#one of the best games in the franchise and im not even kidding

[lovphobic]

Oh nice! I'm a huge history buff so the series has always appealed to me tbh.

But there's SO MANY of them that I can't like commit to playing them all ya know? And valhalla disappointed me so like I'm not even looking forward to whatever the clusterfuck game they have coming up lmao

NOOO DONT SAY THAT !! i think theyre kinda returning to the roots w mirage! idk tho, im not so into it that i keep up with Every Little Thing. but i do like to at least try the new games! and so far only valhalla has been a miss for me (new games wise)

but a good place to start... it really depends! like where do you want to go in history. what period.

of what ive played (that you havent) : ac2 iiiiis... 1400s? i think? let me check (this will appear like nothing for you. put in a jump cut mentally) yes 1476-1511 renaissance italy (slash istanbul but thats just acr) and that spans over... three games. so its a character/story commitment and unity is set during the french revolution, its One (1) game and it follows One (1) character, so no real investment. and its a REALLY FUN GAME. the only drawback is. well its an extreme one LMFAO. im not sure if they've recently released patches to fix it or whatever, but back when i played in 2018 the game still held up to the 2014 infamy of BUGS. GLITCH HELL. due to time crunching to release it on a deadline. but if you can get through that (and ew france) its Definitely worth it

so sorry i cannot give u intel on the other games.... i shrimply havent played them.

[salpho]

TO CONTINUE

Something I noticed is a lot of people who hated BATIM love BATDR and a lot of people fond of BATIM dislike BATDR. To me, this seems like a mechanics vs story issue. The actual game mechanics and aesthetic of BATDR disguise the lackluster characters and plot holes. However, BATIM still suffers those same issues.

This is a vague question, but what are your thoughts on BATIM vs BATDR story wise? Is either of them truly better? Or are they just flawed in different ways?

Sorry, this is long, but so are BATIM and BATDR :')

I think you hit the nail on the head in the sense that yes- BATDR has better gameplay and mechanics than BATIM, but BATIM by far has a much more compelling story that was able to capture and keep attention over the course of five chapter releases. And yes, BATIM is not without its flaws, for example it's mainly a walking simulator in terms of actual gameplay- the only thing saving it being the unique ability to suck the player in through the rich, stylistic environments.

In terms of story, here's my take for both of them-

BATIM is more solid overall, there are more connected plot points and there's a thread there to be followed from start to finish. It does suffer from some WTF plothole moments, the biggest one being Alice's 180 degree turn with suddenly using Boris as a killing machine rather than...what I can only assume was a plan to use his ink/body as some kind of reparative agent for the hole in her face (like thicc ink premium idk), or...some kind of spell...? It's honestly not very clear HOW she was going to use him, but bottom line she decided to entirely change her plan off-screen, which could have been remedied with something like a cutscene's worth of explanation, and more of a buildup to Brute Boris. The "reveal" in the haunted house didn't hold that much weight (at least to me,) just because we didn't even get a cookie crumb of a hint that Alice was going to mutilate him and use him as a drone instead of just axe him.

There are other nonsense details like Allison's ominous "I'm no Angel" line, which didn't make sense when Tom was the one to want to leave Henry. It was never explained WHY the Ink Demon walks around with a limp when he can shapeshift into a bigger and faster Beast version of himself (and apparently he was ALSO the hand in the ink river??? I guess???) And can we talk about how the cult Joey started was just never brought up again? Wally talks about how workers were encouraged (or mandated, idk) to put offerings in the break room to "appease the gods." What gods? Was Joey worshiping Bendy like a god? NONE OF THIS IS EXPLAINED EVER and honestly I think Micheal D. and Meatstick just Forgot that Joey was a cult leader in favor of Sammy's cult storyline.

But despite all of the plot holes, we still get a tale of a deteriorating studio, humans being used as literal skeletons for lifelike versions of cartoon characters, themes of life, death, cults, art, and more. Honestly, going deep into the plot of Bendy would take its own post to really do it justice.

I guess the main plot is this: Ex-co-founder of Joey Drew Studios, Henry, is trying to get the fuck home to his wife, learning along the way that through the power of a mysterious ink machine, his ex-business partner decided to coerce and persuade people to Literally Die so he could have the necessary materials to create living versions of his cartoons, thus making "his" characters (and more importantly, Bendy,) a reality. Once Henry does escape, he learns that Joey has sent him through this same hell before, still filled with hatred and spite, just in time for Joey to assumedly "reset" him and send him on a different version of the same journey, as we can guess from the storyboards on display in Joey's apartment. THAT on its own is an intriguing and layered tale, and that's not even including the other details, voices, and faces we run into in BATIM, AND the new info we learn in BATDR.

Now, BATDR...is something I've come to view as a mixed bag.

Story-wise, it weirdly wants to have its cake and eat it to. Henry's story is elaborated on, and part of Audrey's origins are also brought to light. This is helpful information concerning the plot of BATIM...but then we get assblasted with a ton of new characters and lore for a completely new Cycle under the reign of a completely new Random Old Man. I know he's Nathan's son, and he was mentioned in both Illusion and Fade to Black...but those were de-canonized, so it almost doesn't help context-wise...???? So...????

In a lot of ways, BATDR almost acts like it wants to be an AU branching from BATIM rather than a direct sequel, which it was marketed/confirmed as.

I think my biggest problem with BATDR is that some of the main characters are bafflingly like. Mishandled.

I'm gonna have the mildest take on earth and say I didn't like the new Ink Demon. Old design was better and more uncanny by far, the new design looks like Generic Satan or something straight out of Baldur's Gate. He was given a deep, guttural growling voice because....tumblr sexyman I guess. Even if they needed him to talk, it could've been something more breathy and raspy, true to the heavy breathing of the original Ink Demon. Also, his alternate form was made very childlike, and I'm just weirded out by the fact that you have this oddly "sexified" version of the Ink Demon on the flipside of Bendy the Child. I don't think any ill intent was meant by this, but it's more confusing than anything thematically. I'm also not sure why Bendy's abuse was brought up and then never touched on....? Like wasn't this guy locked up and called a monster his whole life? Are we going to...say something especially considering the moral of this story......?

Memory Joey is completely fine, but I just can't shake the feeling that the narrative is trying to paint IRL Joey as "UWU fixed now" when that's not the case. The most sympathy I can extend to IRL Joey is that he was a gay man who desired to have a family at a time when that was not only frowned upon but dangerous, not just socially speaking but in terms of his physical safety. But beyond that, this was a dude who locked people in a building to keep them working, coerced and possibly forced the deaths of many people to get what he wanted (the ink machine was a scientific advancement that could've had AMAZING implications for society but he Did Not Give a Shit about that), and was abusive towards Henry. If we trust the Bendy books, he also gaslit and killed his teenage staff. This motherfucker isn't a patron saint of anything, and even if Memory Joey can learn from IRL Joey's mistakes, IRL Joey was still a shitbag who just happened to raise a daughter.

Which leads me to Audrey. Some of Audrey's tale is explained- she was raised by Joey, forgot Joey was her father, and came to work at Archgate as an animator. Got to know Wilson, who works as a janitor at Archgate, and then he drags her into ink hell because....idk, she's his version of "A Perfect Boris" I guess. Fair enough. However, it's NEVER EXPLAINED how Audrey doesn't remember her father, or WHERE she went to live after his passing, or WHO she lived with. Remember, Joey was as old as a cave painting, so he clearly passed when she was very young. While you could argue she doesn't remember his name because she was little, SURELY she remembers his face or voice, or the fact that she HAD A FATHER??? Like, was there some huge trauma there? (Other than the fact that Joey was her dad?) It makes little sense to me that she would forget so easily. If I had to make a guess (and granted I'm no Mark Twain), I'd wager that Allison probably found Joey dead. Remember that Nathan hadn't talked to Joey in years, and Allison was the one who went out of her way in the first place to visit. At this point, Allison's gonna find a little girl running around by herself, and assumedly her and Thomas would've taken her in. If that's not the case, someone else found Joey dead, at which point Audrey would've possibly lived with Nathan and Tessa, considering how much Nathan cared about Joey. Either party has ties to Archgate. But all of that is just speculation, not confirmed, and even if any of that were true, Audrey makes no mention of it. And I'm sorry, Audrey's backstory makes me want to cry, because it's just NOT THERE and she has the personality of a depressed bucket.

Alice was alright...but she was kind of stupid? Which is like....the antithesis of everything cool about her? Instead of using traps and luring the main character from a distance, she knocks out Audrey (via unspecified drink), plays Diet Jigsaw with Audrey, and then gets pushed off a balcony. She was also a lot more...idk, suave and sultry in speech mannerisms in BATDR, which isn't bad, but her unhinged and clever nature seemed a bit watered down.

I don't really have notes on the rest of the main cast. Sammy was brought back to die immediately, which honestly was fine considering his death track record. We get some mentions of BATIM characters. Wilson and Betty were fine, and even some of the lore explaining how the timelines work made sense.

HOWEVER,

I've already said it a hundred times, but the old cast was shoved to the side for a bunch of new characters we had no time to connect with. A new butcher gang member was added when we still have Miss Twisted as a potential female-role filler (keep in mind the Projectionist is based on Camera Man and Brute Boris was based on The Brute.) The whole "Amok" thing was a REALLY roundabout way to get the Lost Ones to stop attacking Audrey.

Wilson's motivations are mostly consistent and I'd argue somewhat compelling, but I don't understand why he didn't do more to protect Audrey if he was going to need her for the endgame for Shipahoy Dudley? Like what's all this about letting her run around and get killed? Was he just aware that she'd revive?

The main message of BATDR was fine, but it didn't work super well for Audrey's character. She'd already forgotten Joey was her father, and was living in blissful ignorance of that fact until Memory Joey decided to infodump on her right away. Sure, the "just because you were born of darkness doesn't mean you have to be darkness" thing applies to her AFTER she learns Joey was her father, but...Audrey was never threatening to Become Evil, so it almost didn't need to be said and was kind of a flat message...? I would argue Memory Joey would benefit more from that message- as he's a literal copy of a Very Bad Dude. My guy was projecting this whole time.

I do think BATDR was worse story-wise, but I'm not going to sit here and pretend it didn't have certain disadvantages from the start. The Kindlybeast debacle happened, BADTR was trying to continue a story from an existing property, and there was a severe lack of Adrienne Kress. Okay, maybe the last one was a bit much, but still. That doesn't mean I hate BATDR overall, I can appreciate a lot of things about it, but strictly in the story department, it needs soooooo much work and makes me want to jump off a Minecraft cliff.

[mythalism]

ok im going to try and parse through my feelings on the entire game in the hopes that expelling these thoughts from my brain will allow me to actually sleep because i am running on about 3 hours right now

i will start positive with the things i absolutely loved:

solas. whos suprised

just kidding i will elaborate further of course. genuinely, from a (mostly) objective writing perspective, he is the best part of this game. like hands down. his writing is bonkers insane. he has the best lines and the most complexity out of any character in the game (besides mythal perhaps). i was so so so afraid they were going to completely woobify him into someone who was right all along and never did anything wrong in his life blah blah to make him sympathetic to a new audience. they did not give a fuck however and i could not be more glad. he is exactly the dread wolf and bringer of nightmares of legend. he is so wonderfully in character, even if that character is not someone we saw in inquisition (we saw solas, not the dread wolf!). there are moments that solas shines through, like in his mentions of varric in the very beginning, when he mentions his love for the inquisitor, his convo with a rook he respects (which i do believe was genuine, even if he betrays them anyway. we know that he regularly betrays people that he likes and respects lol), the way he helps the shadow dragons and saves the dalish, and of course in his final scene with the inquisitor. he manages to retain that perfect back and forth, mask on and mask off, solas vs. fen'harel dichotomy with a different balance than the one we saw in inquisition. in inquisition, we saw solas with hints of the dread wolf peeking through. in veilguard, we see the dread wolf with hints of solas peeking through. ok i need to move on or i will talk about him forever. but they nailed the moral ambiguity with him. they nailed the theme of forgiveness being hard. i loved when harding said something along the lines of "there is no one who doesnt deserve forgiveness" this is one of the few consistent themes that this game was successful in exploring. ok ok moving on now i promise

i also loved mythal (fragment mythal, not morrigan mythal who was a flop). admittedly i am a mythal stan, but her integration into this story was a highlight for me. she haunted the narrative in such a great way. it added so much complexity to solas. hearing him GROWL at elgar'nan in rage "you have lost the right to say her name" made me scream in glee. i loved talking to her and having to prove my worth to her. i love that it was hard and she would kill you without hesitation if she found you unworthy. i love that if she does find you worthy she is instrumental in changing solas's mind. i loved her dragon appearance even if she was useless in the damn fight lol. morrigan mythal sucked tho but thats for later

similar vein but the main quests were fantastic, with a few caveats. but overall every main quest had me hooked, having so much fun, at the edge of my seat and screaming and flailing in my chair. weisshaupt was incredible, BLOOD OF ARLATHAN WAS INSANE (the solas elgarnan bitch fight will go down in history as a moment of all time for me) and of course the finale was some of the best writing ive seen from bioware. the way suspense was built was well done, the stakes felt high, and the twists were interesting.

choice and consequence was absolutely banger. i gasped when i went back to dock town after leaving minrathous to fend for itself and saw a gallows with bodies hanging from nooses and piles of bodies in the streets. i gasped when harding died. i gasped when bellara got blighted. definitely the best choice and consequence in the entire franchise and it was very satisfying. i feel motivated to play again to see different options play out.

the environments are fucking insane. genuinely insane giga brained genius. i have never been so gagged by a video game like this. not only were they beautiful but they were well-designed, interesting and diverse. i rarely got bored anywhere (except treviso lol) and i was regularly picking my jaw up off the floor. some highlights for me were the anderfels area where you first meet davrin with that amazing vista, kal sharok, the docktown catacombs, pretty much anything in arlathan, the deep roads, and honestly so much. absolutely beautiful.

this game felt incredibly cinematic and the direction was fantastic. the cutscenes were so well done and they transitioned so smoothly into gameplay. the animation was fantastic, and everything was so engaging to watch. my favorite cutscene has to be when solas is about to switch places with rook and you see him in the background out of the corner of your eye twice, though rook doesnt know. i was literally screaming it was so fucking cool. it genuinely felt like watching a movie a lot of the time

i genuinely enjoyed the gameplay loop of exploration. i had a lot of fun just exploring around docktown and arlathan, there was always something new to find, i loved the puzzles, and i loved finding codex entries. this is a crazy thing to say but it actually reminded me a lot of genshin impact LMFAO. which i know a lot of people would probably consider to be a negative but i thought it was engaging and fun.

combat fucks. it got a little repetitive by the end, mostly because i think i just wanted to find out the end of the story and fucking darkspawn were in my way, but it was a huge step up from previous games and i think action combat was a good choice.

this game has an incredible amount of genuine heart and soul put into it and you can feel it in every facet of the game. i can tell that the devs were passionate and their creativity was genuine. i could feel their love for the characters and the world. this game is unflinchingly sincere and not afraid of being cringe (though it definitely is cringe at times, i respect the commitment to it so i dont mind it). it genuinely does not feel like an EA cash grab, which is a huge win considering how likely it was for years that a cash grab was exactly what we were going to get.

i enjoyed the varric ghost twist. i knew something was up with him but i didnt fully call him being dead until right before the reveal. i get why people are going to be upset about it, its a pretty fucking crazy decision, but i think what saves it is the quote he gives rook in the fade about his choices being his own and still encouraging rook to try to get through to solas despite being KILLED BY HIM.... fucking crazy. it ties in enough to the overall theme of regret and forgiveness that i think it works.

ok time for the negatives

its hard to pick my biggest issue but i definitely have a top 3: the lore flopped majorly, much of the writing felt juvenile, and there was an overall lack of nuance to everything about the game except for solas's storyline that did feel very not-dragon age to me

i actually dont give a fuck about lore retcons, especially if they are explained well. i think they are often necessary and can be pulled off. but this game literally just pretended to answer decades long questions about the lore and then does not. which would be fine if we didnt have someone who knows all the answers to those questions hanging out in our brains and willing to answer them. we did not learn what exactly a titan was. we did not learn what they were like when they were alive and before they were blighted. mythal called them monsters. harding suggests they might have been violent like the elves. we literally dont know anything about them except for what solas and mythal did to them. i dont think anyone even actually gave a clear answer on what the blight is. ok it was the titan's severed dreams but what the fuck does that mean? it was their rage and pain? then why does harding say the red lyrium manifested by her rage and pain was not blighted, just red? if blight equals titan nightmares then that lyrium should have been blighted? so what the fuck is the blight that ghilan'nain cooked with? red lyrium? how did the original darkspawn get made? did she start injecting people with red lyrium? but we know what that does to people because we saw it in inquisition. it makes them red lyrium freaks but it doesnt make them darskpawn. WHAT ARE DARKSPAWN? WHAT IS THE BLIGHT? did i miss this in a codex entry or something guys im so serious. how did we play this whole game and not actually learn what the blight is. we also learned almost nothing about the forgotten ones, which is fine except we literally met one and all they really had to say about it was "evil spirit" ? ok. also um. where are the rest of the evanuris. ok they are gone but where did they go. we know where their archdemons went, but where did they go? ghilan'nain exists separate from her archdemon so its not like killing an archdemon kills the evanuris, it just makes them vulnerable. should they not all be still alive in that prison together, just mortal and archdemon-less? they literally just say "they're gone" and expect us to be like ok! WHAT THE FUCK??? WHERE ARE THEY?? WHERE ARE THEIR BODIES??? WHAT??????? also the explanation for archdemons was boring. it felt like the team literally did not know the answers themselves (and didnt feel like calling up david gaider) so they just gave us vague non-answers hoping we wouldnt notice. I NOTICED.

similar vein; we learned nearly nothing about elgar'nan and ghilan'nain, and they overall felt cartoonishly evil and one-dimensional. and this is a greater problem that ill talk about next, but they were afforded none of the nuance that solas and mythal were given, and it feels glaring in comparison. why was elgarn'nan evil? was he just born fucking evil? we know thats not true. he originated as a spirit, what kind of spirit? what was his relationship with mythal like? what was his relationship to the other evanuris like? he calls ghilan'nain "sister", were they always close? did they become close in their prison? what are his goals beyond tyranny? or do you actually want me to believe he is just full stop evil? if he was one of the original spirit born elvhen what virtue did he embody and what polluted him into something so terrible? why does ghilan'nain love the blight? why is she obsessed with creation? we only get a single codex about she and andruil (that i found). what was her and solas's relationship like before she ascended to godhood? he calls her "the best of them" but we never see anything about their relationship. neither of them has any nuance. they are just pure evil, corrupted by ???? something ??? power??? i guess. and we are supposed to just be fine with it lol. what are even their motivations? why do they want to cover the world in blight? what is their emotional connection to this pursuit??????? we get such an exploration of this for solas and just NOTHING for them. they feel so one-dimensional in comparison, literal comic book cartoon character villains.

similarly, this game lacks nuance overall. bioware is known for its exploration of grey morality on both personal and sociopolitical levels. this game has that only for solas and literally no one else. qunari antaam? evil (super fucking racist depiction as well). venatori? evil minions. elven gods? evil. forgotten ones? evil. meanwhile, crows? suddenly good. its okay. just forget the MURDER, child slavery and abuse. seriously its fine. caterina dellamorte is a sweet old lady :) dont worry about it :). every faction is good and every antagonist is bad. its genuinely insane coming from the studio who gave us dragon age 2 to now give us something so fucking boring and black and white. they got SO CLOSE with the wardens and isseya and in the end davrin still kills her. why does solas get a chance at redemption and no one else does? here we are with an entire story centered around this morally grey character, interrogating whether or not his actions are justified, whether his intentions matter, whether his abuse informed his atrocities, asking ourselves if he deserves forgiveness asking if he deserves to be saved, where do we draw the line? what is the point of no return? why do people do the things they do? its fantastic. and then you go and do a faction or companion quest and its just like, these are the good guys and these are the bad guys. dont ask questions. have fun! WHAT???? FROM BIOWARE??????????

this issue bleeds over into the companions as well. i genuinely liked all of them. they are likable. but holy shit they have no flaws. all of them are genuinely good people and their problems center around others rather than themselves. there is little to no complexity, to the point where honestly they did not feel like real people to me. harding is sweet and perfect and her worst trait is being *checks notes* TOO AGREEABLE? davrin's worst flaw is raising his voice at his pet too much. emmrich's only flaw is FEARING DEATH LIKE A NORMAL HUMAN BEING? neve is kind of cold. thats it. bellara never does anything wrong. lucanis doesnt sleep enough? taash is the closes they come to any sort of complexity and i did genuinely enjoy their identity struggle and i loved seeing their complex relationship with their mother. but none of those are flaws. like these characters are cookie-cutter perfect. we used to have companions who committed acts of terror and blood mages and mean jealous little brothers and did horrible things and said horrible things to each other and struggled with things like internalized racism and complacency in violent corrupt institutions and addiction and facing your fucking war crimes and they are some of the most beloved of the franchise because they feel SO REAL. like genuinely going from characters like anders and blackwall to these companions was so jarring and disappointng. i LIKE them all, dont get me wrong. but they do not act like real, complex fully fleshed out people, and the writing overall suffers greatly for it.

again connected, the writing in terms of literal dialogue but also what i mentioned above comes together to feel incredibly juvenile. i know some big reviewers beforehand said that the game feels like a pixar movie at times, and unfortunately i dont think thats inaccurate. a little harsh maybe, but there are moments that are truly written in such a way that it feels like the audience is children. and that doesnt mean its bad, because i am a lover of childrens media and most of my favorite media of all time is actually for kids (avatar the last airbender, fullmetal alchemist, etc), but this game oscillates back and forth so violently it will give you literal whiplash. it reminded me a lot of the way young adult fiction is written. GOOD young adult fiction, where its well-done, but its deliberately written to be simpler in both diction and theme and focuses on concepts that young people can identify with. this is how i felt during much of the companion quests during this game. again, it was GOOD young adult fiction, but it had the narrative styling and lack of nuance and complexity that is characteristic of such things, and that is just literally not what the game is supposed to be like. and there are great writing moments that do feel appropriately mature and complex, but they are mostly in the main quest and their presence makes the lack of maturity in the rest of the writing feel even more jarring. i have no idea why they wrote it this way.

morrigan's mythal flopped and was out of character. i missed flemeth's crazy ass. they literally nerfed her. i think this is connected to everyone being nice and good and perfect (no abusive mothers allowed!) which is crazy because the other mythal fragment got to be a crazy bitch. so what the hell

the lack of world states is still a major L. it felt like things were missing that should have been present and had no reason not to be other than just no worldstates. well of sorrows needed to be there ESPECIALLY considering the solas/mythal/lavellan dynamic.

this one is self-indulgence but solavellan could have benefited from better pacing. packing so much into act 3 made it feel rushed. i loved the scenes themselves, but there could have easily been more build-up with a few codex entries.

no fenris. i will never forgive

ok im running out of steam and actually feeling more able to sleep now (thank god). i know i said a lot of negatives but i actually believe this game is very, very good, especially within the context of its development. i think a lot of the issues likely do stem from their fraught development cycle, and overall they did a great job of identifying their priorities and pursuing them to the fullest. i dont necessarily agree with what they prioritized or what their vision was at all points, but i respect the clear direction that this game had. i do not believe it will stick with me the way the previous games did, and while playing i often found myself just missing the characters from 2 and inquisition that i love, and the writing that so often had me screaming crying throwing up and/or giggling and twirling my hair. however, this game gave me the #1 thing i wanted which was a satisfying solavellan conclusion, and though yes it could have been done a bit more... artfully, i think its incredible considering where we were just a few years ago with this game. i will play it again a few times, and the fact that it has sold well enough to guarantee bioware gets to stick around and make new games is a major win. 7.5/10 thank u for listening

[dr-spectre]

I just watched the Shadow Dark Beginnings animation preview and bro.... where do I even begin?

Now listen, I talk about Splatoon 99% of the time here, but you gotta understand something, Sonic was my first love in gaming. Ever since I played the classic games, Unleashed, Heroes, Rush and Rush Adventure. And watching clips from Adventure 1 and 2. I've always been a humongous fan of this franchise. I grew up in the crowd that watched those "I FEEL LIKE A MONSTER" amvs of Sonic the Werehog for f sake. I had a printed out poster of a render from Sonic and the Black Knight on my wall as a kid because I thought it was the coolest thing ever.

So, seeing this series FINALLY go back to actually telling more serious stories while being sincere about it too... man... it makes me so. Damn. HAPPY!!!! Frontiers wasn't a one time thing, the darker and more serious stories are actually gonna stick around now. I think we're finally free from the 2010s where we were stuck with "BALDY NOSEHAIR! THAT'S THE BEST THING IVE HEARD ALL DAY!" For a literal decade.

Us Sonic fans had to go through the 2010s where the series made fun of itself and was all "comedy" and stopped doing the cool serious shit they used to do... it makes me so happy that they are FINALLY diving into things they haven't talked about in over a decade. They aren't scared anymore to show a fucking human in this god damn franchise because a bunch of gaming journalists who dont give a fuck about the series said "humans in sonic are BAD!" They aren't scared to show Maria and something like Emerl. EMERL?!?! FROM SONIC BATTLE?!?!?! THAT'S SO COOL!!! I BARELY PLAYED BATTLE BUT STILL! THATS AWESOME!

Now.... was some of the stuff in the 2000s going way too far? Like Shadow saying "you're going straight to hell" and murdering Dr Eggman in non canon endings. And a human kissing a dead Hedgehog to bring him back? Yeah that's way too far. DOESNT MEAN YOU SHOULD THROW THE BABY OUT WITH THE BATHWATER!!!! Lost World and Forces man. My God. Ugh.

Anyways, yeah I'm so excited and so hopeful for this franchise again. Before Frontiers came out I was so nervous if the game was gonna be good or not and what you may say about the game itself, it did appeal to tons of people and became the highest selling 3D Sonic game of all time, beating out Heroes. I am now actually fully confident and excited for Frontiers 2 or whatever the next game shall be.

People cheering and crying over the stuff that happens in that game AS WELL AS A PREVIEW FOR A SHADOW ANIMATION makes me so.... HGIWIDIDIS WAHHH IM SO HAPPY!!! IM HAPPY!!! SONIC IS BACK!!! SONIC IS FINALLY BACK!!! SHADOW IS BACK!!! BOW YOUR HEADS LOW ALL HAIL SHADOW!!!!

[jelly-fish-wishes]

Favourite Mario Game?

Thats a tough answer since I have yet to play all of the them 😅.

Out of the big 3D games, its a tie between Sunshine and Galaxy. Sunshine has a special place in my heart for being in my childhood even though i played it only when i was at my cousin's house. Galaxy would have been number 1 if I owned it as a kid, but its tied with Sunshine because the STORY is the best one out of all of the 3D and 2D games. Im also a sucker for the cute stars and space aesthetic.

As for the 2D side scrollers, its definitely NOT the NEW games lol. There's too many of them and anything after the first NEW game is what caused me to slowly lose interest in the Mario franchise because they ALL LOOKED THE SAME. 3D Land and 3D World may not be 2D side scrollers, but if I had played them, im sure they'd be up there as my favourites (mostly 3D Land because it has my favourite childhood power up, the Tanooki Suit)

And speaking of the Tanooki suit, i like it because you can fly! That also includes the Super Feather! They both made no sense to me as a kid and now. Tanookis flying? What? A feather gives you a cape that attaches to your feet when you fly? What?

The games where these two power ups come from have my EXTREMELY biased opinion on why they are my ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE 2D MARIO GAMES. My first ever Nintendo console was a handheld one. The Game boy Advanced (this was the year 200X. I dont remember what year specifically, all i know is that i was younger than 10 when I got it) and I DISTICNTLY REMEMBER getting the Advanced versions of both Super Mario Bros 3 and Super Mario World when they WERE STILL being heavily advertised on TV. Of course i couldn't have gotten them without the help of my grandma...heh...she also was the one who gave me my first DS as well! It was a red one! The top screen stopped working over time. Became white 😕. I have gone off topic lol.

As for any spinoff games....i dont think I can answer that honestly. As of now, its Super Paper Mario for the AMAZING story. But I'm sure it could change once i stop procrastinating and finish games like Mario RPG or Luigi's Mansion or TTYD or finally purchase Partners in Time because thats the NEXT Mario and Luigi game after Superstar Saga that i wanna play.

Um...did....did that answer the question?

[carmsgarms]

just wanna hug you for the jkr post bc my former friends made me feel insane for not validating their continued engagement 💜

Bestie listen youve unzipped me and im about to go off. Harry Potter was my entire life until she literally couldn't shut the fuck up about trans women being perverts and infiltrators. I was a lonely neurodivergent weirdo and Harry Potter brought me solace as a kid. I read each of the books at least 7 or 8 times, that shit is INGRAINED in my brain. One of my best friends of 10+ years is my friend today because the first thing we bonded over was seeing the last HP movie. I used to be deadset on my 2nd tattoo being my pottermore wand with my hogwarts house. I wanted a fucking HP-themed wedding. The first funko pops I bought were Harry Potter ones. My first serious boyfriend told me he wanted to propose to me in front of Hogwarts castle (this was something he said to guilt trip me when i dumped his ass) ((also thank the gods that never happened he was a shithead and so is jkr)). My mom for some godforsaken reason let me help her name my youngest brother when he was born because she couldn't think of a name and my 10yo ass fuckikg picked DANIEL because of Daniel Radcliffe. I was in DEEP.

And you know what? Aside from the books I camped out to buy on release day and the DVDs that are crammed in a box somewhere in a storage unit, I have gotten rid of every single Harry potter thing I owned because I grew the fuck up and found better things to like. Sure I'll watch the DVDs again every few years to feel the nostalgia again because a good chunk of the cast are great people (we fucking stan Dan Radcliffe and David Tennant in this house ) but I'm not giving jkr another cent of my money or an inkling of my time beyond that.

You are so valid and you are allowed to be upset if your friends continue to engage with Harry potter content.

Anyone who days "uwu my nostalgia" ask them if they still sleep with their fucking baby blanket too.

My former boss wouldn't shut the fuck up about the new video game when it came out. At least once a week he'd ask me if I'd played it yet and every single time I would tell him "I'm not engaging with that franchise anymore. JKR uses money to fund anti-trans legislation." And he'd always spout some bullshit about nostalgia or "but it's SO good" or "yeah I just try to separate the art from the artist / oh but the devs who worked hard on the game! / but playing the game doesn't actually support her! (yes the fuck it does if the game does well it boosts her platform)"

And especially now that my wife has come out, I'm extra ready to fight the next grown person who tells me they ~separate the art from the artist~ like fuck off. There are better things to spend your time and energy on. I hope everything JKR makes flops hard. Everything shes done since the last movie has been a disgusting cash-grab and none of it is even good. I'm beyond thrilled that BG3 has had a wild runaway success and a longer-lasting player base than the fucking game she put out. Nothing has ever disappointed me more than JKR being the way that she is.

Oh but the lore and world building? The ability to make your own character in such a fun and magical immersion world?bDnd has better lore than Harry potter ever did and the lore adds up and makes sense. If you look at her shit beyond the surface level she is actually fucking TERRIBLE at world building especially when she tries to do it without being a fucking racist ((does anyone remember when early drafts for the American magic schools that were using Native American imagery and it was all REALLY FUCKING OFFENSIVe and let's also not forget "no-maj" being the least fucking creative thing she ever came up with)

"But my hogwarts house" PLEASE choose a better Personality.

I have more nostalgia for Avatar the Last Airbender these days since i got into that when it first started airing when i was 12 (and look if you're really into the fuckin houses as your Personality you can get that with ATLA! Water tribe forever bitches)

"But the characters!!!" Please. There are better characters ALL AROUND YOU. pick up a fucking comic book. Yknow Superman actually has a similar structure, he's got the nerdy Normal friend and the love interest and it's a goddamn shame none of the movies include his bestie Jimmy because he's just as important as Lois Lane is.

"But all the strong female characters!" It is 2024 please I beg you to find other female role models (I will again point to Avatar the Last Airbender and Literally Any Comic Book Featuring A Woman. Captain Marvel is actually really good. Battlestar Galactica is also chock full of strong female characters and that came out in the early 2000s!)

Bestie i genuinely feel bad for all the fucking white people who can ignore all the bullshit JKR has done and said and all those sad saltine cracker flavor type people whose entire personalities are Watching The Office and Enjoying Harry Potter And Star Wars. Grow up. Move On.

If it's that important to you (and i mean the general you here not you specifically), please do what I did and Marie Kondo that part of your life. You don't need to hold onto the safety blankie you had as a child. You don't have to hold onto the pair of shoes that got you through high school and are out of fashion and falling apart. You give it a sendoff. Say "thanks for getting me through that part of my life but I'm moving on" and you move the fuck on.

I did something really sappy for my 30th birthday - I said goodbye to the franchise. I mourned what could have been. I went to Universal studios ((also bc Simpsons land and fast and furious ride and ET and a bunch of other stuff are there)) but I stopped into Harry potter world to do everything once and say goodbye to that part of my life since it was something I had wanted to do for most of my youth, and my friend who i became friends with because of harry potter was there with me. We drank the fucking pumpkin juice, had breakfast at the three broomsticks, appreciated all the little easter eggs around hp world, rode the hagrid ride, and ate a chocolate frog I wore my trans rights shirt and dressed gay as hell, my friend is trans so he just ~existed blissfully~ . I think every Harry potter fan needs to acknowledge that the franchise was good for them in the 90s, mourn that part of their life, and move on.

Bonus: me being Gay as Fuck in front of the castle. I hope JKR fucking rots and fades into obscurity and people come to realize she's worse than HP Lovecraft.

[smolsix]

-blows dust off this blog-

So

Little Nightmares III, huh???

I was trying to avoid being excited about it because no solid release date and 2024 could be a few months from now or a year from now and Idk how long I can handle being so fuckin hyped for this game YEEHAW

BUT I CAN'T, I KEEP THINKING ABT THE GAME AAHAHHGAGA

so here are my thoughts, if you wanted to know

FIRST OF ALL, i am so glad that after we saw LTNM II we thought it'd be co-op but it was just an AI, that we finally get co-op! AND ONLINE TOO, i spent the first day worried it'd be shared screen same room situation since i wasn't trying to get my hopes up but then I realised I can just.. google it.. AND IT IS!!! ONLINE!! IDK WHO I AM GONNA PLAY IT W FIRST AAAAAAAA

anyways, you can definitely tell it's a new studio working on this game, the world feels mostly the same but the character designs themselves are definitely stylistically similar, but not the same. With Six especially, the MC designs were very simplistic and realistic but used colour (or for Mono, a single design quirk being the bag) to stand out against their backgrounds and against the enemies which are largely neutral colours. But these new ones feel... "over designed"? On their own they definitely aren't, but in comparison to Mono, Six, Seven, and even NPCs like the flashlight girl, they have a lot more going on (especially the little wrench kid, Idk which one is Alone and which one is Low yet btw OOP)

Despite it being a new studio and you can tell, new puzzles and environments, they're still doing their best to have the OGs vibes and whatnot to feel familiar, namely in the trailer they bring back the fuses, and the additional gameplay video there's a short scene with an environment with all the shelves you can find in LTNM 1s gnome section (the one with the cart that is affected by the Maws swaying).

But regardless, it still feels different enough my brain is still nervous about it. I also feel In A Way about Tarsier having LTNM II explode and their franchise getting the attention it deserves, only to have it stuck with Bandai and now it's going to likely explode again and they aren't involved. Idk how anyone on that team feels about it, but if it were me omg.

Also the only boss we've seen so far (i hope they add more and i def want some to be a surprise so im not gonna assume this is the only one for now) feels... out of place? it has the design qualities of a LTNM boss, but the size of it makes it more of a spectacle than a warped/corruption of an adult. All the previous bosses fit in their environment, we are the small ones and they are scaled to the world around them. This is the first time, outside monster Six who imo is a bit of an outlier anyways due to her circumstances, we're getting a boss who is this huge and doesn't even fit their own environment. I hope we get a lore reason for this in some way, because currently the boss doesn't have the same vibe as the others and it's throwing me off a bit. Don't get me wrong, it'll be terrifying, but looking at the picture as a whole they are sort of out of place for me rn. I don't hate the bitch either, I'm not gonna be like omg get rid of it or change it, but it does strike me as odd seeing it for now.

And yes the tall man is too tall for a lot of things, but he's not THAT big. He's more like yer tall guy who hits his head off doorways, which happens irl anyways LMAO

Little Nightmares primarily tries to capture the feeling of being a small child and how everything is big and scary, but a doll that huge is out of the realm of reality set up for us already. It's gone from scary corrupted animal to godzilla, if that makes sense.

OH AND THE MIRRORS ARE VERY LTNM COMICS OF THEM TEE HEE < 3

[aesrot]

Feel free to delete this, but I remember you saying that you liked Sonadow (I think that’s the ship name?). Anyway this is your invitation to infodump about them as much as you want. Also if you want to give fanfic recommendations I just might read them <3.

GIGGLES you shouldnt have said this >:3

idek what i could talk abt bc at the same times theres a LOT but also, despite me being mostly caught up game lore wise, i still dont feel like i have a good enough understanding of the characters, i'll probably only feel that when im caught up w the comics. which,,, will take me a good while to get through (just the archie comics are like over 500 issues long lol)

BUT. hmm what could i say that doesnt really require much prior knowledge...

ig, as every ship i ever ship, i see them more as queer platonic, sonic gives me the strongest aroace vibes, so i feel like his love for shadow wouldnt take a much different shape than his love for his other friends. but their connection goes a lil further to me, bc, when it comes to certain stuff, i feel like they're the only ones who can understand each other. and shadow... my dearest little guy... he represses a lot. his life experience wasnt. the best. i dont think he got that many opportunities to explore his own emotions, he probably cant even name a bunch of his emotions, its just easier to lash out, thats smth he's used to. he knows violence, it feels safer, he knows that dance.

and its because sonic has his fair share of violent background (aka, took up the role of a hero since he was way too young) that i feel like he is one of the few who can read shadow much easier than anyone else. hell, sonic himself is kinda knee deep in some repression (in my own understanding of his character). obvs most of this is bc its a franchise that targets kids, they wont get wild w the angst, but my boy sonic be out there fighting all the time and takes on a responsibility that shouldnt be his, the consequences of his actions can be catastrophic sometimes (once again asking everyone to watch sonic prime <3333 so much angst potential, im not normal abt it), and even when things go wrong, he jut smiles and powers through it. just think this for a second. god. imagine the amount of times he pushed himself beyond his limitations for the sake of others, how many times he pretended to be fine....

and yet. despite all that, they are terrible with communicating to each other, so things get physical often (as in fighting, not sexual, which makes it even gayer to me <3), and sigh. not surprising. put two stupid traumatised hogs in the same room and they'll either zoom around trying to race each other or they'll try to tear each others throat bc they just cant be normal together. ig thats how they communicate, go figures lol

my thoughts are all over the place atm so its hard to make this coherent <- my thoughts abt them are usually just violently screaming and sobbing. im sooo normal abt them. cant get much deeper than this without getting into the Lore, but yeah, ig this is smth

and oh, abt fanfics, hmmm i dont have that many that you could read without any background, but i did just finish this one shots collection thats very sweet and pretty chill to read without much prior knowledge, its mostly just a bunch of fluffy sick fics and them exploring their own feelings.

[phayz]

pleeease keep talking about toys...i think this is interesting and smth i've never thought too hard about but it makes sense and i like to hear your opinions on modern toys

(ask pertaining to this post)

holy shit okay !! i would love to ramble on so, i shall!

okay im no expert on toy sales history, this is all just observation from my life experiences and i'll try to keep each part i want to go over relatively short!

that being said lets start with a small one that i've personally noticed as a canadian: Kinder egg toys! i remember when they used to come with like 4-8+ pieces, and you needed the included step by step manual to assemble them. they would often come with sticker sheets to decorate them with, and they would often be articulated or be set on wheels or have some sort of fun or movement or general functionality to them:

dont those look awesome? wrapped in 2 kinds of chocolate, and for only like 2$! i remember they would come in all shapes and sizes, all sorts of animals and vehicles and sometimes freaky little abominations, as you can see above, and sometimes even puzzles! they were such a special treat as a kid.

but kinder eggs now? come with a maximum of like 3 pieces that just snap together (usually the front and back of the toy, and then the platform they stand on). and thats all they mostly are now, stiff toys that stand on platforms wahhooooo yippeee

idk just look at the quality difference from the old ones above compared to some of the new ones:

like..... these are..... nothing! literally nothing. just a figure snapped to a pole/platform and thats it! not very interesting for more than 3 minutes max.

now i know what you're thinking: "not ALL of the old kinder toys had to have been bangers" and you'd be right, some were lame as hell, but even the lame ones from before look more intricate than the ones we have now, like can you see what i mean, just detail-wise?

it just feels so cheap and shitty, i could go on and on but more is explained later. point is, it sucks.

anyway that's a very small example and we can move onto bigger and better ones, and maybe even one that everyone else might have noticed by now; McDonald's toys! remember when they were actually toys?

and not just stiff figurines?

(the minions franchise was like CRACK for companies who love making profit off of nothing but stiff rounded plastic. probably the cheapest form of "toy" i can think of)

and yeah, again, its not like there werent figurines back in the day too, there's ALWAYS been lame as hell mcdonalds toys, but looking among many modern mcdonalds toys, you dont see anything as cool as the old ones. literally every major modern movie/franchise right now is nothing but figurines. the most recent actually interactive mcd's toy ive seen is when they collabed with hasbro games

again, companies just seem to be pumping out quantities over quality.

but why?

well, for starters toys are becoming cheaper (both in price and quality) because prices have sky rocketed and stores are forced to only stock cheaper things, therefore the cheap things sell the most, and then more of them get made, and statistics get fucked, etc etc the cycle repeats.

but toy companies know one thing, and that's that things that are "cuter" always sell more. "cuter" being used with vitriol because their idea of 'cute' is 'more glitter and sparkles and rainbow colours and obnoxiousness' oh, and dont forget the huge soulless bug eyes on all of them!

i know that people love these things, but theyre so..... uncanny. their stare is piercing, their stance is so stiff, i always felt bad actually playing with the only one of these i had growing up, and not just because it freaked me out, it just genuinely didnt feel good to play with.

and i knoowwwww people are obsessed with these things, but come on, you have to admit theyre SO unoriginal! theyre just cookie cutter shapes!

these things are horrifying and, at best, belong on a shelf.

these "beany boos" are so woobified and almost feel like a flanderized version of a stuffed animal, and they've completely taken over "beanie babies", which were wonderful soft little things that actually had movement and weren't stiff to cuddle! I also feel like they're almost trying to copy what webkinz was, in a way, as some of those were stiff too (but still loveable and not burdened with an uncanny, vacant stare)

anyway this is getting insanely long and im sorry but i feel like im going insane every time i see new toys nowadays. the like.... "cuteification" of everything is driving me insane, and the fact that they are simply just lower quality than what we used to get, because of prices rising and causing easy-to-make things to become more and more popular.

examples to further prove these points:

extreme woobifying or "cuteification" by almost completely removing all horse anatomy in favour of thin limbs, heavy makeup eyes that are now on the front of her face, and modern influencer eyebrows. on a horse.

and the extreme-simplifying of toys can be seen quite well on those mini polly pocket sets!! see this one here?

almost allllll of those little plastic things could be rotated or rearranged or moved or fucked with in some manner, it was awesome. i loved these miniature houses they always came with so much shit. wanna guess what the newer ones look like?

you guessed it, like shit!!

man even beyblades used to come with like, all sorts of different pieces both metal and plastic alike, and you had to assemble them yourself and you could interchange pieces to obtain a different weight which would affect your attacks against other beyblades, etc etc:

and looking at them now? they seem to be mostly made of- yep, you guessed it, hard cheap plastic.

anyway holy shit i literally reached the 30 image limit on a single post tumblr really said thats ENOUGH !! i cant believe i just spent that long talking about the worlds most pointless thing but at any rate i hope you enjoyed it and i hope you see my vision. because like i said im not insanely knowledgeable on any of this in particular, but its hard not to notice the decline in quality of all of todays modern toys.

[seerofmike]

Mike's Media Medley--August 2024

damn i just keep making these increasingly later huh. i have no free time babey

anyways, things i watched and played for the very first time in august 2024

movies (2024 releases)-- Longlegs, Cuckoo, Alien: Romulus, Dìdi

movies (non-2024 releases)--Judas and the Black Messiah (2021), Anatomy of a Fall (2023)

games: Rocket League (2015), Fields of Mistria (2024)

Alien: Romulus

so i have a few mixed feelings on this. first im gonna say my biggest issue is that some of the characters spoke in incredibly heavy cockney accents and i literally did not understand a single word they said. thankfully some of them are not around for long

second, this movie is VERY interested in reminding you of the alien franchise. hey, you liked this line from aliens? here it is. you recognize this guy right? look at his face for several minutes. do you remember ridley scott's 1979 masterpiece, alien? i do. i sure remember ridley scott's 1979 masterpiece, alien. speaking of, ian holm's character is here, and his face has been deepfaked and allegedly this is with permission from his family but just. the whole thing feels incredibly wrong to me.

third, this is the second movie i have seen cailee spaeny in ever and i am just like. not feeling it. i think she had a better performance in Civil War but also her character in Romulus was way smarter and more likeable, by virtue of the fact that she didn't have much in the way personality-wise for me to get annoyed at and was mostly just there to do a lot of competent alien fighting stuff. which is fine, whatever, normally this would be Okay for an action-horror film

HOWEVER, david jonsson just absolutely blew everyone out of the water acting-wise. honestly one of my favorite performances of the year. his whole character brought most of the emotional core to the movie which is why i think it's kind of a shame cailee's character didn't quite uphold her end of that emotional core but i do think in the end her going back for him was sweet.

the set design and effects were very good, and so was the camerawork and editing. i know i just expressed annoyance with the 'do you remember alien?'isms of the movie but the set design is VERY reminiscent of alien and that's a boon.

the sexual violence was way more overt here and it culminates in the only (non-jumpscare) moment in a horror movie ive experienced where a mostly-silent audience audibly gasps or goes 'what the FUCKKKKK'. if you know you know

the movie is like. midway between Okayish and Just Fine, Actually. might watch it with friends on an alien binge. david jonsson carried.

60/100

Anatomy of a Fall (2023)

i watched this with my mother, who was immensely frustrated by the conclusion of the movie but i really enjoyed it. i thought the whole idea of putting her character on trial because the only two options presented are 'murder' and 'suicide' and she was the only one in the house led to a lot of interesting introspection to be had. the child actor is one of the better one's i've seen (maybe even the best) and obviously sandra huller did great with such a subtle performance

i think generally the directing/editing were fine. good, even. they'd have to be with this movie being a slow burn. HOWEVER there were some parts that just felt weird and made me. laugh?? the kid discovering his father's body where they do that weird zoom-track shot made me legit laugh out loud because it felt like youtube video editing NWENFKJWNKJWN

also snoop is a good dog 10/10 for snoop

i DID like it but would probably not rewatch it as i think a big pull for this movie is the tension in whether or not she Did It, and knowing the conclusion i think would inhibit my ability to rewatch it even if i did greatly enjoy the character work

75/100

Cuckoo

i really truly did want to like cuckoo more than i did but i just kind of walked out going "that was okay"

this was the first time i'd seen hunter schafer in anything (except for the ballad of songbirds and snakes, but her character was really minor) and i thought she was fine. she acted decently, i just had a few more wishes from the script.

the entire atmosphere of the film, editing, directing, sound design, all of that is really good. the 'repeat' sequences are really chilling despite how simple they are in effect. most of my issues come from the script

i think, in some movies, not explaining much works really well in its favor, but with cuckoo which ends with the Main Guy heading the experiment as the villain, in his laboratory and at the hospital where the experiment is being held, with all these scientists with recordings of whats going on etc., it explains shockingly little about what's going on with the actual monster/aliens/mutants idk, which i would have greatly appreciated since the whole concept of them and their behaviors is like. Weird.

i did appreciate some of the moments between hunter's character and her little sister, especially that voice mail, but i do think that their development from estranged and awkward tense half-siblings to 'i'll die for you' at the end is kind of abrupt, would have appreciated seeing more of her sister as a real character throughout the movie.

the plot twist was cool though

overall, i think it's a good watch, it's not BAD by any means, i just wanted a bit more out of it. regardless, im glad to support movies like these at my local theater :p

65/100

Dìdi

i had to go to AMC to see this which sucked and i hated it

anyways. dìdi! i thought it was very unsatisfying in like, a satisfying way, existjng more as a snapshot of a real person's life in the early 2000s, and not as a story with like proper pay-off and all that. cuz like in a movie ur kind of expecting all these big dramatic moments to happen. his dad comes back. his grandma dies. he gets the girl. and some dramatic moments DO happen but not like big movie dramatic moments. its just a snapshot of a shithead kid's life and i loved that

like. the payoff to his whole deal with madi is just like. blocking her on AOL. there isnt like a big falling out with the skaters they just think he's kind of lame and also rude to his mom. there isnt really a huge fallout w fahad he just said something awkward and got phased out of the friend group. i found the whole thing worked really well for me but i would totally understand if it didn't work for a lot if people because yeah the MC is insufferable lmao, which is honestly the hardest part of watching the movie.

70/100

Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)

i would like to say first that although i am glad daniel kaluuya won his oscar for this lakeith stanfield absolutely shouldve gotten more recognition, he was the best part of the LA death note and he had such a presence in get out despite his minor role. and obviously he fucked so hard in Sorry To Bother You. so seeing him win for a movie that got this amount of buzz at the oscars wouldve made me super happy for him, but i love daniel kaluuya too and idk if i could pick between them for favorite performance of the movie.

anyways this is probably one of my favorite historical dramas i've ever seen. it is paced EXTREMELY well for something that could've gotten bogged down in trying to commit every piece of history to film as it could and while it definitely glosses over a lot of stuff / shortens the timeline of IRL events ie w the formation of the Rainbow Coalition, i think overall the movie does incredibly well portraying the tensions at the time and in between the characters themselves and god i hope hoover is rotting in hell

also speaking of Get Out. fuckign. Lil Rel Howerey made a cameo and between him Lakeith and Daniel it wouldve been a Get Oit reunion party NSIDNEIWNE

obviously go check it out if you haven't yet. good movie.

80/100

Longlegs

man i almost feel like i have to watch this movie again before i talk about it i feel like i had so much to say but i need a refresher NWIDJEK

the marketing for this movie was insane first of all. secondly, theres so much commitment to this like. wood aesthetic. so many shots are in buildings / hallways / rooms with lots of wood. speaking of shots this movie looks SO fucking good. i think if nothing else its a great atmosphere piece thats pretty to look at.

i would call it a thriller as opposed to a straight up horror and as someone who loves the Ring I wish it gave me more of those vibes, with the MC trying to solve this strange supernatural mystery on a time limit, trying to dig up dead things, but i thought that what it achieved was Perfectly Functional.

i honestly truly dont know what i think of this movie i need to watch it again. im sitting between a "it was alright" score and a "it was good" score i think

67.5/100

bideo games

Fields of Mistria (2024)

this game has such a nice color palette ohg i need to play it again. some of the player character animations look a little weird and the controls are slightly Off but its fine. i want the pretty gay people on my computer

Rocket League (2015)

this game pissed me off so bad i hope it dies

[rv2xlga]

another rant: hey guess who's back!

was and am still going through some hyperfixation moments but persona5 will always stands strong for some reason?? no clue what sorta chokehold that franchise has on me but i homebrewed our old 3ds and now im playing q2 on it (rando side note but i might get my own computer soon!) its all fun and games.... a bit but i was playing through some of it and now i have things to say! more shit to talk, how exciting

i should be doing my homework yes, but i find it interesting the clash of games because each persona game is literally so different and they are all so of the time. persona as a franchise taught me that video games are rly nothing special and the person franchise is like the least of that like all the games are just what everyone else is doing at the time even from the first one ToT but i think the 90s cunt that the personas serve in the first 2games couldve been such a staple for the later games and no, the chokehold of being trendy and relevant and like..."relatable"... very embarrassing so again, its interesting to see those all clash. i love persona 3 a lot because i genuinely believe that out of all the persona games, that one is truly the best. i havent seen the 1st one yet and i will never in my life ever say persona 4 as it is objectively not the best one but i think the 3rd part just has the best ending and the best sense of everything all the games offer and offered afterwards in one and i appreciated it alot for that and it was such a beautiful ending like when i finished it, it was such an experience i truly felt i could move on from how disappointed i honestly was with the fifth part but to further my point, i love the way they summoned personas in the third part even if it was uhm. violent. i think it had a charm and such a sense of uniqueness and it brought up a lot of bigger questions about how we view ourselves, our "personas" and the way they get affected by society which all play into the people we are and become and all that.

i think one reason i rly hate the fourth game is because of just that. the game talks about the person you "truly are" or whatever by literally feeding into societal norms and pushing the made up "laws" that are placed on human emotions that are so vast and complex to even have one think about. its so ridiculous and not that persona3 really does a better job at that either but i think the whole gun thing and the implications/substance that could be dissected within that is again, what gives it its charm. for example, shinjiro and strega's story was there to introduce how difficult it was to control one's persona, that you were practically being held hostage and it almost was like a separate entity within oneself. now, i dont personally like that all that much because again, its still you and the way the game handles it feels very action movie early 00s were the plots always just. divert completely somehow but again, the implications are what save it. i know shinjiro's storyline was nothing of that sort at all but all the scenes with mitsuru and akihiko and even ken bring in such a different perspective. we see this emo loner (lol) who basically does drugs to control all the crap thats going on inside of him and we see the way these two smart kids who've always had it relatively easy in that aspect pressure him and handle what he goes through all in the wrong ways. it feels almost like an allegory for growing up, pretty straightforward but i feel like that sense of realness is what the rest lacked. no more queerbait, no more fan service, yea theres quite a lot of it in persona3 definitely but hey, we all know high school sucks and a lot of it... isnt pretty. the whole idea that you need to find a way to handle the mental and control that "being" inside of you is done soo much better than anything in persona5

i know that technically, the way they handle the personas in persona5 is much better with the whole outfit thing and even with anything and everything, i think the way they handled akechi's personality thing was pretty well considering.. many things ToT but it just feels so too the nose, nothing about it feels special. it doesnt give us suicide allegories (lmao) it doesnt give us any genuine stories. i feel like even though so many of the individual character plotlines are so heavy, like ann's (hello??) and akechi's are so real and terrifying in a way that that happens to so many people constantly, just all of them really and none of them ever really make you feel like something deep for them, yk what i mean? i cried so much for ken and shinjiro, it was soo embarrassing but it made you feel so much for ken, even if that whole situation was very unrealistic, i think the way they handled it in the beginning was wonderful. nobody ever really said anything or suspected much but ken was going through so much all at that time, shinjiro was always there for him but never said anything either and of course, with nothing to stop it, time took its course and things ended the way they did. as tragic as it was, those were the consequences that followed him through the cracks of no confrontation. even to aigis dealing with her robotic brain lol and her lack of emotion, lack of humanity towards the world. such an unrealistic situation but the implications made it what it was, aigis is such a staple for us neurodivergent folks and i know autistic people love her lol. her character meant so much to me because i related so much to her rather than i did with futaba, who is actually a human being

when they unlock their personas, you dont see struggle, you dont see will. its tough, having to accept who you are and continue to brace through it. even being shot a bullet to the head, yukari for example, was still scared to accept herself even if she knew what life had in store for it. she didnt want to relive that trauma with her father and know the truth but she knew that she had to if she wanted to move forward and be the better person. like idk it just means so much more. again, you dont see that same struggle and the costumes dont even reflect who they really are and even if it could, you would never know. mind you i never finished any of the confidants but damn i managed to learn so much of the p3 characters and connect with them only through my first playthrough and that says enough. even doing ryuji's confidant (which i love btw omg) i slowly started to let go of that love for him and his story with the dirt they pay him afterwards its just so lazy. i love that concept from the 3rd game, even the way they handled arcs in p2 was better, i dont like they way they acted about the personas but i feel like that combination into the 3rd part that focused on all aspects was something that DEFINITELY shouldve been kept and NOT turned into whatever persona4 was good lord!

ok so thats all i have to say for today, ill been either knocking out (and severely regretting it in the morning) or drawing for a bit...then knocking out! life is such a mystery sometimes amirite (cries my eyes out) rough week, but q2 has been fun so far much better than starting q1, i am never going to be free from p5r chains! lord have mercy on my soul! heres some pictures i took of the 3ds to accompany this horrifying rant :')

like the whole determined line.. ugh i love it! it really encapsulates what the whole persona thing stands for! like yes! this is about us discovering our true selves! us becoming better people! us embracing who we are through the power of connection to the world around us! like ugh, yes life is beautiful how did you know??? i love it..... persona 3 you will always be famous... and you too femc you deserve better every redditor who calls her a pedo is like. omfg get a hobby (a job and wife too while youre at it) i bet you call naoto a woman you fuckass loser smh

[rainbowdelicsunshine]

Im gonna try this again i hope i do it right sorry

🔥 my unpopular statement/ opinion is i think the kids should stay as dolls. I think it would be so much more interesting if they were these little barbies trying to take down chucky

You almost did it right, but I was still supposed to give my own unpopular opinion about a topic/subject, which would've been Chucky in this case, it didn't mean send in your own

But I'll still give you my own hot take since it can actually teach how this ask game actually works:

I highly prefer Doll!Chucky (esp Scarface!Chucky, that's his best look) over Human!Chucky, despite the fact of Human!Chucky being hot in his own right, I've grown so attached to his doll form (I mean it's the thing that makes the franchise stand out) that I don't ever really want to see him have a human body and actually LOVE that he prefers being a doll (yay to Alterhuman Representation)! Plus Scarface!Chucky will always be him at his hottest anyhow!

But I think your idea of the kids staying as dolls (esp different kinds of dolls/toys as well) could actually be a fun one if done right!

------------------------------------------------------

Thank you soso much again for coming to the inbox my sweet friend, I hope that I see you here again (and that I'll hear your thoughts on my art one day, no pressure) and that you have a wonderful evening!!

[autisticempathydaemon]

hello! i am new to redacted and here for the ask game :)

my favourite song rn is the gothic surfarama by the vampire beach babes totally go listen to that

i usually dont like big video essays unless theyre about a topic im super into, like i have watched hours of essays about tmnt and mcr, bit if its about something im not so into, probably not

my favourite audio is either damn friendsgiving or damn bowling (im a sucker for good friends and found family lmao)

i just cannot get into blake. like aside from the cult stuff lmao just not into him

RISE OF THE TMNT i have episodes of that show memorised. you could show me a screenshot and i could tell u what ep its from and whats happening at that moment.

ollie my best friend hes brilliant. nerdy about board games? perfect please be my best friend ill listen to him tell me about catan or scythe for hours on end

no tired ramblings, i sort of just get sleep drunk. if im tired i am not talking for the world

im not american so i dont do gas station stuff instead my dokan (like a corner store i guess) go to would be a mango juice bottle and whatever knock off oreos they have.

my favourite playlist (music or redacted? ill do both) is a) my gothy music playlist from when i was 13 with a few additions lmao, and b) milos playlist his accent is just so fun to listen to even though i can barely understand it lol

NO guilty pleasures i enjoy what i enjoy without shame

annd uh. im an art student, i prefer popeyes over mac, i have awful hayfever, and i cant choose a favourite colour they are all beloved to me

Ooh, so this was a thinker. I could have gone in a few directions, but if we’re taking everything into consideration plus “Vampire Beach Babes”, it’s got to be Vincent Solaire!

First, Vincent is and always will be a total nineties kid at heart, so he would absolutely love Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. (Off the top of my head, I think he thinks himself a Miley and had a big crush on Leo as a tween.) He gets super hyped for every addition to the franchise and loves chill nights on the couch watching reruns with you while you draw.

Speaking of drawing, I think Vincent would be such a wonderful boyfriend for an art student. We have evidence that he was so supportive in Lovely’s studies, and he’d do just the same with you: always bringing you snacks while you work, offering to model for you, chauffeuring you to work in automotive style. Also, he’s without a doubt gorgeous- what better inspiration could you ask for?

Song:

Let's trash our whole afternoon/ Reciting recycled news/ Until we melt and go back to your hotel room/ I'll be your new favorite tune/ I'll be your black cloud by June/ But only when you miss the rain like I miss you

One. I like this to fit your goth/emo vibe but looking for something new. Two. This song is ridiculously singable and fun; I think Vincent would have a great time bouncing along to this with you in the car and grinning dopily when he says he’s stupid for you.

Runner-Ups:

Asher would be a cute runner-up because I think you two would like a lot of the same things, like TMNT and MCR. Asher’s more of a FOB-boy, but he’s not likely to be one and not the other, ya know? Lasko is an even cuter runner-up just because something about him would be so cute next to an art student; like, that’s an it couple right there.

note: thank you so much for waiting 💕

Read this post and send me an ask if you’d like a match-up of your own! 💌

[alismodworld]

Alright well I might as well give my thoughts on the movie

SPOILERS TURN BACK WHILE YOU STILL CAN!!

Okay we clear? Cool. So, The Super Mario Bros movie. It was good but I honestly had no doubt it wasn't gonna be good after seeing the trailers and the promos. Of course as with everyone else my only point of fear was Chris Pratt's voice, but while I was watching the movie I realized its actually okay. It never annoyed me and it even fits Mario somehow (yeah I said it come at me). Now that I'm thinking about it, if Charles Martinet was casted it really wouldn't have worked. Whenever we see Mario in the game he's always happy and bouncy, rarely ever serious or emotional so having a voice like that probably wouldn't have made the more serious parts of the movie work at all and at best I would've laughed at how ridiculous it was and at worst I would've been sinking far back into my chair. No disrespect to the guy at all, he does a phenomenal job in the games, but I just don't think he'd work too well in the movie. He does get a nod to in the movie which is great!

The movie is gorgeously animated and I love how the characters translated perfectly on the big screen. The backgrounds were spectacular. And the way the incorporate the elements of the games into the movie to create this world is *chefs kiss*. Everything makes sense and it's not too on the nose, it's believable.

It's a very simple movie, nothing too crazy and if you have very basic knowledge of the Mario franchise you'll get what's going on like how I did. All the characters acted perfectly to how I expected them to and nobody really annoyed me. My only problem is with Cranky Kong's voice. Sorry, but Fred Armisen's voice just doesn't match up with Cranky's appearance.

Jack Black absolutely killed it with Bowser. He was the perfect amount of comedy and intimidation. AND THE PEACHES SONG THREW ME SO OFF GUARD I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO BUT JUST SIT AND STARE!!

Also, PEACH! Oh my god I loved Peach in this movie!! I was scared and honestly expecting her to be too much of a "strong female character" rather than a strong character who happens to be female and she's definitely the latter. She's kind, she's helpful, she's patient, she cares deeply about her subjects, kingdom and everyone in general and she can kick serious ass too. I'm gonna be honest, in my years of playing Mario on and off I never really cared for Peach, IM SORRY TO SAY, I WAS DUMB KID! But watching her in this movie, I absolutely love her!!! AND SHE GOT LORE ON TOP OF THAT?!??

Also usually I hate the whole male character and female character get shoehorned together and end up falling in love trope, but here? PERFECT!! I also never really cared for Mareach but, I'm a changed woman and I never wanted two characters to get together so bad. I absolutely loved their chemistry as it was so organic. Of course they don't which I'm fine with but, maybe potential in the sequel?

All the action sequences were done great in my opinion and actually exceeded my expectations in some cases as I was genuinely expecting nothing but slapstick but we got a healthy amount of slapstick and serious action.

The final battle and climax was amazingly done!! Ugh that hug Mario and Luigi shared was amazing!!!

Okay now for what I didn't like

I wish we had more Luigi scenes. I understand that he's the one who's kidnapped and is basically the whole reason the movie happens but we got only a few scenes with him either running away or being trapped or integrated. I would've loved maybe a scene with him trying to be brave and find a way out or rally others to help each other escape which could've added to his character. Like it's called The Super Mario BROS movie...

Also Toad is just...there. I get he's the comic relief but he really doesn't do much other than tag along. The most I remember him doing was showing Mario to the kingdom, that's it. Idk maybe do something more to flesh out his character, why is he so eager to help Mario and Peach? Why is he an adventurer? What are his goals? Stuff like that.

Also no chain chomps...worst movie, 0/10, D-tier/j

I heard people were talking about the pacing which yeah it's a little fast but it's not too quick in my opinion. I think if they let certain scenes play out longer it would've benefited the movie.

But over all it's a really good movie. Not ground breaking but really good, happy, healthy fun. And I'm quite impressed considering it came from Illumination.

Here's to hoping this movie will pave the way to a Zelda movie!!

[saskiasabri]

Brooo im so sorry about these cringe trolls and instigators trying to start shit with you guys over petty stuff because they've been stuck with their own grudges that they can't fix. But at the same time there are A LOT of minors in the Postal fandom who are filled teenage angst and drama is going to sprout like weeds. And as a minor myself i admit Postal's themes in the franchise aren't exactly kid-friendly either. Oops! 💀💀💀

Sadly even the most fit and organized fandoms aren't free from drama, but from someone who has recently got into newer fandom spaces myself, less shit seems to resurface when people are just simply treated better. Out in the open or behind closed doors.

Sometimes amends can't always be met and people aren't very forgiving, trusting or kind by default, and that's fine. But I believe everyone can be shown their intentions are not always ill when we come together as a community and prove that not everyone is only after themselves. You guys are obviously trying your best online and irl and I hate to go anon like this but I too wanna start 2024 with no drama because that's what destroys a good community. 🙌🙌🙌

Sorry if my message tone sounds rude at some points. English is not my first But I just wanted to spread some positivity for once after so much happened in 2023. There's already a lot of evil in this world and the best we can do is be kind to one another with no strings attached.

❤🧡💛

thank you for ur concern and understanding the situation ❤❤❤ yea it sucks when fandoms can't be free from drama and it always happens. but y'know, it'll be fine as long as u don't get involved to it if it has nothing to do with u. i think minors in the Postal fandom can enjoy the game all they want as long as they're careful around other fans cuz there always will be those who will cause problems and say shit like "minors are annoying trying to be in adult spaces" or smth like that which pisses me off a lot cuz if they're enjoying the content then let them be, but if anything from the game offends them then that's their problem and they should know Postal isn't really for kids and the game already gave a warning in pop-up(?) screen before playing. it's best for them not to get into it, suggesting them to think first or else they'll start causing a scene. (the game itself is not really offensive, well to me atleast.) anyways, we're just doing our job as rws server staff, if anything happens then we'll take care of it if reported. we may not respond to random messages cuz we're mostly busy focusing on important stuff or we're just not in the mood. we do care for other members, we'll help as best as we could. we may not get to help much when it comes to real life personal problems, we're not professionals so they should know that.

(also thank you so much for the positivity, i hope everything in 2024 goes better for u and others who are reading this 💖💖💖)

[miitopias]

would also like ur thoughts on everything i will listen to u talk abt video games always LOL but 6 9 12 22 28!

thank uu and likewise 🫶🫶 will not answer everything bc thts so many but also i feel like ive covered a lot of these topics before on my sideblog but! i will answer these for u 🫰

6. A series you’ve enjoyed since your early days of gaming and still enjoy to this day whether it still has games coming out or is one you return to pokemon and rhythm heaven :') ❤️ from these series ive only played platinum and rhds as a kid, so as an adult ive been enjoying their other titles.. though i do not rly care for 3d pokemon titles.. but with time that may change. and wait technically final fantasy, bc i had the ff4 ds cartridge as a kid. except it was in japanese and i had no idea how to play it and did fuck all. i didnt even realize it was final fantasy until years later when i played ff7, and i recognized the running from battle animation. and now i have final fantasy brainrot <3

9. A game you played completely blind with no prior knowledge of and enjoyed/loved ff9 and ghost trick 😎 im so happy i played these without any spoilers or any idea what to expect, bc i really think thats the best way to experience them

12. A character you particularly like in the game you’re currently playing YRP girlies 😎😎😎 idk when ill ever finish x-2 cuz this ps3 is kinda busted, but despite their kinda cringe dialogue i still love yuna and the girlies

22. A game ending that’s really stuck with you FF9....... i think u saw my insanity firsthand when i did not shut up about it for like 8 months 😭 it really changed my life bc it was ff9 that really made me get more serious w literary analysis of games and medias in general, bc i just wanted to understand everything abt this story. majora's mask similarly changed my life and was the reason i made a sideblog to begin with, because i NEEDEDDD to be insane about this game somewhere.. god what an ending. god. ok im not going to go insane abt it rn LOL my focus is on Spider-Man now.

28. Pick a series you like. What was the first game you played for it? Was it a good starting point? Would it still be a good starting point now? i wont pick final fantasy bc my answer is literally the same as yours LOL so um... i will pick zelda. my first zelda game was botw and honestly that is an AWFUL starting point for getting into zelda JFKLJSDL bc its just so. fucking different from every zelda game out there. and also bc its a love letter to the franchise, that probably a million references flew over my head bc i didnt know what they were referencing. but yeah like its just absolutely awful to go from a game where you can freely jump to a game where you have to ROLL.

but at the same time i dont think botw is an awful starting point. bc like.... its a good game. its a good Modern game. like the older zelda games, especially the 3d titles, are extremely outdated. i dont think anyone should be playing those in this day and age when botw/totk is there to experience instead. while not ideal, i think its fine to hit it off with a modern switch title, then work your way down to older titles.

of course 2d zeldas are a different thing. dare i say, the superior thing. also i dont believe anyone should get into zelda. bad franchise. except when the games are good. all pondering aside the best starting point for zelda is ALBW, then MM3D. maybe some MINISH CAP as a treat. those are the only existing zelda titles. to me. but jokes aside if someone is really gonna have a 'starting point' for zelda games then its definitely BOTW/TOTK or ALBW. doesnt matter whether its a switch title or ALBW played first, but its very very very very important that ALBW is played as well.