#ocelot is in there because i needed him there

[meziniart]

mgs but make it iasip

[metalgearstranding]

Of all my takes I didn't realize "blame Zero for what he actually did" would be the one to get me an unfollow lmao

[mosscrab]

mgsv has so many literary references to books i have essays abt it kind of makes me.

[blushouyo]

literally going to kms if mgs∆ is bad

[cerastes]

Habe you ever had a "did we even play the same game?" moment with someone?

My favorite game ever used to be Metal Gear Solid 4, it’s still up there in my top favorites, and this time at a party I met a guy that said he didn’t like MGS4 because he felt like it ruined Snake as a character and that it misrepresented him. I asked if he could elaborate and his response was that they took this Rambo dude, this super manly war hero and emasculated him into a weak old man.

I need you to understand that Solid Snake was without exaggeration fundamental in my growth as a person: I am from a latino country, grew up in what’s widely considered the wrong side of the tracks in the middle of nowhere, being macho, manly, tough was incredibly important to me, because that’s how it was in there, and Snake (plus “The Knight In Rusty Armor” by Robert Fisher) basically made me question all of what I’d grown up thinking up until then, because Snake isn’t a badass because grrr manly beef jerky I kill and swear, he is this incredibly solemn guy who hates what he can do, but is the only one that can do it, and if he doesn’t do it, then nuclear war happens, or worse. There’s a whole angle of expectation as a narrative arc in regards to Snake: Meryl expected a glorious, boisterous war hero, Otacon expected a grizzled, badass action hero, Liquid expected Himself But Better In Every Way, Ocelot expected a tool and nothing else, Naomi expected a callous and cold killer… And they were all wrong, he is, ultimately, an exhausted man that cannot stop no matter how much he wants to stop, because if he does, the world might likely go up in literal flames.

So to hear this self-proclaimed superfan of Snake say this just made me skip anger and go all the way to pity. In-universe, those in the know of Snake worship him as an actual God of War, and it’s a common thing that gets addressed in-universe: The whole point of MGS2 is that Raiden could never have won if he tried to be Snake, because you don’t want to be Snake. Snake hates being Snake. Snake isn’t manly because he beat a tank on foot one on one, Snake is admirable because he does the right thing, even if he’s breaking down molecule by molecule as he goes and he wants nothing more than to fuck off and raise dogs in the arctic, but keeps on going anyways because he can do something about it. The most important message he imparts on Raiden and Meryl is Don’t Be Me; Create A World Where Snake Doesn’t Need To Exist.

I felt pity because if you feel like MGS4 misrepresented Snake, then you really and explicitly are exactly the kind of fodder PMC nobody that feeds the proxy wars in MGS4. I think only by skipping every cutscene you can come out thinking that way. The only thing super about him was ficial.

[bunniekittiee]

Imagine Bi-Han’s S/O and Tomas sharing a strong sibling(in law) bond, they became their other half who enjoyed sharing their one braincell. I just thought it would be funny and that Tomas is fun to get along with.

I can definitely see that! I have written a few headcanons about Bi-Han's s/o and Tomas interacting (like finding the ocelot named Jia), as well as ones with Kuai Liang. I go into their relationship more here, but I am happy to go more in depth with Tomas and Bi-Han's s/o. I just wrote for fem. reader because it was a bit easier that way and I got less tongue-tied, but it can be read from any angle.

Bi-Han's S/O and Tomas' Relationship

Bi-Han's s/o usually keeps him in check when it comes to his brothers, especially Tomas.

She knows that Tomas is mostly targeted by Bi-Han's rage, especially for no reason. So, she does her best to keep Bi-Han's comments to a minimum.

Tomas always shrugs Bi-Han's rude comments off, but he is happy to know that someone else cares and wants to change it.

Kuai Liang steps in, but he definitely does not do it as often.

Only when Bi-Han is being extremely cruel.

Tomas is the brother that is absolutely down to go out and anywhere of her choice. He is just happy to be out and get a break from the Arctika.

He knows that it is their home, but it is never wrong to get a break every once in a while, right?

They tend to go out as often as possible, and sometimes Kuai Liang will join! It just depends, he is a bit of a homebody.

Tomas takes her out to Madame Bo's often and they definitely get special treatment.

Liu Kang's champions were not informed that Bi-Han had married, so they assumed she was Tomas' s/o.

Tomas did get a little embarrassed and had to tell them that she was Bi-Han's wife. And Johnny was in complete shock.

How could anyone marry the Ice King? (hehe)

Sometimes they will get mistaken for being a couple when they are out somewhere, but they learned to just ignore it.

They don't tell Bi-Han just in case he does get angry and puts a stop to their outings.

But Bi-Han trusts Tomas and his s/o, and he knows that his wife deserves a break from the Arctika. It can be endearing sometimes, and he understands this.

However, he knows how stupid they can be, and that's what can worry him a bit.

One time, Tomas had accidentally told a lady congratulations on being pregnant when she wasn't, and he was nearly skinned alive.

Y/N thought it was absolutely hilarious as Tomas was berated and they both had to run in the alley way in order to escape the angry woman.

They both still laugh about it to this day.

"I would have made the same mistake! I really thought she was." She had told Tomas, so he felt less bad.

Tomas does like the chisme, so if Bi-Han's s/o has any info about the champions or people they know, he wants to hear about it.

There have been many late-night tea times when Bi-Han was swamped with work, and they have both stayed up late talking about other people.

Kuai Liang is not a big chismoso like Tomas, but sometimes he will join.

Tomas is down for spa days, and they will both do face care and meditate together.

When dealing with Bi-Han, it is definitely needed.

Tomas has painted her toes before, and he slathered them with nail polish.

It was like a bad art project, and it made a horrific mess.

Her and Tomas both have a habit of finding random animals, more so after they found Jia. Some of them they take in, others they can't because Bi-Han won't allow it.

An ocelot you can tame, but a bear?! He thought they were absolutely out of their minds.

They came across a baby cow one time, and Tomas was run over by its mother.

Bi-Han's s/o was worried about him, but she did fall over laughing after he got up and looked like he had seen a ghost.

"Her udders were in my face!"

That did not help her laughter.

One time, a cockroach scurried near them, and they were both sent into a screaming mess.

Tomas was full on screaming like a girl. Bi-Han was pissed at first until he saw what it was.

Because they interrupted his work, he left them there to wail about the cockroach that was nearing them.

Kuai Liang had to set it free outside for them to calm down.

Bi-Han did not get laid that night.

[enden-agolor]

you really dont see potential with aidkas? what about as exes? or after aiden redemption?

No, I don't.

I really don't like the whole ex's trope because I really don't see Lukas and Aiden having that kind of relationship at all in the first couple episodes. It's very clear Aiden does not care about, or respect Lukas.

He ignored Lukas when Lukas said he wanted the team to focus on the build, but Aiden kept harassing Jesse and his friends. Honestly? I think Lukas blew up at him at the building competition because we end up seeing them all split off at Endercon. Then Lukas confesses he's not really sure he feels like he's picked the right team. In all honesty, I think that the Ocelots are just a building squad and not a devoted friend group.

If they were truly friends, and if Aiden actually cared about Lukas, then Aiden would have been relieved that Lukas was okay after staying with Jesse and his friends throughout the Witherstorm arc. Sending Lukas to go out alone when there's a world eating monster is reckless and wrong. Logically, his safest bet is to stay with the group, and if Aiden cared about Lukas' wellbeing, he would have acknowledged this and understood Lukas' decision making. Instead, we are shown how bitter Aiden is that Lukas felt comfortable enough with Jesse and his team to stick with them, even if you choose to go back for the Ocelots.

He's cocky and shows no remorse in kicking Lukas out of his own group because what? He made friends who actually care about him? That makes Aiden, Maya, and Gill hardly ever Lukas' friends to begin with if they were so willing to ditch him. Aiden insults him when he's not even around to hear it.

In all honesty, I think the reason Aiden is so damn jealous is not because Lukas stuck around Jesse more, but because Jesse and his friends became heroes. Because the people Aiden hated and harassed became heroes, and he didn't. You can tell this is the case by how obsessed Aiden is with taking down Jesse specifically. He doesn't see either of them as heroes. He sees them as obstacles getting in the way of his own ego.

That is pretty clear with how he showed absolutely no hesitation in pushing either of the two off Sky City. He had no idea there was ground down there. Aiden, in his mind, felt as though he were pushing Lukas and Jesse into the void to be lost forever. The dude is a straight up sociopath.

As for Aiden's "redemption". I think he needs to stay in Sky City and never interact with Lukas or Jesse again. Saying Lukas and him have potential to get together if Aiden apologizes absolutely destroys everything Lukas has worked up to being throughout the games. He found the friend group he needed. He found his own self worth. He found bravery. He found himself without Aiden. The only people who ever brought him down were Aiden, Maya, and Gill. Putting him with his abuser/bully is basically self sabotage. It would be horrible for Lukas. Lukas has moved on and is living his life happily in BeaconTown with Jesse. Aiden needs to move on and understand that the people he attempted to murder are not going to accept his apology. Who in their right mind would? Aiden needs to make up for what he did to Sky City, and I think starting a new life there without the people of his past who's lives he tried to destroy is the right direction to go.

[mksbigg3stfan]

In the first season of MCSM, Lukas has had a place with the Ocelots for a long time. He knows they have rude tendencies that he doesn't agree with, but they really are his only friends. He's only "friendly" with other people. He admires people like Petra and Gabriel, who, to him, seem strong, capable, and liked by everyone despite not trying to get people to like them. (Bro doesn't know he fits that description.) At first, he's kind of scared of the change. Changing groups, changing teams. He doesn't mind helping Jesse, Olivia, and Axel, but the three have very clear opinions on him.

Jesse is very friendly and seems to welcome Lukas in easily. Olivia is wary, but she's willing to let Lukas prove he's not like his friends. Axel, though, feels threatened by Lukas' presence, and he makes that very clear. To Axel, Lukas is the same as the other oceleots. He sees Lukas' genuine kindness as a facade, a way to make fun of Jesse, Olivia, and Axel, and to probably eventually betray them. (By this point, I'm assuming the Ocelots and Jesse group have known each other for a while, and the Ocelots have always bullied them because of how familiar they seem with each other.) Lukas knows his friends aren't the best, so he tries to be lenient with Axel, and show him that he's not trying to bully or trick them. But Axel doesn't want to accept that Lukas can be good.

When people - or people's friends - have been beating down on you for a while, it's tough to trust them. Lukas feels like he's failed at trying to be friends with Jesse group, so he tries to leave. I think that maybe it was around here he was thinking about if he'd been too complacent with his friends. Letting them bully people. Not really thinking for himself or sticking up for anyone, really. And he feels ashamed, and angry at himself, and Axel. (Lukas is only 18, i think, so he's still a teenager. His decison making brain part is nottt done yet guys.)

He has trouble sleeping that night because of it, also because there's a command block wither flying around somewhere wrecking the world, and Petra is left back at the convention (?) With it. Lukas seems like the type of guy to blame himself for Petra being left behind. I think he was probably thinking to himself the whole time that if he was strong enough, Petra would be safe. That it was his fault she was in danger. He probably doubted his abilities a lot too, thinking things like, "If Petra was here she would've helped Jesse solve this faster," "If Petra was here she could've easily found a different route," basically just him thinking Petra is more useful.

If you look at it from Lukas point of view, the whole journey seems very easy to Jesse. Jesse picks up fighting easily despite not having much training or experience. Jesse brings the Order of the Stone together. (I think the conflict over Lukas holding the Order of the Stone tracker was partially due to Lukas being jealous of Jesse, feeling useless and wanting to help. Even if he's jealous, Lukas had grown to admire Jesse and wants them to trust him.) Jesse seems to be the designated leader. With the Ocelots, it might’ve appeared to people that Lukas was the leader, but that was not true at all. It seems like Lukas had mostly always been a pushover, and him standing up for people and himself was something new.

At the beginning of the game, when Lukas wishes the Jesse trio luck, the Ocelots look extremely annoyed with him. (Especially bitchass Aiden he needs to trim those eyebrows.) Lukas arc in the first season seems to be him finding himself and gaining confidence similar to the Jesse group's overall arc because the Ocelots have been stamping all over him and pressuring him into going along with things.

But why?

Why does Lukas let them do those things?

He hates conflict.

He hates making people angry. Even if Jesse takes the route that makes his life a living hell , the worst he does is stomp off angrily and immediately forgive jesse in season 2. He's way too forgiving, and that's why it takes so long for him to go against Aiden, who is the actual leader of the Ocelots.

While Lukas is a pushover, Gill is much worse. He easily lets Aiden take control of the situation and is afraid of him. Aiden seems prone to lashing out when people don't act like how he wants them to, very likely verbally attacking Lukas and Gill when they "step out of line." It doesn't seem like he has gotten physical yet, but Gill was likely afraid of that even possibly happening, so he just let Aiden push him around.

When Aiden betrays Lukas, it would be wrong to say that Lukas didn't see it coming. Selfishly, in his opinion, he wanted to give him just one more chance. One more chance to show that he could change. But then, Aiden forms the Blaze Rods. They ditch him. After they've been friends for so long, Lukas is clueless about what he wants to do. He's angry, frustrated, and cries. For a while, he's aimless, unsure of what to do. His old "friends" are gone, so he doesn't have them to go back to. But Jesse, Olivia, and Axel are there. He considers going to Beacontown, saying hi. But what then?

It's not like he's part of their group.

They're heroes. He doesn't belong with them.

With all this free time on his hands, he decides to write. He has no one to talk to, so where else will he put what he thinks? Lukas had been putting off interacting with Jesse in a non small talk way until he rescued Jesse from the giant ass statue thing. He was too afraid to hear the possibility that Jesse might not want to be friends with him. He hates being alone for so long (Radar is there too but he probably feels mostly isolated) But, in season 2, Jesse welcomes him back, and Lukas finally earns a place somewhere, a place he made on his own.

(Sorry guys I really needed to talk about this somewhere)

[faksyan]

Huey Emmerich, mgs v cast & hypocrisy, a character analysis

Prefacing this with the fact that this is the morally gray franchise with the morally gray characters and I love how it portrays Huey Emmerich precisely for him being Like That. I think he is one of the most nuanced and well-written mgs characters and I'm pretty sure like half of it wasn't on purpose. He is the guy everyone hates for killing his wife (understandabe reason), trying to make one of his kid pilot a giant robot and almost drowning another in a pool (also understandable reason), and, most of all, for being a traitor. And with such a list, feels a bit weird that the accent often falls on that last part, doesn't it. Which is exactly how the narrative wants you to feel about his betrayal, on a surface level.

Every character essential to the Phantom Pain plot gets their "please feel bad for them, sympathize with them" moment, no matter how horrible a person they are. We get multiple monologs from Kaz, we get the 'I was the same way once' interrogation room and the ending of the Truth with Ocelot, we get Paz tapes and 'you're all diamonds' with Venom, we get Code Talker, Quiet, Eli (if they actually finished mission 51), even Skull Face, somewhat (don't even make me start on that guy. how is he less hated than Huey). The point is, the game is trying to make you feel bad for people who murder, torture, and whatever else, and parts of it are working, because it's fiction, and humans and morality are complicated and layered things! But what does Huey get? Torture sessions and tantrums that are framed as pathetic and ridiculous, even when what he is saying makes sense. Because yeah, there's some of that there. It's just that everyone else in the room deliberately doesn't acknowledge it.

When Venom just finds him, the first thing Huey says is that what happened to MSF was Snake's fault. The same during his exile - that there wouldn't have been an inspection, if there weren't a nuke to begin with. and it's like. he's not wrong. Having their own nukes as an independent military organization was a risk Snake and Kaz didn't just take blindly, they knew what could have happened. It was a gamble, and it didn't work out. If it did, it would've been their achievement. It didn't, so it's all Huey's fault, even though literally anyone could've been in his place. XOF weren't even the first to attempt to attack them, Zero was, Paz just didn't succeed. And if Skull Face hadn't either, someone else would have, the attention of the entire world was on them. It wasn't about betrayal, it was Snake and Kaz being drunk on success and biting off more than they could chew. Yes, Huey is a bastard and a traitor, but are we really going to blame all of this on him?

The answer is yes. And the reason is that they need someone to blame that's not them. The whole big theme of Phantom Pain is that Ocelot, Venom and Kaz have to do their best to keep up appearances, for the sake of Big Boss and his reputation. He is a legend, he is above everyone else, and he can do no wrong. Except after the fall of MSF everyone thinks that he can, Ocelot says as much in the briefing tapes. And they can't have that. So they blame it all on Huey. (<- all of this is a dictatorship allegory and critique of governments and military systems btw. 1984 or whatever I haven't read it. yay symbolism.) And blaming Huey is easy.

Huey is not a fighter. His father was a scientist who worked on the Manhattan Project. He was born on the same day as the Hiroshima bombing, his disability was (presumably) caused by his father's exposure to radiation. It's not that there was no choice involved in what he was going to do in life, but it was kind of inevitable that he would get involved with building nuclear weapons. And even when he says he is thinking about quitting upon being found by Snake in Peace Walker, it's Snake who convinces him not to, offering him to join MSF instead. In the PW tapes he also expresses that if it weren't for his disability, he would've been anywhere else, doing something different and living a "normal life".

He talks about the concept of nuclear terrorism there too, about nukes falling into hands of people without state who would be able to use them however they want, and I wonder if that was part of the reason for his betrayal. He didn't make the decision to bring nukes to base, he doesn't actually know these people. If maybe he thought it prevented a hypothetical nuclear catastrophe. Huey does say that he trusts Snake not to use them, that he values how honest Snake is, and is honest with him in return, even telling him things he's never told anyone before, like about his plagiarism of Granin's work. So what changed between then and the inspection, what was his motivation for betraying MSF, why was he approached about it of all people? Did he lie in the tapes, did he change his mind, did Skull Face offer him something that seemed more compelling, just threaten him? We never get to find out anything about it aside from every other character screaming that he's just a coward. No villain monolog, nothing.

Maybe it was about feeling important, like he is in charge, something that the hostility he has faced throughout his life didn't allow him. Huey is a sheep among wolves (wolf in sheep's clothing more like, but still). He does not fit in with the buff cool masculine soldiers, and even while working with Strangelove at NASA, he was regarded as obnoxious and spineless. It's not surprising he agreed to work for Coldman, since he, apparently, was the first person to actually recognize his skills. And even that later turns out to be a lie told to use him. Huey rarely if at all has been treated seriously, he is an outcast, even among people who share his ideas.

All he has is his brain and his knowledge, but it's never framed as much of an achievement (despite people exploiting it left and right), nor is him essentially being the nerd in a military setting ever really viewed as something dorky or endearing by the narrative like with Otacon, because the characters around him don't see him as such (as a result, so don't the players). On top of that, every other person uses his mobility aids to further degrade/harm/threaten him, even though he is already harmless when it comes to physical confrontation. In short, people he is surrounded with just enjoy the powerplay.

Right up until the point he actually does something that hurts them. And this is where my favorite part kicks in.

All three Diamond Dogs' higher-ups blame Huey for slightly different reasons, some maybe even believing that they are in the right and entitled to it (looking at you Kazuhira), but I am more than sure they know what it is that they're doing. And it's not like Kaz lacks self-awareness either, I don't think. Maybe it's denial that some of his actions led to the death of his friends, maybe blind belief in his own martyrdom and self-righteousness (sounds an awful lot like another character we know, huh), it still doesn't change much. How they all frame the story is the same. Huey's powerless and pathetic, but has ruined everything at the same time. And it doesn't really make sense, but everyone on the base agrees. It's the moment where individuals turn into a crowd that demands blood, but at least it's not their commanders it's directed at!

The Questioning Huey (6) tape is a good example of that. I especially like the bit where he starts talking about how DD is not actually a dog, because on a smaller scale, it shows how people on Mother Base just roll with things that are objectively false and turn on anyone who says otherwise. No, DD is our beloved mascot, and we are called dogs, he is just like us. And it's not like DD is just a wolf either, so neither of them are right here. But each of them thinks that they are.

That's why the amount of genuine Huey hate is a bit amusing to see, I guess. Because it's precisely the thing the game is trying to commentate on. None of these people are good. None of them have it figured out. The point is that it's just narrative bias that makes you belive that some are, if not good, at least better than others. In reality, it's never about morals or being correct, just perspective.

Huey himself, on the other hand, falls into another extreme - in his eyes, he's done nothing wrong. Because he can do no wrong, he's powerless, like everyone's alway told him, remember? He sees himself as the victim, because in a lot of cases, he is.

You can say that he is a lying traitor and that the truth serum didn't work on him because of some failsafe Skull Face thought of, but really, would he bother? He didn't even view Huey as anything but a traitor he despised. you know, the guy who was in charge of organizing the betraying part. the guy who put bombs in people and wanted to commit mass-murder on a scale no one has seen before. So the obvious and the most simple answer here is that Huey whole-heartedly, truly believes he hasn't done anything wrong. He thinks he doesn't possess the power to, that he isn't important enough. And it's drilled so deep into him he never acknowledges it's not really true. Even when he kills Strangelove, he still doesn't accept that it is his fault and his actions matter.

That's my favorite part about him, I think. How deep in denial he is about having an impact on the people around him, while also having a sort of god complex when it comes to his machines. How everyone around despises him for it, while being the ones who caused it and doing the exact same thing, refusing to get off the high horse. Metal gear is a messy franchise about messy people, but it's good exactly because it shows what has messed these people up so much. And more often than not, it's the system they're surrounded by, or that they created themselves in an attempt to escape the previous one. It's easy to point at Huey as just a bad person and only that, but I find the context of his whole life and the ways he's coping with it really compelling. There is a lot of complexity to it, and in the end of the day, they are all hypocrites.

[sir-yeehaw-paws]

Random Collection of MGSV Things I Noticed

Venom hallucinates Skull Face or, hallucinates around Skull Face in both the Skull Face mission and directly thereafter. In one, he's just distorting how he looks and sounds, in the second, he just full out see's Skull Face behind Kaz when he's quoting him.

When Code Talker is put back in the chopper after Metallic Archaea, Venom sits him in the seat, but Ocelot buckles him in. This task apparently needed the both of them to pull off. (I guess Venom couldn't just sit Code Talker down and buckle him up too?) You can drive a whole ass tank in front of soldiers and sometimes they just won't notice. But they will sometimes notice your car and put C4 on it to blow it up.

I/ Venom kicked Huey right before accessing the Walker Gear and it stopped him from doing any of his whining or even his usual narration for the entire mission. He was blissfully silent.

Huey has a bag on his head the entire time Skull Face confronts Venom with Sahelanthropus after you rescue him. Because of this, I assume that Huey is going strictly by sound, and the way Skull Face is yelling, to understand what is happening.

(I've mentioned this one before but) Huey tries to lie and claim that he never met Hal-somehow forgetting or thinking Venom wouldn't notice that he had a full on picture of Hal with Strangelove at his desk in the lab.

*This one is from Reddit, but if you're really struggling with Quiet, weather modification+rain will distract her for a few moments. The same trick can be used on the Skull soldiers.

*Shared in a video-you can hit Mantis with the blast arm if you're absolutely struggling with that mission task.

*Mentioned before but this still amuses me: Ocelot implies that Skull Face killed Josef Stalin.

Venom was most likely seasick for most of the boat ride. (See boat tapes for how disgruntled he gets talking about it)

*Another tip from Reddit that I've used myself: You can do offline combat deployments to destroy weapon sheds, transports etc. If you do this and attack outposts and guard posts afterward, they can't call in back up or resupplies temporarily. This is 50/50 on effectiveness and by region.

It is always raining in the cut scene when Venom boards the chopper before the Skull Face mission.

Soldiers knocked out and then put in dumpsters and toilets will NOT wake up for HOURS (nobody asked but the longest I've waited is an hour and a half or so in real time) and the other soldiers will not find them. Sometimes this extends the alert for a long ass time though, so be gentle with it.

Something to separate Venom from Big Boss I never thought of before? When Huey is yammering about cloning to Venom, he quips "It'd make a good movie" (Also implying Huey's talk is bullshit). I find this interesting because we know Big Boss barely watched movies, or gave them any thought at all.

Adding to that, Venom is more logic minded. He outright dismisses Ocelot when he talks about the supernatural, and doesn't appear to hold any belief in it. Whereas Big Boss does, and has personal experience. (This, granted, is something I'd brought up before, but I still find it interesting).

To continue, Venom is hinted to be more sentimental than Big Boss. We all know about making the diamonds from the soldiers ashes. But he also tells Kaz he wants to keep Sahelanthropus on base 'as a mark', and as 'proof we brought at least one crisis to it's end'. (I'm aware this sort of thing has multiple meanings)

When Code Talker is talking about the vaccinations (the infamous ones that render all the men infertile), he later clarifies that it is 'almost certain' meaning that there is a chance it wasn't a 100% guarantee. (Just in case anyone wants to have some fun with headcanons there wink wink)

I'll add onto/expand this list maybe periodically, but I'm in a retrospective mood again so here we are ;)

Add your own too if you like!

[wherevenusholdssomeofficespace]

Why the Llama Incident works

The noodle incident is a trope done in A LOT of shows (PNF has a whole TV tropes page dedicated to its noodle incidents). Technically getting disowned and raised by ocelots is a noodle incident in pnf... we never do know what gets him officially disowned and how he ends up in the care of the ocelots). The noodle incident is meant to just showcase that this character has a history of some sort.

Generally speaking, explaining a noodle incident is a bad idea because the unknown has infinite potential. The intrigue is part of what makes it interesting. People can come up with ideas that are absolutely out there themselves. Usually, coming up with something that will live up to the hype is impossible because the hype of the event has built it up to impossible levels.

Emphasis on the usually.

They literally called it a llama incident. They knew what a noodle incident was, and were purposefully playing with our expectations that it would be an unrevealed event. And, as I said before, PnF has already dealt with its fair share of noodle incidents that go unexplained.

And as a noodle incident it served its purpose. Generally a noodle incident will provide context on what the status quo is without spelling out the details. In Rollercoaster the Juggling Monkey's noodle incident tells us that this is not the first time Phineas and Ferb have had a Big Idea (in fact we never do get what Phineas and Ferb's first Big Idea was). In Milo Murphy's Law the Llama incident tells us that Milo and Melissa were getting into Murphy's Law shenanigans long before Zack came into the picture. Showing us that they're so familiar with each other that situations that might require more context to another person doesn't.

Now bear with me as I go on a bit of a tangent that I promise is related.

The main cast of Milo Murphy's Law is a trio, and one of its members is defined by being the new guy. Zack is kind of an audience surrogate. Melissa is Milo's childhood friend and Milo has lived with this all his life. Generally, they don't need to explain anything to each other, nor do they need to explain anything to their class who is already at least passingly familiar with Milo. But they do to Zack.

I don't necessarily think MML NEEDED the audience surrogate character per se. Quite frankly I think audience surrogate characters are rarely necessary. You can always just start with a group of friends and fill in context via implication. I think it's just significantly harder, because you run the risk of alienating your audience by not allowing them to get settled in what is going on or having your characters talk about things like they don't already know what is going on.

But I don't think its at all an inherently bad storytelling method. I personally find outsider POVs delightful, and a good audience surrogate character is an outsider POV, at least at the start. Zack being new to the whole Murphy's Law allowed him a story about choosing to engage with the hazardous kid, winning him loyal friends and a set of skills he never would have dreamed of before. We get to see him grow, and we wouldn't have seen that if he was Milo's friend the whole time.

On the other hand he also has a bit of a wild background, as the former lead singer of a locally famous lumberjack themed boy band. Which gives Milo and Melissa the chance to join a band. Or for Milo to have a real birthday party. A change in status quo provides opportunities for growth and change, for the whole cast, which is useful in more overarching stories... like MML. It's not NECESSARY of course. Zack could have been a classmate that had always kept his distance before he accidentally got tangled up with Milo and decided he was cool. But there's nothing wrong with him being straight up new either.

And at the most basic level, Zack's complete unfamiliarity provides a nice contrast to Melissa's familiarity and Milo's day to day life. Zack is starting from 0 while Milo has been dealing with this every single day of his life.

So Zack isn't going to know what the Llama Incident is. And while noodle incidents being unexplained is fun for the audience, it isn't going to be so fun for someone who is constantly living with people who know what this Llama Incident is. Of course they could have told Zack the noodle incident off screen, it would have made for a good gag to cut into the story with Melissa and Milo finishing telling Zack the story. But instead, we are treated to an episode that has Zack really beginning to slot into his life as Milo's friend.

Back to the main point.

MML is one of the only shows with enough sheer chaotic energy that it could actually pull off making a group of seemingly unrelated references into a cohesive genuinely interesting story. The whole show is things that could feasibly be noodle incidents, which makes it easy to get a baseline for what could have happened. Milo uses stuff in strange ways all the time, getting tangled up with weird animals and ending up in strange situations. There's no REAL reason to feel like we're missing out on too much. It sounds like a normal Milo situation, just with only him and Melissa... and the fact they keep bringing it up.

And really, if you think about it, its just Planned in Advance Meapless in Seattle. Meapless in Seattle was meant to be a bunch of unrelated clips meant to be a noodle incident of sorts. We wouldn't know what exactly would go down in that fake episode. But they managed to bring everything together into a really fun episode that made sense and honestly lived up to the hype. (At least for me). I mean. They somehow made it work. That's a feat in of itself.

The episode "Llama Incident" starts out implying a completely different noodle incident. We never learn how the kids end up on that branch. That's not important. That stuff happens all the time. Is the Llama Incident more interesting than the other stuff Milo gets into? Not particularly, but it DID involve him using more stuff he didn't normally use.

And the Llama Incident is told in the format of a story. Changing up the format of the episode is always a good way to make an episode feel fresh. I mean, look at The Remains of the Platypus. It's just an episode told backwards but its delightful chaotic fun. Or Delivery of Destiny. Really the only difference is the day follows the perspective of a delivery guy, but we get all our normal plot beats. But both are some of my favorite Phineas and Ferb episodes. If you remove their gimmicks they're pretty basic. Phineas and Ferb build a cheese themed amusement park, and Doofensmirtz's plan is only slightly more novel with brainwashing Perry. Phineas and Ferb building a ride and Doof juicing city hall are pretty typical of them, but Paul's semi-outsider POV (and being one of the closest characters we get to having the full picture of the story we the audience see), makes it feel fun and fresh. It makes the Llama Incident feel special. Even if it isn't my favorite unique episode format, it's still something fresh and fun.

So Milo and Melissa sort of tell the story a bit out of order, because they forget what pieces Zack would and wouldn't have context for or would or wouldn't find interesting. And, again, it's told as a story to Zack, so he asks questions. It's told while they are hanging from a branch, where they cut back to every once and a while to remind us that hey, the group is in the middle of a whole other Murphy's Law incident. We're getting two for one today.

But through the episode we get a bit of a Zack character arc. We've already established that Melissa and Milo are used to this, even if you weren't aware the way they were casually rating it at the beginning of the episode should tell you all you need to know. But Zack isn't completely used to this yet, so he's just nervous. He spends the episode using the story as a distraction, but being genuinely invested. In the end, the story acts as an inspiration to Zack, and he's able to help the group get out of the situation. AND for his trouble, he gets his own mysterious incident to reference. After half a season, he's truly part of the group now. He will continue to grow of course, trying to become braver and cleverer, and he's already made strides since the first episode. But even if Zack isn't really any less part of the group before or after its still a significant moment in Zack's character arc.

And then the Llama Incident comes back the next episode. The date was memorable to Milo, even throughout all of the other chaos in his life. And sometimes that's just how life is. And he uses his knowledge of the event, the way it stuck in his mind, to save him, Dakota and Cavendish from Pistachion's in Missing Milo. What we thought was going to just be a noodle incident, a running gag that functioned to establish just how used to this stuff Milo and Melissa were, turned out to be a plot point. To be fair we didn't NEED to know what the Llama incident was for Milo to choose to go there. We didn't need to know about the Llama Incident to know it was typical Murphy's Law shenanigans. It could have just been more out of context llama stuff. But now we the audience are in on the joke, so when Cavendish and Dakota express confusion, we can revel in the fact we know something they don't. Especially about two characters who themselves were slow revealing information about themselves to us... sure by that point we know their deal but at one point they were as mysterious and out of context to us as the Llama incident. And now we know what the Llama Incident is, and what their deal is.

The Woodpecker incident also is vaguely referred to later with the woodpecker whistle. We may not know the full story there, but it is still satisfying to see Milo's adventures giving him the skills and tools to deal with bigger, actually hostile, threats.

And at the end of the day, even if the Noodle Incidentness of the Llama Incident is ruined, it was immediately replaced with the Woodpecker incident. Which admittedly is never mentioned, but it doesn't need to be. The point of the Llama Incident was to draw attention to a specific incident to make a gag out of it. But they have incidents all the time. And we're privy to most of them. We sometimes get references to other incidents that we never fully get the context for. But we don't need context. We know how it'll go anyway because we have a whole show of effective noodle incidents.

[murkystarlight]

It's time I finally say it- *sigh*

I don't think. The Ocelots were friends.

Yeah- wow. What?! How could you say that?? Where did you even get that idea from? Huh? It makes no sense!!?!

I know. I know. But I have my own thoughts. My brain- doesn't like how they are friends. Because they don't seem like friends. Like for starters, Aiden, Maya and Gill were literal bullies. Lukas, didn't give a crap when he saw them bullying us. If you are a friend, and your friends are bullying someone, you tell them not to do that. Not just stand there and go "well, that's none of my business".

And even if he was just too scared to confront them, he's the leader apperantly? Also, if he's getting manipulated... Lukas probably would've said or done something about it(or left them even. Though this one probably ain't the case). We know Lukas is a coward at the beginning. But he isn't that much of a coward. And he is not someone who wouldn't not stand up to himself. He stood up to Axel. Why not Aiden??

He couldn't stop them, because they aren't his friends.

But- Lukas literally calls them his friends? You're just saying stuff

Yes. He does call the Ocelots his friends. And yes, I agree. They are a team. How could they not be friends?? What I mean to say is... they aren't really close friends. They weren't childhood friends or.. something like that. That's what I'm trying to say. (And that probably crosses out the- Aiden and Lukas ex-boyfriends thing too-)

They met, for the purpose of winning the building completion. Nothing more. Nothing less. That's my theory. My headcanon. That's just what I think.

Now if you think about it, no one. And I mean no one, other than the Ocelots, have 'matching jackets' or 'a secret handshake'. Because they don't need that to prove they're a team. But the Ocelots- they do. They need something to remind themselves that- 'we are a team. We're in this... together.'

Maybe Aiden, Maya and Gill was a team. But they needed more people, new ideas. And Lukas joined in after? Got... recruited? But I don't think Lukas could have been friends with the Ocelots to the point they were "close"

But they won the building compation like... 9 years in a row. So they must've known eachother for some time. Right? But. In that part where you make a slime block? Lukas mentions something about "you guys seem like close friends" and Axel replies with "what. You jealous?" He is jealous. Of course he is. He also wants to have teammates that care for each other and are close friends. Sure the other Ocelots are friends with him, but not to the point where they go visit each others houses and eat a meal together. The only time they meet is during Endercon. And they decided what to build, and how to get rescoreses and getting the resources. So they never really were that close.

During the Wither storm, we know how the group kept talking about Petra. Hoping she's alive and finding her way here. Lukas mentions it too. Quite a lot actually. But does he ever mention the Ocelots? Nope! Only on the fourth episode when Petra or Gabriel says "I recognize that jacket! When I was getting thrown from that monster" only then does he think about them and remember them. I'm not really overstepping here. He kept mentioning Petra previously, and not only when the others talk about it. He brings it up first in conversations a few times too. Like when he decides to stay behind at the temple and rebuild while waiting for Petra. Hoping she'd come. And in the later sixth episode with the White Pumpkin. Before they find the 'invitation' Lukas mentions Axel amd Olivia. Being worried about them. And- I'll be honest here. I didn't even think about how they could follow us and get stuck in Sky city that is currently in shambles! He cares a lot! But he only remembered the Ocelots after Petra/Gabriel mentions it?? And you could say

The others hate Lukas. And the rest of the Ocelots. Wouldn't it be weird if he talks about them?

Maybe. But no. There are.. a lot of random dialogues in this game as you all know. And Lukas mentioning his teammates/friends? In a subtle way during a conversation? Or maybe just slip it in while talking about finding Petra? It wouldn't be that weird at all! Just a simple "I know you aren't fond of them.. but I hope the other Ocelots are okay.." would have worked perfectly! It isn't weird! He could have easily mentioned his dear dear friends, but no. Not once. Because he isn't that close with them. He just thinks "they're probably doing fine-" and is okay with that.

Now- if we talk about Sky city...

Aiden doesn't seem too unhappy or sad that Lukas isn't on the team. In fact, he ditched Lukas himself!

And Lukas, also doesn't seem so sad about being kicked out. He seems more upset that there's no longer 'the Ocelots'. The team itself. Not the members of it.

In fact- it's almost hilarious, cause Petra seems more pissed off than Lukas is! All Lukas says about Aiden is "he's gotten meaner." Or "Something is happening. He's planning something" nothing about how he got ditched. Maybe he didn't want to talk about it. But it never comes up??! Not even after a while!

And in later scenes, Aiden doesn't care if Lukas dies or not. Just push him off a cliff and oops- is all.

And near the ending of it. If Aiden decides to redeem himself, he says sorry to Jesse. Not a word to Lukas? Not a word with Lukas? LUKAS DIDN'T REALLY GIVE CRAP ABOUT IT EITHER?? ....are you really friends? I mean' just the fact that Aiden ditched Lukas because he seemed to be sniffing around Jesse's gang is weird. If you're such good friends, why don't you try talk it through? It's not even that bad- I know there's a rivalry, but still! Maybe a bit over reacting??

But apparently, Lukas never mentions how he feels about the situation. Like- not once? C'mon. You can't say they were close friends without- Lukas doesn't saying a thing about Aiden or the other Blazerods. Although we do know Lukas is mad at them. But for what? He seemed fine before, or was he just hiding all his anger? It just- it just doesn't sit right with me. I'm sorry- but that's what I think

I'm not saying they weren't friends at all. I'm saying they weren't close friends. Or childhood friends.

I mean I'm just rambling so... just ignore it if you don't like it. And I would gladly ramble more about this if anyone wants me to-.

If you ask me questions about the stuff I said, I will happily (try my best to) answer! And maybe share stuff about why you think the Ocelots were close friends to make me open up more to it.

I mean... I am open to it. But i just like this opinion too much-

[mcsm-confessions]

Twin Jesse au. But as a multiplayer?

I wrote abt this somewhere- wanted to improve what I wrote

So it doesn't actually matter which Jesse you pick. You just need two Jesse's. ....and a friend- which is a problem. I don't have friends to play this with. But, what if you can do it alone too.

2 player mode

You and your friend will pick a Jesse you like, but I guess we would need a voice actor saying the lines of each Jesse's now. But once you play the game, the story goes on and there's a choice, it depends on who chooses first. Yeah. You gotta fight for it >:)

The Jesse of the person who was faster(or let the other person pick) speaks.

And as for bigger choices, you split up. And now playing with two different screens. If you want to do the other one... replay that part and swap the choices. Ellegaard/magnus, go to far lands/distract wither storm. For chooses like- choosing between Petra and Gabriel, one of you goes into the portal first. While the other one stays behind a bit longer. Y'know? So the Jesse's go first and last in line. One of them goes in first to check if it's safe. They get a scene of everyone following into the portal behind them and the other Jesse was going to go in last but Petra and Gabriel got caught in a tractor beam and makes a choice.

When Lukas tries to leave an find the Ocelots, depending on who talks to him, the ending can be altered. Like for example, if jesse 1 was being nice to Lukas during the play but jesse 2 was a bit mean, if jesse 1 talks to Lukas during that scene, he stays(if you let him leave he can leave. But on good terms). If jesse 2 talks to him in that scene, he leaves(on not so good terms)

Or the portal arc. When Petra and Lukas is chipped. Maybe one could get captured by PAMA. Maybe the team splits up into two because you fought with Petra.

But there would be some problems to fix about this. Like, what if I finished playing a certain part, but the other person hasn't. They're taking their time. I guess we can have some extra cut scenes? Like a hidden dialogue-ish?

And for what I meant with playing alone.. it's the same thing. Execpt you play two different Jesse's in one playthrough. You can switch during the game (like- uh.. FIFA?).

But not completely freely. Sometimes you have to stay as a Jesse you picked to play for a certain while before you get to change again.

The problem with this... the play time gets doubled?

~~~

[cosmiiqueer]

replaying mcsm!

i havent touched this game in about 3 years and now im going back through it because i have terrible terrible brainrot

ep 1

-i still had the opening narration memorized oh my god

-THE OLD MINECRAFT TEXTURES DISTRACTED ME SO MUCH absdfkhsh i kept being like :0 old cobblestone texture! when i was supposed to be making choices

-the original oots are all so goofy

-REUBEN, ,, ,, gently holds. baby. protect baby at all costs.

-petra and lukas and their whole thing still make me so insane

-the animation has some really nice little details that i don't remember ever paying attention to before, like jesse's wooden sword breaking in half before poofing. it's a nice blend of minecraft logic and irl logic i think.

-also girl i KNOW you have the materials for a stone sword! you cannot convince me that wooden sword is your best option

-i played mcsm on a tablet in ye olde days, and even though i have played it on a computer before, im not fucking good at it !!! kept almost missing or fully missing arrows and embarrassing myself lmao

-i forgot how unnecessarily STACKED the va cast is like. matt mercer how did you get here

-i love ivor i love ivor so much he is so dramatic

-"ashley johnson sounds like she's trying really hard to sound cool" -my partner. ohhhh he's right. she does.

-i don't actually ship jesstra (kind of over shipping in general) but jesse having a huge dumbass crush on petra is a headcanon i still enjoy. she's silly.

-yes i always play as fem jesse i simply cannot handle oswald's voice for long stretches of time

-I LOVE THE MUSIC SO MUCH, ,, I REALLY MISSED IT. it's so GOOD. i love how many characters and things have their distinct themes, i love how it sounds similar to minecraft music, i'm just literally obsessed with it. ep 1 alone doesn't really have tracks that i go specifically insane over (thats more in s2) but boy does it have some iconic ones. like look me in the eyes and tell me ivor's theme isn't iconic. you can't.

-like i forgot how melancholic the order's temple track is?? that one gave me the most intense 'im still fourteen playing this game for the first time' feeling that i really wasn't expecting

-who in the ocelots had the legit redstone knowledge to make a working rainbow beacon. which one. i need to know.

-truly love the moment of lukas being like "if you're cool with petra, you're cool with us :D" while the other three are standing behind him, VISIBLY not cool with you. peak comedy.

-axel and olivia are the funniest bitches here. some of the jokes fall pretty flat but they definitely have the most lines that do make me laugh

-lukas and axel are such highschool mean girls to each other. calm down.

-heading to Boomtown because i literally don't remember a thing about it lmao

-i still love this game a lot. i stopped hyperfixating on it around 2019-2020, and replaying it back in 2021 didn't rekindle the intense interest i used to have in it. but god, i missed it a lot. i think it's really fun to rediscover something you used to love so much and i'm looking forward to continuing when i have time

[metalgearstranding]

Bit of an Ocelot headcanon I've developped recently...

...Is he faking his voice?

Obviously, the reason his voice changed from game to game is because the voice actor changed, duh. But I was watching a playthrough of MGS1 recently, and when Ocelot gets his hand sliced off, the way he says "my hand!" is just a tiiiiny bit high. Don't get me wrong, I've watched enough Markiplier videos to know that even men with deep bassy voice can screech like banshees lol It still took me back to Snake Eater era Ocelot for a brief second and that made me wonder...

Ocelot has spent his life molding himself into whatever he needed to be, but his own personality and tastes still shine through his love of the American old west. The spurs, the revolvers, the way he walks as if he spent his life riding a horse (I'm very surprised we never saw him with a cowboy hat before actually) etc... Cowboy culture is gruff and manly, and I bet a young Ocelot would've wanted to emulate that. And then there's Snake, who speaks with this deep, raspy AF voice. Meanwhile, Ocelot's own speaking voice we can hear at the end of the game in the post credits scene is very smooth and soft.

Would Ocelot go as far as change his voice to best fit the manly cowboy archetype and sound more like Snake? Yes, yes I think he could and he would.

[whataboutsimple]

A friend to save.

Jessica gets chipped. It's bad. Everything goes wrong and right.

Relationships: platonic!Lukesse, possible romantic!Jetra

︎ Ivor could've sworn that at this rate, his heart would jump out of his chest on its own and leave this place, away from the chaos. No, nuh-uh, he's definitely not going to get out of this mess on his own, not without help.

︎ As he had noted earlier, those chips, as well as any other redstone mechanism, reacted badly to water when zombies reached it, they simply came off their carriers. It's probably the reason why Harper built those waterfalls here. So.. now he just had to make a choice: save Petra or Lukas. Jesse on the other hand.. Unfortunately, Jesse was out of the water's reach, if not that, the Potion Master would've saved her instead.

︎ «It's all based on redstone, and an extra brains wouldn't hurt..» — Ivor thought as he pushed Lukas through one of the waterfalls. Out of the corner of his eye he saw two chipped girls taking Harper with them..

—

︎ Jesse took two ender pearls left from the battle with Cassie Rose from her inventory.

︎ «Excellent, Jesse! Now we just need to throw them in the right spot!» — Ivor said, throwing the ender pearl into the canoyn in front of them.

︎ After not so successful landing, he turned his head, expecting to see Jesse beside him.

︎ There was no one there.

︎ Panic and shock gripped the Potion Master as he looked up in horror and realised that Jesse had been captured. She has been caught. She's being chipped.

︎ «Don't just stand there! Move!» — shouted Harper, waiting for the dark haired man to follow her.

—

︎ «It can't be.. Is it true? I can't believe..» — Lukas shook his head in shock, still feeling a little dizzy — «What are we going to do now? Without Jesse? She's.. To be honest, she was always the reason we got out of trouble so easily, but now..»

︎ «Now is definitely not the time for whining. If Jesse won't help us, we'll help her.» — Ivor said with a slight irritation. The whole situation was tugging at something inside of him, something that was very well buried. After all this time he had almost begun to think of the girl as his student, his companion, his.. friend. He had already lost Ellegaard because of his own stupidity and revenge thoughts, he won't make the same mistake twice — «Come on, use your blonde head. Harper said to give this rose to "Harry", whoever he is. Let's find him as fast as possible.»

︎ Lukas' sky-blue eyes always said everything about his future intentions, and now they shone with a determination never seen before. He'd left the Ocelots behind, but he wasn't going to leave Jesse.

—

︎ Her head was full of lead. She could have sworn it was full of lead. So much noise, so much information at once, so many other people's voices. Seeing PAMA from the outside was one thing, but being inside was quite another.

︎ If Jesse only had control of her own mouth, she would've described PAMA in no other way than as a single organism, each part of which wants to be separated from it. The chipped people won't stop muttering, Jesse could hear their thoughts, could see silhouettes out of the corner of her eye, could almost feel them all around her, too close.

︎ But at the same time she saw nothing, felt nothing, heard nothing. No darkness, no emptiness, no silence, just nothing.

︎ The sounds around her were either too loud or nothing at all. From time to time she could hear Petra calling her. Damn it, Jesse would give anything right now not to be alone in this hell, but to be with Petra, with Lucas, even with Ivor. But at the same time she also hoped desperately that they had escaped, that they had escaped from here, even if it meant leaving her behind. Friends always come first.

︎ The last thing Jesse remembered was Ivor's landing. Had he managed to escape? Had Harper found him? The girl wanted to believe so.

︎ The effect of PAMA on the brain was the most disgusting thing in the world. Jesse almost physically felt this evil machine digging into her memories, touching the most intimate thoughts that belonged to her.

Other than people, memories sometimes appeared before her eyes. It was hard to tell if they were hers or someone else's, but they were definitely someone's memories.

︎ Ivor must help them.

—

︎ Petra tore Redstone Heart out of it's place with unprecedented fury, ignoring the words of chipped Jesse.

︎ Somewhere behind her she heard the last "NOOOooo..", but she didn't give a single heck, she had a friend to save.

︎ «Jesse!» — the girl cried, throwing Redstone Heart down and grabbing her friend's waist, preventing her from falling — «Jesse, come on, you're strong..» — with a hint of pain in her voice, the red-haired girl whispered, picking up the brunette in wedding style and descending from the platform of the main mechanism.

Having successfully landed on her feet, the redhead gently lowered Jesse, resting girl's head on her knees — «Come on girl, wake up, I know you're alive, no way some stupid computer could beat you.» — she whispered in a trembling voice, lightly slapping her friend's cheeks in order to wake her up.

︎ «Petra! Jesse!» — Lukas shouted from above, catching his friend eyes — «I'm coming down!»

︎ With trembling hands, Petra lifted her friend a bit and put her ear to her chest. One second. Two. Three. A beat.

︎ «She's alive.. she's alive!» — the redhead cried in relief, quickly wiping away the tears that had gathered moments before — «Lukas! Tell Ivor to get his ass over here with the potions! Jesse is badly injured!»

︎ The blonde man, who was almost down, suddenly turned his head towards the girls, then looked up.

︎ «I can hear you from here! Wait for me downstairs and don't you dare move her until I'll check her out!» — Potion Master shouted from above as Harper led him to a safer way to get to them.

︎ Petra turned her head back to her friend, hearing Lukas' footsteps behind her — «It's going to be all right, girl, you won't get rid of us that easily..» — she murmured.