#like to the point where they’re literally just being ironic since she’s so misunderstood by a lot of people in the comic too)

[persephonaae]

Hrm

[dawn-of-tomorrow]

shoutout to @punishing-gray-raven-ocs for this ask game!! (didin't expect to be tagged with one so soon lolol but i'm overjoyed~~ ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´Д｀ﾟ)ﾟ｡❤️❤️)

1) What made you even think of trying Punishing Gray Raven? What made you stick with it?

Funny story actually-- I've long heard about PGR, way back when it was first released even, but I just didn't give it a chance back then mainly because it was in CN and I couldn't understand shit (rather ironic given how I am now lmao).

As for why I decided fairly recently, a couple of months give or take, to give PGR a shot? It's mainly due to the fact that I heard that the Global version would be out very soon, so I thought why not dive into what I've missed so far... not knowing that I'd become THIS obsessed with the game, aha~.

The most obvious thing that made me stick to this game are the interesting cast of characters, the "fun" story, the amazing yet simple game mechanics, and etc. etc.

2) What problems, if any, do you have with PGR?

Honestly speaking, the thing that most VEXES me at the moment about PGR, specifically PGR Global, is the wonky translations. It feels like a group of half-assed fan translators and one official translator who's not doing a good enough job with reigning everyone in instead of feeling like a group of professional translators who know what they're doing. Hell, I've seen better translations from some of my twitter mutuals!

3) Who is your favorite Construct, and why?

Lee. There's no question about it, Lee is my most favorite Construct at the moment (and forever perhaps ohoho~). As for why, god, hold that mic for a bit, I'm gonna go on a fucking rant. Ehem.

First of all, let's start with the most basic of things, like his appearances; As Palefire, he looks like this suave, very aloof, super serious, unapproachable, and "gets shit done efficiently" type of person, and while that description certainly isn't wrong, it's also hiding more layers of Lee's overall personality; as Entropy, he certainly looks and feels bit more casual than before, along with feeling somewhat more, even if a tiny bit, more honest with his feelings and easier to approach than before.

Despite being a serious, no-nonsense, grumpy guy, he's prone to occasionally quip and snark at anyone at their own expense especially if they get on his nerves (see his interactions with Kamui, not even the Commandant is spared from this!). He's also not as cold and distant as he may come across, given that, early on, he quite literally jumps in front of Liv to take a hit that was meant for her with absolutely no hesitation whatsoever, he's almost always the first person to make comments on the Commandant's state as well as express his undiluted feelings (though not without hiding it on occasion behind anger/annoyance, thus making it a case of "anger born from worry").

You can also easily tell if you pay close enough attention to his dialogue and actions that he's not good with expressing his true feelings even to the people he cares about (thankfully Murray, Skk, Lucia, Liv, Kamui, etc. can usually pick up on what he really wants to say), is the type to often be misunderstood due to him being the kind of person who believes in "actions speak louder than words", that he's used to taking care of others instead of prioritizing himself even to his own detriment; while making it clear that he prefers to think and act in a logical and practical manner, he's not exempt to having emotions/feelings, as such, he can be pretty empathetic towards other people even if he doesn't look like it (he's even the first one in the Gray Raven squad to point out WHY EXACTLY the people they come across in Echo Aria refuse to leave their homes even with high risk of the Red Tide washing everything away, and fully understanding as well as getting it).

Alrighty I'm gonna cut that segment short now before this becomes too long for anyone to read through, ehe~!

4) What made you think of designing PGR OCs, instead of making yourself into a self-insert?

.... Actually, truth be told, both of my Skks are, in some way, self-inserts~. It's just that they start out as one before eventually developing into their own characters with only hints/traces of their self-insert origin. Though my Construct OCs are definitely not self-inserts, that much I can certainly say so!

I made them mainly because I really enjoyed the official cast so much I wanted to make characters that would get to interact with them somehow, though I take great care in making sure they aren't TOO out of character with how they're canonically portrayed.

5) What's your thought process behind creating your OCs?

Honestly, it usually starts of something like this--

"lol wouldn't it be funny if I made this type of character? Oooh, what if they interacted with this character? Or this character? Or that character? Let's see, what's missing... Backstory and profile, check. Appearance, I'll sketch one in a bit. Hmmm... I know! *drowns the OC in mountains load of angst*"

6) What's your favorite chapter from the main story?

If I'm limited to talking only about the main chapters currently released on Global then it would have to be Fallen Star, mainly because it's Watanabe's time to shine~. (*´∀｀*)

However, if we were to look at the overall chapters, then, I would have to say Imprisoned Sight.

7) What do you think of the new Liv shown in the latest stream? Where do you think the story is going with her? What do you think happened to Gray Raven?

With Liv, I have a really bad and somber feeling about what Kuro Game has in store for her, given how she looks almost complete different than what she's looked so far, as well as the vibe her new look gives off.

Fuck, I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to thanos snap her memories away as well like they did with Lucia, or worse, infect her with the Punishing and turn her into an actual enemy (for a while before we get her back).

As for Gray Raven, considering what happened at the end of Evernight Beat, wherein the Skk is in a fucking coma with a chunk of the Mother Structure lodged in their abdomen, while Lee and Lucia are in repairs along with Liv, and, if I recall correctly, the Merciful One managed to reach Babylonia and is now onboard the space station as well-- I have a feeling that the despairing Liv will be approached by her and be given a new frame.

8) Have you seen the animated shorts? What do you think of them?

If you're talking about the Panini anime then yes, I've watched them already! Still ripping my insides open from laughter everytime I watch them lol. Favorite episode has got to be the toilet episode, next to that would be the episode where Chrome takes Kamui to Karenina and Liv for training.

9) So do Constructs eat or not? (I'm really confused, especially since I saw Karenina sipping a drink in one of the shorts)

Oh they most certainly can! Fuck, it's even explicitly stated that Camu likes to eat and sample foods whenever he can (revealed in his secrets, as well as his affection stories).

As Camu explains, while they don't get nutrients from human food, they most certainly can still enjoy them and use them as a type of fuel.

10) Do you think Kamui and/or Camu will be a really pivotal plot device at some point, considering how the information on Kamui is so top secret?

Hmmmm.... unless the story at that point is revolving around Kurono Ops and how shady they're being, then personally speaking, the chances are slim.

11) Do you think, at any point, any of the Gray Ravens will die off?

Naaaaaah. They won't do that. Sure, they TECHNICALLY killed off Lucia, but she's still "alive" in a sense, so it both counts and doesn't count.

Besides, sometimes death isn't the worse thing you can inflict on someone/a character~.

12) Who is your least favorite Construct, and why?

I don't really hate/dislike any of the Constructs if I'm being honest. Though I hate how shitty of a unit Sophia is, and that it's kinda pitiful that she's become even more useless now that the new S-Liv is here; but I am in no way saying you should stop using her, keep using Sophia if you really like her! It's your choice after all, and I'm not about to contest you on that part, after all, everyone's enjoyment is subjective.

13) What part of PGR's lore really holds your attention?

The part of the lore that really holds my attention are the characters, and seeing how they react and act to the situations happening to and around them, especially concerning the Punishing and forces out of their control~.

[umbralich]

Never ending survey

RULES: Repost, do not reblog. Tag 10 blogs!

Tagged by: @lareine-kira and @paleshadeofrose

Tagging: @hangedemperor , @istolin , @maximiloix , @trahja-tia , @eorzeasfrozenknight , @charm-in-spades , @thorcatte , @haila-wetyios , @a-sharlayan-abroad

---

BASICS.

FULL NAME: Varg Blacksoul, formerly Timur Oronir NICKNAME: Varg-Varg (given by Lareine), Stiffy and Grumpy (given by Silke) AGE:  54 BIRTHDAY:  9th sun of the 1st astral moon ETHNIC GROUP: Xaela Au Ra NATIONALITY: Othard, Ishgard LANGUAGE/S: Common, xaelic, ishgardian SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Demisexual ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Biromantic RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Single and not looking for company. HOME TOWN / AREA:  Dawn Throne, Azim Steppe CURRENT HOME:  Pillars, Ishgard PROFESSION: Paladin, medic/healer at Ishgard’s service.

PHYSICAL.

HAIR: Long and silvery grey. EYES: Black with white limbal rings, small irises. FACE: Angular features, long nose, high cheekbones. LIPS: Narrow, often cracked, slightly darker than his usual skin color. COMPLEXION: Grayish purple BLEMISHES: Dark circles SCARS: Lots of scars which he keeps hidden at all times. Two thick, long ones are visible and almost go across his right eye. TATTOOS: No tattoos. HEIGHT:  210cm WEIGHT: Slightly underweight BUILD: Slender but masculine, somewhat toned. FEATURES: Black markings around eyes, and naturally thick, black claws. ALLERGIES: None USUAL HAIR STYLE: At work or formal meetings it’s combed back either completely or with some locks on his temples left loose. In more casual situations he mostly just lets it be. USUAL FACE LOOK: Calm, focused, narrowed eyes. USUAL CLOTHING:  Full, dignified heavy armor or parts of it combined with a long coat, formal robes, jodhpurs, vests, blouses and high-heeled boots.

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR/S: Imprisonment, being held or tied down, physical pain, betrayal. ASPIRATION/S: To be successful, self-sufficient and powerful until the end, to bring as many as possible wrongdoers to justice, to find an heir, and catch people still on the loose who managed to escape his revenge long ago.

POSITIVE TRAITS: He keeps his word, doesn’t leave things unfinished, is a good motivator for slackers, aims for high-quality results in everything, is reasonable and logical.

NEGATIVE TRAITS: Insensible towards most of people, logic always comes before his own or other people’s feelings, very straightforward, capable of cruelty if necessary.

TEMPERAMENT: Calm SOUL TYPE/S: Thinker ANIMALS: Gray wolf

VICE HABIT/S: Smoking. He hates it, but it’s the least harmful thing that calms his nerves down, and he’s addicted. He tries to limit it though, and use it only in worst occasions, since he doesn’t want the side effects affecting his health or work. If things get especially grim, he also has full stashes of potent liquor and intravenous sedatives.

FAITH: Science usually comes first, but he’s also spiritual in some way. It’s one of those topics he doesn’t discuss with anyone. Some of his duties include working as a cleric, so it may have something to do with Halone. Or then it doesn’t, and it’s just another job.

GHOSTS?: Has seen them with his own eyes so can’t deny their existence. AFTERLIFE?: He hopes it exists, for reasons. REINCARNATION?: It’s a possibility.

POLITICAL ALIGNMENT: Generally neutral, but on demand would choose the side of underdogs: ignoble, the poor and the sick, minors etc. Wouldn’t show his alignment publicly if it was a threat to himself. Would also pretend to be supporting the oppressor, only trying to sabotage their work at every opportunity. Even I’m not sure would he actually die for anyone else or some common cause. He has fled once to save his own hide and he could do it again. Knows main points of what’s going on and where around the world for the sake of common knowledge, but is only interested in topics that concern himself. Has been a target for racists since arriving to Ishgard as a teenager, so he despises them from the bottom of his heart.

EDUCATION LEVEL: Learned

FAMILY.

FATHER : Not relevant MOTHER :  Not relevant SIBLINGS : None that he knows of EXTENDED FAMILY: Iris Ymir (patient and protege) and Arsene Dreadeois (butler)

NAME MEANING/S:

Timur is a Turkic and Mongolic name which literally means iron. In Indonesian, timur translates to east and symbolizes hope by the rising sun.

All members of the Oronir tribe believe themselves to be direct descendants of Azim, the tribe's god of the sun.

Varg is wolf in swedish. Varg was also originally a nickname given by his friends at the Steppe. It was the only thing he kept after starting his new life in Ishgard and severing his ties with his homeland.

Blacksoul was given by his comrades in the army for being so ruthless towards enemies - both the ones on the battlefield and the ones captured.

HISTORICAL CONNECTION?: None

FAVORITES.

BOOK:  Science, mythology, swordplay, alchemy, etc. Everything that has something to do with his work or hobbies. DEITY: Halone seems to share most of his values. HOLIDAY: Doesn’t celebrate any. MONTH: September and October. There isn’t many little things in life he gets pleasure from, but fall colors is one of them. SEASON: Fall and winter. PLACE: His estate, cathedrals, libraries and forges. WEATHER: Thick fog, rain and sunshine at the same time. SOUND/S: Fire, rain and musical instruments when someone who actually knows what they’re doing plays them. SCENT/S: Herbs, iron, parchment. TASTE/S:  Whisky, tea, whatever Arsene makes. FEEL/S:  Clean clothes, heat radiating from a fireplace. ANIMAL/S:  Doesn’t like animals except for his chocobo, Mori. NUMBER: Doesn’t care about numbers. COLORS: White, black, blood red, gold, silver.

EXTRA.

TALENTS: Accuracy of a chirurgeon, skillful with swords, managing to define a goal fast in any kind of surprising situation and being very patient and stubborn at achieving it.  BAD AT: Admitting he has weaknesses, comforting people, having fun, small talk, relaxing. HOBBIES: Reading, studying, weapon maintenance, alchemy. TROPES: Antihero, tragic hero and mad scientist. Definitely could also be a villain. Depends on whom you ask.

QUOTES:

“Since you seem to be so worried of my… customers, perhaps I should take you along the next time I interrogate them. You would see with your own eyes what kind of delicate, exquisite and misunderstood individuals they are, when they spit on you, mock their victims and brag about the amount of people they have raped or murdered.”

“Today it happens. Make sure she is out of here before I return tonight. I am no longer even sure which one of them is the worse one.”

“It was a mere procedure. If procedures were considered intimate, I would be close friends with half of Ishgard by now.”

“Do tell me... If you work as much as you claim, how come you are always broke when we meet?”

“Very well. Play something for me. Let us see are you a man of your word.”

MUN QUESTIONS.

Q1 :  If you could write your character your way in their own movie, what would it be called, what style would it be filmed in, and what would it be about?          

A1 :  He’s been busy sticking his spoon into so many soups during his life that you could probably make a trilogy of his fooleries feats. The first part would tell about his early life in Azim Steppe and how he was forced to leave from there, the second part about how he found his soulmate and adapted to his new life in Ishgard, and how it all eventually ended up into a shitstorm, and the third one would be the current storyline. No clue about the name, though. The Soulforge would be perfect but too bad it’s taken.

Q2 :  What would their soundtrack/score sound like?          

A2 : Bloodborne, Dark Souls and Amnesia the Dark Descent OSTs are absolutely the closest ones you could get to Varg. Orchestral, choir, bowed string instruments, both epic and monstrous. Even if there were more peaceful pieces here and there, while listening to them you’d still have that same feeling of dread you used to have while playing the original Resident Evil and Silent Hill games and finding a safe room: you just barely escaped death but can’t stay in the safe haven forever.

Q3 : Why did you start writing this character?          

A3 : He’s quite different compared to my Forsaken shadow priestess in WoW, whom I used to RP for... two or three years? Long story short: I wanted something else for a change. I also used to have an old Forsaken death knight, who was a lot more similar to Varg, but he was more evil. He existed pretty much only for occasions when someone needed a true villain for some plot. He was funny however and I always thought it was a pity I didn’t get chances to RP him more often.

Q4 : What first attracted you to this character?          

A4 : He’s a mixture of four different OCs of mine, with a bit of his original spice ofc. One of them came into being in, uh, somewhat obscure conditions. Kept seeing him in my dreams when I was a kid, and he became one of my imaginary friends I used to have back then. And not just one of the many, but the closest one. Also generally in entertainment I couldn’t care less about Lukes and Frodos. Villains, tragic heroes and the like are my thing. They’re usually the most multilayered and interesting characters.

Q5 : Describe the biggest thing you dislike about your muse.

A5 : Perfectionism. I’m similar and it sometimes drives me nuts to watch him neglecting himself while trying to achieve perfection. If I could physically talk to him I would go and slap him and be like “EAT. SLEEP. YES THE THING IS GOOD ENOUGH ALREADY. LEAVE IT.”

Q6 :  What do you have in common with your muse?          

A6 :  Well, already kind of answered this one, but wait, there’s more: insomnia, nightmares, PTSD, misanthropy and cynicism come to mind first. And booze. How could I almost forget booze? I believe I know what misery is so I’m good at RPing miserable characters and make them look as authentic as possible. *lols like Alcyone from Magic Knight Rayearth* We both also have a strong sense of justice and nonexistent sympathy for those who use others as stepping stones. Aye I know, sounds a lot like a self-insert character, but it’s not like that. It’s more like... before meeting him/the OCs he’s based on, I used to be quite a scentless and tasteless kid. Similarities and peer support attract. And I’ve also learned from him.

It’s also a lot like me and Lareine. We became friends because we had 95% of the same interests and problems but perhaps that’s why we get along so well and understand each other.

Q7 :  How does  your muse feel about  you?          

A7 :  He would probably hate and like me at the same time. Or couldn’t decide. We both like peace and quiet, doing our job well is fundamental and our basic values are pretty much the same. We would get along well if we worked in the same place. However, unlike him, I have some horrid procrastination seasons, crippling self-esteem issues, tend to put other people’s needs and opinions above my own and keep stressing about things for 7 billion souls instead of just myself. I’m suspicious of pretty much everything else except Lareine and our plushie crow Agatha, except that Agatha creeps me out sometimes as well when she takes out a knife and sits next to my bed at night, staring at me, can’t watch Hachiko without bawling my eyes out during the entire movie, love puppies and kittens and danger noodles and I’m addicted to video games. Very likely he’d kick me out as well.

Q8 :  What characters does your muse have interesting interactions with?        

A8 : Varg would never admit it to himself, but I think he gets best along with people who are a bit silly in some way, and who get on his nerves by being too carefree and doing stupid things. Lareine and Iris, when they’re behaving. Arsene, who’s kind at everyone. Currently Shaura is my favorite. Varg himself is so uptight people like them help breaking his gray routines. Also a bonus: he doesn’t see them as a threat, so that’s probably the closest he’s able to get to relaxing among other people.

Q9 :  What gives you inspiration to write your muse?        

A9 : I’m a fan of my own characters. It doesn’t feel like I would’ve created them. I saw them with my third eye or something and I’ve just written for others to read what I’ve seen. I don’t plan RPs beforehand. I just let the hound loose and let him do whatever he wants. So far I haven’t got tired of my characters’ antics and could just write more. The only obstacles are limited hours per day, necessary evils like eating and sleeping, procrastination, trying to sort out my life, and the damn FFXIV. SOMEONE PLEASE TAKE IT OUT OF MY HANDS.

Q10 : How long did this take you to complete?          

A10 : Ehh, maybe 4-5 hours.

[smilesthroughfandoms]

Every Single Star vs. the Forces of Evil episode in one sentence or less

I’ll probably post a more in depth-review later this week, as I have opinions literally no one wants to hear but I will proclaim anyway, and then I’ll probably also due a revision of my ‘Past Queens Connection to Star’ post from way back in season 2. Cause that needs an update.

Anyway, enjoy!

Star Comes to Earth: Princess Cinnamon Roll that Could Kill you comes to earth and meets Misunderstood Safe Kid.

Party With a Pony: Spoopy Wardens hunt for the glitter pony while Star gets ice for Marco’s sweaty back.

Matchmaker: In which we learn it was probably a bad idea to give Star the wand in the first place.

School Spirit: Star misunderstands football and Marco tries to get Ferguson to blow his whistle not in that way.

Monster Arm: “Not my bowels! I love my bowels!”

The Other Exchange Student: Star is jealous of the meatball man from Bakersfieldville.

Cheer Up Star: “It’s supposed to be ironic!”

Quest Buy: Very accurate depiction of what it is like to work in retail.

Diaz Family Vacation: Both Marco and Star see new sides of their dads but that’s not necessarily a good thing

Brittney’s Party: Star and Marco party on a bus that Ludo hijacks

Mewberty: Star gets horny and snares boys in her web but not in that way

Pixtopia: Marco messed up and Alfonso marries Ferguson’s rebound

Lobster Claws: “… You can’t eat children.” “Really? Not even the annoying ones?”

Sleep Spell: “Camera Phooone!”

Blood Moon Ball: We’re suppose to ship them now, right?

Fortune Cookies: Love is never the answer kids

Freeze Day: Father Time offers Star and Marco some mud before riding away on his wheel-mobile pulled by giant time-hamsters I am not making this up.

Royal Pain: King Santa Claus destroy mini-golf

St. Olga’s Reform School for Wayward Princesses: Princess Prison sure is a nightma–OH MY GOD ARE THOSE CLUBS?!

Mewnipendence Day: No wonder monsters hate Mewmans so much.

The Banagic Wand: Star still doesn’t get Earth and like all of us, Marco is always hungry.

Interdemensional Field Trip: Miss Skullnick fears the “Big Change” while Marco sends Jackie cat memes

Marco Grows a Beard: Ludo is out, Toffee is in, and Marco will probbaly be terrified of beards forever

Storm the Castle: “SURPRISE!”

My New Wand!: DIP DOOOWN

Ludo in the Wild: Wait, since when did Ludo become badass?

Mr. Candle Cares: “Star and I have recently become smooch buddies… On the lips.”

Red Belt: Marco searches for a meaning in life and Star searches for hammer.

Star on Wheels: *epic remix of Marco saying Star is in trouble*

Fetch: Marco can’t open juice and Star runs away from her problems and sending thank you cards

Star vs. Echo Creek: Star gets high and destroys a police car

Wand to Wand: Both Ludo and Star are terrible at magic also major ship tease

Starstruck: Star and her idol Sailor Super Saiyan destroy a park and Marco is 100002% done with this shit

Camping Trip: King Butterfly has a mid-life crisis and tries to control an eagle

Starsitting: They’re gonna be great parents some day.

On the Job: Buff Dad is best dad and buff babies are adorable

Goblin Dogs: “You might think this line is long, but listen to my goblin song!~”

By the Book: Ludo and Star still suck at magic and Glossaryck is a bigger troll than Alex Hirsch

Game of Flags: And I thought my family was dysfunctional...

Girls’ Day Out: Janna is back and is still awesome btw

Sleepover: “TRUTH! STAR HAS A CRUSH ON MA–” *cue fandom freakout*

Gift of the Card: R.I.P.  Rasticore Chaosus Disastorvayne… He couldn’ get his fucking chainsaw to work

Friendenemies: Star becomes one with Christmas tree while Tom and Marco go on a date and sing a romantic pop ballad.

Is Mystery: Meatfork is apparently a family name and Ludo is really starting to freak me out tbh

Hungry Larry: “He’s still hungry…”

Spider with a Top Hat: He tries and he is awesome and that’s all that matters

Into the Wand: SPAAAAADESS!!!

Pizza Thing: Marco is OCD about mushroom and Pony Head buys skinny jeans

Page Turner: Moon, how did you miss Toffee in the orb he was right there!

Naysaya: Marco is a mood in this episode

Bon Bon the Birthday Clown: Honestly my favorite episode overall

Raid the Cave: Glossaryck is the true neutral asshole.

Trickstar: Weird Al is a treasure and I’ll mes up anyone who makes Marco cry!

Baby: Aw, look at the little deadly baby, I love her!

Running With Scissors: Marco gets a new edition to his shipping harem and she is so cute!

Mathmagic: Why did the chicken cross the road?

The Bounce Lounge: Marco is definitely the mom friend.

Crystal Clear: The Chancellor guy is amazing and Rhombulus just needs a hug and wAS THAT ECLIPSA IN THE BACKGROUND?

The Hard Way: “SURPRISE!” 2.0

Heinous: Oh, so that’s how Marco got all that money.

All Belts Are Off: This is the negative side of “Pro-tag teen hangs out with older adult figure” trope done splendidly

Collateral Damage: Marco how do you not know what a possum is?

Just Friends: I’m fine! *blows up sign to prove just how fine I am*

Face the Music: This song is actually a banger

Star Crushed: Looking back, I’m starting to think the writing peaked at this episode....

BATTLE FOR MEWNI EDITION!!!!!

Return to Mewni: This is… just an exposition filler. Not much else to say….

Moon the Undaunted: B4! B4! B4 B4 B4 B4 B4 B4 B4 B4 B4 B4!

Book Be Gone: Seriously, did Glossy take trolling lessons from Alex Hirsch this is hilarious!

Marco and the King: This is the  “Pro-tag teen hangs out with older adult figure” done slightly better

Puddle Defender: Aw, look at the little buff babies, they’re getting so big!

King Ludo: The mime stole the show.

Toffee: Yeah, I think the writing peaked somewhere around here...

Scent of Hoodie: Huh, so Ponyhead can be written as likeable, who would’ve thought?

Rest in Pudding: The colors are not doing the censors any favor here, huh?

Club Snubbed: I literally yelled “Phrasing!” whenever they dropped the title

Stranger Danger: Is she the new antagonist of the series? I can’t tell

Demoncism: Tom is a wonderful baby boy and Ponyhead is written as likeable, part 2!

Sophmore Slump: *sobbing* Jackie deserved better, dang it!

Lint Catcher: I’m starting to wonder if there is any competant authority figure in Mewni

Trial by Squire: I think the writers were all like” You think these guys will ship anyone with Marco?” and decided to test that theory.

Princess Turdina: I got more lore out of this episode than I thought I would.

Starfari: Welp, she makes me uncomfortable.

Sweet Dreams: *Sailor Moon-ing intensifies*

Lava Lake Beack: Proof that this fandom will ship anyone with Marco at the slightest inclanation

Death Peck: Rich Pigeon is my new favorite birb and Ponyhead is written as likeable for the third time

Ponymonium: Well, it was nice while it lasted.

Night Life: The writers made so many new ships they had to get rid of an old one!

Deep Dive: “Chicken butt”

Monster Bash: Well, that explains the cheekmarks.

Stump Day: I think they just made an episode based around a picture from that bookcover.

Holiday Special: *insert every cheesy Christmas/Holiday episode trope here*

The Bog Beast of Boggabah: The title is fun to say and the episode is average at best.

Total Eclipsa the Moon: Seriously, I’m supposed to think she’s an ultimate villain.

Butterfly Trap: In which we are all Sean, don’t lie we were all him at the end

Ludo, Where Art Thou?: Dennis is best brother, hands down.

Is Another Mystery: *sniff* I got more emotional over this episode than anyone else did and I’m not sure how I feel about that

Marco Jr.: I… I just… Why? What’s the point?

Skooled!: Epic advertisment fakeout combined with wonderful character development and lore with a shock ending makes a 8/10 episode.

Booth Buddies: Old Man McGucket ships Starco, proceed to react accordingly

Bam Ui Pati!: Ponyhead is kinda likeable in this episod–nevermind she’s back.

Tough Love: Oh man, it’s happening! It’s happening guys here we go!

Divide: We are going to war everybody–And they’re all dead. That was quick.

Conquer: They should have paid Alex HIrsch to voice Glossaryck at this point, it’d be more in character for him.

Butterfly Follies: Proof that someone will always complain about politics no matter what.

Escape from the Pie Folk: Is anyone else disturbed by the fact that he kinda resembles Eclipsa more than Festivia?

Moon Remembers: I was expecting a freakout but was pleasantly surprised

Swim Suit: I’m starting to get a bad feeling about Rhombulus

Ransomgram: Why is everyone in this dimesnion hot?!

Lake House Fever: She’s a good mom

Yada Yada Berries: They missed an opportunity to have a Seinfeld actor guest-star, just saying

Down by the River: I’m glad that she can relax

The Ponyhead Show!: And Ponyhead is offically no longer likeable, can someone toss her into an abyss please?

Surviving the Spiderbites: SpiderSlime is canon proceed to react accordingly

Out of Buisness: How did this place go out of buisness???

Kelly's World: Man, they’re really setting these non-Starco ships up to fail, huh?

Curse of the Blood Moon: Pfft, yeah, sure, Starco won’t be canon at all!

Princess Quasar Caterpillar and the Magic Bell: I think Ludo has the most consistent character arc out of the entire show’s history.

Ghost of Butterfly Castle: Moon, Star is your daughter and Star supports Eclipsa, why would you not tell her?

Cornball: This episode has a heartwarming lesson that I hope more people come to realize

Meteora's Lesson: I’ll take any Toffee scenes I can get

The Knight Shift: I honestly don’t remember what happened n this episode

Queen-Napped: Seriously, can someone please dropkick Ponyhead into an abyss?

Junkin' Janna: The JanTom interaction I’ve been waiting for

A Spell with No Name: These types of episodes stopped being charming awhile ago

A Boy and His DC-700XE: I think Tomco has more ground to stand-on then Starco at this point

The Monster and The Queen: Don Panchito voices Globgor! There’s hope for this show yet!

Cornonation: They’re the best couple/parents/anything around!

Doop-Doop: I honestly think Rick just put Morty through some flux-capacitor or something

Britta's Tacos: Hey, remember these people that we suddenly brought back? No? Me neither!

Beach Day: This feels like a Season 1 episode and it’s nice

Gone Baby Gone: I want a TV show aout them now! Disney, please!

Sad Teen Hotline: Mr. Diaz is way to invested in Star’s love life.

Jannanigans: Hello last minute Janna character development!

Mama Star: So that’s how Mewni came to be--and I don’t care anymore

Ready, Aim, Fire!: Let’s get that finale ball rolling people!

The Right Way: Ok, that spell is actually pretty badass.

Here to Help: There, Starco’s finally canon will you guys just shut up now!

Pizza Party: Moon you idiot you ruined everything!

The Tavern at the End of the Multiverse: Toffee was right all along... I think we all knew that in some way

Cleaved: I expect nothing substanial and that’s what I got

[180abroad]

Days 154-157: Vienna (The Habsburg Hustle)

For centuries, Vienna was the de facto capital of Europe. From here, the Habsburg dynasty pulled the strings of the most powerful kingdoms and empires on the continent--when it wasn’t ruling them directly.

So it’s fitting that much of our time in this city was spent in the Hofburg, a sprawling complex of palaces, treasuries, and art galleries that once housed the Habsburgs and continues to house much of their wealth.

And their wealth is really all that seems to remain of the Habsburgs.

I remember a bit about the Habsburg empires from my high-school AP European History class, and a bit more from our time in Spain and Eastern Europe earlier in our trip. But it is a long and complex dynasty, not a simple monarchical line like the kings and queens of England or France. Like I said before, the Habsburgs were string-pullers and kingmakers. They eventually took direct control over most of Europe, but as a complex empire of countless intertwined kingdoms, duchies, and principalities.

Jessica and I went into the Hofburg hoping to gain a clearer understanding and greater appreciation for how the Habsburgs came into their power and expanded it over the centuries. We did get a little of that, but mainly what we got was an in-your-face display of just how obscenely wealthy the Habsburgs became by the end of their reign in 1918. Seriously, I didn’t think that anything could top the gilded grandeur of the Vatican, but this blows it away.

Our visit started humbly enough with Sunday mass at the historic Augustinian church. Originally part of an Augustinian abbey, it was later incorporated into the Hofburg and converted into the imperial chapel.

I feel a bit sacrilegious saying this, but as a tourist, Sunday mass at the Augustinian church is a great way to kill three birds with one stone. You get to see the Imperial chapel, witness a traditional Catholic mass in one of the great historical bastions of Catholicism, and you basically get a free Mozart concert from the church’s choir and orchestra.

And we definitely weren’t the only people to think so. This was easily the most crowded church service we attended during the entire trip.

On our visit, they performed Mozart’s  “Missa Brevis in G Major.” It was Mozart’s first full mass, written when he was twelve years old.

Beyond its historical significance, the church itself is fairly plain. The right side of the church is built up against the side of the imperial apartments, and instead of stained glass windows, the windows to the right of the choir connect to the apartments themselves--so the Habsburgs could attend mass without leaving their parlor.

There is a room in the church filled with the ashes chamber filled with urns containing the cremated hearts of dozens of Habsburg rulers. We didn’t get to see it, however, since it was on the other side of a chapel being used for a service.

Next, we toured the imperial apartments themselves. And of course, decorating the entrance were statues of our old friends Hercules and his club.

Outside the grand entrance is an exposed section of Roman ruins. Like virtually all European dynasties, the Habsburgs were obsessed with linking their rule to the heritage of the Roman Empire.

The apartments are divided into three exhibits: the imperial silver collection, an exhibit on the mysterious and misunderstood Empress Sisi, and the apartments themselves.

Going in, I wasn’t particularly interested in seeing the silverware exhibit and would have been more than happy to skip through it. Jessica wanted to see it, however, and it ended up being absolutely spectacular.

The collection was much more than just silverware. It started with room full of decorative baking pans and dessert molds, then moved onto increasingly extraordinary tableware and centerpieces.

This is where we really got our first taste of Habsburg opulence. But only a taste.

Room after room were filled with silver, gilt, and ceramic services representing centuries of evolving tastes and diplomatic relations. Each service involved a monumental level of craftsmanship and material expense. Some sets were so valuable that they were literally used as bargaining chips between countries looking to end or avoid a war.

It just went on and on and on. Not only were the pieces nearly countless, each one was a masterpiece of artistry and craftsmanship.

And as massive as the current collection is, it only represents a fraction of the original collection, much of which was sold or melted down for bullion during the Napoleonic wars.

Next up was the Sisi Museum. Sisi--or rather Empress Elisabeth of Austria--was the wife of Emperor Franz Josef from 1854 until her assassination in 1898. Sisi now holds a mythical reputation for her beauty and innocence, but this exhibit explains the darker truth.

It starts with her childhood in Bavaria as the daughter of a duke. She enjoyed a relatively informal, carefree childhood until she was arranged to marry Emperor Franz Josef at the age of 15. An introvert with a hatred of confinement, everything about palace life was abhorrent to her. Descending into melancholy, she increasingly shut herself away from palace life to read, write poetry, and ride horses. She was a famously skilled and daring rider.

As she aged, Sisi became increasingly obsessed with maintaining her famed beauty. She adopted intense dieting and exercise regimens, exotic cosmetic treatments, and wore extremely tight corsets. For almost all of her life, the 5′8″ Sisi maintained a weight of 100 pounds and a 20 inch waist.

(There's a statue of Sisi at the beginning of the museum, and Jessica and I both noticed that her face looked quite a bit like Jessica's mom (and my aunt) Donna. For whatever reason, however, the resemblance doesn't really carry into the photographs and paintings of Sisi.)

At the age of 58, things took a turn for the worse for Sisi when her only son, Crown Prince Rudolf, died in an apparent murder-suicide pact with his mistress. Not only did this devastate Sisi and her marriage with Franz Josef, it destabilized the Habsburg line of succession and accelerated the deterioration of the empire that lead to the outbreak of World War I.

(That night, Jessica and I happened to watch The Illusionist, which our host had on DVD. We knew that it took place in Vienna, but we had no idea that it’s plot revolves around a fictionalized version of Rudolf’s murder-suicide. The longer this trip goes on, the more ridiculous the coincidences we run into become.)

From then on, Sisi retreated from social life entirely and took to wearing only black. In her writings, she fantasized about wearing a veil so that she would never have to be seen by anyone again. When she was discussed publicly at all, it was with disapproval of her absenteeism and her cold treatment of her husband, who was an extraordinarily popular emperor.

Finally, her story came to an end when she was stabbed to death by an Italian anarchist in Geneva. He had traveled to the city to assassinate someone else, but he changed his plans at the last minute and killed Sisi instead.

It was only after her death that Sisi became a publicly revered figure. Emperor Franz Josef’s intense grief inspired memorials to Sisi across the country, and as savvy businessmen realized the profit to be made in selling Sisi-related trinkets, her reputation grew to mythic proportions. Ironically, the gift shop at the end of the tour is filled with just those sorts of trinkets that feed into the blind reverence that the museum was made to illuminate.

The end of the Sisi exhibit leads right on into the rooms where Franz Josef worked, slept, and saw visitors--furnished just as they were in his time.

We learned how Franz Josef was an extraordinarily dedicated ruler--working every day from before dawn until after dark. He made it a point that any citizen of the empire, no matter how lowly, could request an audience with him. On average, he would have a hundred such meetings every morning.

When he wasn’t meeting with his nobles and citizenry, Franz Josef was doing paperwork. He was interested in every facet of his empire, and he read every document he signed. While many leaders throughout history suffered for their disinterest in the minutiae of ruling, Franz Josef fell too far in the other direction.

His bedroom, though palatial in build, was austerely furnished. He slept in a small iron bed and used a small, plain washbasin. The only real ornamentation was a kneeler that Franz Josef used for prayer. Like all good Habsburgs, Franz Josef was a devout Catholic.

Franz Josef was also a devoted husband and father. Pictures of Sisi and their children were some of the few embellishments that occupied his otherwise austere desk.

Next to Franz Josef’s rooms were Sisi’s rooms, which even the emperor himself could only enter after ringing a bell for permission. Unlike Franz Josef’s rooms, Sisi’s were large and lavishly furnished.

Next to her bedroom, we saw Sisi's dressing and exercise room--where most of her time at the apartments was spent. Her ankle-length hair required three hours of brushing every day, and she used the time to read classics and study foreign languages. When she wasn’t reading, writing, or riding, Sisi would exercise in this room using a ladder, pull-up bar, and set of parallel rings.

Recreational exercise wasn’t really a thing at this point in history--especially among royalty--so this only added to Sisi’s borderline-scandalous reputation for eccentricity.

Unlike Franz Josef’s study, which was filled with pictures of Sisi and their children, Sisi’s exercise room was filled with pictures of her childhood home and family in Bavaria. It seems clear that the balance of affection between them was painfully uneven.

Another particularly interesting pair of rooms were painted from floor to ceiling to look like a tropical paradise, complete with vines, fruits, and colorful birds. They’re called the Bergl Rooms, after the artist who painted them.

Outside, walked around the epically scaled palace, seeing gardens and monuments, including a particularly impressive one dedicated to Mozart.

We also saw the Sacher Café and Hotel, home of the world-famous Sachertorte (a crumbly chocolate cake with apricot filling and dark chocolate icing) and a rabbit-crested wiener shack where we would enjoy some delicious food in the next few days.

The next day, we visited the Hofburg Treasury and the Imperial Museum of Fine Arts.

Back at the Hofburg complex, we made our way to a side courtyard--which could have been the central square of a major palace in its own right--then through an ornate red portal into a smaller but still sizeable courtyard that lead to the treasury.

The treasury tells a bit more of the history of the Habsburg dynasty, but mainly with regard to the coronations of various Habsburg rulers. Room after room are filled with their crowns, robes, orbs, scepters, and other regalia.

And Treasury isn’t just a fanciful name. When you enter, you can see the original iron door that lead into it in earlier centuries.

We did learn why the Habsburgs were so intent on holding onto Prague and the rest of Bohemia. According to the medieval rules of the Holy Roman Empire, emperors were elected by a council of nine individuals--three arch-bishops and six prince-electors.

Like the Medicis in Florence, the Habsburgs didn’t hold any official authority over the election of rulers, so they had to rely on politics, manipulation, and sheer wealth to exert their will.

But one of the six prince-electors was the king of Bohemia--the Habsburgs’ next-door neighbor. So when the Habsburgs incorporated Bohemia into their territories, they gained an official seat at the table. And from then on, all but one of the elected Holy Roman Emperors were Habsburgs.

The Habsburgs were also deeply religious, and the treasury includes a numbingly large display of altarpieces, reliquaries, and other religious art. Nearly all of it is made of gold, ivory, jade, amber or amber and encrusted with gemstones.

Even the whips they used to scourge themselves for penance were luxurious.

And because the Habsburgs made sure to marry into the royal families of any kingdoms they didn’t directly control, their collection includes artifacts from all across Europe and even from the Americas.

For example, Napoleon’s second wife was a Habsburg, and the treasury includes a number of Napoleonic artifacts, such as a ridiculously fancy crib used by their son Prince Napoleon II.

The treasury also holds a staggering collection of gemstones and jewelry, including gilded flower vases, a giant aquamarine, and a wall full of opal necklaces, earrings, and hairpins.

There's even a lidded cosmetics box carved out of a massive 1.3 pound emerald.

Near the end of the treasury, we saw some of the Habsburgs' most precious relics: the spear that pierced Jesus's side on the cross, a forearm-sized fragment of the cross, and gem-encrusted saber that belonged to Charlemagne--the man who united the lands that would later become the Holy Roman Empire.

None of it's real, of course, but that's beside the point.

After the treasury, we left the Hofburg to get some lunch at the nearby sausage stand. Along the way, though, we ran into a group of horses that were being moved from the Royal Stables. You have to pay extra to visit the stables, but we got to see them for free right on the street.

The sausages were fantastic. It may not look like much, but this pairing of simple bread and meat, anointed with a squirt of curry ketchup, is a true culinary and cultural masterpiece.

Anyway, after that brief diversion, we headed over to the Museum of Art History (officially known as the Kunsthistorisches Museum) just across the street from the Hofburg. If the treasury had upped the ante from the silver collection, this museum changed the game entirely.

Many of the world's great museums started as royal palaces or noble estates, but this museum was purpose-built by Emperor Franz Josef I as a palace for his family’s vast collection of art. And its grandeur could rival the palace of any king or emperor.

The top floor holds the museum’s painting collection while the ground floor houses statues and other artifacts. We started with the ground floor.

As Jessica put it, we’d never felt so pathetically poor in all of our lives. Not even at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome or in Versailles. Not even close.

This is a golden centerpiece for holding salt and pepper.

This is a basin made of solid lapis lazuli--a stone so precious that a few grams ground into pigment might be worth more than all of a Renaissance artist’s other supplies combined.

This is part of a set of gold and mother-of-pearl cups that constituted a measurable percentage of the empire’s wealth when they were made.

See this lovely painted chest? Look closer.

Those aren’t paintings--they’re mosaics crafted from painstakingly selected precious stones.

This is a gilded automaton shaped like a boat. It propels itself on hidden wheels, the drummer drums, the horn-blowers raise and lower their horns, and the cannons actually fire in small puffs of black-powder. It was made in the 1500s.

This is a room filled with similar automata, which were made as entertaining symbols of the empire’s technological dominance.

Again and again, we saw all these artifacts that--if there had been only one or two of each--would have constituted a delightfully enchanting collection. But practically piled up as they were, they somehow became less impressive and more offensive.

Early on in the museum, Jessica and I started to joke about how we hated the Habsburgs. But by the end of this exhibit, the feeling had started to become genuine.

At least as we walked through the extravagances of St. Peter’s Basilica or Versailles, we could tell that they were built for a purpose--to stand as a physical embodiment of an ideal or edifice. Sure, they represent a fabulously unfair distribution of wealth between the commoners and the elite, but at least they stood for something. Walking through them felt like walking through history.

Walking through the Habsburg collection felt like walking through the discarded toys of privileged rich children. All those gilded and bejeweled knickknacks seemed to represent nothing more than obscene wealth mixed with insecurity and boredom. They feel made to amuse and impress an audience once or twice, then put away forever. Until they were put on display in the twilight years of the empire, I doubt many of them had even been enjoyed or appreciated by anyone in ages.

Much more enjoyable was the museum’s collection of Egyptian artifacts, which included sarcophagi, etched tablets, and even surviving pieces of an Egyptian book of the dead.

And the painting collection on the upper floor was also suitably impressive, but we were too tired and overwhelmed at that point to give it the appreciation it no-doubt deserved. We did get to see some extremely famous paintings, however, including Pieter Bruegel's Tower of Babel and a dramatic landscape by Peter Paul Rubens.

The next day, we made our last Hofburg stop at the New Palace Collections, which include the imperial armory and (tragically closed for renovation) musical instrument collection.

But first, we breakfasted at Café Central--a gorgeous 19th-century café where some of the most famous and infamous intellectuals of the time sipped coffee and discussed their theories. Sigmund Freud and Leon Trotsky were regulars, as was a young aspiring artist named Adolf Hitler.

Jessica and I both had kaffee verkehrt--basically Austrian latte macchiatos. They were excellent, and we found the waiters to be perfectly hospitable despite their reputation for grumpiness. Their odd combination of cheerful smiles and shamelessly blunt comments felt charmingly Austrian.

We also had scrambled eggs and ham served in a cast-iron pan, and they may have been the best eggs we'd ever had in our lives. Feeling indulgent, we ended our breakfast with a slice of sachertorte, which was delicious but also a bit dry--as is tradition, apparently.

Even with one of the two exhibits we wanted to see closed--and despite the building being unusually hot inside--our visit to the New Palace Collections was well worth it. The armory takes up nearly the entire top floor of the museum and holds a massive collection of arms and armor--both practical and ceremonial.

And best of all, we could take all the pictures we wanted.

There was hardly any other visitors in the armory besides us. The floors creaked loudly wherever we went, and extremely sensitive motion detectors kept going off whenever I got close to take pictures--summoning each time a docent who had perfected the look of "I'm not mad, just disappointed."

There was a collection of foreign arms and armor that the Habsburgs collected during their reign, and a small case of especially wicked-looking gear.

And Jessica found a collection of early modern emoji helmets

As we wandered on our own, taking pictures and admiring the armor, I was able to catch a glimpse into the closed musical instrument collection, which was closed off in a corner of the floor.

Last but not least, we found a collection of spectacularly decorative firearms tucked away in a corner of the central atrium.

From what we gather, they look better than they ever actually worked.

One level down, we peeked into a collection of artifacts celebrating world cultures--particularly those affected by European colonialism. We were pleasantly surprised by the size and tasteful presentation of the collections, and we ended up walking around the entire thing.

There are pieces from across the world, including the Americas, Africa, Arabia, Australia, the Pacific islands, and even Japan and China.

And our native Bay Area, apparently.

For the most part, the collection seems to do a good job of contextualizing the collection in a non-Eurocentric way. It does tend to gloss over the harsher elements of how Europeans affected these cultures for the worse, but I think that can be excused in the name of focusing on the cultures themselves.

Besides the Warriors cap, the highlight of the collection was a delightfully creep Hawaiian war mask made of feathers, seashells, and dog teeth.

And we got to see some musical instruments, after all.

Overall, the imperial complex in Vienna is suitably impressive--one of very few sites we’ve seen that truly lived up to their reputation in that regard--but I have to say that it mostly rang hollow for us. The more serious museums are impressive, but they feel relegated to the fringe--filling out rooms that only the most curious travelers peek into.

To us, the main exhibits of the Hofburg amounted to little more than a puffed-up ostentation of wealth and a rose-tinted reflection on the twilight years of a dusty empire that had long-since outlived its era.

At this point, you might think that we left with a poor impression of Vienna, but that's absolutely incorrect. We loved Vienna--it’s architecture, it’s wealth of art and culture, it’s refreshingly relaxed pace of life. It’s like being in Paris but without all the traffic.

And the coffee. I may still not have a well-developed taste for the stuff myself, but after making our first honest-to-goodness brewed coffee in months, Jessica was practically enraptured.

Along with Venice, Austria was one of the first cities in Europe to adopt coffee from the Middle East, and they have been refining it ever since. The drinks menus at the cafes we’ve visited here have all had a minimum of two pages dedicated just to different varieties of coffee.

At the Hofburg palace café, Jessica had enjoyed a melange--basically an Austrian cappuccino. I had a hot chocolate, which was easily one of the best I’ve ever had. It was somehow rich and mild at the same time. Nothing like the thick drinking chocolate that we had with churros in Madrid, this chocolate was light and milky in body yet possessing an intense flavor that seemed to fill my mouth with the smallest sip.

We got plenty of chances to admire the impressive Vienna State Opera house, which is right between the Hofburg and the metro stop, but we never actually went inside (except for two misguided minutes trying to browse the wildly overcrowded gift shop).

We also saw the even more impressive St. Stephen’s Cathedral, and that time we did go inside.

The patterned roof reminded us of the Burgundian roof tiles we saw in Beaune and Colmar. Which might make sense given that Burgundy used to be a Habsburg domain.

We also took the opportunity to exchange our Polish and Czech currency for Euros at a miserable rate from a nearby money-changer.

On our last day, we stayed in and planned most of the rest of our trip. It was surreal to think that there was only a month and a day left before we would be flying home.

Not to let a day go by without some form of drama, we forgot that it was Assumption Day, which is an actual holiday here in still-very-Catholic Austria. When we went out in the afternoon to go grocery shopping for dinner, everything in walking distance was closed.

So, naturally, we partook in the time-honored heathen tradition of going out for Chinese food.

Next Post: Salzburg & Berchtesgaden 

Last Post: To Vienna

[prudencepaccard]

truly bizarre interaction that was like the intellectual equivalent of that thing at the karaoke bar

where this one guy who was part of a friend group I ended up hanging out with at a bar became progressively more deadpan hostile and competitive with me to the point that I finally returned his (explicit) challenges with a lighthearted plea for solidarity and then he claimed there was no competition but he’d LITERALLY SAID THERE WAS

it started with him asking me what my diss was on. I said “the imaginary of the bagnes metropolitains in the nineteenth century” and then used some synonyms in case he didn’t know what I meant because that happens sometimes, people only know one term so I was like “i.e., the bagnes metropolitains and the bagnes portuaires“ and he still seemed not to get it so I was like “travaux forces [hard labor]” and he was like “in what era?” and I repeated “the nineteenth century” and he seemed confused so I thought I’d address the most common source of confusion and said “not Guyana, not the colonies d’outre-mer, the bagnes metropolitains” and he was like “you mean Cayenne?” and I was like “not, precisely not that, the thing that preceded that” and he was like “Ah but that’s not travaux forces, that’s the bagne”

and I was like first of all, what, second of all I said “the bagne” first thing already but seriously what

and he was like “it’s not the same thing, travaux forces is anachronistic, we still have that today”

and I was like “but that was also a specific term used back then, a contemporary descriptive term. Along with the peine des fers. It’s in the code penal and it was used popularly. LIke you’re right that it’s not as specific as bagne but it’s not incorrect to use it interchangeably, they’re part of the same repertoire. Also I said bagne already”

and he’s like “well I didn’t hear you, sorry. And this isn’t an insult or anythiing but I’m just saying it’s wrong, French is very nuanced”

and I’m like “yes but it’s actually a very specific and correct term in this particular context. I get that there could be ambiguity potentially but since I’ve already estavlished that I’m talking about the bagne then travaux forces is a precise and apt term”

and he’s like “prisoners and bagnards aren’t the same thign”

and I’m like “yes but the word travaux forces can describe both. There’s overlap in some of the vocabulary and that’s one of the words in the middle of the Venn diagram. I get what you’re trying to say but you’re going too far”

“no, I don’t agree, you can’t use that term, it’s wrong”

“listen let me find an analogous example in English...so like, we use the term hard labor to describe actual practices today, right? but it’s still correct to say Oscar Wilde was sentenced to hard labor in the Victorian era”

“well how about the word slavery? would you use that interchangeably with travaux forces?”

“no, because it’s not juridique”

“aha see they’re three different things!”

“no they’re not that’s my point, there are two categories, travaux forces and the bagne have things in common with each other whereas slavery is in its own category”

“but they used the word slavery back then for the bagne too! [implying, I guess, that if it’s incorrect to say slavery for the bagne it’s incorrect to say travaux forces too]”

“only ona  metaphorical level, the bagne was never characterized as slavery in legal documents etc. Travaux forces is a technical term”

“hey sorry I need a smoke” and then he just ended it there

and then later he asked me how many languages I knew. I’d already complimented him on his English and been genuinely impressed that he knows/dabbles in four languages which is more than I study seriously

but he was still just...like this. I told him I was only fluent in French and English but that I’d studied Russian in college and Mandarin as a middle schooler. I was very clear I suck at Russian and have forgotten all my Mandarin. Nonetheless later he made a reference to me speaking four languages and I said I didn’t and he kind of rolled his eyes and shrugged

and eventually he just...started quizzing me on words. Like do I know what this means, do I know what this means, it was super weird and confrontaitonal. And if you know me you know I have a SERIOUS complex about Getting Credit For PRecisely What I Know No More No Less. You also know that I am quite intellectually generous and will never be the first to start a competition but I also don’t like to lose so if I’m challenged I’ll be extremely petty and not my best self. While meanwhile trying to remain as collegial and kind and generous as possible under the circumstances. it’s weird like that

so there was this mix of me desperate to prove I knew a word when I did and ALSO being super chill and genuinely not insecure if I didn’t because I’m Happy to Learn. And BOTH these reactions seemed to spur him on. I think if anything the latter annoyed him more...like punching a too-yielding surface

That second act, btw, seems to have started when he said something slangy to his friend and then said “I ebt you don’t know what that means” and I said “yes I do!” (but like in a cheerful relaxed way because I didn’t know how weird this was going to get) and it turns out that I’d misheard what they’d said, like it was a good guess. But also he misunderstood what I’d misheard and said no I actually said XYZ which as another thing I didn’t hear him say at all (let alone mishear) and which had I heard it I actually WOULD have known what it meant becuase unlike the expression I’d (actually) misheard I knew what it meant. It was “entraver que dalle” which means “understand nothing” and it’s an expression I know from the title song of the movie “Rififi” (which I love so much I bought a lead sheet of it from the 1950s off French eBay and brought it to Marie’s Crisis. Unfortunately the key’s a bit high for me though). It goes “Vous avez l’air d’entraver qu’dalle, a mon histoire quand je vous parle, du rififi...” etc. Ironically about explaining slang. Anyway I like that phrase because it’s delightfully old slang but I’d never heard it said IRL for precisely that reason. So obviously I was kinda eager to show that I knew the expression and how etc. But he was just not returning the ball at all. Like I tried to do some wordplay like “I’ve always wondered wtf the origin of that expression is, it’s so weird, like [*”translates” it laterally in French by substituting synonyms for “entraver” and “dalle”--���enchainer que pave”] it’s a strange combination of words” and he shurgged and was like “yeah but it doesn’t work like that. It’s idiosyncratic. Like “bagne”

BRO

but fellas hands down the worst part was when I was right about someting and he made me doubt myself/concede part of the point because I didn’t want to be both wrong and arrogant (you know how much I hate that). So anything I was less than 100-percent-sure-I-can-cite-sources (i.e., anything intuitive or inferential or built on a foundation of knowledge that yielded a conclusion greater than the sum of its parts) was forfeited and UGH

like at one point he used the word “decortiquer” and asked me “do you know what THAT means” and yes I absolutely do, it’s not even slang/langage courant

and he was like “WHAT”

and I was like “explain, analyze”

and he was like “no”

and I was...confused ebcause...what do you mean “no”? So I thought hm maybe I’m missing some nuance and somehow that made me totally wrong? so I continued like “well like--reduce to its elements--”

and he’s like “omg guys look I can’t even define it in French and she’s doing it in a non-native language fuck”

and it’s liek WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM I DIDN”T WANT TO EVEN PLAY THIS GAME YOU STARTED IT

like who challenges someone to a contest and then pouts because they other person won

(not that you can “win” a conversation!!! irjfiejrdfi FUCK THIS)

and possibly-showing-off-but-also-trying-to-overcompensate-because-I-don’t-know-what-he’s-doing-here I continued like “it’s from Latin ‘cortex’ which means bark [ecorce in French] so when you decortiquer something you’re stripping off the bark and exposing the heart of the tree/matter”

and he just flatly goes “no I don’t think that’s the derivation”

and I’m like “maybe not, I might be saying nonsense”

“that’s not the derivation”

“what is it? if you know, I’m curious about what the etymology really is”

“I don’t know but it’s definitely not that”

(I’m home now. googled it. and

welp.jpg)

then it just kept getting worse like he used the word “branlee” to describe what I was doing to him and then asked me if I knew what it meat and I neede dmore info so I was like “yes--wait” and he was leike “DO YOU OR DON’T KNOW” and I was like “well is it like ‘se branler’ or ‘ebranler’? same root?” and he was like “NO” and in hindsight it definitely is but whatever I DON’T MIND BEING WRONG OR LEARNING THINGS

and after he gave me a definition which made it clear he felt we were in competiton and he was losing--plus some EXTREMELY passive-aggressive “it’s a really common expression, it’s frankly surprising you don’t know it, blah blah” which I responded to with a cheerful “yeah I have a lot of lacunae then that! thanks for helping me!” and he with “yeah it’s really weird you didn’t know that” and me with “I know lol” and him with “I’m glad I could help you learn some French at least”--I finally was like “this branlee thing though, that’s really not what I’m doing! can we be solidaire instead?” (but like as nonconfrontationally as possible) and he was like “oh it’s not a competiton I’m just saying French people are like that”

well either way KNOCK IT OFF

[stolligaseptember]

reason #156 why i hate arrow

okay, so ever since this post took off, people have misunderstood my righteous anger about arrow, their treatment of the black canary and how they are trying to convince me that whoever is under that hood is somehow oliver queen?? do they think i’m stupid? no i’m not, that’s not our ollie and everyone knows that.

i chose to make a separate post for this, because the primary post went so many different directions, and i don’t want to call out one single person, because like i said, they misunderstood my intentions and because dAMN AM I SALTY

so okay, first of all; no, this is not about lauliver. i’m a green canary shipper down to the core of me, but i literally couldn’t care less about lauliver. because everyone knows that every and all incarnations of dinah laurel lance deserves someone 10000000x better than arrow!oliver, and especially arrow!laurel. arrow!oliver deserves to burn in a trash pit, but we’ll get back to that later.

no, my anger comes from their mistreatment of the black canary as a myth and all her various incarnations in and of herselves. ?? why they had to do that, this is making no sense, but sTAY WITH ME HERE.

i started watching arrow because i’ve been a black canary fan since i was yay high. imagine me gesturing for something being about three feet tall. black canary is my all time favorite super hero across all genres, mediums, timelines, publications and what have you. she’s just my fave, okay?

and i knew that they couldn’t do a green arrow show without the black canary. there is no green arrow without the black canary.

so i sat down to watch the first episode, excitement up to my teeth, and i was just so prepared. i was about to see my childhood hero for the first time in a live action tv show. i didn’t watch smallville, okay?

and i knew from the first moment i laid eyes on katie cassidy as laurel lance that she was going to be the black canary. i just knew it in my bones. like, it was just meant to be.

and i played along for a really long time. like i kind of understood what they were trying to do, fitting the green arrow mythos into a modern and more “realistic” setting. also, having arrow as the first hero in the universe meant that they had to go about bringing in the other characters and their origin stories in new ways. and i had an understanding for that.

i really, really had.

but there just comes a point where you go “screw it, you done fucked up”.

and i don’t remember when i precisely reached that point, but let’s just put it that i did, okay?

because the arrow crew did not do the black canary justice.

first of all, like i said; i don’t understand why they had to split her into two?? don’t even get me started on whoever that new dinah drake is, i can’t be bothered. and i haven’t gotten the time to get around to watch legends of tomorrow, so i don’t know if the white canary is making any sense, but the black canary is just a??????? like, i love both sara and laurel, they’re both my darlings, but it’s just??????????? what??????????????????

and in the end it doesn’t even matter, because either way, they both end up dead??

what the actual hecking fuck????????

but okay, discarding that, rolling with whatever crack the writers were on, you introduce sara as the seasoned black canary to match the green arrow, which is fine and all, until you kill her and pass the mantle along to laurel, which, okay, i’m still rolling, i’m still somewhat with you for some goddamn reason. 

but then you turn around and repeatedly beat laurel down with an iron pole. like, literally too.

and this was probably, in retrospect, where i lost my shit.

that is not what the legendary black canary deserves.

you could have gone about this so many different ways and i’m screaming just thinking about it. let oliver train her!! send her away to some faraway land to have her trained by some weird mystical powers!!! let her have a steadily climbing learning curve, the way any normal fucking person would!!!!!!!!

BUT DON’T FOR FUCK’S SAKE BEAT HER TO A PULP AND THEN REPEATEDLY TELL HER THAT SHE’S WORTHLESS AND IGNORANT AND NOT WORTHY THE TIME OF DAY.

i’m just, i’m just. oh my god. aaaaaaaargh. i’m so ready to punch a dude.

okay. okay, i had to take a break here, but i’m back now, and i think i’m okay. i think.

so. arrow did the black canary wrong. agree or don’t, i don’t really give a fuck. this is my darling, and this is my opinion.

but arrow also completely missed the entire point of green arrow and black canary’s relationship. like, they couldn’t even have gone more wrong even if they had tried.

and that’s what my original post is pointing out. that the black canary and green arrow’s relationship is a partnership. they’re each other’s equals and they treat each other as such. and even if there are power dynamics to play around with in their relationship, of who’s the better combat fighter, who’s the more experienced vigilante, or whatever, they still treat each other as equals. they see each other as equals.

and this is not inherent just to the comics. this is the black canary and green arrow’s relationship throughout all other media. it’s arrow the tv show that screwed it up. all on their own. i don’t know where they got the idea from, but they did.

they decided to screw over one of the most awesome superhero couples in all of history.

and hell, i don’t even care about the romance. they’re just a great duo for kicking bad guys asses. and they respect each other while doing it.

but arrow decided to give oliver every single little chance to belittle and ridicule laurel. and yes, maybe it makes logical sense for him to do it, but that’s because the writers wrote their scripts to make that possible. it’s the writers that decided to belittle and beat down laurel lance every chance they got. they chose to write the black canary off as inconsequential and insignificant.

and as a lifelong fan of hers, that is inexcusable to me. i cannot stand for that.

i refuse to stand for that.

i refuse to stand and witness as a influential multimillion tv show turn my favorite super hero, and a female one at that, into a laughing stock and a ladder for their male titular character's superiority complex.

because whoever they are trying to sell the green arrow as, is not our, my, oliver queen.

oliver queen is a compassionate, dorky and brave man who is trying his best and worships the ground dinah lance walks on.

arrow!oliver is a flaming dumpster fire who deserves to burn.

so yes. i’m angry. and i proudly declare that i hate arrow.

can you blame me?

[oumakokichi]

Hi again. So for my question, can you place the NDRV3 characters based on Celesgami's comparison labels and list the seasons on why they would fit there please? You can also alter the labels for the characters to fit if you need to.

Of course I can! For anyone wondering, the post in question with @celesgami‘s labels can be found here!

In the interest of keeping this post from getting way too long, I probably won’t post actual pictures alongside the labels, and there might be some that don’t necessarily fit but have to kind of be tweaked or adjusted in order the ndrv3 cast to fit. Since ndrv3 is largely a subversion on the first two games, it makes sense–but I’ll still do my best!

Okay, so let’s do this:

The Ahoge: SaiharaObviously Kaede and Kiibo both are potential fits too, but in the spirit of going with “the protagonist we actually play as,” and as Saihara’s ahoge was literally so big and so stupidly pointy and adorable in the VR world in Chapter 4 that I actually kept commenting on it when I was watching, I’m going with him.

The Tech Princess: MiuNot exactly most people’s first pick, I know. She’s not similar personality-wise to either Chihiro or Nanami. But as she’s the only character with a technologically-inclined talent and she definitely contributes quite a lot with said talent, she’s the only one who fits.

The “Unpopular with the Fandom Because I’m Not Conventionally Attractive”: RyoumaObviously because Ryouma’s design was intentionally a throwback to designs like Yamada and Teruteru, he fits here. But he’s also a subversion, partly because unlike those two he’s neither perverted nor gross to the other characters, and partly because he’s actually quite popular with the fandom, from what I’ve seen. Ryouma fans are really dedicated and lovely, actually. But the implication is still that “he won’t be as popular as he would if he were conventionally attractive,” and that’s true.

The “Precious Angels Who Did Not Deserve to Die”: KiiboMy instinct is to actually put Tenko here, but Tenko is the only character who fits the bill for another category later on, and I’m better off saying that it’s Kiibo instead. Really, there’s plenty of characters who could fit this one (and plenty who couldn’t).

The Big-Hearted Muscle: GontaGoes without saying. His size and stature and kind heart are all probably very deliberate references to characters like Sakura and Nidai. Damn Chapter 4 in every game.

The “Food????? Food. Food.”: AngieIncredibly enough, there was not a single ndrv3 character who actually fit for this trope. The food jokes were at a minimum in the entire game beyond maybe Kirumi’s ability to cook any breakfast anyone could possibly want. But I’m putting Angie here because if you replace “food” with “god,” the one-trackness of her interests is pretty much the same. She’s also somewhat similar physically to Aoi and Akane, so I feel like she’s literally the only one I can put for this.

The Tragic Past and Hella Self-Esteem Issues: TsumugiFits the bill not only for her physical similarities to Fukawa in particular, but also because it’s ironic that her self-esteem issues in particular are actually subversions in many ways. She’s also tragic specifically because her inability to feel or distinguish anything at all without throwing herself headlong into fiction and death means she lost her ability to tell what was real or genuine around her at some point.

The Misunderstood Gang Leader: OumaHilariously enough, and having looked at all the other options, I really do think this is Ouma’s best fit. His gang might be literally a group of prankster clowns and his being misunderstood might be almost entirely self-inflicted, but it still fits. It also is perhaps the only thing that somewhat goes with his title.

The Solitary Protective One: MakiInterestingly enough, while Maki fits both as being solitary and protective of the people she cares about, she’s also a subversion in some regards. Really, she’s much closer to a Peko than a Kirigiri, and it’s important to note that her desire to protect the people she cares about actually doesn’t keep her from accidentally hurting them sometimes.

The Gothic Princess: KirumiI changed the title here just because I’m personally not really fond of the word “bitch,” really. But Kirumi fits this one pretty spot-on, and wound up being much more Celes-like than I ever thought possible. Just…a smarter Celes.

The Rich Pretty Princess: KaedeAs much as I don’t like putting Kaede here because I feel like it reduces her character, it’s true that if this is something based on appearance and perception by the rest of the cast, she’s really the only one who could really fit. And there was also a line from one of Tsumugi’s FTEs where she mentioned cosplaying or dressing up as a princess, so it’s clear that she’s regarded as “pretty” and “successful” by the rest of the group.

The Magical Weirdo: HimikoMuch more of a Gundam than a Hagakure, definitely. In keeping up with the spirit of being super chuunibyou, she also uses super outdated Japanese and refuses to admit that her talent isn’t actually linked to sorcery or witchcraft.

The “Boys Are Nerds Anyway”: TenkoSee, this is what I meant about only Tenko fitting the bill for this. Like Mahiru, of course, she’s perfectly friendly to boys as long as they’re not being ridiculously aggressive or violent or assholes in general.

The Hot Useless Dork King: MomotaI’m actually stumped here because Momota is a dork but I wouldn’t call him hot or useless by any means. Then again, I also don’t really understand why Souda or Leon are considered hot in this category, so I guess it’s just my own personal lack of understanding. Anyway, Momota’s really, really not useless, but it’s true that his slow uptake or “tell ‘em Shuuichi”s are played for comic relief a lot, and that he goofs off in training while Maki and Saihara are taking it seriously.

The COULD U FUCKIN NOT: KorekiyoThis one…really, really goes without saying.

The Walking Spoiler: AmamiThere aren’t really any characters whose sheer existences or appearance constitutes a spoiler in ndrv3 (unless you count Tsumugi’s mastermind sprites, but I don’t count her as a character since she does stay present for the entire game), so Amami only fits here in the sense of “he knew way more information than many of the other characters.” In a sense, he could actually have “spoiled” them all about what was going on, but was killed off before he could do so, much like Mukuro.

The Byakuya Togami: TogamiNdrv3 is our first major DR game without Togami in it at all (beyond existing as a fictional character, I guess). Therefore only the real Togami counts. Possible runners-up still include Maki again (because of the way in which she isolated herself from the group in the first few chapters), or Momota, just because, again, he actually literally says “tell ‘em Shuuichi” plenty of times.

Phew, this was really fun! I’m aware that not all my choices fit the bill perfectly or that plenty of these are reducing very complex characters down to tropes, but that was kind of the point of the thing, so I ran with it the best I could. I hope my choices make sense for the most part!