#like the realization that he s a video game character ouch

[shinjisdone]

look at zutomayo's music video for 'STUDY ME' and tell me that is nOT glitchy red's story

go ahead, have the balls to lie to me

[smells-like-mettaton]

Rating: G

Word Count: 1280

Summary: After a year as queen, Alphys no longer expects a reset.  With her newfound confidence and with Sans by her side, would it be awful to admit she doesn't want to go back? (Salphys fic for @con-cognito!)

XXX

Sans and Alphys shared a queen-sized bed.

It was a joke, a gift that he’d gotten her a few months after she was flung into this position.  She hadn’t been a queen then, not really.  She was just… there.

Sometimes, just being there was enough.  Sans had taught her that.

Now, over a year later, Sans was here. In her bed.  Tangled in her pink bedsheets, his bare ribcage rising and falling with ironic snores.

Normally the noise was enough to put her straight to sleep.  Tonight, though, old worries found new footholds in her head.

How long was this going to last?  In the first days of her reign, the thought of the human resetting the timeline was all that kept her going.  Then as the days turned into weeks turned into months, she decided they weren’t that benevolent.  They’d wanted this.  Sans had watched them murder without hesitation or mercy.

But now that she was finally getting used to this life… well, it wouldn’t surprise her if the human decided to take it all away.

“Alph,” Sans grunted.  His bony hand flopped onto her face.  “Shhhh. You’re thinkin’ too loud.”

She snorted.  “You read minds now?  What are you, an anime character?”

“Nah.” His eyesockets were still closed, but his permanent grin stretched wider. He looked blurry without her glasses on.  “You spark when you get in your head.”

“Huh?” She sat up slightly, then caught a jolt of static electricity jolting off of her pillow and down her nightgown.  “O-oh.  Oops.”

“Heh.  ‘S cute,” he mumbled, still smiling.

“Sh-shut up.”  She blushed. They’d been in a queerplatonic relationship for about a month now, but she’d always been easily flustered.

(He could be flustered too, she’d found out.  Physical displays of affection wouldn’t faze him, but a genuine compliment would have him hiding in his hood for an average of four minutes and thirty-seven seconds.)

“Make me,” he teased drowsily.  

He only said it ironically—she’d overused the trope in too many of her old fanfics.  It had become somewhat of an inside joke after he’d “accidentally” found her computer folder full of them.

(She couldn’t bare to read them anymore, not when over half of the characters were dead.  But for the same reason, she couldn’t bare to delete them.)

(Some nights she caught Sans up late reading the more tame ones about Papyrus and Mettaton.  In the shameless darkness of their room, he’d admitted that it was nice to pretend they were happy somewhere.)

“I’m gonna make you sleep on the couch,” she grumbled, but snuggled closer to him.  

His pointy elbow was jabbed in her side, and his skull was cold against her cheek.  She didn’t mind.  On nights like this, it was nice to feel someone so solid.  So real.

“C-ouch,” he echoed, emphasizing the pun.

She let out a loud snrk.  

“Just go back to sleep, Sans.”

He rolled towards her slightly, one eyesocket peeking open.

“You sure?” he asked. “I know I’m not the most useful guy around, but. Uh. If all that static’s keepin’ you awake…”

She winced.  He was always observant, even when he didn’t know what to do with what he knew.

“Just the usual. Resets. The human.”  Losing myself. Losing you. “Lame stuff.”

“Oh.”  He was clearly more awake now, but he wouldn’t meet her eyes for some reason.  “Yeah.  Guess that’s… still a possibility.”

“Did you stop thinking about it?” she asked, brow furrowed.  

He’d always seemed more caught up in the concept of alternate timelines than she had.  If he’d stopped worrying, maybe he could help her, too.

“...Nah.  I mean, I’m still not getting my hopes up… but I can see how it’d be nice.” He rolled onto his back.

“N-nice?”

She shouldn’t feel betrayed.  Alphys had lost most of her friends, but Sans had lost his family.  Of course he’d want to get that back, even if it meant losing… this.

It wasn’t like he was wrong.  She could see how it would be nice, too.  Asgore leaving her voicemails she wouldn’t answer.  Mettaton barging through her doors, recounting his latest episode that she’d already watched on TV.  Undyne calling her up just to talk about the nonexistent weather, or to watch anime, or to build giant swords.

But to go back… to lie again, to hide again, to pretend she was fine when she was just steps away from the abyss— 

She couldn’t live like that again. She couldn’t.

“Alph?”  Sans shook her gently, and her magic sparked along his carpals.  “Hey.  Talk to me.”

“S-sorry.”  She reined her magic back in.  “I’m just—being stupid.”

“There’s only one bonehead around here, and it’s not you.”  He rubbed a thumb soothingly over her arm as he spoke.  “I said something dumb, didn’t I?”

“N-no!  I just…” She sighed.  “You won’t judge me for being selfish, right?”

“Hardly fair for the pot to call the kettle black,” he said wryly.

“Ha ha.”

She wrapped her arms around herself and tried not to lean into his touch.  She didn’t deserve it.

“At least you don’t want things to stay like this,” she muttered.

His thumb stilled.  “...Huh?”

“You want the k-kid to reset.”  She dug her nails into her arms.  “I don’t.  I can’t.  I mean, according to our r-reports, I wouldn’t even remember, but!  If I did!  Or, or even if I don’t, and I just feel like, like I’m living it all over again, that whole time I h-hated myself…”

Tears were leaking from her eyes.  She’d long since given up being embarrassed around Sans over things like that.  Still, it made it even harder to see his expression. 

“Why do you think I want to go back?”

She blinked.

“B-because you just said you did?”

“Oh.”  He scratched the back of his spine.  “Huh.  Honestly, I just said that ‘cause I assumed you wanted a reset.”

“...Oh.”

Well now she felt dumb.

“I mean, yeah.  I wish less people were dead.”  He shrugged, shifting the sheets around them.  “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss Papyrus.  But he… he wouldn’t want me to stop living too.”

His eyelights were fixed on the ceiling.  She untangled her arms from around herself and squeezed his hand.

“I think he’d be really proud of you,” she said quietly.

“Yeah.”  He smiled.  “Heh, I can picture the look on his face if he found out I’m working for the Queen.  He’d be so jealous.”

“H-he wouldn’t have to be.  I’d make him a part of the Royal Guard.  A-and give him the fanciest, spikiest armor he could want.”

“He’d shine it every day.  You’d be able to see your reflection in it.”

“He and Undyne would cook spaghetti for us—”

“And we’d pretend we could stomach it.”  Sans grinned, fully facing her again now.

She smiled back, nuzzling her snout against his nasal ridge.

“It’s… not so bad to think about them,” she realized.  “Even if they’re not coming back… we still have their memories.”

She’d been wrong to try to throw that away.  Even if remembering hurt sometimes, it was better than chopping off her memories like a diseased limb.  Asgore, Mettaton, Undyne… they all deserved better than that.

“We do.  And, uh. We’ve got each other,” he added, his cheekbones glowing an ethereal blue.  “Right?”

“You’re such a n-nerd.”  She kissed the top of his nasal ridge.  “I couldn’t do this without you.  You know that.”

“Doesn’t hurt to be reminded.”  He smiled, his eyesockets drifting closed again.

Within seconds, he’d fallen asleep in her arms.

“Thank you, Sans,” she murmured.  “For reminding me, too.”

This time, his snores lulled her quickly to sleep.

[captainsspnanon]

C3E02 - reaction/live?blog

Episode two, let’s GOOOOOOOOO

Matt what the fuck? Wha -----OOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH

This is fucking amazing I love these costumes so much, except Matt’s appearance might distract me all game, omg

Totally thought Travis was Taliesin at first because of the hair.  How thrilled must he be that his costume only consists of wearing a t-shirt and having colored hair?  Robbie looks fantastic as Matt, and Laura as Robbie is giving me FEELINGs okay.  bi AF

Color me once again disappointed that Sam didn’t choose a character with a deep voice for a full campaign.  *fans self*

Oh hey, I guess they finally got the budget for the new teleprompter that Brian was always asking for!

I just realized it doesn’t seem like they’re shouting out inappropriate things any more?  That’s a sads.

INITIATIVE!  And they all have REALLY good initiative for the second time!  I will be so entertained if this group consistently has awesome initiative.

Laudna is the new Caleb, I love it.  HOW DOES IT FEEL TO RUN AS FAR BACK AS YOU CAN, MARISHA

Sad thing about watching the re-run on twitch rather than on youtube?  Youtube subtitles are 100% better, twitch are so small….

Wait is Matt wearing extensions????

I’m really interested to see where Taliesin is gonna go with Ashton.  They’re already not behaving as a typical barbarian during the fight (raging but still very chill), and his whole attitude is very chill and fuck you.  Intrigued!  Bit sad we no longer get the “I would like to rage”, but I can also understand why Taliesin maybe chose not to continue it.

Oooo, that’s a really good flavoring for Dissonant Whispers!  Also that accent from that appearance is fuuucking me over, wtf it’s so wrong.  Though part of that is just I’m not used to her voice yet, I guess.  Orym is a softer Liam, and I’ve seen the first four of ExU, so him and Fearne I’m used to, Ashton is just Taliesin’s voice, so it’s really going to be Laura, Sam, Marisha, and Travis that I’m going to have to get used to.

Oh, interesting that Bell’s not getting involved at all!  (also freaking because I’m watching this on a replay I got spoiled on YOUTUBE because people are uploading clips ALREADY.  I don’t know much, just that he gets a nat one in this fight, and apparently it was a big enough deal to warrant a clip.  FFS.  I am really annoyed at the youtubers posting stuff before the video is released on Monday.  I saw tons of FCG and ExU stuff all over titles and thumbnails right after episode one was released, which really spoils anyone who can’t watch it live and isn’t subscribed to twitch)

Wait!  Travis isn’t wearing a Sam tshirt!!  HE MADE A TRAVIS VERSION OF THE SAM TSHIRT OMG

No Marisha please leave the glasses off!  They cover so much of the facial expression, and we’re still learning Laudna!

Oh hey as soon as I typed that she took them off.  Thank you!

….what was that magic.  TELL ME.

Huh, they were weirdly hyped over the whisper considering they had a whisper in episode one.

Last time I mentioned for production comment that using the ‘fireplace’ effect made the sky night, even though it’s day.  Today my production comment is that I wish they would change the stars on one of the screens.  Having the same pattern of stars on both will occasionally catch my eye and distract me.

OUCH that Betrand backstory HURTS.

‘You can suck on my hair if you want’ YES I LOVE FEARNE.  Even from the small bit of ExU I’d seen before I knew that I enjoyed her, so I’m really glad we have her for the campaign.  She’s DELIGHTFUL.

OH YAY!!!  I know a lot of posts were around about how Travis was going to be freaked out sitting next to Marisha, but I wasn’t sure how much it would actually happen, but he just is all ‘don’t look at me like that!’ and iloveit

Pate de Rolo.  Oh I’m sure the fanbase didn’t notice this at all /s

Oh I ADORE Travis going “what the fuck happened when she was making this character????” and Matt just says “a lot”

“I think I remember a Stonejaw actually” “I’m gonna fucking-” “TRY IT”

bless travis for always being hyped for anything and everything.  He’s so fucking excited that Orym can do little bits of magic

Very interesting that there’s multiple PCs basically saying ‘tell us backstory and don’t lie and hide shit’.  I wonder if it’s because they explored that path with the M9 and felt like they didn’t need to go down that route again, if they didn’t really *enjoy* the deception so much, or if it’s a case of say one thing but do another.  VM knew each other well, M9 lied about everything for the longest, so maybe this one is strangers but being honest?  I’m intrigued.

Don’t know how I feel about SO much backstory and stuff coming out already though. Like, it makes sense?  But it also just feels a bit like exposition dumping, which I always find meh regardless of the form of media.

Bright day lighting feels a little weird.  Bit too strongly white/blue maybe?

Not sure why, but this episode feels long.  Am I just not that into it right now?  I do have my off CR days.  But I dunno.  Maybe because it’s because it’s early game?  So the relationships aren’t built up yet?  That could be it.

ASMR Sam what the actual fuck XD XD XD

Costume adjustments! Laura’s hair is down, Liam’s beanie is off, and Ashley’s facial hair is off.  Looks like everyone else has kept everything on, though it was much less of a technical costuming this year

aaaand twitch is lagging because a live re-broadcast is happening at the same time.   Uuuugh, this is why I prefer youtube but I can’t wait til Monday!

It’s so interesting to see how FCG does magic.  Doesn’t have a diety per se, I wonder what they use for their patron!  It makes me think to a PC I created who was a she/it automaton/warforged/whatever-i-hadn’t-figured-out-the-differences-because-she-was-just-a-concept wizard with keen mind, the idea being that she was able to do magic that anyone was able to do, as it just required the VSM and nothing really innate in the way a sorcerer had, and then with keen mind would be able to recall the 30 days with perfect clarity, and then had limited long term memory, so had to choose what information would be wiped and completely forgotten, and what very limited amount of information could be remembered.

Liam re-rolls his first nat one and is so happy!!  It’s also very interesting to see the different styles of play with Liam and Sam, where Liam really likes to do well and will take feats to do so (lucky, halfing luck) whereas Sam enjoys the failure so much that he will not use the feature even when he has it (Veth).  Neither way is better than the other, just a difference in how the cast prefer to play!

...are they smuggling suude?

And there’s the making sure that they have Identify!  And COOOOOL way of having it, iloveit!

Everyone’s going ‘brumestone?’ ‘brumestone?’ ‘brumestone?’ and then with the explanation it’s the OOOH I remember now

I love how no one reaction to Ashton casting Pass Without a Trace, but they’re not a cleric!  Everyone’s used to Cad, but Ashton as a barb??  Shouldn’t be able to!  Is this homebrew?  Or a feat (a la Percy doing warlock spells without being a warlock)?

Laaaaggging dammit. I don’t want to change it to 720p, they’re so blurry in that!!! Downsides of live watching.

I have rewatched Laura’s reaction to Liam sneezing like four times, that’s adorable AF

You know, with how Travis is RPing (and how he’s rolling omg), him being level 5 as compared to the level 3s doesn’t seem to be making much of a difference.  Hell, he stayed out of the entire combat?  I think at this point I won’t be surprised if he stays as the permanent PC, or if Travis goes with another.  I feel like it could go either or, but in order to not work myself into a tizzy like I did before, I’m assuming everyone is staying until told otherwise.

The twins sitting together again is going to cause so much chaos, I love how Laura was like ‘don’t tell DON’T TELL’

mmmm, and travis slips back into Fjord voice.  Fjord and Bertrand are so CLOSE, so if he’s not putting in the ‘aging’, it seems to slip back.  Don’t know if it’s just because the voices are close, because travis is just slipping a bit, or if it’s a CLUE TO SOMETHING (yeah lol probably not).  Also also my document cannot seem to decide when it wants to autocapitalize a word and when it just leaves it all lowercase

Interesting how there’s been lots of C1 references so far, but I feel like not many C2 references at all.

Also laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaag.  I have like 50 minutes left, and it lags like every minute or two.

I give up.  720P it is.  SADS

I had been thinking all episode that Tal was doing a good job of having Ashton be very different than Molly (despite my worries last episode) but this whole bit where they’re going on about don’t take the three copper? Just feels very Molly.  And to be fair, it’s a very valid point! But there’s something about it which just feels ‘reused’ almost?  Probably not being fair to Tal here.  We’ll have to see how things go.  I don’t mind if he wants to explore aspects of Molly that he didn’t get a chance to in C2, but I don’t want Ashton to feel like a reskinned Molly.  I want Ashton to stand on their own.  To be fair, this is a single conversation about a generic thing, so it could very easily be not related to Molly at all!  It just caught my notice.

Also, Travis hasn’t been doing much this episode?  I mean, Dorian didn’t do much either, but he did more than Bertrand did.  I feel like Travis could have a more forwards character, though maybe he’s in a similar boat with Liam as to him feeling like his character got a lot of spotlight in C2 (Uk’otoka and then the Wildmother?).  But if you think of that, then the only people who could be considered to not have had a bunch of spotlight in C2 I would think would be Ashley simply due to her schedule, and actually Taliesin because the Molly/Lucien stuff ended up being oddly separate from him, even though it WOULD have tied to him had Molly still been around, and Cad’s stuff was a fetch-quest of sorts which had to be sort of jammed in to the storyline.  Like, it was a lovely bit, but it felt more ‘tacked on’ than all the other PCs stories, which makes sense.  Far less time for Matt to integrate it into the world.

OMG I hope they do these whispers with all of Laudna’s messages FOREVER.

Awww, they didn’t do the table view this time. :(

@suicidallyreckless

[luninosity]

Okay, some The Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode 1 thoughts! This one will be spoilery, so I’ll tag it and put it under a cut and all of that!

Thoughts not in any real order, just as I think of them, the morning after (we stayed up to watch at midnight, and then went to bed!):

-okay, action-y opening, I’m neutral about that

-on va voir! :D :D

-I like seeing Sam struggling with the idea of the shield and his heroic identity and what being Captain America means...would’ve liked to see him try it, once, before giving it up; I feel like he would try, because it’s what Steve asked of him (and there’s a difference between doing it for that reason and doing it because he chooses to, which would’ve been an interesting tension!)

-mmm, gorgeous museum exhibit shots, and such a good backdrop, thematically, for Sam and Rhodey discussing what it means to be Captain America (also: yay Rhodey!)

-spectacular Bucky nightmare scene, recapturing the menace of the Winter Soldier; oh, so many Bucky feels, and, oh, that moment of him waking up, sleeping on his floor...ow, my heart

-on a shallower note, I miss Seb’s longer hair; it was so distinctive as a look, versus all the short-haired clean-cut Marvel Men (but I also get why they’d have short-haired Bucky in this series: distinguishing then and now, visually and symbolically)

-Bucky’s therapist is genuinely terrible (like, wow) and I’m glad he got to call her out on it (also a good nod to the Winter Soldier having some knowledge of psychology/strategy)

-good to see a character (who very much needs it) getting therapy, on screen, though!

-also nice that we’ve established that Bucky’s been officially pardoned; good to know, and he deserves that recognition that he’s not at fault

-what’s with the weird super-close-up shots? Not that Sebastian isn’t pretty, but the camera’s basically sitting on his cheek. I’m not exactly complaining but it’s distracting me from the storytelling, mostly because I’m wondering who thought this was a good stylistic choice. Those’re some lovely Seb eyelashes, but, like...pull back. Pull that camera back. Back up. Space, please.

-ooh, competence porn! Yes please. (This goes for both Sam and Bucky.)

-Torres might be my new favorite. He’s adorable. Which means I fully expect something terrible to happen to him any second now.

-both Seb and Anthony are such good actors - they’re both so good at micro-expressions, emotion in the shift of eyes or a change in stance

-I love Sam’s sister Sarah!

-more specifically, I love that it’s obviously an affectionate relationship, but not necessarily an easy one, and she has more of an understanding of how the real non-superhero world works than he does, and she’ll tell him so - I’m liking the nuance and emotion here; it feels very real, and it’s not like Melodramatic Resentment for him being busy hero-ing, which they could’ve opted for; no, it’s a genuine sort of weariness and love

-why no video games, for the kids? are they being punished? weird anti-video-game prejudice? (as someone who grew up in a household that didn’t approve of video games, I was at a *distinct disadvantage* when everyone else had this cultural touchstone and I didn’t! and because their mom doesn’t give a reason or a time limit, this blanket ‘no’ line comes off as weirdly restrictive to me - I’d’ve gone with “...until you finish a chore or read a book or do x thing first” - and of course the kids don’t listen, because why would they? idk, probably overthinking this one, but I was also always that kid who needed reasons for things - I never responded well to “because I say so” or “that’s just how it is,” but if you told me why, then I’d totally listen! anyway, this one’s just a weird personal ?? in my head!)

-love love love the bank scene - the sheer awfulness of the juxtaposition of the hero and fanboy emotions, and the harsh reality of loans and denial and Sam’s realization that he can’t help, and also his sister’s body language all through this scene

-I have questions about how the world’s working here: like, I totally believe the banks, government, etc, would be dicks about *not* helping people! yes, agreed! but on the other hand, surely, surely, there must be some provision in place for people who got snapped. Especially now that some time has passed. Like...it’s too big a thing for there to not be some sort of policy or help. The “you’ve had no income for the last five years” line reads oddly to me as justification, because...well...he was snapped! so...of course not! but then again, of course banks would have a lack of compassion. I don’t know, maybe it’s just clunky dialogue, but I kind of want more explanation of this

-also nice that they’re addressing the concept that simply being a superhero doesn’t pay, and not everyone has Tony Stark money! (side question: does Bucky have money? I know we have fandom “canon” about this, but will the show and official canon address it?)

-please don’t let anything happen to Torres, I love him

-Bucky’s trying so hard, and it’s so heartbreaking! And, oh, Bucky...stepping in to defuse problems, wanting peace, trying to care for people...the core of his character, from protecting skinny!Steve to being a good sergeant to saving Steve in The Winter Soldier...okay, show, you’re winning me over. Partly that’s Sebastian’s acting; again, just phenomenal, nuanced and subtle and complex.

-Bucky versus Lucky Cat! I’m laughing but also ouch, the swinging arm reminder.

-I appreciate a Bucky Barnes who is genuinely a soft awkward old-man dork

-I also appreciate Bucky being sweet and old-fashioned and charming - the flowers! - he’s trying so hard. Oh, my heart. (On the other hand...is dating...really a good idea? Then again, he’s a polite awkward dork and couldn’t say no to being set up...)

-how can Sebastian put so much emotion into the simple act of closing and opening his eyes?!

-I do very much want to know where Steve is and if he’s alive

-also, both Sam and Bucky speaking multiple languages! again with the competence porn and also linguistic porn, mmm, yes

-not much known about the Bad Guys yet, but that’s okay; I’m good with spending 50 minutes on character development, yes, fine by me, show me more Bucky caring for people and Sam being Uncle Sam (heh), I live for this

-it’s an interesting choice of Bad Guys, because to some extent you can see why it sounds appealing: no flags, no borders, no countries, etc - I hope we also get some more exploration of this

-I’m glad Torres is okay but I fully expect him to be a sacrifice at some point

-US Agent time! Oh, Sam’s expression(s) - just perfect. Oh, Anthony Mackie’s just great here - every reaction, jaw-clench, his posture - so compelling.

-now go get your shield, Sam!

-how are we going to wrap this all up in 5 more episodes?! Sam and Bucky haven’t even shared screen time yet! and what about Zemo? and Sharon?

-ooh, pretty credits!

-okay, I’m actually really pleasantly surprised! I went in with low expectations because I really disliked all the trailers and all the bits of dialogue they were giving us, and now I’m...cautiously optimistic!

-I’m still worried that once we get Bucky and Sam together we’re going to devolve into that specific “someone thinks that two people insulting each other is the same as humor” type of writing (and I cannot begin to tell you how much I hate the “that girl kicked your ass!” line from the trailers)

-but this first episode is such a good character-driven exploration - unhurried, deep, thoughtful, grounded - that it’s giving me hope. I actively want to see the next episode, with some excitement, so that’s promising!

[greedentstripes]

I posted 1,155 times in 2021

307 posts created (27%)

848 posts reblogged (73%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 2.8 posts.

I added 1,310 tags in 2021

#nick greedent - 294 posts

#reply - 219 posts

#answered ask - 161 posts

#reblog - 129 posts

#shelly greedent - 117 posts

#cody mew - 105 posts

#pokeasksleepover - 84 posts

#reblarg - 72 posts

#john gumshoos - 68 posts

#pokeask - 61 posts

Longest Tag: 113 characters

#im normally just ''do whatever'' when it comes to ask calls but my yam brain came up with some ideal combinations

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Deidra@Shelly: So, what's it been like raising Nick? It's hard being a mother, I tell you that! But I love every single day of it. Us moms got to stick together, hm?

(Shelly looks down) At the start, it was really hard. He was different from a lot of children his age, and i’m not talking about the stripes going down his back either.

(Shelly twiddled her paws together) It took about 6 or 7 years for us to figure out our child was autistic, and then from there, it got easier. Knowing that much, we were able to work around his condition and get him some help.

(Shelly looked down again) But the adjustments could only help so much... by the end of eighth grade, i could tell he was looking more and more disheveled. Eventually, given a recent...excuse, I decided to stop putting him through school. I don’t even want to homeschool him, I just... want him to feel comfortable.

(Shelly sighed submissively) He’s learned enough, so i’m not going to bother putting our child through secondary if it means making him depressed. He’ll mature eventually. Maybe he’ll mature slower than most kids. That’s a certainty i’ve grown to accept. By the time we’re dead he’ll be more than ready to fend for himself.

(Shelly perked up, looking at the Deoxys before her) But you’re right. Mothers need to stick together, to share their struggles, and their accomplishments. And on the days where Nick is at his happiest? I'm happy. And so is John. And we therefore live our lives a day at a time, looking forward to the days where Nick is at his happiest. It's a rollercoaster, but raising Nick was well worth it.

14 notes • Posted 2021-05-05 00:12:49 GMT @house-of-hemingway

#4

The zorua smiled approaching very quickly Shelly with a cheery smile "Hello there love !" she greeted before reaching over to her side taking out a bag "I brought some pokepuffs for you and you're family here !" she now looked over the place "Say love, I would love to hear about you're younger years with you're husband do you have any fun stories"

(Shelly giggled graciously) Aww, thank you dear! You shoul--

(Nick bolted in with a look of excitement) POKEPUFFS!!! YAAASSS!!!!--OUCH!

(Shelly is quick to grab Nick by the scruff of his neck just before he can do any damage.) --dn't have...Nick, hun, i know you're excited about these things, but can you PLEASE NOT tackle our guests in excitement?! For Zamazenta's sake, show some control!

(Nick sniffles, breaking into a sob realizing what just happened) S-sorry mom...sob...

(Shelly releases Nick's scruff and then turns him around to hug him tightly and consolingly) Ni--Nick, don't cry...I'm sorry I had to discipline you then and there. I know you know better, you know you know better, you just need to learn to curb impulses like these. I know you love these things as much as a sweet Malasada, but you're a grown Greedent now. You're bigger than me and Dad even. You can't go doing that anymore! It was cute as a Skwovet, but...you're not a Skwovet anymore.

(Nick sighs longingly as he calmed down) I-I know. Ma'am? I'm sorry I almost tackled you, Miss Zorua. I meant well, but I got excited...

(Shelly giggled) What are we supposed to do when someone gives us treats like these, dear?

(Nick) Sit patiently on my haunch and say "Please" and "Thank you!"?

(Shelly) Good boy! Now go play your video games dear, I'll bring you in a few pokepuffs in a minute. Lemme finish up my conversation first though, okay?

(Nick) Yes mom! I love you mom!

(Shelly) I love you too Nicky.

* As soon as Shelly lets go of Nick, and hears the door to Nick's room click, she continues with her conversation with Darling.

(Shelly lets out a sheepish and embarrassed chuckle looking downward apologetically) I'm sorry about my son there. Normally, he's kind of shy and curious, but when you mention things he likes, *Shelly snaps her paw* just like that. Super excited like a young Yamper. And then he gets embarrassed when he realizes what he's been doing, and well, ehe, neurodivergent children, what can you do? Just gotta push them away from the wrong direction every now and then. But usually, my son is well behaved.

(Shelly clears her throat trying to brush aside the distraction from her mind) Anyways, that aside, you know who was spry like a Yamper? John, when we first met. Bounciest little Yungoos I ever met. Would have never believed he was three quarters of a year older than me had I never asked! He had a real fighting spirit in him, but I was so much stronger than him that I didn't want to outshadow him, so I held myself back as I watch him topple rattatas and the like, complimenting him all the while.

(Shelly showed a tiny blush on her cheeks and ears, as her tail suddenly poked in front of her face) I guess all that complimenting and such ended up being the fuel for our future relationship, because I suppose as it went on, it didn't take long before most of those compliments became not only encouraging, they were also starting to become genuine as well, most especially after he evolved. Then they started getting heartfelt and lovey-mushy...

15 notes • Posted 2021-10-26 01:01:47 GMT @darling-zorua

#3

Livingston @Cody: "Fascinating! You're a real live Mew!" He adjusts his glasses, looking with awe. He straightens slightly, and he smiles. "My name is Livingston, I work as a professor. If it's alright with you, I'd like to ask a few questions about your life. Where I come from, it's pretty rare to still see purebreeds, let alone Mew."

(Cody turns around) Yea, sure, I wou--

* Cody's pupils scaled immensely, seeing the shape from which the question came from. His fur went pale, and without saying a word, he surrounded himself in an entirely opaque green psychic bubble, of which no one can could see inside nor outside of it. He cowered in the middle whilst in a nonverbal episode, inhaling and exhaling rapidly until such time in which he can muster enough strength to teleport to safety.

* Long story short, Cody is going through an episode; it had been years since his last bout with PTSD, but it would appear as if the sight of a Flygon, or a Flygon hybrid as it were, was enough to set it off. Why though?

* The clues seem to be coming together...

15 notes • Posted 2021-05-27 16:01:20 GMT @ask-team-misfit

#2

(askingstickypaws) Rue@ Nick: "Your tail is good for hiding things, yes?" The Paleon signed with a piercingly curious look, "Do you hide trinkets or treasures there? Just food? A walking treasure chest, huh?"

* Nick watched Rue make intricate movements with their paws and arms, and tilted his head in confusion. He pulled his phone up and opened a text-to-speech app.

(Nick) I'm uh, terribly sorry, I understand you want to tell me something, but I don't know Sign Language. No one in my family has had need to learn it so I've never been taught.

(Nick handed Rue his phone) Would you mind transcribing your words to this phone? I hope it isn't too much trouble. And hey, i'm open to new experiences, maybe you could teach me sometime though?

15 notes • Posted 2021-11-04 01:00:44 GMT @askingstickypaws

#1

(tempest-waves) Chase @ Nick: "Oh hey, you're a... Greedent, right?" Chase smiled. "There aren't very many other species where I live, so seeing so many has been really cool!" He paused, then sheepishly rubbed a paw against the back of his head, hoping that hadn't come across wrong. "Anyway, uh... what do you think are some fun activities at an event like this?"

(Nick) Yeah! I'm a Greedent. A little bit of Gumshoos in there, but I look entirely like a Greedent shape wise. You can call me Nick by the way.

(Nick) Well, er, there are some tents on the roof, you can do some stargazing, maybe try to make up some constellations or find ones you recognize or have learned about. And then out front, there's a campfire and some logs where you can tell stories and eat s'mores. We might be running low on chocolate though unless Willow planned ahead that much? I don't know just how much Atzin and I ate the other day, we lost count at some point. Just don't eat twice your weight in s'mores or you'll be sorry. We knew we were.

(Nick) And er, Willow just recently opened up a concert by the gazebo. If you want to rock out, offer some songs to the Toxtricity up front and they'll get your back.

18 notes • Posted 2021-08-20 01:01:44 GMT @tempest-waves

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[marithlizard]

Ace Attorney: Rise From the Ashes (Day Two, Trial Latter) (part 3)

Wherein I attempt to liveblog a mostly text-based videogame.  The trial continues!  Lunch is over and yet we’re still being fed indigestible statements. 

Court has recessed briefly for information-gathering. The clock says it's not even noon, but I feel like we've heard hours’ worth of (mostly untrue) testimony.

Lana has been called to the judge's chambers for reasons unknown.  Ema is realizing just how much of a, what's the polite word, “freewheeler” she's chosen to represent her sister.  But Phoenix is still flailing about when any other defense attorney in this world would have given up, so she'd best appreciate him.

It's the cowboy!  Who pointedly mentions Lana's scarf, which he saw her wearing on the day of the murder.   Since she wasn't wearing it in the photograph taken afterward, presumably the missing muffler is...in the car muffler?  Was she trying to hide something, or give Edgeworth carbon monoxide poisoning?  And just why is Marshall dropping us this helpful hint?

Court resumes with Edgeworth on the verge of some kind of conniption fit.   The judge lists off his symptoms concernedly - oh NO surely you didn't eat one of the lunchboxes, Edgeworth!  I've already been wondering how Angel Starr resisted the urge to give you food poisoning for two years, and that was before you verbally eviscerated her on the witness stand.

...Hello, who's this?

Peach suit, white hair, pink glasses and an avuncular folksy charm.  You. I don't like you.  

"Udgey?"  Is that the judge's name, or some sort of twee pig-latin nickname for Judge?  And "Wrighto" and "Worthy".  And he can get away with calling people slightly demeaning and offbeat nicknames, because apparently he's the district chief of police,  Damon Gant.  Phoenix is chastised for not recognizing him, which is probably fair.

Okay, that technique of taking away the dialogue box for several seconds while Gant cocks his head and blinks at us is quite effective.  This, we're silently being told, is a character so powerful they can interrupt the flow of the game itself. 

The judge notes that it's been "over two years" since Gant was in the courtroom.  That matches when Angel was fired.   This is all about one case, isn't it?  The case Lana and the victim worked on, the case that got Marshall demoted.

Gant has brought some false sympathy for Edgeworth and also Lana's missing scarf, which was indeed found stuffed in the car muffler.   (So the lunchlady was telling the truth about at least something.)  The scarf was wrapped around a switchblade with a tag on it. So, not a personal possession like Edgeworth's knife, but...an exhibit?  Something from storage? Like, evidence storage?

Edgeworth is justifiably upset that the police investigation didn't notice a scrap of red cloth hanging out of the car muffler inches away from the body.  Gant's initial sheepish admission that "this is embarrassing, even for us"  suddenly turns into that blinking Look again.   I feel like a trap is about to be sprung.

It's the envelope from yesterday, the one delivered by the hapless mailman!  Who told Edgeworth it wasn't related to the case, so he refused to take it.   Ouch.  It is Edgeworth's error, but there's something gleefully malicious about the way  Gant just set him up and then sucker-punched him.  There was no need for this to be a public humiliation.  In fact, it could've been discreetly sorted out before Gant got on the stand.  Or before trial started this morning.

(Why IS he on the stand? He's not a testifying witness. He just kinda...strolled in and took over. )

The judge asks Phoenix to examine the switchblade.  The knife tip is broken off and the blade and handle have bloodstains.    The tag, when I zoom in focus to max, says "S-L 9 2".   As for the envelope, it appears to be an autopsy report on Goodman, and doesn't mention the muffler or switchblade at all.  It also has a much vaguer timeframe than 5:15. 

Edgeworth tries to regain face by demanding an explanation about the missed evidence.  This is a bad, bad idea. I could've told you that even before Gant delightedly agrees  to testify.

Gant says the knife is special, but that he can't say how unless a  "connection is proven between the knife and Goodman."   Um. Doesn't the very presence of the knife, deliberately concealed at the crime scene, in itself mean it's not only connected but vital to understanding what happened?  I don't think you should get to withhold that information.

Nor do I think "we were having a bad day" is an acceptable excuse for not investigating the crime scene properly.  Cops get aggressively motivated when one of their own is attacked, everybody knows that.  Or was Goodman some kind of pariah?  

...wait.  What???   What Gant's saying is so bizarre I misread it.  There was a SECOND murder, at precisely the same time (and that's an awfully precise time),  at the police department?  "Not officially linked to this case" my aunt Fanny.

And Phoenix isn't supposed to ask about it in cross-examination?  I predict that will last about five seconds, because we're going to press every one of these statements hard enough to extract olive oil.

Starting with the knife.  Both Phoenix and Edgeworth push for more, but Gant refuses.  Can I make a connection that will impress the judge?  My inventory contains a phone, a shoe...and a note found in the trunk of the car that says "6-75 12/2".    Which looks a lot like "2/21 SL-9" if you turn it upside down.

Gant is acting as though this is a circus and he's never seen a clown before, delighted at everything Phoenix and the judge say.    This conveys an impression of total contempt behind a fig leaf of friendliness that can't be questioned.  It's a passive-aggressive masterpiece.  Somewhere in the audience Himemiya Anthy is probably taking notes.

And his facade barely flickers when faced with the memo.  The knife was evidence in a case (duh).  Stolen from the evidence room...and that's it? That's all we get?

Oh, this guy is skilled.   Edgeworth quite reasonably asks why he wasn't told about this impossibly coincidental murder, and Gant promptly insinuates that he's incompetent because he didn't proactively ask.  As though a proper prosecutor would have called the department every day with a checklist of possible events.  Why, I bet you didn't even consider a Godzilla attack contingency, did you?   Tsk tsk.

Gant continues to playfully refuse to give information on this second murder (except that a suspect has been arrested).  He offers to give Phoenix one data  point of his choice: where, how or when.  Apparently this trial has turned into a game show.

We already know when, so I choose where.  And Gant makes a curious distinction.  The crime took place in the evidence room (where the knife came from), but he won't say where the corpse was found.    Was the body moved?  As they say, he is playing a game and it is called silly buggers.   I'm absolutely assuming he is behind both murders (though sadly he can't have committed both, unless something paranormal or very complicated is going on).

Phoenix points out that a knife being stolen from the evidence room and then found at crime A, precisely when crime B is committed in the evidence room, is a pretty "duh" link.  Edgeworth supports by mentioning the note.   Whoever wrote it (Goodman, the murderer, or Lana)  presumably either stole the knife or was investigating its theft.    Even the judge agrees this has to count.  Gant just does his blink thing again.

And says his men took two days to assemble that logic.  In other words, he knew. And he STILL wants to play games.  He'll talk "unofficially", but not reveal the name of the victim.  (Why is that so important?)  When pressed, he offers  another one-data-point choice.   I choose ID number which should be easy to link to a name...although apparently Gant doesn't think so.

Victim ID number: 5842189.   The judge looks expectant.  I have a horrible idea, and check the court record.

Yep. It's Goodman's ID number.

Simultaneous murders of the same victim in different locations? That's an impressive level of silly buggers, chief.  And you didn't want this to come out in the trial? If I didn't already know Lana was innocent by video-game rules, I'd know it now.

Even this doesn't faze Gant.   (I really wanted to see him look thwarted. Damnit.) 

Edgeworth keeps on asking "Why didn't I hear about this?"  even though the answer is always "Because Gant has it in for you, and you just gave him another opening to attack."   It's as though he can't quite believe what is happening.  

Yep, there's that trap-springing look again.  With the first honest expression I think we've seen on Gant's face so far!  Just for one frame,  a flicker of anger and malice. This time he claims the police department sent Edgeworth all the information in that envelope delivered by Hapless Mailman Meekins, which Edgeworth didn't look at.

Hang on.  That's not even true.  We have that envelope in the court record, and...*scrolls up*...it's an autopsy report on Goodman.   It doesn't say which.  Even if Edgeworth had read it, he would have had no reason to think there was a second crime and victim.   Moreover,  Gant already raked him over the coals for not reading it,  in this same trial session!   No...as the trap unfolds,  Gant seems to be claiming this is an entirely different envelope also delivered by Meekins(?)  It doesn't make sense.

But truth isn't going to matter here.  This is a career-destroying maneuver, and it's uncomfortable to watch.  Edgeworth is helpless under the crushing accusations,  protesting vainly that Gant could have submitted all this evidence  when the trial started.   Well, yes, that's what anyone but your enemy would have done...    The flicker of malice is back as Gant rubs it all in with a technicality about evidence law.

(Ah, this detail might be relevant:  Edgeworth  apparently submitted a list of evidence to be used in the trial, which of course did not include things he didn't know existed.    That flies in the face of all Phoenix Wright games past and present, in which new evidence is produced about every five minutes during trial, this one included.)

This morning's Public Career Assassination, I mean trial,  comes to an end with Gant mentioning the rumors about Edgeworth, and even using his own brief status as a defendant against him.  Edgeworth can do nothing but formally grovel.  He begs for one more day of trial to investigate all this new information.   The judge grants it,of course, but joins in condemning him.

I don't know why Gant wants to get rid of Edgeworth, but it's obvious the plan is to fire him after tomorrow's trial no matter what happens.   The only way to save Edgeworth (and oh yeah, our actual client who's barely been mentioned lately) is to bring Gant down.  I am on board with this.  He's a mean lying stinkyhead and he's smug about it.   Get him, Phoenix!

(Rereading my notes from last time,  I'm remembering the moment when Angel Starr told Edgeworth "I might be able to save you".  Did she know this was coming down? )

[rainbowserenity]

I found out that Squenix released the VII Remake demo at like 3am when I was looking at my phone and couldn’t sleep. I was really tempted to jump out of bed to play it, but I managed to resist lolol

anyway I just finished playing it and here are my impressions, if anyone cares!

first they gotta destroy me with Banora White feelings oUCH Crisis Core remaster when

I thought I was too numb for major feelings lately, but the second I heard that new version of Opening: Bombing Mission.....I literally started crying a;lksjdf;lwief why is it the only thing that can make me cry lately is video game feels

EVERYBODY IS SO PRETTY????? I know we’ve seen the trailers and stuff, but idk actually playing it and seeing on my TV was so different??? MAGICAL

SASSY CLOUD IS BACK AND DON’T YOU FORGET IT

I kinda wish Wedge had been in the demo more, cause even if it wasn’t his natural accent, the sexy Gideon Emery voice is too obvious~

I was sorta iffy on Barrett’s voice all along, but maybe I’m just used to it from watching the trailers a million times or something, because it sounded better....there’s always been something weird about how his VA does his voice to me. it’s like he’s imitating how he thinks Barrett should sound, if that makes sense?? but to me, it’s not as apparent when he’s in battle/you hear the actual conversations

I loved Cloud and Barrett’s banter lmao

everything is seriously so beautiful??? like those wide shots of Midgar after the bomb went off and you saw the lights going out...it felt like some kind of real life movie shot

it’s very weird using the square button to attack?? I’m so used to pressing circle or X haha

that being said, I got used to it pretty fast and got the hang of the battle system really quickly. I’m sure it’ll get more intricate once everybody has way different abilities and stuff and you have to be quick about switching, but I like it a lot! It’s simple enough that you can just button mash through easy battles, but fun once you get into harder ones. sorta reminds me of FFXIII in that respect

idk if I’m just getting worse at video games the older I get lmao but the Scorpion Robot was really difficult??? I actually died my first attempt and had to restart on Easy haha. no shame for easy mode, but I remember it being fairly straightforward in the OG so I guess I was expecting that. I kept getting confused switching between Barrett and Cloud and would input the wrong commands while it was whooping my ass. I guess I should play the actual game on Easy 8)))

I’m spoiled and I’m used to characters healing after battles :x I’m sure it won’t be as big of a deal in the actual game, once you get access to more Potions and Tens and whatever, but watch me end up forgetting a character’s close to death and I get my ass kicked

if I have one complaint, it’s that THE FONT IS SO SMALL!!!!!! it’s definitely an improvement from XV and KH3′s teeny tiny menu font, but it’s still ridiculous. like idk if I’m just blind or what, but I wish Squenix would realize that a lot of their fanbase is getting older and we have blurry eyes lmao

all in all, this made me SUUUUUUUPER hyped for the actual game!!! it’s gonna be amazing and I can’t wait a;sdlkjf;wliejf;lawiefj

[ladyloveandjustice]

I picked up Howl’s Moving Castle at the  used bookstore and as expected it is wildly different from the movie version, though I don’t think the book as is would have made a very coherent movie due to having ten million subplots, so it was probably for the best Miyazaki did his own thing. But I did enjoy the book a lot and here are some elements I found most interesting/amusing.Probably a million people have done these kinds of posts but GUESS WHAT HERE’S ONE FROM ME

-Movie Sophie is kinda outspoken and snarky but she’s got nothing on Book Sophie who is cutthroat as hell with her snark. She’s delivering a sick burn like, every other page. It’s amazing. And her thoughts are pretty friggin’ vicious, it’s like, yes I’ve had thoughts that vicious and I think almost everyone has but it’s unusual to see a character in a book actually express them! There’s one point where she’s really annoyed about this lady asking where her boyfriend who went missing is at really aggressively, so she thinks “maybe I should just go grab that skull over there, wave it in her face and tell her its her boyfriend and he’s dead. ...Nah, it’s too far away. Also that would be unkind.” YEAH SOPHIE JUST A LITTLE. I like how “that would be pretty mean” is just secondary to “ugh and i’d have to get up to go get it”, relatable.

-there’s this whole subplot where Howl is like, actually from our modern world and crossed dimension to Sophie’s world. His name is actually Howell Jenkins (which he hates, of course. PENDRAGON IS SO MUCH COOLER) and his sister thinks he’s a bum. There’s this really convoluted bit where a spell gets mixed up with his nephew’s english homework (I HONESTLY DIDN’T REALLY GET IT I PROBABLY READ TOO FAST) so he and the gang go to see his fam.

and his nephew and his friend are there playing video games and he just walks over and pulls the plug (it took reading it a few times to realize that’s what he did, because Sophie doesn’t know wtf a console/computer is and describes it “as a box with roots that lead to the wall” and says Howl “pulled the roots out”) and the nephew’s like “oh great it’s my shitty uncle hey how dare you” “what haven’t you played this one before” “yeah but like, i don’t have a newer one, I only get them at Christmas” “well look i’ll get you one if you tell me some stuff here” “omg really!!! sure!!!!”

 It’s just...surreal like you think you’re simply in this fantasy world then it’s like NOPE HOWL'S FROM WALES HE HOPS OVER THERE AND GETS HIS NEPHEW VIDEO GAMES WITH MAGIC SOMETIMES.

-it turns out the English homework was poem by John Donne and Howl just goes “JOHN DONNE” in this agonized voice when he finds out. I feel you Howl.

- his sister is so mean to him Sophie’s like “jeez no wonder he left this world” but then later when he whines that Sophie’s reminding him of his sister with how mean she’s being she’s like “WELL I’M STARTING TO THINK YOUR SISTER IS LIKE THAT BECAUSE SHE HAD TO PUT UP WITH YOU GROWING UP GOD I CAN’T IMAGINE.” Sophie shows No Mercy.

-Sophie meets with Howl’s magic teacher while pretending to be his Mom and she informs her she’s been a powerful witch subconsciously doing magic this whole time and Sophie just shrugs like yeah that makes sense, its the chillest ‘realize you’re magic” scene ever.

-the Witch of the Waste is not remotely redeemable here, she casually MURDERS howl’s magic mentor lady off screen and just meets Sophie on the street saying “lol guess what I just got back from doing”.Howl kills her later and like, justified, honestly.

-Howl’s pretty clearly deeply genuinely heartbroken about his mentor’s death, which you can tell because he DOESN’T make a big production of it like he does everything else, but surprisingly there’s like no moment of bonding where Sophie talks to him about grief or whatever, nope, business as usual. He turns into a dog to go to her funeral even though the Witch is after him and its super dangerous, but puts on this fancy black suit first and Sophie’s like “do you really need the suit if you’re just going to be a dog” “Y E S.”

-At one point Howl gets a cold and is super dramatic about it of course and Sophie is just super done and snarks at him to deal with it. Then later she’s like “hey are you goin’ out in the rain with that cold” and he’s like “YEAH I’LL PROBABLY DIE. THEN YOU’LL BE SORRY”. “ok have fun then.” “BURY ME NEXT TO MY DEAR TEACHER”. “kay, will do”. Legendary.

- Howl goes around getting girls to fall in love with him and then dumping them the second they do, and there’s this whole subplot where Sophie’s worried he’s gonna break her sister’s heart and is like “oh god gotta warn my sister about this fucker” but then it turns out her sister (who’s a witch in her own right) never fell for Howl’s bullshit for a second and was just using him to get info on Sophie because she was worried about her, it’s pretty great.

-seriously there are so many subplots there’s even a subplot with Sophie’s OTHER sister and Micheal (who’s 15 in the book) having a romance and there’s a thing with this dog guy too like...there are so many things, probably too many.

-Sophie gets SO PISSED when she finds out everyone basically knew about her curse (Howl and Micheal are like “uh was it supposed to be a secret??”) she almost murders Howl with magical weedkiller

-at the end, another fire demon attacks and tries to get Howl’s heart and he sorta-dies and Sophie just clobbers it with her cane and then enchants her cane to beat the shit out of it. After Sophie gets his heart from Calcifer and shoves it back in he’s like “wow ouch do I have a hangover?” and she’s like “ugh no you were dead now shut up and kill the demon”. I can see why the movie ended more romantically, but honestly, would have loved to see Sophie just go to town with her cane, much preferred climax.  

-in the back there’s a q and a with Diana Wynne Jones, and she’s like “yeah a lot of women who read this book tell me they want to marry Howl and that really confuses me. He’s take so long in the bathroom every morning. you’d never get to use it.” and it’s hilarious that’s like, the dealbreaker for her. 

Anyway, yeah it was a fun book! 

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

Anons wanted an explanation for the placements I had on my previous tier list, but upon going back and looking it over, I realized that I wanted to move a few characters around, so I ended up getting a new template and remaking it. 

I wrote little bits about each character [yes, each one] below the cut, but be warned, it’s long. 

SS  

“I love you so much that I would sell my soul to make sure you’re happy”

Lee Everett: Lee is a goddamn legend. He deserves to be at the very top. He’s one of the best protagonists I’ve ever played as in a game, his backstory is incredibly interesting, and his relationship with and dedication to protecting  Clementine never felt forced and is one of the highlights of S1. Even now, having replayed S1 a million times, seeing him get bit and slowly become weaker and weaker as he refuses to give up on Clementine still breaks my salt encased heart. Watching him die in the end never fails to put that lump in my throat. I love him.

AJ: I love this kid. I was so worried that they wouldn’t do him justice when the game was announced and I saw the trailer, but I was floored by just how much I grew to love him. He feels like my kid, my responsibility and I want him to grow up strong and smart, but also human. His voice acting is terrific, and I think he’s one of the best child characters we’ve ever been given in video games. His relationship with Clementine rivals Lee and Clem’s relationship and that’s what I wanted. This kid earned his place at the top. 

S4 Clementine: This Clementine is my absolute favorite. While I love all the Clementine’s across the four seasons, I feel like she truly hit her peak in S4. I fucking love her, I’m proud of who she grew up to be, and seeing her journey to this point only solidifies that she’s my favorite. She’s strong and stern, but she has her softer moments with AJ and Louis/Violet, and what else is there really to say? She’s Clementine.  

Louis: ....Do I really need to explain this? I mean, c’mon. If you’ve been following me for a long time- shit, if you’ve only been following me for a few minutes, then y’all know how much I love Louis. I can say with 100% certainty that Louis is my favorite non-playable character across all four games. I’ve made numerous posts, answered over a hundred asks, written thousands of words about him. Everything about him from his character design, his personality, his traumas, his voice acting, his expressions, his relationship with Clementine and AJ and Violet and Marlon and everyone- He’s the best. I love him. 

Rosie: Rosie is the bestest girl in the world. ‘nuff said. 

S

“I fucking love everything about you.”

S1 Clementine: Alright, before y’all come at me with the whole “Why isn’t little baby Clem SS tier you monster??” let me explain: I adore S1 Clementine. She’s still in S tier, after all. However, after playing through these games several times over again, I realize that this really is just the beginning of Clementine’s character and her growth. She’s lovable, she’s cute, and I want to protect her, but she’s not... a compelling character? She doesn’t fully come into herself and develop a stronger personality until S2. Like I said, I still love her and I can’t deny the impact that she had on the characters and us players, but she’s not my favorite Clementine of the bunch. 

S2 Clementine: I fucking love S2 Clementine. I’d actually say that she’s my 2nd favorite Clementine. I give S2 a lot of well-deserved shit, but she is the high point of it all. Something about her character is compelling to me, like how she’s stuck with a bunch of adults who underestimate her yet want her to do everything for them and she just... is so done with it hahaha. But her growth is what it really does it for me. We went from little baby Clementine who whimpered at a small cut on her finger to a Clementine who fucking sews her own arm up, covers herself in walker guts with barely a flinch, can shoot a gun with great accuracy and take down walkers like they ain’t shit, and can survive and make her own decisions. Also, her instant connection with AJ is great. Love it. Love her. 

Javier Garcia: Yo, I love this beautiful man. This man is honestly the best part of ANF, and without him it would’ve been such a shitty game. I found his backstory as an ex-professional baseball player booted from the league for gambling a cool concept. He’s hilarious and charming, too. Honestly, he deserved a better game with better, y’know? The only reason he’s not SS tier is because of the writing and his nonsense with Kate when you don’t want to romance her. It makes it seem like he led her on and then was like “Wait nevermind lol” which is annoying, but other than that, he’s great. Love his relationships with most of the characters, and the ending he got was pretty good. 

James: I don’t talk about him as much as I should because I find James fucking fascinating. If they ever made a DLC or a mini-game for twdg, I want it to be about James and his journey in finding and joining the whisperers, his relationship with Charlie, and how he escaped them. His views on walkers, his survival and killing skills, his past traumas haunting his every moment for fear that he’ll revert back to what he was, his extreme pacifism that ironically turns violent- just what a cool fucking character. And while he has his wild moments [cave scene, anyone? “Oh ouch!” hahahahahaa] he’s still one of my favorites. 

Violet: Oh, Violet. She’s amazing. I love her so damn much. If there’s ever been a character that I see a lot of myself in, it’s her.... which is why I tend to be a little harsh with her sometimes, but I can’t deny that she’s one of the most well-written characters across the whole series. She’s not perfect [both she and Louis do have their tiny inconsistencies that I blame the writing for] but that’s a good thing. And while I don’t ship her and Clementine, I 100% get why a lot of people do. Their relationship is adorable and way more compelling than her previous relationship with Minerva. 

A

“I love you <3″

Carley: My beautiful girlfriend... you were taken away far too soon. Carley’s one of my favorite characters from S1. I wish we could’ve had more time to explore a relationship between her and Lee, but what we did get is enjoyable. She’s a badass, and I will always love the moment she tells Lilly off for being a little bitch, even though it results in her death. Not a day goes by where I’m not salty about that one. 

Molly: Molly’s a goddamn badass. She scales buildings like it’s nothing, she named her weapon Helga, and her backstory with Crawford and her sister is terrific. Also, she’s funny and I love her. That’s that.

Omid: This dude was literally a light in S1. He brought us some humor when we needed it [ “...You broke that dude’s face.” ] and his relationship with Christa was so sweet. Also, him and Lee bonding over being history nerds? Yes, please. It’s bullshit that he was killed off two seconds into S2 but hey... S2 had a lot of bullshit in it so...  Justice for Omid 2k19. 

Luke: *deeeeeeeep inhale* Big Brother Luke did not deserve that bullshit. Literally one of the best characters in S2 and y’all just.... did him dirty like that. And for what? To make room for Kenny and Jane? Bull. Shit. Luke was so damn good, and the only reason he’s not higher is because of what they did to him after ep3. He starts out so kind and supportive and seriously like a big brother character then SUDDENLY he’s stupid and “makes it” with Jane while walkers are trying to eat us and then he gets himself shot and then fucking dies and akjsjdlkjasdkjaslkjasdklerwedascasads- 

S3 Clementine: ...So, here’s where y’all will probably get pissed. S3 Clementine is my least favorite of the bunch. Don’t get me wrong, I still love her and she is still in A tier, but... how do I explain it? She’s in her 13-year-old, emo/angsty phase and it’s hilarious when it shouldn’t be. There are moments where I do become emotional for her, like when David takes AJ away and Javi hugs her, or when Gabe dies and she’s saying goodbye, or when she gets her first period, y’know moments like that! BUT... then we have moments where Javi goes to talk to her and she’s all “HAVING PEOPLE IS GREAT AT FIRST BUT EVENTUALLY EVERYONE DIES” or when she straight up shoots that guy who gave her faulty bullets OR WHEN SHE’S LIKE “IMMA KILL ME A LINGARD” AND.......... it’s too much for me! I can’t take her seriously when she’s this angsty, even when I understand why she is the way she is. Again, to reiterate, I still love her but in ranking all four Clementines, she comes in last for me.... and I can already hear the shit that’s gonna be thrown my way haha

Conrad: The most underappreciated character in S3 and it’s nonsense. Don’t come for me, but this dude is my favorite npc in S3. I love Conrad, and I wish we got more of him. He does have his own little arch if you keep him alive through the end. His grief over Francine is heartbreaking and his downward spiral that leads him to act out and threaten Javi, Clem, and Gabe so that he can get his revenge is wonderful. And btw, he does apologize for pulling the gun on them and makes up for it in the future. And y’know what moves him up into A tier? The moment you let him kill Badger. One of the best kills of the game. I prefer it over beating the shit out of Badger myself. 

Aasim: This boy is my son, and I’m sorry, but he’s really fucking cool. You’ve got this kid who was sent to Ericson for being a pyromaniac [according to Kent, it’s not actually mentioned in game] and grew into this guy who documents everything so that they’ll have a form of history to look back on and help not repeat mistakes. His banter with Louis is funny, and even though he gets fed up with Louis for not taking anything seriously, he still cares deeply about him given how he reacts when Louis loses his tongue. His crush on Ruby is adorable, too. I just love him, he’s great. 

Marlon: Now, originally I put Marlon in a lower tier [the “I like your role in the story” type of tier] but upon reflection I actually find Marlon to be a compelling character. He’s high on the list because of how well he’s portrayed. Marlon has some of the best voice acting across all the games. There isn’t a single moment where I don’t believe what he’s saying, which says something. There are moments where Clementine will say something and I go, “Really? That’s the take they went with? Okay...” but not with Marlon. For only being in ep1, he played his part really fucking well. I won’t defend any of the shit he pulled because it’s awful, but I understand everything he did. He is a coward, a sheep hiding in a wolf’s coat, pretending that he’s got everything under control and putting all the pressure of a leader onto himself and it eventually breaks him. I know they killed him off to further the plot and show how ruthless AJ can be as a child growing up in the world, but I wish he survived past ep1 so that we could really get into the meat of his character. I’ll say it: I love him as fake-friend-to-full-on-antagonistic-character and his role within the story. 

Mitch: I fucking love Mitch and the only reason he isn’t in SS tier is because of how goddamn dirty the writers did him. You give me this boy- this butterknife wielding, foul-mouthed, angry, hilarious, bomb-making boy and make me fall in love with him and THEN YOU KILL HIM OFF IN THE STUPIDEST WAY POSSIBLE. “Oh, lemme just run at the crazy lady with a knife and- OOF! It appears I’ve been throat stabbed bleh-”  I’ve complained about this since ep2, but lemme say it again: Mitch had so much potential to be an amazing character but never got the chance to because we had to add to the death count and make us more afraid of Lilly even though it didn’t do shit because it was a reaction kill rather than one made out of malice. 

Tenn: Tenn is such a tragic character for me. In my personal canon ending, he dies because he was “messing up again” and AJ shot him. This poor kid was so full of hope that the walkers would go away one day, he’s so genuine and never wants to hurt anyone, even if they’re trying to hurt him, and he’s so fucked up from seeing Minerva that he stops thinking and tries to go to her even as she’s being devoured right in front of him. Tenn is like this game’s Sarah, but done right. He deserved better, but he was a well-written character and I love him. His friendship with AJ was so sweet which makes it even more heartbreaking when he dies. Yet another terrific child character. 

B

“I like you and/or your role within the story”

S1 Kenny: This dude is such a chaotic topic. I feel like 90% of the fandom has an incredibly strong opinion on him, and of that 90%, 45% of people absolutely love him and if you say anything negative you’ll get a boat to the head while the other 45% loathe him. Then you’ve got the 10% who don’t have such strong opinions, and that’s where I fall. I like Kenny, and I like S1 Kenny more than his S2 counterpart. He has a great arch throughout the season regardless if you’re his best pal or not. He has some funny lines, some emotional scenes. I’ll never forget the first time I played the scene where Kenny’s crying over Katjaa’s dead body while Duck is laying against the tree on the brink of death. And I definitely will never forget the part where he finds the boy in the attic. Overall, I like him and what he brought to S1. 

Katjaa: She was really sweet and her death broke my heart. I don’t have too much to say about her, but I liked her a lot. She loved her family and met a tragic end. 

Ben: Fucking Ben, man. This poor kid. Another character with wasted potential. I’ve mentioned this plenty of times before, but I wish we could get an alternative ending where Ben was the only one who survived and became Clementine’s new caretaker. There was so much room for growth. He just wanted to help out but kept screwing up and it’s just.... sad. 

Christa: I’ll be honest, the first time I ever played S1, I didn’t like Christa. Something about her rubbed me the wrong way and I didn’t care about her as much as I did Omid. However, the more times I replayed it, the more I grew to love her. She’s strong but sweet, and you can’t deny how much she loves Omid. And while I wish we did get to know what happened to her in S2, I can live with it remaining unknown.  

Chuck: As much as I like our guitar playing hobo friend who deserved so much more, I would probably put him a tier lower if it weren’t for the advice that he gives Lee on the train. Because of him, Lee stopped treating Clementine entirely like a little girl in need of protection and cut her hair, taught her to use a gun, and furthered their communication by building a plan together. Without Chuck and his wise hobo words, Lee might’ve fucked both of them over. Also, Chuck’s pretty badass with that shovel, he got a lot of chuckles out of me, but his death was off screen and disappointing. 

Andy St John: Okay. Okay okay okay. Andy. He is so high here [and so much higher than his mom and brother] because to me, he’s the scariest of the St John’s. Why? Because he’s the most normal-appearing of the three. He acts and talks like any normal guy would. He’s someone that I could see myself running into in real life. He’s so good at hiding how fucked up he is from everyone, unlike his brother who you can just look at and go “hahahahaha no thanks” and his mother who’s character design is just awful. I find him to be the strongest of the three, the smartest and the most dangerous. And the final fight between him and Lee is amazing. I love how you can be so furious with him that you keep punching him even after the prompt goes away and then his face goes all purple and swollen. Easily the greatest antagonist in S1.

Eddie: This dude is the best character to come out of the 400 Days dlc. End of story. 

 Alvin: He gave me a juice box and that automatically puts him here. Real great guy but we didn’t get too into his character. Wish we could’ve, though.  

Rebecca: She grew on me tbh. Didn’t like her in ep1 when she was being all pissy and all, but for the most part, she’s pretty good. 

Mike: I will forever wish the writers went through with the concept of Mike being one of the guys who attacked Christa because then he could’ve had a better character backstory. Regardless, I still like him. He’s pretty funny. 

Nick: Nick? Oh, you mean PURE WASTED POTENTIAL. I mean, they really did give us this super flawed but sympathetic and interesting character and kill him off-screen. They really did that. Honestly, S2 really pisses me off sometimes for the way they treated these characters. It all goes downhill once everyone escapes. Yeah, yeah, blah blah not everyone gets a meaningful death blah blah but y’know what? You can do better than that. I loved Nick and I was so excited to see what they’d do with him in the end but NOPE! Justice 4 Nick 2k19

Pete: What a good dude. He stuck by Clementine’s side even when everyone thought she was bit. Love him. Wish we saw more of him. 

Sarah: Ha. Ha. PURE WASTED POTENTIAL 2.0. What else needs to be said? This girl had the foundation for a great character but again, NOPE! I really liked Sarah! I wanted to teach her to use a gun to protect herself! The loss of her father fucking broke her and it was hard to watch but I wanted more and just ahaklsdjlaskjdlkakjaskjsaadkljas ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh-

Ava: Yo. Ava’s a fucking gorgeous badass. Really liked her and how she was sweet on Clementine. Also, it’s interesting that she stuck by David’s side like that. 

David: I have a lot of mixed feelings about David. On one hand, the complicated relationship between him and Javier is good, even if it’s a little bullshit at times. On the other hand, David’s an asshole.  But he’s a great antagonistic character. I do love that about him. The shit with him and Kate was a little annoying, but only because they didn’t ever elaborate on anything. On what level was the marriage fucked? Was it straight-up abusive? What happened to David’s first wife? Why did Kate and David get married in the first place? I got questions! But, like Javier, I think David deserved a better game with better writing. 

Jesus: This dude parkour kills walkers. Pretty fucking badass. 

Tripp: I feel like I don’t like Tripp as much as some people. I like him fine, but I know a lot of folks gush about him. I think he’s a good dude, a little pushy with Eleanor, but he’s loyal and strong. 

S2 Lilly: I fucking hate Lilly. I hate her so goddamn much. She pushes every wrong button with her bullshit “Where's our new recruits?? Lee would be so disappointed knowing he taught you all the wrong things! You’re one of my people now, Clementine” AND THE GODDAMN “Yes, Ma’am” SHIT. Nothing irks me more than every time someone from the delta acts like Lilly’s the baddest bitch and call her “Ma’am” I HATE IT AND I HATE HER. SHE KILLED MITCH. SHE KIDNAPPED MY CHILDREN. SHE DARES TO TRY AND HURT LOUIS LIKE HE’S NOTHING. AND I HATE EVERYTHING ABOUT HER....... That being said, y’all are probably thinking “wtf if you hate her so much why isn’t she in F tier???” and that’s because no other antagonist in these games has ever gotten this strong of a reaction out of me. Lilly is a damn good antagonist. She’s not perfect, and there are definitely things I would change or add, but she does her job and makes me absolutely livid [yeah yeah I know ha ha ha ha] every time she’s on screen doing her bullshit. I hate her and that counts for something. She’s easily the best “villain” in the entire series. 

Ruby: I love my funny little hot-headed medic. Ruby’s amazing and I love her. 

Willy: This kid really grew on me. I thought he was weird and creepy at the beginning but I adore him now. His brotherly relationship with Mitch should’ve been explored more, and at times his voice acting is kind of jarring, but I still love him. 

C

“You’re fine, I guess...”

Duck: He’s fine. I like Duck. I like the “what if” scenarios we’ve come up with surrounding his character, and his death always puts a lump in my throat, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to say I love him, y’know?

Doug: Again, he’s fine. He has some funny moments when you save him, and he’s got a cool little panda bear on his sweater but... yeah. He’s okay. 

Mark: Oh hai Mark. He’s cool, and the reason he’s not lower is because the iconic moment of finding him in the hidden room with his legs chopped off choking out the words “Don’t... eat... dinner” forever haunts my nightmares. 

Russell: I’m not a big fan of most of the playable 400 Days characters, but I think if I had to pick a favorite, it’s Russell. His backstory of being with the group that believed in the power of 7′s [I think it was 7 I dunno going off of memory here] was cool and his weird thing with Nate was fun and disturbing. He’s a pretty cool character. 

Carlos: I’ve made posts about Carlos before and how I think he had a lot of potential, but looking strictly at his role in the game and I’m left underwhelmed. I did get a lot of shit for where I placed him in my previous tier because he was [and still is] above S2 Kenny but I’m not going to lie and say I like Kenny more than him because... I don’t. I just think Carlos should’ve been given more development.  

Carver: A cool antagonist who was defeated waaaaaay too early in the game. They were doing a fantastic job at making me hate him with his treatment of Clementine, beating the shit out of Kenny, murdering Alvin and pulling all that shit with Rebecca, but killing him off so quickly didn’t make it feel as satisfying. Again, underwhelming. 

Sam: This pup betrayed me and he ain’t no Rosie, but we played frisbee so he gets a C I guess

Gabe: Y’know, Gabe could’ve been so good. But every time I play through ANF, he ends up annoying me more than Ben. What does that tell you? He’s fine, but he could’ve been a lot better. 

Mariana: I’m not so much “meh” on Mari because I think she’s sweet and likable! The problem is I don’t want to put her any higher because really? What did she do? She died horribly because Badger’s a piece of shit. 

Abel: Meh this guy’s garbage. I only put him up a little higher because the scene with him in the basement is really good. 

Brody: Brody is like the Mariana of S4 for me, just a bit better. I do like her. She had some development but her whole purpose was to die by Marlon’s hand and get the plot going. Would’ve loved to learn more about her, but I couldn’t give her anything higher than a C. 

Minerva: Controversial opinion but........ I don’t like Minerva as much as a lot of people do. If I could be brutally honest, if I were ranking these characters solely on how I feel about them without looking at their roles in the games and character development, Minerva would be in E tier at the highest. However, I can’t deny how tragic and complex her character and backstory is. It’s similar to how I feel about Lilly, but different. I think she’s just so fucked up from the delta that she’s become a husk of who she was and it results in her constantly pissing me off with all her shit. Also, the bridge scene alone bumps her up. That shit was crazy in a good yet tragic way. 

Omar: At one point, I forgot Omar existed until he got shot in the leg...... but he’s also God so y’know. I like him but I also had to make up my own little backstory for him so...

D

“Meh”

S1 Lilly: I don’t care about S1 Lilly in the slightest, she’s awful. They made her way more compelling in S4. And she killed my girlfriend which is bullshit on it’s own.

Jolene: If I could rewrite S1, I would’ve thrown out the Stranger and had Jolene be the kidnapper. As Danny said, “What a waste.”

Bonnie: She’s pretty disappointing, tbh. I didn’t like how the game help pushing her onto Clem and overall she’s pretty forgettable. 

Vince: He’s okay, I guess. He killed a dude one time. And shot a guy’s foot off.

Wyatt: “Meh” hahaha Eddie was a cooler character than he was

Jane: I wish Jane had been the Molly of S2 and stayed gone after she left the first time. I like that she taught Clementine some useful survival tactics and that’s what puts her on this tier, but I think we all know how I feel about the whole Jane vs. Kenny thing by now so... 

S2 Kenny: This Kenny actually moved up a tier because I fully took in everything he’s been through thus far and.... “Meh.” I don’t think he’s good for Clementine, I think she and AJ need a group like Wellington. I recognize that he’s a lot of people’s favorite, but like I said above in his S1 counterpart, I’m the 10% that doesn’t have that strong of an opinion on him. I’d much rather discuss other characters over him. 

Sarita: Forgettable, really. Except for when you get the chance to cut her hand off. That fucking scream of hers is anything but forgettable, yeesh. 

Walter: Again, mostly forgettable. His death was sad, and I do think he’s a good example of what happens when you’re too trusting in this world, but overall he doesn’t stand out to me. 

Kate: I probably would’ve liked Kate more if her romance wasn’t so damn forced. She has some funny lines, but she’s also pretty selfish and fickle when it comes to a lot of things. And I will forever be annoyed at her inability to keep her mouth shut about her and Javi’s relationship [or lack of] in front of David. 

E

“I don’t like you but you’re not the absolute worst, I guess...”

Danny St John and Brenda St John: I put these two together because they have the same issue: They’re fucking creepy. Where Andy was normal and deceiving, these two look like they want to cut my legs off and eat them. I think they’re much weaker in character than Andy was, even with Danny’s weird sexual fixation of his gun and Brenda talking about her husband. 

Vernon: He’s not the absolute worst because I do feel a little sympathy for him losing his daughter, but everything else just makes me not like him. 

Shel and Becca: Easily my two least favorite characters in 400 Days. I had no real interest in either of them. 

Arvo: This guy. I didn’t put him in as the absolute worst because of all the unnecessary shit Kenny put him through. No wonder he wanted to get the hell outta there. 

Clint: I literally couldn’t give a single shit about this dude or what happens to him. 

Eleanor: I don’t like Eleanor. I found her annoying. Her one good quality is her want to help people, but that want didn’t do much to help Tripp now did it, Eleanor.

F

“The absolute worst”

Larry: Did you expect anything else? Fuck this guy. 

Stranger: Worst final antagonist ever. You’re telling me I have to fight this Mister Roger’s tootsie pop? I’ll bet you $1 I can do it with one hand. Fuck this guy. 

Troy: Fuck Troy. All he does is smack Clementine around and then get shot in the dick. 

Joan: This lady is a laughably bad antagonist. The worst fucking “villian” jfc...

---

There ya have it. Do you agree, disagree? Maybe a character I found boring you really liked! Maybe you want to tell me why Kenny is the best/worst again!  We can discuss it. 

I’m always open to talking about these characters!

[truthbeetoldmedia]

The 100 6x07 "Nevermind" Review

Hello fellow watchers! Did y’all breathe a sigh of relief as I did at the end of this episode? And while I’m at it, I'd like to take this moment to say: I LOVE when TV shows address mental and emotional traumas in a physical way in the characters heads. Give me Sherlock mind palace games all freaking day! That said, let's dive into the episode:

Dad, I had the strangest dream...

We pick up exactly where we left off in “Memento Mori”: Jaux!Clarke going to sleep in the real world and real Clarke waking up in her old Ark cell inside her own mind, surrounded by all of her most impactful memories decorating the walls like hipster graffiti art in an Asheville alleyway. She “hears” her memories as she touches them and walks through the exit door, only to stumble into her “sanctuary” (aka the real church she raised Madi in for 6 years) and be greeted by her dead father. Or rather, her memories of her father being animated by her subconscious. He’s all kindness and warmth when he asks her, “What's the last thing you remember?” She realizes with a start “I died” but, as her father points out, she still has a beating heart. As her BFF Bellamy Blake asked once: “Are we still breathing?” as a response to “Is there still hope?” And that beating heart is all Clarke needs to get her survival spark back.

She enters the next door in her mind and is face to face with none other than A.L.I.E. (Welcome back, Erica Cerra! We’ve all missed you...mostly.) A.L.I.E. gives Clarke the 4-1-1 on how she is still able to have her memories and a foothold in her own mind. Of course A.L.I.E. is all like “I tried to save you from this pain” but Clarke still has zero patience for even her memory version of this show’s “Woman in Red”, telling A.L.I.E. “there is no joy without pain.” She does however follow A.L.I.E.’s advice and takes her memory of saving Raven from the chip and hides it. A.L.I.E. also mentions Clarke’s darkest memories, her ‘traumas’ if you will, and how she can’t “let them go”, still being things she just buries rather than face or make peace with. She tells A.L.I.E., her voice littered with confusion, “You say these are my memories but there’s something here I’ve never seen.”

Josephine enters stage left

That something is a rather jolly door, decorated for Christmas, with a mix of music, screaming, and gunshots coming from behind it. Clarke opens the door only to be startled by Ms. Josephine herself, in her original body (I’m assuming in her mind that is how she sees herself) walking through from her memories right into Clarke’s...

She takes a minute to give some fake science facts about how both their minds can share a body, but not forever, so somebody’s gotta vacate Clarke Griffin town...and Josephine doesn’t have a body to return to, talk about an awkward roommate situation. Clarke has suffered and survived too much to just give her body over to Josephine willingly. So a battle of the wits it is.

Josephine gives us some unsettling deeper looks into perfecting the mind wipes — she was “jacked” into people with active minds before, including a six-month-old. Lovely girl. But they weren’t tech-advanced minds like Clarke’s so Josephine needs to know what makes Clarke’s mind so special. I love this kind of expositional dialogue when you are getting much needed information, and the headspace of the speaker, and Josephine is the perfect mix of this. She is ruthless, a sociopath as Clarke calls her, or psychopath — take your pick. She gets Clarke thinking so she can infiltrate her thoughts. Upon seeing Clarke’s ‘cell’ covered in all of her memory sketches, Josephine’s “I rescind my compliment” was a great line. I am a big fan of using Josephine as an audience insert into Clarke’s mind, as well as a way to callback and maybe even “fix” issues from last season’s jumble of plot. Like when she’s inspecting the sketches and reaches the Madi in a shock collar moment from Season 5 her comment of “child abuse dressed up as protection. Cool” made me actually say “ Yasss! Point out that issue from Season 5, queen!”

“Are you hiding a memory from me, Clarke?” She is one crafty B and I am into a Moriarty/Holmes kind of showdown with these two brilliant and dangerous ladies.

Of course it manifests as a physical fight, too. As they are fighting for control over Clarke’s body Clarke goes straight gang fight and slams Josephine’s head in the door jamb over and over until she is “dead” — but this being a mind fight she easily manifests in Clarke’s mind again, ready to fight. Clarke, brave but never dumb, decides running and hiding in her own mind might buy her some time.

The ghosts of choices: past, present, and future

Clarke’s first stop in her memory maze is her most recent bad decision that haunts her daily: leaving Bellamy to die in the fighting pit. But weirdly it’s a projection of Octavia there to guilt and shame her: “I really thought you cared about Bellamy.” The explanation that Octavia gives for Bellamy not being in the memory himself (because Clarke can’t stand the idea of facing him) is both a great idea, and a weak one? Because the deep trauma they’ve been through

TOGETHER would have made Clarke’s memories and reactions so much more emotional and visceral had Bellamy been there talking to her at some point. (If they don’t give Clarke a mind/memory moment with Bellamy this season, they will be wasting the opportunity for cathartic angst between main characters most writers DREAM about.)

Still, Clarke’s desperate tearful pleas of “he forgave me, he understands” was a great moment to reiterate the importance of Bellamy’s forgiveness and what he thinks about Clarke. Josephine’s comment “even your projections hate you Clarke” really hit me in the feels. Clarke hates herself so much that she injects it into how she thinks other people in her life perceive her.  (With Octavia, she’s probably not wrong.)

Clarke runs from her ‘leaving Bellamy’ memory right into the cold arms of her decisions at ‘Mt. Weather’ and the horribly disfigured mind ghost of Maya Vie, one of the shows most true and noble heroes. It was so great to see her back! Though if Jasper or Bellamy had been in Mt. Weather along with her I think the emotional impact would’ve been greater. Still Maya’s snarky yet cutting “too bad I wasn’t in that group, huh?” when Clarke pulls out her classic “my people” line was perfect.

Clarke’s choices have left a lot of dead bodies behind and she has never had the proper time and headspace to deal with the impact those choices have had on her own mind, body, and soul. I’m hoping one good thing that can come out of her being a hostage in her own body is that she will come back having worked through a lot of her issues in her mind and emotions. I mean I can at least dream about this possibility, okay?

Creepy Maya making Clarke realize she’s in control of her thoughts and memories was great. Josephine falling for her trap because she is so used to being in control of the situation was such a nice way to reveal she has weaknesses just like Clarke, hers being extreme hubris.

Clarke saying “Me? I’ll find a way to survive. I always do”  was such a “yassss! That’s my Clarke Griffin!” moment for me.

Also Josephine letting herself get shocked to “death” because she’s bored was such a nice touch to show her level of crazy town.

Finally we get to “that place”, the dark traumatic place Clarke hides her darkest, most hurtful memories: through the airlock she watched her dad get sucked out of and into the woods where the memories of the deaths of her only (so far) romantic partners are hiding. The first one being Finn, literally dying at her own hand because of Lexa! That should’ve been conveyed more, because it makes the fact that she loved and mourned Lexa even more traumatic and dark. But they seem to want to erase all the bad things Lexa did...which makes no sense to me but I digress. And in the lockbox two other deep loves are represented in the video of her dad and Jasper’s goggles. Also I teared up when Josephine tried to get the box open and Clarke finally gives in because she thinks Bellamy has given up the fight, so why shouldn’t she? And she puts in the code 0102 and tells her “you forgot Bellamy and Raven.” Ouch! My delinquent loving heart felt that pain deep. (I miss Season 1 so much sometimes guys!)

“Tell Madi I love her. Tell them all.” Bless her heart she was finally starting to live again and then they stole her and basically forced her to kill herself at gunpoint. But this brings us to my personal favorite cameo and part of the episode:

Hello to my son Monty Green! I love that Monty is the only version of a friend in Clarke’s  memory that isn’t hostile towards her? Or mad at her? Clarke knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that Monty Green loved her dearly and trusted her and Bellamy to take care of his only child. I love that Monty is the manifestation of Clarke’s moral center but also of her self love and problem solving. He’s the motivation to do better for her. And his comment “you call this doing better?” is both sad and satisfying! Leave it to the person who literally saved part of the human race to imprint his way of thinking on to her.

Of course his chat gets her motivated to not go down without a fight. When he offered her his hand...I got a little misty eyed. I miss him so much. Money suggesting entering Josephine’s mind was a great way to get to know what makes her tick. And YIKE! Her mind is a dark place. Seeing her best friend end up being her killer because Josephine killed her lover, and then seeing WHY she killed said lover: he was against oblation, aka literally leaving newborns to be slowly eaten by the forest. One of the darkest things this show has revealed (and that’s saying something) to try and keep the bloodlines “pure” for Primes. That’s some serious post apocalyptic Nazi thinking to be sure.

I love the fact that Josephine’s memories are categorized chronologically basically using the dewey decimal system because she is extra af, and of course the idea that if they can access her traumas they can control her body because our deep-seated traumas are the key to who we are as people is something you could unpack for days. Monty’s quip “I like your drawings better”, which is really Clarke saying that to herself, was a nice nod to Clarke at heart being a creative more than an analyst, if people would just let her live. LITERALLY.

So they break in to Josephine’s first trauma I’m assuming? And boy howdy it’s a doozy. College age Josephine is working away at homework (judging by the Christmas decor in the Riverdale-ish diner cramming for finals.) It’s neat to see the world before the bombs. The newspaper with Diyoza’s capture story, the magazine with Becca gracing the cover like a Fortune 500 queen. I love world building. Anyway back to the scene:

Josephine and her friend’s studying is interrupted by a very uncomfortably realistic “nice guy” taking over their space and demanding Josephine’s attention and time. Only when she says no he turns threatening and violent, tapping the handgun he places on the table — only to use the weapon on himself as he lays the blame of his own choices at Josephine’s feet, his warm blood misting her face. All of us women have had a moment where we’ve prayed  this person in front of us didn’t do something like this, or worse, to us. It triggers Josephine’s mind to the point that she comes after Clarke in a fury, tossing her out of her mind and not noticing she left her clever side (Monty) in the diner. Bravo Clarke! Also I would like to mention I know what happened to Josephine would be traumatic, but I feel Clarke has endured way worse? So kudos to Clarke Griffin for always being stronger than her darkest moment.

“I win” are Josephine’s first words upon waking up still in control of Clarke’s body (or so she thinks), with just a little nosebleed but she’s back among the living! And she knows how to permanently erase Clarke’s mind. Josephine’s day is starting much better than her previous night...or is it?

Because as she enters the room with her father and Bellamy negotiating for team space pops! to have a home. Bellamy “if we pretend you didn’t murder Clarke” Blake (as always his dramatic self) notices a “new” tic Jaux!Clarke has picked up, finger tapping...and upon further study he notices a pattern:

She’s tapping out a message! In Morse code!! (Shoutout to Earth Skills teacher Charles Pike! You legend!) Clarke Griffin is pulling a Will from Stranger Things and calling Bellamy through blinking the Christmas lights of the diner into Morse code. And he’s finally “ in range” for her 2200th message! He knows within two seconds it’s her trying to tell him she’s alive. There is no doubt, all bets are off, Clarke Griffin is ALIVE. “We’re gonna get her back” he says to Miller, smiling. Screw peace. It’s not worth it if she isn’t in this world to share it. Heart Bellamy is back, benches! AND I AM HERE FOR IT.

Final thoughts and tidbits:

I really wish they would’ve shown an old scene of Wells since they couldn’t get it worked out to have Eli Goree back.

I loved the tight dialogue scenes and limited character focus again in this episode. There’s just too many characters to focus on all at once. On that note: my kingdom for a Bellamy-centric episode where we get to hear his innermost fears, hopes, thoughts. Give it to me.

I really loved the concept of this episode and how it reminded me that this is the same Clarke Griffin from the pilot, and the Mt. Weather. Sometimes this show feels it’s grown too far from its roots.

Eliza has become so good at micro expressions.

I love Josephine as the “Anti-Clarke”: she’s smart, artistic, cute, blonde, and deadly. Just like Clarke, but where Clarke wants everyone to have a chance at life,only using her power when she feels cornered, Josephine enjoys being privileged and judging who’s fit to live from her seat of power. She likes playing God. Clarke loathes it. Josephine and Sanctum are a physical manifestation of all the “big bads” this show has ever had: there’s some A.L.I.E, Lexa, Dante, Cage, Pike, Diyoza, Octavia,McCreary, Nia AND Clarke at her most ruthless wrapped up and baked into Josephine and the people of Sanctum. Echoing all the lessons learned, and not, throughout the seasons. It’s working really well for this season.

Check back next week for our thoughts on “operation get Clarke back” here at TBT!

Gina’s episode rating: 🐝🐝🐝🐝

The 100 airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on the CW.

[firebunnylover]

Hannah Watches LOSH - Champions

AND WE RETURN ONCE AGAIN TO THE LOSH REVIEWS!

Thank you so much for waiting. Finals were a pain.

So the friend who hasn’t watched losh that i was hoping to get her reactions wasn’t able to watch the episode with me due to her schedule. I was able to stream it with @cyclone-rachel and @peskyshortcake though.

Champions

The episodes starts of with our cheery episode palette colors, indicating we have since moved on from the previous dark episode stretch we had.

We find the main characters are at a futuristic athletic event at a place called the Dodecathelon, I’m probably butchering the spelling, with Lightning Lad competing.

We’re asking the important questions.

Never change PG

And then we get the announcers talking about one of the competitors, which Lightning Lad immediately assumes is him.

HERE IT COMES

HERE IT COMES

Also a moment to appreciate PG’s face

MY FAVORITE TRASH BABY IN ALL EXISTENCE

MY SASSY PIECE OF TRASH

After the opening plays, the scene opens to Lightning Lad confronting Mekt.

WOW.

Mm. Obvious sibling rivalry.

SUCH SASS.

AND LOOK AT THE FACE HERE

BEAUTIFUL

Also our chat kept spiraling into insanity.

I love him too much

Also, give him credit for going at Lightning Lad’s biggest flaw - his pride. While pride is certainly important to have, it can also be dangerous to have too much. It’s what usually leads to his aggressive behavior towards others.

One other thing: interesting choice on making his outfit red/fire themed. Wonder why the staff went with that choice.

I LOVE HIM

As soon as he’s gone, Phantom Girl gives Lightning Lad reassurance he can win. First time we see her being the compassionate one.

I feel her.

And then we get her complaining about what she went through to get them seats.

AND WE FIND OUT WHO MOM IS. THE PRESIDENT

HO GEEZE. SO NOW WE KNOW HOW SHE’S PRIVILEGE.

I have to say that the people we see in the diplomatic skybox have nice designs.

And then we get one of the best moments

WHY WAS HE ON THE TABLE?!

PHANTOM GIRL’S FACE AND SUPERMAN’S FACE I LOVE THEM

And here she is.

And then she goes straight for her daughter.

Ho boy, nervous Supes? He can’t maintain eye contact, and keeps fumbling over his words.

She’s kinda fast to assume PG and Superman had a thing tho.

Well, it’s well spent budget at least. Disney could learn a few things.

Then we switch to the race.

Why tho???

YOU LITTLE SHIT

And then we get our first hint that something is up with the judge who looks away.

But why didn’t the other judges notice?

But despite Mekt trying to get the upper hand, Lightning Lad manages to get ahead again.

DEM LEGS

NO ONE CAN DENY IT

But Mekt denies the cheating attempt, saying the judges didn’t see anything. What a prick.

Cutting back to Superman and Phantom Girl, we see Clark is impressed by the current version of sport events. And then Winema comes in.

OH NO. 

TINYA I FEEL YOU.

When Superman states that they’re just friends, Phantom Girl uses the excuse to get snacks to leave, despite the place being catered.

Strained relationship much between mom and daughter.

When the two of them are discussing moms while checking out merchandise, Phantom Girl states “She doesn’t have a clue,” indicating poor communication between mom and daughter. And then Superman comments that his mom get’s busy as well but doesn’t miss much. So clearly, despite the uncertainty on how to handle his powers we saw in the first episode, Superman thought she was trying her best to.

But then it turns out Superman has a “trouble-is-happening” sense and sees something under the Skybox, which Phantom Girl recognizes to be a bomb.

When he goes to chuck it into space, it goes off, and we get some more wonderful faces. Unfortunately, I had to lower the quality of the first gif of the scene, but golly it’s so good to see.

Wow.

Clearly this episode devoted more time to the faces than other episodes.

And then they see Tharok disguised as a pinwheel vender, prompting Superman to give chase.

When they zip by a crowd, people ask who just went by. Put on the spot, Phantom Girl starts chanting “Lightning Lad”.

Which everyone starts to chant as well.

… I want to know how offended Lightning Lad was at this.

Despite catching up with Tharok, Superman loses him after getting sticky-pinwheels on his face.

Realizing that Emerald Empress is cloaking him, it immediately confirms all 5 of the Fatal Five are at the event. And this time, their target is the President. They’re aiming big.

Back with the actual sports event, we learn about flare surfing. Which is definitely a sport. A very dangerous one too, provided it takes place in a volcano.

With the main three of this episode, they are discussing how to treat the situation of the F5’s presence. Superman suggests the SP, but Phantom Girl said it’s a bad idea that will cause more panic. And then Lightning Lad states that there won’t be enough time to evacuate the huge number of people there.

When Lightning Lad says that they will stop the F5 by themselves, PG says he can’t quit after training all year for this event. Showing that she doesn’t want him to sacrifice his hard work. Superman tells the group they can all do their bit separately, keeping Lightning Lad in the competition.

And then Trash Baby interrupts, accusing Lightning Lad of getting help from his teammates, and tells him not to think of using the flight ring to cheat. Wow. Do you have any right to say that Mekt.

AND THE ADULT MIND IMMEDIATELY GETS ANOTHER IMAGE FOR THAT SHOT

First up for flare surfing is Tenzil Kem, simply called Kem in this episode, aka the future Matter-Eater Lad. And his performance is pretty impressive. Dude has some moves

PESKY!

(the chat soon dissolved in us discussing Pesky’s life choices)

Following him is Lightning Lad, who also does a very impressive performance… which Mekt proceeds to ruin.

Cat behavior.

Simply put. Lightning Lad gets deducted points because he lands on the contestant Mekt shoved.

But this next part, Superman spots Mano. Mano, why would you go as a painter? Everyone knows that painters don't show up on game days.

Then we get socially awkward Tinya. Gotta love social awkwardness.

Followed by badass Tinya, who finds Persuader disguised as a guard.

But in all seriousness, when the ship Persuader has blows up, HOW DOES NO ONE NOTICE?!

Superman doesn’t hit kids, he tackles them.

AND THEN GETS STEPPED ON BY THE KIDS AS THEY SHAPESHIFT INTO VALIDUS.

OOF. HE GONNA BE SORE. But who was he expecting if he wasn’t prepared for that to happen??

Returning to the competition, we see that the final event is start. Dashing across lava canyons. What is it with this event and heat in deadly environments?!

Again, asking important questions.

I have to ask another thing - how did the obstacle that hit Kem NOT severely injure him? I mean he’s definitely pissed.

Dem legs can jump though, given Mekt managed to evade a sand trap several feet wide.

Also, during the group watch, I kept trying to get the video to pause on this one frame… we wasted 5 minutes trying to get to it.

The scene.

The struggle.

And the frame i wanted to show.

I’m sorry but Mekt’s face just cracks me up whenever I see it.

I’ll leave this frame up to interpretation to you guys.

However, immediately after Lightning Lad save’s Mekt, he shoves his little brother’s face into the ground.

Big brother behavior? IDK I don’t have brothers.

Furthermore, he sets off another trap that causes a column over the lava to start collapsing.

Lightning Lad manages to get out of the boobytrap easily, while another contestant, Karl (I THINK THAT’S HIS NAME? IDK I WISH THIS SHOW HAD SUBTITLES), isn’t so lucky.

But then we see a major change in behavior in Lightning Lad.

He ditches his chance to win and saves him.

Let’s go over this a bit on why it’s important. This guy was an arrogant brat when we first meet him, and his pride is so big he has to be first (“DUDE! THAT’S MY SPOT!”). And this is the event he has trained a whole year for. But he’s grown during our 5 episodes.

And back to Mekt, he wins. And I’m sorry to say this but I’m happy a wee bit for him? I mean look how happy he looks crossing that line.

As for why I’m happy, I’ll discuss that later. Cuz it goes into the dynamic of the brothers.

YOU LITTLE ****

The episode jumps forwards to the ceremony, where Lightning Lad is sulking and is being comforted by PG and Supes. It’s pretty touching.

At first.

GARTH U SORE LOSER

PG then prompts Lightning Lad to go take his medal, leading him to stand next to Mekt.

And then Mekt pulls something out.

Oh no.

I love how he says that.

With no forcefield, F5 proceed to crash the ceremony.

Two questions: WHY IS THAT EYEBALL SO BIG?? WHY FOCUS ON JUST VALIDUS’S REVEAL??

As soon as the Fatal Five reveal themselves, Lighting Lad immediately says he knew the judge had it in for him.

REALLY?! THIS IS THE BEST TIME TO WHINE ABOUT THE JUDGE?!

I LOVE HOW THE ANNOUNCERS ARE THE ONES WHO LEAD UP TO THE COMMERCIAL BREAK THO

Post commercial break, F5 and the legionnaires start going at it, while Empress goes to capture the president.

EMPRESS THIS IS NOT A TIME TO FLIRT

OUCH. THAT FACE.

Phantom Girl is not happy of the idea of having an enemy for a second mom though, swooping in to get her mom out of the stage.

Whiles Superman is dealing with Validus, Mano, and Empress (plus the eye), we get another shot of Ranzz bros.

MEKT

And then the chat dissolves into more insanity. Thank’s Pesky.

LOOK AT WHAT PG PROCEEDS TO DO THEN WHEN SHE’S BACK.

SHE GRABS MANO, PHASES HIM THROUGH THE FLOOR, THEN USES HIS HAND TO MELT THAROK’S LEG. DAMN GURL

Empress catches Superman, so he tries to fry the eye like he did the first episode. But it doesn’t work, leaving Empress commenting that she wasn’t going to let him do that twice. Give her a gold star for learning.

When it looks like Superman is doomed to the eye, Jo Nah comes to the rescue, suckerpunching that eye into space, freezes Empress, who then gets kicked by PG

And then comes a bit that i know kills my dear friend @augment-techs inside

I’m sorry, but clearly PG was looking at the booty in the last bit.

Meanwhile, the broadcasters start to tell audience what’s happening, which I continue to find amusing. They even cut away from Lighting Lad’s possible demise to advertise snacks.

They just call Superman “This Fella in Blue”. I bet Brainy called in later and started to flood their office with complaints.

But seriously. HOW ARE PEOPLE SURVIVING VALIDUS LANDING ON THEM?! VALIDUS IS SENT FLYING AND THEN HE LANDS ON EMPRESS.

Who grunts miserably for Validus to get off.

The SP are getting ready to take the F5 away, and we see our lovable trash baby again.

OBSERVATIONS ARE MADE.

Nice jump.

And then we get what is a very interesting exchange.

Dat eyeliner tho. 

But I find the way he closes his eyes before laughing interesting. And in his reflection, when he does laugh, it doesn’t look as confident when he did earlier. Taking that those words left a bigger gash than expected?

Another time jump takes us to another, smaller, ceremony. And a bit of mom-daughter bonding.

And then that’s followed by Winema asking if Lightning Lad is single.

OH NO

OH GOD

MY FRIEND DIES MORE AGAIN AT THE WINK OUT OF DISGUST

She’s done. As this episode is.

So final thoughts on the episode overall.

I love it.

This had some of the best expressions, and animation, in the whole series.

We had gone through three episodes of darker plots to get some lighter plots again, which is what the main characters need/deserve right now after everything that has happened so far.

While Lightning Lad plays a huge part of the episode, so does Phantom Girl.

This is also the beginning of Lightning Lad’s growth in character. Which was needed, given he was a huge, egotistical jerk in the first episode. We see he’s willing to give up first place to save others, although he will still throw a tantrum later (the locker room). And his interactions with his brother was enjoyable to watch. He clearly is not on good terms, and it seems every interaction he does is bad. Except when he saves him from being blasted during the dash. So he still cares for him on some level. Just not a high enough level that he can have a good/positive interaction.

Phantom Girl has more character development as well. We finally know where the “privilege but misunderstood” expertise comes from. Her life as the President’s daughter. She clearly hates the political part of life, having enough of being in major spotlights of that kind. But she was still willing to do stuff to get her and Superman seats in the best spot. Plus we know that she enjoys to oogle guys, but gets annoyed when people assume she’s dating/interested in her teammates. And we get to see a bit of her softer side when she’s comforting Lightning Lad.

Although I guess she divulged off screen to Superman that her mom was the President though.

Speaking of Superman - HE FINALLY GETS A LIGHT PLOT EPISODE AFTER 3 DARK PLOT EPISODES THANK GOD. He needed this so bad. Although this episode is not Superman centric. But god, he was so funny when talking to the president.

As for the F5… once again, could have used more development. I think that eyeball can change it’s size tho. But we see Empress is clearly a good planner on these things, as she even predicted Superman using his heat vision on the eyeball again.

The other guest characters were interesting to see.

The reporters were fun to listen to. Also had cool designs.

It looks like most people in the 31st century have powers, given that some of the competitors ended up fighting against the F5. Most probably just don’t know how to use them effectively against criminals.

We get our first appearance of Matter-Eater Lad and Ultra Boy.

@augment-techs, I can hear you hurling at the mention of Ultra Boy.

Neither of them are really delved into character wise, although we do have Ultra Boy winking at PG at the end.

But when watching this episode, I noticed they were talking to each other in the background (around the part when the legion trio were discussing how to go about the F5 threat). Friends maybe?

A fair number of the background characters had pretty cool designs, but a problem with this show is how most characters the same age as the legionnaires, if humanoid, share the same body type, both guys and girls.

… And as far as I saw, there’s only one girl competing.

Sigh.

Winema is so good to see after Dr. Londo. She does care for her daughter, and tries to reach out to her. Would be the type of parent who offers a condom during sex rather than scold you. However, her ways of reaching out to her is not without flaws. First off the bat, politics. She couldn’t give her daughter a medal in the end mainly because of the political feedback. Who knows how much it affected other interactions beforehand?

And then we have her immediate assumptions that she is dating Superman, and that she’s interested in dating one of the other boys at the end. It’s uncomfortable when people assume you and someone the opposite are “more than just friends”.

Furthermore, watching this episode now that I think PG might be bi, it led to a new idea of the assumptions and how PG feels about them.

Simply put, her mom is offering only suggestions on guys. Not girls.

As a pansexual, let me say it’s annoying when people assume you are only into one gender. Even more so if they assume you are straight. And when that person is family, that’s opening another whole can of worms. Sometimes the people aren’t aware of how it’s a bad thing but can be simply told and they will get it, and then there’s the homophobic/biphobic/panphobic people.

I think Winema is probably the first of the two though. She’s the best parent on this show.

In any case though, going off on the idea that she might be bi, Phantom Girl hasn’t gone to tell her that she is interested in girls. Maybe she’s afraid how it will play out politically? Or if her mom takes it badly?

Questions, questions.

But let’s talk about my FAVORITE PART OF THIS WHOLE EPISODE.

Mekt Ranzz.

Oh my god, he’s like the fusion of Grunkle Stan and Victor Nikiforov. Willing to cheat, but clearly has athletic talents... and pretty looks.

Okay, the fact that I am able to compare him to Victor leaves enough leverage for me to justify me shiping him with Superman, who I compared to Yuuri in the first review. Everyone shush.

But as for character dissection, let’s bring something from the previous episode.

Lightning Lad’s room.

I managed to adjust the brightness/contrast in the original frame so that we can see it, unlike the way Fear Factory just made everything to dark to see.

YES I AM STILL BITTER ABOUT FEAR FACTORY BEING DARK AS ****

The shelfs has a lot of trophies. As in, filled with them.

And now recall what Mekt said after winning the dash, and then when Lightning Lad went to confront him.

“Nothing wrong with silver, little brother. You should be used to second place by now.”

“All I did was make a deal with the judge, so I’d come in first! For a change.”

Okay, those two statements seem to conflict with each other, but hear me out.

Lightning Lad was always, or usually, getting first place when they were younger in athletic events. And Mekt was probably never prided in any of his accomplishments. So when the Empress in disguise offers him that chance to get of first place, he jumps for it. Hence why he looks so friggin happy when he crosses the line.

As for the statement he makes after the race, I think he might have been making a jab at Lightning Lad with something said to him from their childhood.Or he was referring to the competition itself, given that he ruined his landing earlier (and possibly some other events we didn’t see.)

Either way, it was to rub more salt into Lightning Lad’s wounded pride.

He is capable of regret though. His expression seen when Empress addresses him when she grabs the President, and to me, the way he looked at himself in the medal and laughed. That laugh, and the expression he made, seemed less malicious than it did when I first watched the episode.

Let me make this clear really quick, I did not like Mekt when I first watched this. Everything he did seemed like a total prick move. This wasn’t the first episode I saw him in though. That was Lightning Storm. So my opinion of him was arguably ruined by that.

But in terms of stepping up to make things right, at this point in the show, he’s no where close. He runs away for crying out loud. Then again, no evidence if he has ever fought people like the F5 before.

But he did offer Lightning Lad his medal. The medal that he cheated to get. Really the most decent thing he does in the whole episode.

He clearly isn’t as angry towards Lightning Lad. Way less. Heck, he provokes him in a somewhat playful manner at times. Mekt seems more open to them having a positive relationship than Lightning Lad. Which says a lot on how he views their relationship in comparison to his brother.

Maybe my fondness of him, and actually knowing his background based on the comics, is getting in the way of me properly seeing how the staff wanted to portray him? Probably.

But I can’t deny that I love him… and making his life a nightmare.

Given Mekt ties into Lightning Lad’s backstory though, it makes more sense that Fear Factory was suppose to come out before Champions, as it was the opening act to us learning about it on this show.

Characters in this episode:

Superman gets the light-hearted plotline he deserves. Finally. In terms of development, not much happens with him though. But given that this episode wasn’t suppose to focus on him, we can let it go.

Phantom Girl gets so much more development than any other episode, and we get a better look at her personality than before, where she was a supporting character. Plus we get perhaps the best facial expressions in the show from her.

Again, I cannot stress this enough, this is a huge part on Lightning Lad’s character development. But it’s not the starting point of understanding his personality, because that was the previous episode, with his bedroom and his fears. Now I COULD delve into every bit right now. But I won’t. I will do it as the episodes go along.

And then the competitors: Matter Eater Lad/Kem was fun to see, even though not much of his personality was really explored. Zzok was endearing to see - nice to know the competitions weren’t humanoid exclusive. Ultra Boy/Jo Nah had a bit more personality than the others, given he interacted with PG - I HEAR YOU GROANING AUGMENT!! And the possibility that he and Kem are friends even before/during the competition is interesting.

Fatal Five. Again - not the most interesting villains, with Empress being the most intriguing of the 5 of them, but not enough to engage people as much as other villains.

Winema is the best parent in the 31st century on this show during the first season. Hands down. The remedy to seeing Dr. Londo’s abuse. A woman of power also. What’s not to love? Well, her assumptions on Tinya wanting to go out with only guys, particularly teammates. But hopefully she will correct that in the future.

And let me say this again, I LOVE MEKT. He’s such a trash baby, and a pretty one too. Can be one of the best villains on this show. Reason why I say can is, like Alexis, that title doesn’t seem right for him in this episode. As for the next episode we see him, he will fit that description of villain. Still curious on the staff’s choice for his outfit though.

[recentanimenews]

Donyatsu is a Sweet, Unexpected Surprise

Donuts. Donuts never change.

The irrelevant and strange post-apocalyptic world of Yusuke Kozaki’s Donyatsu, a silly slice-of-life series about pastry-inspired critters, is a welcomed and eccentric break from reality. Adapted into a 12-episode original net animation series (ONA) by studio Gathering from Kozaki’s manga in 2013, Donyatsu provides a seemingly standard post-apocalyptic setting with a sweet slice-of-life twist. It dares ask the question—can the end of the world be funny? Can it be about cats and delicious treats while the world burns?

Kozaki’s work has mostly been seen in anime and video game character design—most notably in the Fire Emblem and Pokémon franchises, BBK/BRNK, and Speed Grapher. After debuting in Young Gangan in 2011, the Donyatsu manga soon garnered a cult following for its unique combination of post-apocalyptic story with slice-of-life comedy. I first discovered the series back in 2015 and considered it something of a “hidden gem” at the time through the short net anime. However, I quickly realized that these handful of episodes provided just a glimpse of what the full and bizarre Donyatsu world had to offer. The main appeal of Donyatsu is that it obviously has no large overarching plot—in fact, most of its characters struggle to achieve more than sleeping and eating. Compared to other post-apocalyptic series, the worst of the final blow has already landed and there’s no going back. It's a surprisingly laid-back, empty world.

Donyatsu and Bagel making friends 

  Black Comedy With Sugar On Top

Our hero, Donyatsu, wakes up one day to realize he is now an adorable chocolate donut-shaped cat. Has he been transformed for a human? It’s not clear. The Shibuya streets might be empty, but in lieu of humans are a handful of new friends: Bagel, a basic but stern brown bagel cat; Rollnya, a sweet (you guessed it) roll-themed cat; Baum Cougar, the baumkuchen cat who is also a genius internet hacker; and Kumacaron, the pink macaron bear who loves the in-world "Dragon Fall" manga. There’s also a military squadron of mice who may or may not actually be a threat. Is anyone here terrified by what appears to be a nameless catastrophy? Or civilization as we know it coming to a halt? No, Donyatsu and pals are too busy playing shiritori with a giant space robot instead. Even Baum Cougar, the most prepared of the kitties, is a jab at stereotypical “preppers” and nerds who spend too much time meticulously planning out end-of-world survival scenarios. Will he be their savior in the end times? Well, no. In fact, he’s sort of a creep. They’re all jerks.

Ironically, despite being friends, Donyatsu and pals all kinda hate each other. Unlike other laid-back slice-of-life series, these characters truly have no choice but to involuntarily put up with each other. Donyatsu is bullied by the others in almost every episode. At first it’s a bit odd, since these characters don’t typically seem like the kind to be mean or spiteful. In the end, it’s Donyatsu himself who ends up being the butt of jokes, who personally admits that maybe he isn’t quite as funny or smart as the others. At first I thought, “well, that’s a little sad,” but over time I came to love it—especially after reading the manga, where Kozaki’s sick and silly sense of humor truly shines. Donyatsu is meant to make you feel good, but maybe at these cute animals' expense.

Rudeness without reason is the point. Despite it being the end of the world, despite being adorable pastry animals, Donyatsu and his friends are still all undeniably, selfishly human. Think of house cats. You think they care when they knock over your priceless, priceless treasures? Hell no. Don’t let the cute demeanor fool you. They are cruel, cruel folks.

The mice stab Donyatsu with a fork. Ouch.

When I first showed Donyatsu to a friend five years ago, they said it reminded them of the cartoon Adventure Time—which has been confirmed by its creator Pendleton Ward to also be set in a post-apocalyptic world. When I thought of how strange and illogical those characters acted, I realized I knew why Donyatsu appealed so much to me. What makes Donyatsu’s cutesy, over-the-top post-apocalyptic setting so appealing despite the dreary background story? It might be the humor of cognitive dissonance, that situations like devastated cities and the destruction of human civilization aren’t inherently meant to be “funny” unless you’re very jaded. While the Donyatsu anime itself doesn't fully explore these themes compared to the source material, the understanding that these wacky adventures all take places after a catastrophic, humanity-ending event adds an extra layer to an already strange concept. Cats can’t think that far ahead until there’s a yummy snack at the other end. But us viewers? Their situation really is hard to stomach.

One Donyatsu skit involves Kumacaron reading manga out loud while Donyatsu and Bagel are cooped up in Baum Cougar’s safehouse. Familiarity soon breeds contempt, and in this case just enough contempt for Bagel to smack Kumacaron silly after reading all the over-the-top shounen manga dialogue. In the original manga, the group goes to a supermarket in search of canned goods, but quickly devolves into toilet humor and a strategic joke about karinto cookies (look them up). There's no dramatic build-up or sense of urgency to seek out real survival. It's not that Donyatsu and friends don't care—they're lucky enough to not know they should care. They get fed up with each other, bully and harass, all normally high-stakes, dramatic moments when looking at your last handful of post-apocalyptic survivors, but here it’s just good old-fashioned slapstick.

Donyatsu and Bagel

A returning group of characters, the mice, meanwhile, are framed as villains. The joke is, of course, they’re tiny mice with military helmets with forks as their weapons. At first, they seem like they might pose a challenge to Donyatsu, but surprisingly (and albeit with some body horror-esque realizations about how donut cat physiology works…) Donyatsu’s flesh heals itself. You literally can’t eat donut cats. It turns out they are maaaybe immortal. In a perfect world, Donyatsu could let the mice eat him and then just regenerate over a few days—but that’s missing the point entirely. Donyatsu and friends aren’t that preoccupied with “survival” and “consuming” like the mice, so the thought likely has never crossed their mind. They just wanna hang out. In volume two of the manga, Bagel wonders how long they have until they all run out of food and starve to death. It’s a briefly sobering moment that acknowledges these characters might have an actual life expectancy. Everyone is deathly quiet, wondering when they might die. And then it’s immediately back to jokes. There are no hard answers. Can they really live forever? What happens if they eat other donut cats? Who knows.

Sweet Slice-of-Apocalyptic-Life 

Under the unthreatening frosted and chocolate-dipped exterior is a perfectly blended appreciation for black comedy. Donyatsu is a love-letter to the special kind of dark, but not too dark humor that comes from when you mix idiosyncratic characters with a surreal take on the typical post-apocalyptic setting. This isn’t a story about surviving the end times—it’s about passing the time and making the most out of what should be scary because you're bored, hungry, and stuck in a room with someone narrating an entire shonen manga back-to-front with sound-effects.

It’s no secret that post-apocalyptic stories have been a solid trend in anime and manga for decades. However, there’s now been a recent trend of shows catering toward unlikely fans of the slice-of-life genre. Shows such as Sound of the Sky, Humanity Has Declined—and even Kemono Friends—have all played with the concept of slow, easy-going life amidst the end of the world. In some cases, the fall of humanity is more obvious, especially when your characters are, well, actually human and not adorable sentient food-animals. This "cutesy apocalypse" is an unexpected offshoot of what is universally recognized as a depressing and tense genre full of peril and high-stakes stories. They’re optimistic at the end of the day, and so is Donyatsu. 

The over-exaggerated pastels and puns of a surreal setting after the end is appealing, if not a good set-up for an ironic punchline. Donyatsu doesn’t use its post-apocalyptic setting as a “gotcha” or shocking twist, but rather embraces it as its entire backbone to ask whether or not people would still get in arguments about fighting game tactics and snacks (the answer: yes). As short and sweet as it is, Donyatsu is an unexpected source of comfort, and a reassurance that weirdness always wins out in the end. If you want a fun escape with tons of cute animals doing sometimes not-so-cute-and-pleasant things, it’s undeniably worth your time.

  Have you explored the post-apocalyptic landscape of Donyatsu? Let us know your favorite light-hearted shows with dark backstories in the comments—you might be surprised how many there are! 

    ------

Blake P. is a writer who loves his cat. He likes old mecha anime, computer games, books, and black coffee. His twitter is @_dispossessed. His bylines include Fanbyte, VRV, Unwinnable, and more.

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[snsmissionaries]

7/11/17 -- Elder Del & Sister Sue Ballard, Illinois, Nauvoo Mission

WARNING....Deer in the Headlights

Dear Family and Friends:    SORRY NO PICTURES THIS WEEK, WE TOOK PLENTY BUT MY NEW PHONE IS NOT COOPERATING WITH THE TRANSFER 

WARNING

 Another BE WARE OF for  Illinois, Iowa and Missouri, as 3 missionary couples have hit deer and done extensive damage ($5,000 or more) to their vehicles in the last 2 weeks in areas we travel almost every day so WE are on the alert for these.

  The weather has been great with no higher than 90 in the daytime and down in the low 50’s at night and even the humidity is tolerable, so FAR.   Lucky for us!  However NOT much rain but lots of lightning and thunder!

  Monday went by quickly as we were fairly busy in the Temple.  We had planned to go see “The Promise” a play with our FHE group at 4:30 and then dinner but they cancelled the play because there were not enough tickets given out and so we just did dinner.  Everyone enjoyed homemade lasagna, salad, garlic bread and for dessert angel food cake with a peppermint whip cream drizzled with chocolate.  Yum! Yum!  We all visited, shared our Nauvoo experiences and had an enjoyable evening. 

  Maintenance showed up early Tuesday morning (no sleeping in today!) to reinstall our broken smoke alarm and about an hour later the plumber arrived to install our new garbage disposal .  Glad to have things back in order and now just one more work order for our shower that is leaking and the molding is coming off of the door area.  Thank goodness we are just renters!  Came home on Friday and that was fixed (well sort of, as we can barely open our shower door NOW but it doesn’t LEAK anymore so guess you can’t have the best of BOTH worlds)!

  Oh, my I didn’t think the Temple could get any slower but it did on Tuesday night.  We even got to come home by 8:00pm since we had to go in early today.  Wednesday was a little busier and, once again, survived my Sealing Coordinator job without incident (I probably would NOT know if there was an incident or NOT???).  Thursday was our P-Day and nothing very exciting as went to Burlington for Del to have his Warfarin checkup (he was GOOD, in range),  I got my haircut and then a little shopping then off to lunch at a place a young girl recommended, Uncle Ronnie’s.  It took us several trips up and down the street to even find it as it was tucked back off of the main drag, but we FINALLY did.  It was not much to look at and had a variety of things on the menu and I thought it was good but Del was not that thrilled (he ordered the WRONG, thing perhaps???).  Don’t know if we will try it again since HE was not happy but I would like to try their Reuben next time…..we shall see.  Friday is usually are BIG day in the baptistery with LARGE groups but like the pattern of earlier in the week NO BIG groups but did end up with 16 family groups (1-5 people) and so it was a nice relaxing and fun day working with adults and youth.  Afterwards we went into Keokuk as had to get some watermelon for a 4th of July breakfast and then some lemons to make lemon bars for our Break the Fast on Sunday.   Saturday the Temple was steady and that is a shorter day so went pretty fast, so we came home ate lunch and rested before our BIG night.  Went to Sunset on the Mississippi, then a band concert and fireworks show on the lawn in front of the Temple.  The fireworks were on the Mississippi River so it was a beautiful night and we even had to have sweaters and light jackets (sorry ARIZONA!).  Sunday we headed to Canton to our branch and a couple invited us next Sunday for dinner so that will be fun.  We headed home and took a nap before going to our Break the Fast dinner (Sister Udall from Snowflakes Arizona was the Hostess and we had wonderful Shrimp Louie salads, homemade rolls and lemon bars) and later on to a play at the outdoor theater at 8:30 pm.   “The Story Goes On….it portrayed parents bringing their family into the world, raising them with all the trials and tribulations and then growing old together and leaving this life and looking forward to the next step of “eternal life”.  Great story telling and musical numbers, mostly done by the Young Performing Missionary’s, with a few senior missionary’s mixed in.  Brought laughter and tears to all who attended.  A wonderful spiritual, enjoyable but tiring day. 

  Got called to come early to prayer meeting on Monday so up again at 5:30am but then starting next Monday for the month  of July every AM shift is a 4:30am rise and shine for a 6:10 prayer meeting.  UGH…not looking forward to that.  However,  we got changed on Monday to a PM shift and now only have two early AM shifts (Friday and Saturday) for the month of July…so that is good NEWS!  On Tuesday, the 4th of July we started our day with a missionary breakfast in an open area by one of the apartment complexes.  We all brought something and there were about 60 of us.  We shared in patriotic songs, wonderful food and great conversations with many sharing stories of the “good old days”.  After that we headed to the General Mercantile to look around and then home to prepare for working in the Arrival Center at 3:15pm.  Well, just a little glitch as we went to the arrival center to serve another couple were already there for the PM shift…so now what to do.  We called the Temple and apparently there was a revised schedule which we didn’t get and neither did the coordinator so the other couple had duties showing on the Temple schedule so off they went and we stayed.  We only had three people come in for that day so we watched church videos for 4 ½ hours….NOT a bad gig.  Wednesday we went to our PM shift and I guess the part I didn’t realize in my new coordinator position was, apparently, each time it is part of my DUTY to upset at least one Temple worker as that is what I have been successful in achieving all three weeks so far that I have been on duty.  This is a tough JOB as you have to constantly call coordinators and tell them you NEED their assigned people ASAP for another position that is mandatory NOW.  They are NOT happy and don’t like it at ALL so guess who they get MAD at ???? ME guess they just don’t realize that  I am only the MESSENGER (doing what I am asked by the Shift Coordinator)!  People tell me not to let it bother me but I really don’t want to be on anyone’s BAD list which I think I am doing consistently (they tell me it is all in a DAYS work for this position, OUCH!).  Good thing I am only here for 4 more months as they might be running me out of TOWN anyway!

  Well, Thursday was P-Day and our group of 10 couples headed to Hannibal (a small quaint town with lots of little shops, many closed-out of business-about 1 ½ hours away) about 11AM as we were doing a picnic lunch at 12:30 and then the River Boat ride at noon.  We rode with the Coles who are from the Phoenix Temple and we worked with them there.  It was a good time and we enjoyed our lunch with everyone in the park on the river.  Not everyone was doing the same thing so those people left to do their own thing.  We all headed to the River boat (picture) for an hour excursion on a nostalgic riverboat where the Captain told stories relating to history, legends and sights such as Jackson’s Island, Lover’s Leap and  mighty Mississippi rolling along.  It was a fun ride with lots of black beetle type bugs jumping on us, UGH!  After that we were off to the Mark Twain Cave where we went on a 1 mile hike into the cave with Jeremy, our guide pointing out Tom and Hucks hiding places, where Tom and Becky were stranded and scared by many animals especially bats, as well as many signatures of famous characters who entered the cave.  Then at 5pm it was off to the Planters Barn Theater to see “Mark Twain Himself”  an authentic Mark Twain stage show with actor Richard Garey .  Comedy, satire and Mark Twain wit on topics such as Learning to Ride a Bicycle, Riverboat Captain, Living in Hartford, Accident Insurance, Huckleberry Finn and others.   At the conclusion we went to a little restaurant across from the theater and had a nice dinner  and across the street  there was a great band playing that we could listen to as we ate.  We headed home and got back about 9:15pm.  A long day but a good day with lots of fun, laughter and mingling with great temple missionary couples. 

  Friday we were up at 5:30am for a BIG day in the baptistery.  Had a large group of 120 youth (30 per hour) from South St. Louis and then an additional 10 families with 2-5 in each group.  Stood for about 6 hours without a break  and Del walked about 4 ½ miles (his watch recorded) so it was a long tiring day but we still managed to go to town to grab some lunch and groceries and back about 6pm.  Sometimes not sure where the ENERGY comes from but luckily it is there when we need it.  Saturday was another busy day and we officiated the first session with 14 people and then served in various positions throughout the day all with a good number of patrons.  Numbers are increasing as the Nauvoo Pageant starts on Tuesday, July 11th. At 6pm we went over to some friends to play games and had a fun time.  Off to bed about 10:30 for another 6:30am rise and shine and then Sunday we headed to Canton and after church to the Melton’s for dinner.  There are 5 families of Melton’s in the branch and we went to dinner at the father of the “clan”.  Gary and his wife, Robyn have been married 10 years as were both widowed at 46 years of age.  He was left with 4 boys and a girl and she was left with 3 boys and a girl.  They are wonderful people who shared many stories of meeting and merging their families.  It was an enjoyable day with a great dinner included.  We got home about 6pm so another long day.  Luckily, however, for the next 4 weeks we are on the PM (during the pageant ONLY) shift on Monday so don’t have to go until 11:30.  We did get a text from a friend we worked with at the Phoenix Temple who is coming to town with her 2 granddaughters and so we are going to pick up some tickets for her at the Visitors Center at 9am. 

  We are so excited for next week as on Tuesday, Del’s son, Derek, his wife Kathryn and their 4 kids are coming to visit for 3 days.  Brock, their son, just returned two weeks ago from his mission in Macon, Georgia, and we haven’t seen him in two years.  We have to work two of the days but have made arrangements to do things in the Temple with them so will have some wonderful experiences together.  So anyone wanting to VISIT….just COME on down or up, depending where you come from!!

  Well, that is about all we have to report for the past few weeks.  Hope all of you are doing well and LIFE is good as you endure the HEAT of summer (especially in Arizona).  So far the weather here has been not bad at all but they certainly need rain as the rainfall is down over 19 inches for the year and their crops are suffering.  Can tell after today though the HUMIDITY is rising each day as it gets harder to breath. 

  We love and miss each of you and appreciate your prayers, love and support.  LIFE is good (and BUGGY

in Nauvoo!  Take care.

  Elder and Sister Ballard