grumpy mother/grandmother figure - why is she literally leaping in front of the others to protect them? That should be the Captain's job but they've axed him so I guess it falls to her now. Also, why did they make everyone so young?? Like, none of the ghosts look over 35. Why. This was unnecessary and, quite frankly, stupid. Why is everyone at this house dying so young? Just so they can market them as fuckable???? L o a t h i n g

Viking Man also barely moved. He seems interested in the sage and is basically a "cooler" version of Robin as far as I can tell. They seem to have taken away the joy of Robin's character, leaving only Some Guy which would be bad in any genre, but ESPECIALLY a comedy. He has potential in theory, but I feel they aren't going to utalise it

"Trevor". I have so much loathing for this man. Let's have some overall analysis, shall we? First of all, we'll start with, what I hope is a well known fact: Julian is not a good person. I love him as a character and he is starting to learn and grow, but at no point does the BBC or the other characters try to justify his behaviour. CBS saw this, and made Trevor. Trevor is younger than Julian (because for some reason they AGED EVERYONE DOWN), which also makes people far more likely to excuse his actions. They seem to be trying to make him a 'loveable fuckup' who makes bad choices because of privaledge, and I am. So worried. That they're going to try and excuse his actions. He already feels like a writer's self-insert and that never bodes well, especially in this type of character. Mark my words, they're going to market him as the 'relateable' one while having him spout misogynistic views (probably also homophobic and maybe even mildly racist/xenophobic ones too)

MOVING ON

Why is "Pete" sarcastic? I don't like it. Pat wouldn't be the one yelling aggressive comments while everyone's actually doing something together - he should be happy! Encouraging! He should be trying to catch up to the moving group instead of attempting to draw attention away from it!

Everyone looked so happy for the dead relative when she moved on. Hate that - it was so funny in BBC when they were like 'fuck off why does she get to leave' - having "Pete" be happy is fine, but the rest of them? WHY IS "HETTY" HAPPY.

Oh look, "Travor" actively flicks "Pete's" arrow to cause him pain. Why. That was so unecessary. None of the ghosts should try to hurt each other out of pure malice, and they certainly shouldn't get joy from it. It feels like CBS is trying to turn us against "Pete" and put us on "Trevor's" side, which I called, but am not a fan of.

And here she is. "Alberta". What the FUCK did they do to Kitty. She has Kitty's colour palette and fits the diversity demographic, but that is where the resemblance stops. Kitty is SUCH a wonderful character because she was an upper class black woman who was allowed to be soft and sweet and innocent and the others all protected her and I LOVED IT. Do you want to hear some fun descriptors they gave to "Alberta" in this article?

"In her time, she dated a bootlegger and has “seen it all,” and is a bit of a diva. Though tough and not one to take crap from anyone, she has a maternal streak and often acts as the protective den mother to the “family” of ghosts"

This is not only far closer to so many stereotypes, but it's the polar opposite of Kitty!! Having a flapper was a pretty cool idea but she could have had the same character traits as Kitty! Why change that! There was NO REASON TO RUIN HER. Also is it just me, or does it seem like they've made way too many of them sarcastic? Like, they've taken away Alison's snarky streak but given sarcastic lines to way too many of the characters

Also can I just take a moment to question the sheer amount of ghosts they've included. I understand that technically there's about the same amount. But with so much less of American history to draw on and the questionable character choices they've made, it feels like there are so many undefineable characters. Like, how do we differentiate them?? Even in the trailer there are so many scenes where most of them are just... standing around. In BBC, they're all so distinct and you get so much out of rewatches because they're all always doing something - look in the background of any shot and the ghosts who aren't talking have a reason to be there! But in this they're just... standing around. Do better.

I've just realised I'm only 0:59 seconds into a 2:16 trailer so I'm going to split this into two parts

Part two is here

[nefoe-dd]

SO SMT AU AM I RIGHT GAMERS

I mentioned this in the tags of another post and joked about it in Discord but my brain went brrrr during my last class of the day and now I lowkey have a full plot starting to form lol.

Keep in mind the only Shin Megami Tensei game I’ve played myself is the Nocturne remake, plus I only really remember bits of the plot of 4 and whatever we’ve been given so far of 5 so I’m not super well versed in the series.

Also I’ll add this to the tags too but DSMP Spoilers specifically for the contents of Techno’s Will exist in this post, because that is where the idea for this came from. A lot of other JRPGs have similar plotlines but I specifically thought of SMT because its kind of a meme specifically for that at this point how the plot always seems to have the same type ending bosses. 

Also some spoilers for Shin Megami Tensei IV

ANYWAYS

Now Presenting: An AU where Techno’s Limbo is an SMT Game lol

(Under a ‘Read More’ because it got way ahead of me)

An Introduction to Relevant SMT terminology:

Demons: Makes up a large majority of the characters in the game. They are the enemies that you face in combat, and its possible to recruit them to your team through various means. Some demons exist in the overworld though, and can be talked to normally, they’re chill most of the time, unless you do something to tick them off. ‘Demon’ is not taken literally by the Christian definition, they are based off of various figures in folklore and religion around the world, some are even based on Gods and Angels.

Law vs Chaos: Many SMT games have multiple endings based on these two alignments, along with the neutral alignment. It is usually decided by some important decisions the player makes throughout the game. I’m most aware of the SMT 4 ending, in which the route you are on decides the final dungeon, the character you team with for the ending, and the final boss (its either Satan or the in-game version of God). It’s based off of the traditional interpretation of these two, where Law represents the importance of authority, and Chaos represents the importance of freedom. 

Another note is that a lot of SMT games take place in a post-apocalyptic world of some kind, which, spoiler, is the case here.

General Plot Details and Worldbuilding:

- Techno dies in the prison. The stasis chamber fails and Quackity succeeds in killing him. Permanently. 

- Despite dying, he wakes up again in the main prison cell, but things are different. The lava isn’t blocking the entrance anymore, (in fact there isn’t any lava at all), and he’s alone. Upon peering outside the main cell, he notices a bit of sky peeking through the prison ceiling, like it had been broken into. 

- The drop down to the bottom floor is long, but he’s dead, so he just shrugs and jumps down so he can see what’s going on. Turns out there are several holes in this part of the prison, in fact there are multiple on the ground, likely where the lava had escaped from. (Obviously Minecraft lava specifically doesn’t work like that, I’m pretty sure in the DreamSMP the bottom is all source blocks, but just ignore that bit). 

- He exits from the back wall of the prison, and everything there so far looks normal, except for the fact that there appears to be less trees than normal. Of the trees that are still there, many of them were cut down and never collected, and some appear to have fallen over due to some damage.

- Techno goes around the prison to the front, and that’s when he notices some things that are very wrong. Various parts of the prison, not just the main cell, are also sitting destroyed. Many cracks, scuff marks and full-on chunks are missing on the walls. The usual entrance which houses the nether portal is hardly still standing, and he can see straight into the main lobby where the portal would lead into once you were let through. 

- The surrounding areas are not much better. Tommy’s outpost is toppled over in the distance, only the base and bottom floor are left standing. The tents near the beach are collapsed and destroyed, the only remnants of one of them is a small piece of fabric ripped from the main bit and laying on the ground. Skeppy and Badboyhalo’s mansion is crumbling where it stands, half of the back wall and ceiling are gone. And that’s only what’s visible from here. 

- The rest of the server is also in various states of destruction, the spawn walls are hardly left standing, the main nether portal area is covered in potholes, none of the portals are active. The prime path is rotted and broken in most areas, the buildings along it are not faring much better than the ones he’d seen before. And the further he gets away from the prison, the more the plants themselves appear to be dead or dying. 

- L’manburg’s crater looks much the same as it once did right after its destruction, albeit with more debris at the bottom which had fallen from the sides as they slowly eroded. The flag at the bottom is torn up and discoloured, honestly its hardly recognizable. The nature that had finally begun to reclaim the land has slowly been dying instead over time, and the bridge overtop has completely collapsed. The only thing still standing, is the ever present obsidian grid that looms over it in the sky. He supposes that whatever disaster had caused this wasn’t able to reach that high up, or that it was at least in part done by someone that liked the way it looked. Not that there seems to be a need for the reminder anymore. 

- Something something, he finds out DreamXD is here, and that he might have had something to do with how this world looks. And as much as it shouldn’t matter in the afterlife, he did promise Phil he would be killing God sooooo he goes on a mission to do just that. He can do pretty much anything now that he really doesn’t have to worry about dying, so why not. He has no reason to care about some God, especially when they’re the only ones left.

- Some DSMP people hang around the world and are represented by certain demons, the mostly chill ones that kinda just hang around in the apocalyptic scenery. They don’t recognize him, it isn’t really the people he knows after all, but they are willing to talk to him since they can tell he isn’t human either. He learns little bits of what happened through them, and learns where DreamXD resides, that being one of the strongholds that’s a bit further out. 

- Unfortunately, due to the portals being inactive, and his inability to break anything efficiently, or even at all, he has to travel using the overworld. Along the way he manages to speak to some others, this allows him to better locate where the God is, although it doesn’t seem to be hiding out. He even sees it sometimes flying around, which he uses to follow where its hiding. 

- Some of the random demons he runs into recognize that he’s not supposed to be here (according to them at least), so he has to fight his way through them. Luckily, many of the friendly demons that he talks to end up tagging along in order to help, thus making up a team he can use to get through them instead.

 - There’s probably a demon that seems to resemble Phil somewhere, living alone (alone for so so long) away from everyone in an arctic house perhaps. If I wanted to really up the angst, the demon takes a liking to Techno right away, which is partly how Techno is able to tell its him so quickly. The more they talk, the more Techno realizes how lonely the Phil he knows must be without him there, how upset he’d be once he reads the will and finds out what happened to him. Thus he’s more motivated to, you know, fight God, in an attempt to figure out what the hell happened. (DXD is the only entity existing here that also exists where he’s from, he can guess pretty easily that maybe, just maybe, they are one and the same). Thus, he is given a choice that he knows he will have to make in the future. 

- Eventually he manages to find the stronghold and comes face to face with DreamXD himself. DreamXD is just kinda chillin there, they fight, through DreamXD doesn’t seem to be putting in too much effort, almost like it does not want to win. 

- Techno wins (duh), and he is left with a choice, a choice to finish the job, or spare the god and allow it to go free. And, well, he feels that he doesn’t really have the right to decide whether it lives or dies, and while its possible that DreamXD caused whatever disaster created the current state of the world, but he doesn’t know that for sure. DreamXD has done nothing this whole time he’s been here, and its done nothing to him or his companions.

- He chooses to leave it alone, and DreamXD seems to know that it was always going to end that way. 

- DreamXD disappears, and Techno wakes up in the cell again post-revival, the prison and the world around it is the same as he remembers

(I don’t remember the exact real-world to limbo time difference but I imagine that it felt like, a day, maybe half that, while irl it was only a few minutes to an hour.)

Some other notes/details:

- The other possible ending would have resulted in Techno killing DreamXD and being given ANOTHER choice to take its power over the world, or just leave and stay there forever. Basically DreamXD’s existence is vital to the power of the revival book, and it’s death would have resulted in Dream not being successful in his revival attempts. Obviously we have no idea how the powers actually work yet, but I just came up with an explanation because I thought it would be interesting. You can decide on your own which of these endings fall into Law, Chaos or Neutral because uh, its complicated given the scenario. You can also decide if letting DreamXD live even fits into his character! Idk! But its not like DreamXD’s being oppressive by any means, not that there’s anyone to oppress here anyways. That’s my logic anyways.

- I don’t know what demons would represent specific people, I’d like to use one of the Angels for Phil but the Demons based on Angels usually have an important role in the plot that is in line with the Law alignment and like, protecting god or whatever, so no. There are a couple bird ones but idk if they fit the vibe, idk it could work, I’d have to look at a list if I want to go into this further.

- I kinda want Eret to be an Inugami because it’s body does that thing that ferret’s do when they’re all stretched out :) The only reason I’m hesitant is because Inugami is a dog, and Goose deserves representation.

- The reason I imagined for why Techno can’t break anything is because the mining fatigue lasted throughout this because he died with it, it’d get in the way of fighting too but at least it isn’t weakness, and he’s not alone either.

Uhhhhh that’s it for now I think!

(will potentially add to this if I figure something else out in the future)