#probably this is because these are very old models. i hope they all get upgrades very soon and that orikan especially gets something great

[magistralucis]

while finecast is pretty fucking unbearable, i think the bigger problem i have with the special necrons models are their bases. why must they be so small... gw please free them 😭

[ms-demeanor]

Quick question about Framework laptops: Can you not actually upgrade the motherboards on them? Because their site/Ifixit makes it look like you can.

https://guides.frame.work/Guide/Mainboard+Replacement+Guide/79?lang=en

It has admittedly been a few years since I looked at their site and it does look like they've launched an upgradeable motherboard.

I will admit that this doesn't necessarily do much to quell my skepticism, for this reason:

When I first started working with computers professionally in 2011 it was maybe a 70/30 split between SATA/IDE drives that came in with laptops and it was still quite common to pick up PCs with 32bit operating systems.

About 5 years ago it started becoming more normal for us to send computers out of the shop with either an SSD and an HDD or just an SSD.

Then it went to M.2s. Then NVMEs.

About every three to four years I've watched memory technology change - when I started is was DDR3, then DDR3L, then DDR4, and DDR5 has been shipping recently.

When I look at the Framework website I see that all the DDR4 is on sale and all the DDR5 is pre-order. Is motherboard that's compatible with DDR5 going to be backwards compatible with the parts of your framework laptop - like the keyboard, screen connections, battery, etc, that you've ordered over the years? Apparently the last three generations have been compatible for major components, but there have been issues with chargers between generations. It won't be compatible with the RAM, that's for sure - or your M.2 drive.

At that point you're replacing the motherboard every couple of years and possibly other components and will just be keeping the frame and body? I feel aluminum is not the biggest extractive concern associated with computer manufacturing. (Like at what point are we reducing actual waste and at what point are we bound up in aesthetics? If you're replacing your motherboard, processor, RAM, and storage drive every few years what is the waste that you're saving - the screen? The touchpad? how many motherboard cycles do you think a screen will last?)

Basically I have doubts about the durability of the modular model and the ability of framework to keep pace with the inevitable changes that will happen in computer technology as time goes on.

And if you have to replace your motherboard, processor, and RAM every two to three years to stay up to date I'm really not certain that I see much advantage (ecologically or technologically) in doing that over using a single laptop for 7+ years and upgrading it periodically.

Basically, here, what this user on the framework subreddit says:

(I'm not certain that IS the minority of users - tons of people on the specs post are talking about their 10-15 year old laptops, and I feel like if we could teach people more about computers from a purchasing and maintenance standpoint we'd have more people using their computers for ten years)

And also, it's expensive. The motherboard upgrade for a framework owner is as much as a lot of people would hope to spend on a new computer, and you'd still have to get new RAM at a minimum.

And I mean look I know that I think about computer part compatibility more than most people; i have probably purchased more computers in my life than anybody but corporate buyers at this point.

I think that framework is a great option for the people who know that that's the option that they want, but there seems to be the assumption among the community that people are blithely buying computers every two years and throwing out the old ones because they don't know any better and that misses a couple of points:

1 - most people work as hard as possible to get the most out of their computers, often pushing past the realistic ability to upgrade or maintain their existing devices

2 - people who do replace their computers on a 2-3 year schedule tend to do so either because they are very wealthy or because they are pretty broke. Most people who I encounter would *love* to keep their computers longer, but also find that $400 is prohibitively expensive and so are stuck in a cycle of refurbs and chromebooks and black friday sales.

Basically i think that framework is a great idea for people who need to have a new top of the line computer every three years; it is an improvement over buying a new computer every three years, it is doing the "re-use" bit of reduce, re-use, recycle.

However I think that's not most users and I think we could pretty easily get to a place where more users would benefit from reducing through better proactive purchases and maintenance.

Basically: I'm leery of telling people who aren't power users to get a power user computer even if it is theoretically easier to install RAM in a framework than to pop the bottom off of a Dell because it's not actually that hard to pop the bottom off of a Dell.

IDK the entire computer industry is fucked in a major way and at least framework is acknowledging that so props to them on that, and hey it rules that they have a refurb marketplace. That is definitely a company I'd trust for refurbished devices.

[auspicious-voice]

Fuwa Maria AI & Fuwa Mario AI for DiffSinger Progress Report (April 2024)

It's been (almost) a month since my last progress report, but since it's April, I thought it wouldn't hurt to update with a new one. Plus, I got some big news to share!

Everything else is under the cut as usual.

Voicebank Progress

Both of Maria and Mario's DiffSinger voicebanks have been trained up to 200k variance and 160k acoustic! At that point, both voicebanks sound their very best, at least in version 1.0.0. Regardless, I'm still happy with the way they turned out, and at least they sound distinct from each other.

The reason why I say version 1.0.0 is because I have a potential version 2.0.0 update in the works. The thing is, version 1.0.0 will be the last time my old recording setup was used to record singing data. I say this because my current microphone, the Blue Snowball iCE, is just not cutting it for my needs these days, especially when it comes to singing in general. I don't really know when version 2.0.0 will come out, but maybe next year or so - IF I can get my hands on new equipment. Please expect version 1.0.0 to come out later this year, probably during June or something like that.

In the meantime, once I finish the artwork of my DiffSinger designs, I will post silhouettes of them along with new short demos. If that ReFlow update for DiffSinger comes out after I release my voicebanks, there COULD be a 1.1.0 update.

Possible Audio Equipment Upgrades

So for audio equipment, I'd like to upgrade to using an XLR microphone and interface for recording. I'm glad there are cheaper options out there that are actually good, plus I am on a budget myself, and would like to spend under $200 for that.

I am still using my pop filter, desktop stand, and isolation shield from my old setup, so with that being said, I'd like to upgrade to a Mackie EM-91C microphone and an M-Audio M-Track Solo audio interface. Both of these are budget options, but based on the reviews, I've heard that they are solid choices for starting out with an XLR setup. Plus the Mackie EM-91C already comes with a shockmount AND an XLR cable!

Potential Megamodel Development

I am considering developing a megamodel with my friends to add more language compatibility and range with the 2.0.0 update - that is, if everything goes to plan. I plan to add Maria and Mario's potential new datasets to the mix of course, as well as my friends if they're fine with that. It could be just plain singing data or even UTAU recordings - anything helps to further improve the model output.

For language support, Japanese and English are planned, but if possible, there could be support for French, Spanish, Italian, or perhaps even Chinese, Korean, and/or Tagalog. I still need to figure out the phonemes and how I want to organize them though.

I just hope that when the megamodel dataset is complete, Colab will still be merciful to me...I'm not sure why it takes longer to set everything up...

Character Progress

Designs

I just finished working on Maria and Mario's reference sheets for their DiffSinger designs! Currently focused on finishing their fullbody artwork, which won't be revealed up until their voicebank release.

And no, I don't want to work on additional append designs, that's already too much work...It'd make sense for standalone appends, which is what I did for my other UTAU voicebanks, but for DiffSinger...naaaaah.

Profiles

Nothing new at the moment! I'm still working on fleshing out the lore, given that DiffSinger Maria and Mario are just slightly older versions of their UTAU selves. Expect some lore drops about them when their voicebanks are released? I don't really want to make separate profile pages for them at all.

Anything Else?

For the potential 2.0.0 update, I would love to revive a discontinued UTAU of mine and resurrect them as a DiffSinger through the planned megamodel with a serviceable amount of singing data and vocal modes. If I can do the voice again, I might go forward with it!

Also Maria and Mario's 9th anniversary was on the 4th, and it's wild how they've existed for so long. Listening to their old voicebanks reminds me of how far they've come, and it makes me want to tear up a bit.

Anyways, I'll see you guys around! I might be able to publish full-length demos of Maria and Mario's DiffSinger voicebanks on YouTube at some point, so keep an eye out for that.

[smileytiger28]

Quantumania thoughts, by character

The Heist Guys

I love and miss them and removing them from this movie was its biggest flaw. Except the one played by TI because TI is a scumbag.

Scott

As much as everyone, especially my dad, loves Paul Rudd, I don’t buy him in this movie as a dramatic actor. Probably has to do with the tropey writing and stuff more than Paul’s actual chops but there’s no small parts etc. this movie just tried so hard to be taken seriously that gave up its pedestrian, relatable humor — the thing that made the first two movies so great, and the thing that attaches Paul Rudd to this character — and replaced it with contrived and tropey drama. It felt sometimes like Paul Rudd was trying to imitate Generic Action Hero, which he isn’t great at and nobody wants. Highlights of his performance include: the end where he’s like “oh shit did I just mess everything up? No I didn’t, denial time!”, the part where all his “possibilities” pile on each other all saying “Cassie” because they work together driven by the purity of a father’s love.

Cassie

why did they recast her. I loved Emma Fuhrmann in Endgame and felt really bad when she only learned she has been replaced through comiccon/d23/etc. From a casting perspective, I get it; Fuhrmann was meant to fill a small role in a huge movie, so they probably recast when the part became much more significant (setting up for a young avengers movie). But Kathryn is just not very good. TBF the only other movie I’ve seen her in was Detective Pikachu in which she was much worse. Not sure if it’s the acting or the writing that hurts Cassie more. But her character in this is basically “I am an activist that cares about people” like that’s great in real life but I want to be invested in her and I’m not

hope

Literally did nothing but effective altruism in the beginning of the movie, what a downgrade

Hank

By far the character with the best upgrade in this movie. From movies 1-3, he’s gone through great character development, learning to respect Scott and Hope in their own right. He’s also gradually gone from dry exposition dumper (1) to once-in-a-while joke-maker (2) to “summoned an ant army to defeat a multiversal conqueror”/nerdy/perhaps even autistic about ants (3). I love when he admitted to reading Scott’s book: “every goddamn word”, said both proudly and teasingly.

Kang

Current legal shit aside, I was not expecting to hate him this much. I didn't like Majors in Loki, but I figured that had to do with the direction, not the acting chops of Majors himself. When I saw the reviews for this movie, which generally sold Majors as the film's only merit, I was expecting something great from his performance. Instead, we got Majors doing what I guess was either his best Morgan Freeman impression or a really bad trans-atlantic/English accent (posh vowels and clipped t's). Whatever he was trying to do simply did not work for me. The Council of Kangs post-credit scene looked to me like a bunch of Party City costumes.

Jentorra

Played by Katy O’Brien, who I know from my brief stint watching Black Lightning and who gave an equally meh performance in The Mandalorian S3. The one thing I like about this character, who is otherwise a pretty basic stoic/traumatized my-entire-species-died-and-now-I-am-a-badass-warrior-woman, is her dynamic with Cassie. Yes, Hope could have been Cassie’s female role model, and she basically did nothing in this movie, so that’s kinda sad. But there’s something nice about the Jentorra and Cassie finding what they need in life from each other: Cassie a strong voice for justice and a girlboss internship, and Jentorra a piece of innocence and hope she was too jaded to hold onto. I wish we explored that a bit more.

MODOK

If I read any comics featuring MODOK, or even watched the Patton Oswalt MODOK show, I’m sure I would hate Darren/MODOK. And in a lot of ways I do. But he works most of the time as comic relief, half-satirizing his own role as the old enemy that "came back better than ever!" It never got old when he would introduce himself, a main character would be like "Darren?" and he'd be like "Not anymore! I've been reborn as a new and improved version of myself! mwahaha!" And the main character would be like "Umm improved, sure." I loved when Scott was comming him and he'd only answer to MODOK.

Re: the redemption arc. Before watching the movie, I saw a leaked screenshot of the death scene where he says “at least I died an avenger.” That spoiled the MODOK=Darren reveal + death scene + redemption arc for me, but I was mostly upset that the movie would do something so blatantly cheesy with the dying scene. When I saw the movie, I was mostly glad that the scene wasn't meant to be taken seriously; that monologue is treated as self-righteous rather than earnest. However the redemption arc still does kind of come out of nowhere and it's lame.

Other Minor Characters

I liked Bill Murray as a sleazebag that reeeeally wants to give Hank the impression that he slept with his wife. I liked the group of weirdos fighting against Kang, and the "drink the ooze" scene was cute. Lowkey wish Scott and Hope ended up trapped in the Quantum Realm and became benevolent rulers for a few years. Overall, meh movie, would not watch again. Hope the fanfic is better.

[danses-with-dogmeat]

a romanced hancock reacting to sole wanting him to be a father figure in synth shaun's life?

Thank you so much for the ask anon!

So, I couldn't decide if I wanted to do more of a drabble or headcanons, so I just did both! I thought this prompt was really sweet, I hope you enjoy!

You stood in your shared room at the top of the Old State House, before the man in the red coat, the man you loved, awaiting his answer to your proposal. Having just asked him the question that had been patiently waiting at the back of your mind since the day that Shaun had come back into your life.

"Oh sunshine..." Hancock's gravelly voice broke the silence that had followed your question, "I'm beyond flattered that'd you'd ask that. I mean, I love that kid to pieces, but... you really think a ghoulified, blood-soaked, mega-junkie like me is the best fit for the kid to look up to?" The ghoul gave a soft chuckle, but Sole could see his brow furrowed slightly with uncertainty. A rare sight, given his usual gusto.

"Hancock," you said, in an attempt to reassure him, "you're a hell of a lot more than that. And Shaun is crazy about you, the reason I brought this up now was because he asked me when he could start calling you 'dad'." Hancock's dark eyes widened at your words and it took him a moment to answer.

"He- he did? Man... It's not too often I find myself at a loss for words but, I mean, me, a dad? I never thought that would've been possible, given my eh... present condition," He brought his hands up to gesture at his whole body. Your eyes never left his, the only change in your expression being a small smile, encouraging him to respond to your earlier question. Hancock sighed, taking a few steps towards you.

"So I suppose the thing I'm trying to say here is, I'm not sure I'm qualified for the position you're offering me." Your shoulders slumped at his words, you couldn't help but think he'd have been more receptive to the idea of being Shaun's new father. He may not be perfect, but he's one hell of an upgrade from the synth child's last "father."

"Look sunshine," Hancock decided to break the silence again, noticing your disappointed expression, "you sure you want this? I don't really tend to think of myself as 'daddy material'." You cocked an eyebrow at him, despite the weight of the conversation, you found yourself unable to keep a suggestive smile from spreading across your lips at his choice of words.

"Hey now, aren't you supposed to be the responsible one in this outfit?" Hancock quipped, his crooked smile imitating your own as he took another step closer. Before he could reach for you, you brought your hands up and grabbed ahold of his shoulders, trying to regain control of the conversation.

"Look, John, I know you don't always see it this way," you looked him in the eye, willing your next words to sink in, "but you really are an outstanding role model. I mean, look at all you've done for the people of Goodneighbor, and the Commonwealth. You're out there actively trying to make this wasteland a better place, lending a hand to the little guy and doing all you can to take down the tyrants. You're a skilled leader who genuinely cares about the people you're responsible for, you're fiercely protective of the ones you love, and of the ideals that you support. You're a good man, John. And I couldn't think of anyone better for Shaun to call 'dad'."

"Shit sweetheart, you really know how to make a ghoul blush. Tell me, how did I ever get so lucky to have you in my life?" He whispered softly, shaking his head slightly as he looked deep into your eyes. You couldn't help but blush at his comment and at his unrelenting smoky gaze, you looked down to break the tension for a moment.

"We're talking about you here, John, remember? So..." you trailed off, hoping to finally get a straight answer from him.

"So?" He asked.

"So, what do you say? You gonna make me ask you again, or what?"

"Look," he reached a ruined hand out to lightly take your own, his thumb rubbing soothingly over your knuckles, "you and that kid are the most important thing I've got going on in my life, and if you really want me around, then I'm not goin' anywhere. And for the first time in my life, I fucking mean it." He grasped your hand tightly, before you gently removed it from his own, instead bringing your arms up to pull him into a tight embrace, which Hancock happily leaned into, nuzzling his head into the crook of your neck.

"Just one thing..." you said, finally pulling away, "we might have to work on that foul mouth of yours."

"Don't worry sweetheart, if we're doing this thing, we're gonna do it right. I'll teach the kid all he needs to know. The real creative foul language, how to cure a hangover, where to get the best chems. All that important shit." You rolled your eyes playfully, mirth shining behind your dilated pupils as you stared into the eyes of your son's new father.

"Now, about that foul mouth of mine..." his hand slunk around your waist and pulled you into him as a mischievous grin spread across his lips a moment before they met yours.

And now, a few headcanons, for your consideration:

- After agreeing to act as Shaun's father, Hancock would seriously clean up his act. He may occasionally still take chems and drink (cuz, let's face it, he's still Hancock, and quitting cold turkey is hardly an option) but much less than he used to, and never around Shaun. This is only partly because he doesn't want to bring Shaun into that part of his life, but also it has a lot to do with his decreasing dependency on self-medicating. Being genuinely happy with his family, he doesn't feel as though he needs to escape.

- He would continue to be mayor of Goodneighbor, but would leave many of the day-to-day decisions to a committee (composed of Daisy, Fahrenheit, Dr. Amari, and an elected security guard). While Hancock, Sole and Shaun would live at another (more kid-friendly) settlement of Sole's choice.

- Hancock would actually excel at teaching Shaun. Whether it would be a shooting lesson, showing Shaun how to cook, teaching him to fish, or telling him about pre-war history (usually with a good amount of focus on the American revolution given his own fascination with it), even if Hancock wasn't extraordinarily knowledgeable, he would do his absolute best at helping Shaun get some form of an education.

- Once Sole was able to convince Hancock that Shaun liked his voice, rough as it may be, he would love to do bedtime stories. Even though Shaun is probably just getting old enough to outgrow them, he has a particularly hard time getting to sleep, and he soon finds that the ghoul's low, calm voice is a surefire way to drift off when the sun goes down.

- Hancock would be one of those parents that always looks like they know what they're doing, he would be patient during Shaun's tantrums, would be very focused on communication, and would have a nice blend of being protective of Shaun, but not to the point that it would be stifling. That being said, he would remain awfully uncertain and need constant reassurance from Sole, seeking their advice on almost everything to do with Shaun. Inside, he would have trouble realizing he's as good of a father figure to Shaun as everyone says he is. However, outwardly, he would be as confident as ever. Even fooling Nick into believing that he was completely at ease in the role of being Shaun's dad.

- He'd be killer at all of the popular kid games, playing hide and seek with Shaun when they visited the Old State House, or playing tag back in sanctuary, or even imagination games where he had to be the deathclaw and Shaun got to be Grognak the barbarian (do deathclaws exist in the Grognak universe? It doesn't matter, they do to Shaun). Hancock normally wouldn't let anyone win, he believes in playing fair, but occasionally for Shaun, he'd hide in the obvious places, or trip when running away in tag, or let it slide that Shaun says Grognak is strong enough to punch a deathclaw's head clean off in one hit. (Man, if only he could do that.)

- If other kids were bullying Shaun, Hancock would be the type of parent to bring the bully aside and have a frighteningly quiet conversation. And by conversation, I mean an in-depth description of what Hancock will do to the kid if he's mean to Shaun again. (Think of that scene at the beginning of the first Jurassic Park movie where the main character is describing to a kid how a velociraptor guts its prey and eats it alive. That's Hancock. Both the man, and probably the velociraptor too if the bully doesn't heed his warning.) Hancock wouldn't necessarily kill the kid for being mean to Shaun, but it's because he wouldn't have to, after his 'discussion' with the kid, he'll never even look at Shaun the wrong way again. Thankfully, the 'discussion' is all Hancock's ever had to do when kiddos are involved.

[tuanyiems]

Ice Choco

Yugyeom x Reader (f) fluff x smut words: 4k plot: you’re nervous about spending the holidays with his parents, but you should be more nervous about the boy who can’t seem to take his hands off of you, established relationship!au christmas!au warnings – fingering, teasing, slow sex, unprotected sex, creampie, this one’s extra fluffy I think, it’s Christmas after all :’) a/n – Christmas came early hehe enjoy! part of Le Chocolatier drabble series, which you can find the masterlist for in my blog. feel free to read this as a one-shot or part of the series, in any order you want <3

You smile fondly at the twinkling fir tree, golden lights and sparkling red bulbs drape over its forest green body. Chocolate squares wrapped in silver foil that you and Yugyeom had hand wrapped yourselves hang on red ribbons throughout the tree. You pluck one off and pop it into your mouth. The peppermint chocolate melts on your tongue, coating your mouth in sweetness.

When Yugyeom first invited you to join his family for the holidays, you were anxious. It hadn’t even been three months since you started dating. You wondered if you were moving too fast. Would his family judge you? Would Yugyeom realize how awkward of a person you were? Would you be left sad and alone on your favorite holiday?

It was only after plenty of reassurance from Yugyeom that you decided to just go for it. You liked Yugyeom, a lot, and despite the short time you’ve been dating, every day has been full of happiness. And if his family was anything like Yugyeom, you would probably like them too.

And that’s how you found yourself here, in the Kim’s living room on Christmas Eve. Unlike what you had imagined, his parents welcomed you with open arms. You learned exactly where Yugyeom got his warmth and kindness.

And as if this moment couldn’t be more picturesque, a full moon hung in the night sky like a shining ornament.

“Pretty,” Mrs. Kim interjected, stepping beside you.

“It is,” you smile, looking out the window.

“No, I was talking about you dear,” she grins, squeezing your arm.

“O-oh,” you stutter, feeling your cheeks heat.

Laughing, Mrs. Kim tilts her head back the same way Yugyeom laughs when he’s teasing you. “Aren’t you a cutie! Yugyeom did good finding you.��

“T-thanks,” you sputter, not sure what to do with yourself. You fix at the red plaid pajamas the Kim’s gifted you with this morning. “I’m glad you invited me…or, well, I don’t know if you invited me. I don’t know if you knew about me. Maybe Yugyeom just brought me without notice. Oh, I hope he didn’t-”

Giggling, Mrs. Kim pulls you into a side hug.

“Sorry,” you apologize, taking a deep breath. “What I mean is, you’ve been so nice. I’m happy to spend the holidays with you and your whole family. Really, thank you.”

“Not at all,” Mrs. Kim scrunches her nose, smiling. “It’s nice to have another woman in the house. Tomorrow, my daughter-in-law will be joining us too!”

“I can’t wait to meet her and your eldest son!” You agree, “I’ve heard so many great things from Yugyeom.”

She nods, giving your arm another squeeze. “Yeah, Yugyeom dotes on his brother so much. But until then, you can use Euigyeom’s old bedroom. I’ve prepared fresh sheets so you can get a good night’s sleep.”

“Fresh sheets won’t feel as cozy as my bedsheets though,” Yugyeom interrupts, coming up beside his mother.

Your eyes widen at his comment.

Mrs. Kim frowns, slapping Yugyeom on the arm. “No babies until you two get married!”

Yugyeom laughs at his mom and when he sees your mortified face, laughs even harder. You aren’t even sure which part of her sentence to be more flustered about—the fact that his mom just insinuated you two possibly having sex under her roof or that you’ve been dating for less than three months and she was already considering marriage! 

Your skin feels like hot lava and you wonder if you might even hive up from embarrassment. That would be a first.

“Oh, I think we broke her,” his mom chuckles.

“Honey,” Mr. Kim interrupts, resting his hands over Mrs. Kim’s shoulders. “Let’s head to bed and let the young one’s talk.”

He sends you a wink before ushering his wife into their bedroom. When you hear their door shut, you let out a sigh, shoulders slumping. Yugyeom chuckles softly beside you, patting you on the back.

“I told you, you had nothing to worry about,” he says. “My parents love you already. I think they love you more than they love me.”

“Impossible!” you scrunch your nose, but your lips curl up anyways. “This afternoon when I was helping your mom in the kitchen, she kept talking about all the awards you won in high school. Class president, co-president of the dance club, winner of the youth dance competition. How come you never talk about dance? What else are you hiding from me?”

Yugyeom’s eyes crinkle into half moon shapes. “I also won first prize in the science fair in primary school,” he grins, winking at you playfully. “Your man made a pretty mean volcano back in the day.”

“Oh wow, a volcano? That beats the boy I dated for his solar system model,” you joke.

He smirks, putting his arm around you, “Definitely an upgrade, babe.”

“Tomorrow, I’ll ask to see the baby photos,” you tease, leaning into his embrace as you poke his chest.

Yugyeom tilts his head cockily to the side. “Not to brag, but I was a pretty cute baby. Just a warning, but you might fall in love with me.”

You roll your eyes. A little too late for that, you think to yourself, but that is a confession for another day.

“We should probably clean up and head to bed soon,” you smile, pulling away.

“Don’t wanna see Santa?” he teases.

You chuckle, clearing the living room of the abandoned mugs and plates with the exception of one plate of chocolate chip cookies. “I think it’s cute that your mom still keeps out cookies.”

He smiles, helping you empty the dishes into the sink. “Back when we were kids, they’d wake up at midnight and eat the cookies too.”

Lips jutting out, you stare at Yugyeom with big doe eyes, completely endeared. He glances at you before chuckling and slipping on the bright pink dishwashing gloves.

“On the downside, I got bullied for being the only kid in the neighborhood who still believed in Santa,” he adds.

“Aww, poor baby,” you coo, brushing the stray hair out of his eyes. “Tell me their names, I’ll go beat them up for you.”

“Bambam,” he quips making you laugh.

“Sorry, Gyeom, you’re on your own.”

He chuckles. “S’alright, I had my mom fight that battle.”

You let out a deep breath, leaning your elbows on the center island of the kitchen and admire Yugyeom from behind. He’s only in a plain grey t-shirt and matching red plaid pajama pants, and yet, he still looks handsome. Your eyes travel across his broad back. There is the faint hint of his tattoo underneath the thin cotton material.

When you first saw Yugyeom’s back tattoo, you were surprised but also found it very fitting. Black ink bled wings across his shoulder blades. In a way, Yugyeom came into your life like an angel. Your guardian angel, he liked to joke, saving others from your clumsiness. 

You scoff at the memory, making Yugyeom turn to you with narrowed eyes.

“What are you snickering about back there?”

“Nothing!” you squeak, pursing your lips together like a child caught red handed. 

He looks at you for a moment longer before turning back to the dishes, smiling to himself. 

“I was just thinking,” you finally add after a pause. “I really enjoy the relationship you have with your parents.”

You watch his shoulders lift and you imagine he’s smiling. “Yeah, they’re my best friends,” he tells you over the sound of the running faucet.

“I’m jealous,” you confess softly. You assume he doesn’t hear you.

Unlike Yugyeom, you grew up in a strict household. The only memories you have of your biological father were all associated with fear and while you got along with your mother, you weren’t exactly close either. Of course, the two of you loved each other as most families did, but after experiencing a marriage of struggle, as soon as you were of legal age, your mom went off to chase her own freedom. Back in your late teens, this had put a strain in your relationship, but now that you are older, with your perspective matured, you grew to understand your mom and you’re glad that she’s found a happier life of her own.

Now, the two of you can talk openly about the ups and downs of adulthood and womanhood and everything in between.

But this was why you weren’t spending the holidays with your own family. The two of you had decided a few years back that New Year’s would be for family, Christmas is for love and adventure.

You watch as your love and adventure turns off the faucet and shakes the pink gloves off his arms. “Done!” he declares triumphantly, turning to you now.

“Looks like you’re going to make the nice list this year,” you compliment, wrapping your arms around his neck.

He grins down at you, “How about you sneak into my room and we can both make the naughty list.”

Your eyes widen, feeling your cheeks flush at the thought. Yugyeom laughs, throwing his head back.

“I’m just kidding, don’t have a heart attack!” 

Slapping his chest, you pout. “Let’s go to sleep. I’m going to need the energy to deal with you tomorrow.”

But when your head finally sinks into the fresh sheets Mrs. Kim had prepared for you, sleep never comes. After washing up and saying goodnight to Yugyeom, it was like all the exhaustion washed away too. You are wide awake when the clock hits midnight.

It’s probably because you’re in a new environment. It’s been a while since you last slept in a stranger’s bed. You haven’t even slept at Yugyeom’s place yet! You always go home before it gets too late, or it’s him staying at yours.

Anyways, the nerves of meeting Yugyeom’s family along with the new environment and the thrill of Christmas combined is probably what’s keeping you up.

Sitting up in bed, you decide to fix up a warm drink. That should calm you, right?

Slipping out of bed, you sneak out of your bedroom on tiptoes, twisting the doorknob so slowly one might think you’ve been frozen. One thing about the Kim’s house is how eerily quiet the whole place is. Unlike your apartment where everything seemed to buzz—the fridge, the walls, the ceiling, you name it—this house was cloaked in silence.

It feels like an eternity when you finally get the door open big enough to walk through. Looking both ways in the dark hallway, you make a turn and tiptoe your way into the kitchen. Once in the kitchen, you flick the island lights on, casting a dim spotlight at the center of the room. You squint, eyes adjusting to the lights before making your way towards the cabinets.

Helping Mrs. Kim with dinner this evening had paid off. You were already familiar with the kitchen setup.

Plucking a hot chocolate packet between two fingers, you swivel back to the island to boil the water. Pouring the brown powder into a mug, you let out a breath, waiting for the water to boil.

In the open window across from you, you are delighted to find a flurry of white illuminated by the dim light of a single lamppost. The snowflakes fall in fat clumps, as if in slow motion. The quiet realization that you will have a white Christmas after all, brings a soft smile to your lips.

“Hello, Santa,” a sudden voice breaks the silence, making you jump up in a silent shriek.

Standing in the shadows, at the doorway of the kitchen is a very amused Yugyeom, his hands clasped around his mouth to muffle his laughter.

“You scared me!” you whisper yell, one hand on your beating chest.

“Sorry,” he apologizes, not at all sorry, as he walks to your side behind the island. “What are you doing up anyways?”

“Making hot chocolate,” you explain, hands coming to fix at his bed head. “I couldn’t fall asleep. Want one?”

You’re already grabbing another packet from the cabinet before he can answer you.

“I can make you an ice choco,” you smile up at him, eyes forming crescents. They look shinier under the lights. He feels a flutter in his stomach.

Smiling quietly, Yugyeom nods. For a moment, the two of you stand in easy silence. Only the sound of the water boiler can be heard. Yugyeom’s eyes follow where yours are staring and his heart warms. You look so happy, it’s endearing. You must be the only person in this city who hasn’t been jaded from the snowstorms that hit every winter.

Coming from behind, Yugyeom wraps you in his arms, bending to rest his chin in the crook of your shoulder.

“Merry Christmas,” he whispers into your ear, gazing out at the falling snow.

“Merry Christmas,” you reply, turning, you hold his face in one palm and press a kiss to his cheek. He squeezes you tighter in his arms.

When the water boiler clicks off, water now hot and bubbling, you move to grab it but Yugyeom holds you tight, pulling you closer to his chest. You giggle softly, tilting your head at him curiously. He answers you with cold fingers sliding underneath your shirt. It sends you shivering all over.

“Yugyeom!” you squeak in surprise, making futile attempts to escape his grasp.

“I know something else we could do to get you sleepy,” he whispers, breath on the shell of your ear.

“Y-your parents are right down the hall!” you stutter, gulping back the whimper that threatens to escape your throat.

Yugyeom licks a stripe up the shell of your ear, “And sleeping.” You can feel his smirk against your ear.

“I-w-we can’t,” you whine, unconvincingly.

“But you want to,” he says matter-of-factly, hands sliding up your skin. You feel him inhale when his palms come around the supple flesh of your breasts. “No bra? You naughty girl.”

Your protests catch in your throat when he begins to knead at your breasts, rolling both nipples between his thumbs. You whimper, head falling back onto his shoulder at the sensation. His fingers brush against the sensitive buds gently, barely there. It makes your knees weak and your core throb with want.

Yugyeom presses himself into your back and you can feel him hard against you. “You don’t know how hard it was for me to control myself today. Do you know how many hard ons I had to hide from my parents?”

You break into a smile, grinding your ass harder into him. “Is that why you were hugging that throw pillow all day?”

“Don’t you dare laugh at me,” Yugyeom warns, pinching you between his thumbs. “I saw the way you were looking at me. I can read you like a book, baby. Bet you’re already wet.”

Yugyeom presses a kiss to your jawline before sucking down your throat. Your breath skips at the fluttering feeling. “G-gyeom, I-I can’t have hickeys.”

He groans softly against you, biting softly at your jugular before letting go. “You don’t get to call the shots, babe.”

The sternness of his voice makes you whimper, which he catches easily with his own lips on yours. Yugyeom kisses you roughly, tongue overpowering yours just the way you like it. When his hand dips down past the waistband of your pajama pants and panties at once, your eyes fall shut, relishing the sudden intrusion.

“Fucking wet,” he smirks, dipping two fingers between your folds. He gathers your slick, spreading it in circles around your sensitive bud. You whimper, knees going weak.

All too soon though, his hand leaves you, making you whine. He holds his fingers up in the light, admiring the glistening web of arousal. As if practiced, you open your mouth for him and he slides his fingers into your mouth. You whimper at the tang of yourself melting on your tongue.

“Tell me you want me,” he mutters, lids heavy as he slides his fingers in and out of your mouth. You run your tongue around his fingers expertly until you’ve licked him clean.

Yugyeom swallows, watching you suck on his fingers and imagines you sucking other things of his. The very thought makes him shiver. Reluctantly, he pulls his fingers out of your mouth, letting you speak.

“Please Gyeom,” you whine, breathless. “I want you. Need you inside me already.”

It’s music to his ears and he wants to tease you more, but his patience has already run out. Having spent the better half of this day sporting blue balls, Yugyeom just wants to fuck you senseless.

It catches you by surprise when he slips his thumbs down your waistbands and pulls, leaving your ass bare behind the kitchen island. Before you can even feel embarrassed about the sudden exposure, Yugyeom’s finger are back on you, making you whimper while his other hand makes quick work with his own pants and boxers. His cock springs free, red and throbbing.

“You look so delicious like this,” he whispers into your ear, hands squeezing your ass. Oh, how he would have loved to slap your ass until you were red with his fingerprints. Biting his lips, he pushes his dick between your thighs instead.

“Ooh,” you let out a satisfied sigh, your clit rubbing along the length of his cock. Your thighs are soft and warm around his length, it’s unfair, Yugyeom thinks. Your pussy is weeping with desperation, the arousal drips down, coating his dick so that each time he thrusts between your legs, it is deliciously smooth. Everything about your body is heavenly, like it was made for him.

Already, you’re panting, a thick whine straining in your throat. His hot cock rutting between your thighs just teases at your sensitive bud. Your pussy lips clench around nothing and only succeeds in making the ache in your core more despairing. 

“Gyeom, please,” you breathe out, hands coming up to run through his hair, your fingers thread around his black strands, before pulling into your fists. Yugyeom enjoys the ache in his scalp.

When he pulls his cock away, you almost yell out loud, lips pouting from the lost sensation. He answers you with a smirk, nudging his foot between yours, he forces your legs apart. Your hands grip at the counter for support, fingers pressing down hard when he slides two fingers into you without warning.

Immediately, you bite at your bottom lip, fighting the moan that threatens to escape you as he dips his fingers into you over and over, stretching at your velvety walls. His fingers are long and practiced, finding the rough, spongy patch inside you quickly.

Your eyes squeeze shut, the ghost of a whimper panting from your lips as he curls his fingers, sending shivers straight to your core. Over and over, he does this, until you’re tightening around his digits. All too soon, your knees are buckling, mind going numb from the sensation.

And then, he pulls out of you.

You gasp, eyes opening wide while Yugyeom chuckles darkly. 

Before you can complain, he kisses your temple sweetly. “Not yet, baby,” he whispers soothingly.

You feel Yugyeom stepping closer between your legs and then the head of his cock teases at your entrance, sliding up and down your folds, spreading your slick on him.

You’re about to whine for him to stop teasing when you hear the creak of a door opening. Eyes widening, your heart jumps to your throat when the sound of footsteps shuffling against the floors, echoes like a blaring drum from down the dark hallway.

Your breath hitches when Yugyeom sinks his cock into you slowly. Your palm flies to your mouth, just as he slides all the way in, balls pressed to your ass. He leans into you so that his chest is hard-pressed against your back. You can feel his breath on your skin as his lips press against the nape of your neck.

The door of the bathroom opens and closes.

“Shh,” he mumbles against you, slowly pulling out of you. The friction is so delicious, you can’t help the whimper that muffles against your palm. “Wouldn’t want to get caught with my dick inside you…would you?”

He fucks into you, one hand coming to your throat at the sound of your muffled moan. He squeezes at your throat, softly at first. When he feels the way you clench around his cock, he bites into your shoulder, hiding his groan.

“Are you gonna be a good girl?” he whispers into your ear, fingers tapping at your throat. You nod your head eagerly, rutting yourself onto his dick.

He bites at his lip, squeezing around your neck. At the sound of the water faucet running, Yugyeom ruts into you hard, his free hand coming to rub circles around your clit. You pant, breath constricting and eyes rolling. You love the way he fills you entirely. His slow thrusts hit you deep every time, keeping you at the edge of euphoria.

When the bathroom door opens, Yugyeom’s fingers rub at your bud even faster, sending your heart facing and electric currents straight to your core. You’re so close, it hurts. Tears brim at the corner of your eyes, your voice threatening to break as your ears strain to hear the footsteps coming closer.

You can feel your vein pulsing against your forehead as Yugyeom continues to thrust his cock into your sopping hole, sliding deep into your cunt.

The door of his parents’ bedroom squeaks like slow motion. Please, please go back to bed. Shut the door. All you can hear is your heart pounding in your own ear and Yugyeom’s stifled breathing. 

And then you hear the click.

Yugyeom lets go of your throat to hold the edge of the counter instead and the air that invades your lungs while he fucks into you hard send you off the edge.

“Mmmmm,” a strained moan escapes your throat as you collapse onto the island, body jerking as your orgasm hits you in waves. Yugyeom continues his ministrations on your clit, his own balls straining at the way your pussy pulses around him, impossibly tight.

“That’s it, baby,” he soothes, rocking himself into you as you slowly come down from your high. He caresses your throat lovingly, placing soft kisses to your jawline until he’s spilling into you with a quiet groan.

You shiver, his moan tickling the shell of your ear as your pussy pulsed around his cock, sucking up each hot spurt of cum that shot into you.

“God,” he sighs, sweaty forehead pressing into your shoulder. He all but collapses on you. “I love you so much.”

Both you and Yugyeom freeze. His softened cock slips out of you and he rushes to help clean the cum that drips out of your pussy. Stumbling, Yugyeom haphazardly pulls the band of his pants back up while grabbing a towel from behind him.

You barely even notice the stickiness that drips down your thigh as Yugyeom wipes the damp towel across your skin. Instead, you stare down at his fluffy hair, a smile stretching across your face.

“Gyeom,” you say softly as he fixes your pants back up, still refusing to look at you. Your fingers thread through his hair softly, “Gyeom.”

When he tilts his head up, he looks so worried. You feel your heart squeeze.

“Gyeom,” you smile softly, helping him back up to his feet. “I love you too.”

He blinks like he’s heard you wrong. “You love me too?”

You nod, giggling now. “I do. A lot.”

Yugyeom pulls you into a kiss.

“You love me!” he repeats against your lips and then he is kissing you again until you are both giggling against each other.

[sogayfortolerance]

Alright I just started playing Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town and I have thoughts, granted I’m only just starting because it came out on March 26th in Australia and I could only pick it up on the 27th so these are really just first impressions rather than anything else.

Pros:

- I really like the smaller things they’ve done like;

- They added how many plots of land a watering can can water instead of a bar

- They’ve added a ‘health’ bar to trees and rocks so I don’t have to guess how many swings it’ll take to take it down

- There’s a lot to do right out the gate (Fishing can be opened on day one, farming can be done on the third day, mining is opened right out the gate, cooking is open when you upgrade your house for the first time which I did on my fourth day and it’s really easy to get your coop up and running which opens up animal farming), it can get kinda overwhelming but it’s always better to have too much to do in a game than not enough

- Really the only character I really like is Linh (and that might just be because I'm half Viet)

- Actually Reina is pretty cute as well

- And Iori

- I love that mining is back especially since after Trio of Towns mining was just sad and I wasn't sure it was staying after Friends of Mineral Town

- Fishing was pretty confusing at first but I actually really like it

- The character creator was cute and pretty fun

- I did also like how in the character creator you choose your ‘Body type’ and ‘stance’ then you choose if you’re a ‘granddaughter’ or ‘grandson’. It would have also been awesome if you could choose ‘grandchild’ or ‘grandthem’ but we’re getting there

- GAY MARRIAGE IS HERE TO STAY

Cons:

- Why did they get rid of the portraits? It makes conversations with everyone feel so impersonal

- I think they were trying to go for what the Wii games did but the problem is that the camera doesn't really work for it, what I mean is that the camera will zoom in for the conversation but like half the time it gets stuck on the building or a tree

- And as a consequence to getting rid of the portraits I now have to manually check the romance options heart level rather than just have to look at what colour their heart is

- No seriously I really don’t like that I can’t look at a portrait of them especially since this has quite literally been in these games since the very first one in the series (the only ones that don’t have portraits are the Wii games which I did really like but the camera actually changed to focus on the characters faces and I feel like the 3D models of PoOT just aren't really all that good, like they’re fine but definitely not the best)

- They got rid of the mini map and it’s a bitch to get to in the menu and as a consequence I don’t know where I am, where anyone else is or where anything is in general 

- Unpopular opinion but I don’t really like when they bring back previous bachelors and bachelorettes as marriage options again because then I get sad imagining that Ludas or Amir got sick of my farmer, divorced them and then abandoned their kid. I do like it when like in Island of Happiness Karen and Popori show up for a vacation for a season.

- I don't really understand the need for a lumber maker, in the old game all you had to do is hit wood with an axe, now you chop down the tree and use 20 logs to make a lumber maker which takes 2 hours to use and you can only make one lumber piece at a time so you have to go back and refill the maker

- The conversion of wood to lumber makes no sense to me 3 wood = 1 lumber is just dumb. 5 ores = 1 ingot makes sense to me but the lumber makes no sense

- I don't really get why they made the museum a thing (it kinda just feels like they’re ripping off Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing)

- The frame rate is just awful and drops constantly 

- None of the characters really feel all that interesting to me 

- I literally couldn’t care less about most of the bachelors and bachelorettes, they all feel so vanilla and boring (read: dull as dishwater). Even when I first saw the concept arts for them I literally couldn’t make a choice because I didn’t care about any of them (I’ll probably change my mind later once I get to know them better but not a good first impressions) that being said I’ll probably go for Iori, Linh or Reina because they look the most interesting 

- It’s a bit weird I can’t use my DLC outfits right when I get access to my dresser but instead have to wait until the boutique gets into town to pick up my outfits (At least I don’t have to also in-game pay for them).

- The loading screens are weird as fuck, it’s literally sometimes just a close up of the mayors nose.

- The game feels weirdly grindy like more so then usual in a farming sim

That’s really all I can think of for now, I’ve heard that they’ll be patching in more dialogue for the characters and I hope that the portraits come with it but I kinda doubt it. And yes I am still very upset about the portraits AND the lack of a mini map.

Feel free to add anything here but I honestly doubt anyone else is going to read this.

[cblgblog]

Hi there! I’m the one who went in the ask about Bucky’s arm and I just wanted to say thank you so much for your response! You genuinely give such thought out and honest answers, it’s kind of amazing I desperately wish I could write like that.

I think probably everyone had a slight laugh at at least one of the memes that people dropped, it unfortunately though evolved into such a negative space so quickly.

I’m also so sorry that you had to go through that.

I hope you have an amazing day!

Hey!

Listen, I appreciate you sharing, seriously. I had not looked at it from that angle before, and it’s an interesting take. Particularly because yeah, it’s Bucky of all people, not just a “regular” guy with a prosthetic, but a guy who’s already had so much of his autonomy hijacked.

As far as why there would be a ‘failsafe’ built into the arm—the ability to remove it, here’s my thoughts. Given now because I believe you mentioned it in your first ask and I forgot to address it ‘cause oops, lol.

If they were worried, why not give him a regular prosthetic, I believe you asked. I think there might have been a few things happening there, honestly. It’s very possible that they did make him a less…Terminator-esque one to start with, when they were still working on the brainwashing in the early days. Very possible he himself requested that, given his constant concern about hurting others if he loses control again. As he got further along in his recovery, Shuri could have moved him on to a more advanced prosthetic.

So, why do that if there was concern he’d hurt them with it? The short answer is that he for sure would’ve benefited from a better mouse trap, so to speak, during the Wakanda battle in Infinity War. I’m honestly sure he would’ve kicked ass even if they’d given him something made of wood, but a better model certainly helps. The longer answer is, I think, where things get interesting.

I honestly do not think Shuri is capable of not upgrading something. Like, she’s got Stark levels of ‘I can make this better,’ so even if he started out with a more typical prosthetic, how long could Shuri resist improving that? At the same time...she’s a teenager, and her dad is dead. Very publicly murdered, despite Wakanda’s infinitely better tech, despite the Dora, who can kill people with their fingernails, despite everything. They don’t talk about that at all in Black Panther, T’Chakka’s death and it’s impact on her. Which I get, because it’s ‘Challa’s story and all that, and that’s fine, but at the same time, it’s still a thing. We got a deep dive on T’Challa’s mourning, but not Shuri’s.

She’s 16 years old when her dad, the all powerful Wakandan king dies. She’s in charge of making the tech that protects Wakanda and it’s people. Now, that had nothing to do with the death. It’s not like they lost ‘Chakka because of a failure of one of her inventions. But still. 

So they’ve lost one king before his time. T’Challa then dies in front of her, as far as she knows, in the Kilmonger fight. Erik takes over and Wakanda’s resources are briefly used for ill purposes. We’ve also got the history with Klaw here, and the fact that, however briefly, everyone thought this Bucky guy they’re now in charge of curing killed T’Chakka.

What I’m taking an extremely long time to say is, it would actually be weirder to me if there wasn’t a failsafe to remove the arm. I say this with hindsight, because I, like most people, I assume, had not even remotely thought of such a thing until the scene in the show. All this assuming it was Shuri’s idea her design, and not ‘Challa’s. Which is it’s own assumption, because the man is a genius in his own right, in the comics. Movies don’t really touch on it, but he does call that first Panther suit “my design,” the one Shuri calls old and then upgrades. Keep in mind too that T’Challa fought this dude. He knows how strong the man is, even if he no longer blames him for ‘T’Chakka’s death. You have a guy who the Black friggin Panther would have trouble beating, being brought into the inner sanctum of a notoriously isolationist country. You have this guy potentially being around T’Challa’s mom, his baby sister, other loved ones, people he’s not only known since birth, but who are now his literal responsibility. It is his actual job to protect the people of Wakanda from all threats.

What I keep taking a long time to say is that in hindsight, knowing the failsafe was there, it’d be weird to me if it wasn’t there, no matter how you look at it, who’s idea it was, etc.

Mind you, Bucky is Bucky and I also think that removing the arm would’ve done relatively little to reduce his ability to kick ass, had he wanted to, but that’s neither here nor there, just an observation.

Annyyyway, this is why everyone always regrets asking me things, on account of these Illiad-length answers, but I wanted to add that yeah, I can’t blame you for stepping back from the fandom. It’s an incredibly toxic place if you turn the wrong corner, don’t manage your contacts within it, etc. I watched the show without engaging too deeply in the discourse because so much of it was racist bs spewed at Sam, villainizing Sam for breathing wrong, villainizing Sam and Bucky both because they weren’t villainizing Steve, those dumb fucks, he betrayed them and they don’t even care...

Most of my engagement with any sort o MCU fandom has to be very carefully managed, because the place absolutely can be a hellscape. So again, can’t say I blame you or anyone else for stepping back.

That said, people like you, who show up to engage in discussion politely rather than screaming? You be the gold standard. Again, I appreciate you taking the time to share your viewpoint because I hadn’t caught it before. 

You’re a star, you gave me an excuse to both think and rant too much, hope you have a fantastic day, thank you again.

[astrovian]

ranking daniel miller outfits because apparently I have nothing better to do right now

an extremely long one y’all, so it’s under the cut

started at the bottom, now we’re.... still here at the bottom of the list

the running outfit. y’know. that one

look, I know it’s the middle of winter in Berlin and Daniel’s doing his best, but there is something about this that is just not that great. still looks 100x better than my running outfit but I think it’s the beanie that really gives this last place. or is it the double beanie? either way, not an outfit I would wear to try and romance my girl in (even if you are exercising with them). the only real redeeming feature of the outfit is the black turtleneck all zipped up

1.8/10

the sneaky sneaky boy outfit

the perfect outfit for the job because it’s completely unremarkable. the ‘hood over cap’ combo makes me expect to see a 20 year old hacker skulking about under there, but wait - surprise... it’s a handsome middle-aged man? 

RA can rock a cap or hood but the double-combo just doesn’t do it for me. I guess I can be happy the third hood isn’t up as well to form a trifecta?

Daniel may need to be sneaky to do his job but I would argue that if I saw a man with a hood over his cap in broad daylight chilling in a cemetery I would have more questions than if I just saw a regularly dressed man chilling in a cemetery in broad daylight

3/10

almost every s1 suit

look, RA looks fantastic in a suit and no one is disputing that. I’m just saying that this is about as bland a suit and tie combo as it gets and from my recall of season one we see this almost every single time he’s in the station.

this one is even a bland grey. grey has it’s place but in the office it can turn into a bit of a snooze. mix up your office-wear & make it fun Daniel. wear a cool-coloured tie. put some funny socks on.

4/10 

the casual summer businessman

something bothers me about this. is it the combo of the untucked shirt and the khaki pants? on their own either is fine

or is it just that this is one of the first times we see Daniel and the look has almost no personality to it? who knows

4.1/10 (for the unbuttoned collar and rolled-up sleeves)

the casual summer businessman goes to a bbq

almost the exact same outfit as the casual summer businessman, but the shirt’s a different colour which somehow makes it a lot better

this man wouldn’t look out of place at a bbq, which is a great choice from the styling team considering Daniel actually wears this to the team bbq in the show

4.5/10 solely for just being a bit plain and boring

I’ve finished filing those papers you wanted

no tie and one undone button? Daniel, you tease!

4.6/10

sneaky sneaky boy part 2

this is what I’m talking about. I still find people wearing caps indoors incredibly suspicious for someone trying to blend in (possibly because I was raised to believe that hats were an outdoors only look) but Daniel looks like a grown man and no longer looks like he should be a 20 year old hacker. success!

4.6/10 for an ultra-casual Daniel

I’m just here to file some papers and get paid 

see? same suit every time. at least this one’s a nice black which is an upgrade from the grey and really suits RA

4.7/10

every day is a work day if you try hard enough - the winter edition

a non-matchy-matchy blue tie! a winter coat! a turned up collar! it may not be exciting but at least now we’re cooking

in all fairness though, our coat is quite dull and anonymous and the only real notable thing about it is the choice to keep the collar upturned. nothing to write home about if it wasn’t for the RA attached to it

4.7/10

every day is a work day if you try hard enough - the winter edition pt. 2

the hooded coat makes for a nice relaxation of the business suit. other than that, not much to say.

4.73/10

once more unto the (lapel) breach

we find ourselves having to ask: is Daniel Miller really Daniel Miller if his coat lapel isn’t popped?

this the FBI man who turns up at your house to either arrest you or escort you to safety. oh, sorry, CIA I guess given the context of the show

looks great because of RA being the one wearing it but a fairly mundane look

4.8/10

up, up, and away

bicycle Daniel was a nice look which I wasn’t expecting out of this show. mainly because I have never ever in my life seen a man in a suit on a bike. 

in NZ they all use cars and at the very least bike in casual clothes then get changed at work. is biking in suits a European thing?

there’s absolutely nothing special or spectacular about the clothes, but put Daniel on a bike and it works really well?

maybe it’s the cape effect or leather gloves. or even just the notion of seeing a fully-dressed business man in a suit whiz by you on a bicycle.

whatever it is, it’s appreciated

4.8/10

the party boy

in s1 Daniel has only one look if he’s going out on the town - he ditches the tie & opens two buttons (or three if he’s feeling saucy)

I’ll never complain about this this look because let’s be honest, who would, but we also need to face reality that, like his suits, it’s also a bit repetitive and lacks a bit of something after seeing it for the 5th episode in row

4.9 /10

it might be time for you to go to bed

the party boy has finally lost his ‘I’m too cool for you’ vibe and partied his jacket and several shirt buttons off (quite literally). bonus points for the completely rumpled shirt and hair

the only thing that is eye-catching in this outfit is the skin it reveals

4/10

puzzle time *finger guns* (to anyone who didn’t grow up in New Zealand quoting this ad I apologise)

now this is a Daniel I would sit down and do a puzzle with. which is probably a good thing as he is quite literally solving a puzzle in this scene

5/10 for evoking the correct feeling from the audience but otherwise there is nothing special here

is mission impossible hiring?

the gloves? the backpack? the jacket and zipped sweater? you see this man and know your mainframe is about to be hacked

not the worst. but not the best. love the zipped sweater, could lose the gloves.

5.5/10

let’s get cozy

now this is a dapper fellow. the thin black scarf? brilliant with the signature coat collar

a Daniel who would probably lend you his coat or scarf if you complained about the cold

5.6/10

someone who would feed the ducks at the park

this is how to put in RA in a baseball cap. the subtle tartan of his scarf, which is tied in a knot? the perfect winter spy outfit

this is a Daniel you want to go on walks in a park with.

5.8/10

uncle Daniel goes on a trip to the mall

the more I look at that jacket the more I appreciate it. It’s a stunning blue which makes a nice contrast to the usual dull grey of his sweater and is a colour that looks great on RA. It even has some quilting for added interest

5.96/10

he’s the ‘fun uncle’

the warm sweater and scarf? this is the uncle who takes you out to do fun things while you’re supposed to be grounded and tells you not to tell your mom

nothing amazing in this outfit but also nothing to complain about considering it’s in s1. a funner, casual side to Daniel we don’t often see (am I bitter about never seeing his cousin and her son after s1? a little)

a solid 6/10

hope is fragile and also a black sweater

the fact that we never see this sweater on its own is what lets it down here

putting that to one side, the snuggly sweater? the green bomber jacket? this is a classic s2 Daniel look. but hang on - this is from s1?

Daniel’s letting us know via this s1 outfit that it will all be good in the near future if we can just hang on until he gets his s2 wardrobe

6.1/10 for providing hope for the future

hello? it’s your future ex-boyfriend calling

this man isn’t Daniel Miller - he’s a career model who can GET IT and he knows it

6.6/10

comfy sweater boy

so simple but so, so, so good

this is a Daniel I would want to cuddle up on a couch with. he’s a soft boy who wouldn’t hurt anyone and probably makes a great hot chocolate

6.7/10

comfy sweater boy goes for a walk outside

the colour of his sweater goes nicely with the coat. and once again: is he really Daniel Miller if his collar isn’t popped?

he loses 0.1 of a point for losing a bit of the soft boy look that the sweater just by itself brought to the party

6/10

comfy sweater boy ran out of hot chocolate at his so comes round to your place for takeaway

I just really enjoy the colour of this sweater, okay? the easy, layered sweater look? the takeaway chinese? this is a man after my heart and I’m also pretty sure I’ve worn this exact outfit before

6.1/10

if looks could kill

leather jacket? perfect. but what really brings this together? the black v-neck of course. RA never wears enough v-necks

‘nuf said

6.9/10

the Adam Price moment

this is one of the rarest of cases - a s2 outfit that wasn’t a 100% hit for me. everything about this outfit slaps except for the polo shirt

blue bomber jacket? hell yeah. hidden orange detailing on the inside? that’s what I’m talking about. colour combo of shirt and jacket? well done

polo shirt itself? meh. even if it was just a plain polo that would have been great. for some reason the embroidered logo and collar stripes push me over the edge

I don’t know why but whenever I see a man in a polo shirt like this, I immediately think they are heading to the golf course and are probably not the type of person I would chill with (given that I don’t play golf)

on Adam Price? sure. on Daniel Miller? nah, he knows better

7/10 (mainly for the bomber)

guess who’s back? back again. Adam’s back. tell a friend

I know this is lower ranked than most of the outfits on this entire list but is still found at the upper end of this list. That’s ‘cause it just had to come after the Adam Price moment, okay?

they took everything that was wrong with the Adam Price moment (e.g. the entire polo shirt) and then focused our attention on it

it doesn’t matter how tightly it clings to RA’s body, it’s not overriding my unjustified hatred of polo shirts 

3.5/10

I’m here to make important calls while I dine in a fine restaurant

another updated suit look post-s1. I picture this Daniel eating at a nice Italian restaurant for lunch before returning to work for an important business conference

and is that a textured shirt I spy? well done

7.3/10

the shirt is even better without the jacket.

the undone buttons? c’mon

it’s just a nice shirt okay

7.5/10

comfy sweater boy’s older brother

for one thing, those low-slung sweatpants are a blessing and didn’t get enough screen time.

then on top of that the oversized shirt that drapes in just the right and most comfy way? the bare feet? I would call in sick to work if I saw Daniel wearing this outfit in my house

this is a Daniel who has lost comfy sweater boy’s innocence but who I would still wanna cook food and binge netflix with

this is absolute peak comfy Daniel

a well-deserved 7.8/10

the ‘I can’t believe I wasted so much time with the same suit and coat combo over and over in s1′ Daniel

this Daniel is the sum of everything that is wrong with s1 Daniel and everything that is right about s2 & s3 Daniel

the casual suit jacket. the rolled up sleeves. the loose casual shirt. this is a Daniel who works hard but knows how to have a good time and will 100% seduce you in a foreign city

8.5/10

come to the dark side

the same as the ‘I can’t believe I wasted so much time with the same suit and coat combo over and over in s1′ Daniel but with his classic coat and popped collar for some added mystery to the character

like the ‘I can’t believe I wasted so much time with the same suit and coat combo over and over in s1′ Daniel this man will 100% seduce you in a foreign city but also will not hesitate to use his superior strength to pin you against a wall while he makes out with you

8.59/10

I mean...

I’m not sure you can class underwear as an ‘outfit’ as such, but uh.... sorry, what was I saying? I got a little distracted 

I refuse to put a numerical rank on this/10

don’t tell your dad about this one

I know we’ve established that underwear is not really an outfit, but these are pants so I’m gonna say this one counts.

the undone belt? the obvious shirtlessness? hanging with this man will definitely end with someone in jail (and it won’t be him). but at least it’ll be a fun ride on the way down to hell

i refuse to assign numerical value to the semi-naked ones because that’s not fair on the other outfits/10

is he here to fix a car, murder someone or sweep me off my feet? who knows and honestly who cares when he looks like that?

the khaki jacket brings in some ruggedness which tip-top Daniel below is missing while still keeping it effortlessly cool.

this is Daniel. fucking. Miller and he doesn’t care what you think

99.99/10

tip-top Daniel

this is Daniel right at his peak. 

everything - the casual bomber from the Adam Price moment earlier, the plaid shirt, the undone buttons, the aviators. the HAIR. 

Damn, Daniel. Damn.

100/10

[stelliferia]

So yknow my kobold arcane trickster rogue, Kitt? She has a familiar now! His name is Mugwump (after the Canadian cryptid) and he is the best familiar I could ever ask for. What a beautiful good boy.

The process for this little boi was probably the best way I’ve seen find familiar done. The DM’s an absolute legend. I keep thinking about it, and it just make me cry.  Process/backstory dump under the cut. It’s a little long, be warned

I’m so sorry in advance, this became something of a writing exercise for me - if you read it, I really appreciate it, and feel free to send me a PM  if you want to chat!

So in addition to the usual components for the spell (10 gp worth of charcoal, incense, and herbs, and a bronze brazier) Kitt was required to collect a few other things. As someone who casts through her mind (intelligence) she needed to find three objects that represented mastery over three parts of her mind, in order to to have a familiar that represented it.

First was what does she want. Second was what would she do to get what she wanted. And the third was what does she fear will happen if she doesn’t get what she wants.

After much deliberating (on both hers and my parts), Kitt settled on the following things. A feather, some rope, and a set of charred wooden dice.

The feather represented freedom. Freedom from the slumbering ancient red dragon she used to collect shinies, and the threat of the terrible things it is capable of if it wakes. She wants for the rest of the kobolds to be free too. To explore the world and see the wonders it has to offer, no longer bound to endless servitude, just like she is now. The feather itself came from a hawk that used to belong to a very unpleasant man who had since been drowned, freeing it - something Kitt would want for herself and the other kobolds.

The rope represented Kitt’s willingness to explore to the ends of the earth(?) to find the Great Blade that is said to be capable of slaying the dragon for good. If the Blade isn’t the answer, she intends to keep on looking. Her dragonborn companion once told her rope was the most important thing an adventurer could have. So if she’ll be travelling a lot, Kitt figures she’s going to need quite a significant amount.

The charred dice represented everything she’s come to know and love being destroyed. This expansive, scary, beautiful world that she still has so much to learn about, would be ripped away from her if something wasn’t done about the dragon. She’d never see them again - her beloved Priestess telling stories with the shimmery pictures, or her friends and weasel running about, calling her to play. And while she hasn’t known them for quite as long, the crew, no, friends she’s made, she wouldn’t want them taken from her either. They still have stories to write write, quests to complete, and she wants to help see them through to the end. The dice, before they were charred, had delicate gold lettering etched onto each of the faces, and finished with a rich mahogany varnish. They were the first shinies she had ever found, and her first exposure to the outside world. She has fond memories with these dice, of her and her friend sneaking off during rituals to admire and play with the pretty shinies, delighting in the clickity-clackity noise they’d make as they hit the ground. As she went to put them in the fire place, her eyes started welling up, watching her precious reminder of home going up in flames. She quickly wiped them away, as the dice burned and blackened beyond recognition, and she started the ritual.

Falling into a meditative trance, visions surrounded her. She’s standing on the ship deck, nothing and no one else around, except the hawk, soaring above her. She blinked, and suddenly, she was seeing through the hawk’s eyes. It flew over the various islands, some of which she had visited, some of them soon to be. The scene shifts again, and she’s standing again, but this time, its somewhere hot, ashy, and dark. She’s home again. As her eyes adjust, her heart sinks to the floor. All of her friends. Dead. Reluctantly, she looks around. And it’s not just them, but all of the crew, the people she’s met along the way, and her clan, scattered like ragdolls. Looking away from the bodies, she comes snout to snout with a familiar face. A face she spent her life fearing, and hoped never to see again, and not like this. The Great Dragon Viskelaer was awake. 

Waking with a gasp, she found herself back in her quarters. Her heart was pounding, and her face was wet with tears. She curled into a ball, shaken by what she saw. There was a tug at her scarf, and when she looked, bright blue eyes looked back at her. The small mahogany creature pawed its way into Kitt’s lap, and its rope-like tail curling around as it settles in for a nap. Tentatively, the kobold reached out her claws to pet it, like she did the weasels back home. This one felt a little different though. The fur was more like soft feathers, somewhat reminiscent of the hawk. Realizing what had happened, Kitt’s cracked the tiniest grin. This weasel, Mugwump, is her precious shiny, and she was going to make sure she worked to protect it.

RIGHT SO THAT WAs BASICLALY WHAT HAPPENED for Kitt to get her familiar, and nearly everything about it I attribute to my incredible DM. I think he’s the first DM I’ve had who’s given me a world I absolutely adore, and he handles my character (monster race) so incredibly well. He’s very much all about the creative reflavouring, and I live for it. Gahh I have so much to say about this DM. They also handle Mugwump (in-game) very well, and it makes me so unbelievably happy. (i’m going to start a tag for myself for things Mugwump does/things I headcannon he does, called Mugwump Ventures)

So because of Kitt’s love of shinies, Mugwump has an inherent need for them as well. He doesn’t quite understand why though, so his natural response is to bite shinies he finds. He’s always actively seeking them out, eyes glittering whenever he sees one. He melts my heart. The forge cleric (one of my good friends in the group) had just gotten an upgrade to his armour, and didn’t know what to do with his old chain mail, so he ended up giving it to Kitt/Mugwump as a gift. Mugwump was overjoyed, and it’s his new toy now. It was so so sweet, and we are all crying. 

Tangent, but everyone in the party has gifted Kitt with something at some point. I mean, makes sense, you want to appease the captain >:). The druid gave her little daisies whenever he went to get her, the carpenter made her a little boat model, and the forge cleric not only gave her the armour, but he also forged her a proper rapier to replace her pointy stick. It’s just so sweet and wholesome. The crewjust wants to keep this little Kobold child happy

Gosh, another thing, when i first thought about casting Find Familiar, I just assumed it would be a regular weasel, but when the DM began describing Mugwump’s appearance, I began squealing from joy. Every aspect of the familiar’s appearance reflects the items, and what they mean to Kitt. So the eyes were meant to be the seas they were sailing, the rope tail was... the rope, the colouring was supposed to  be the dice and the charring, the feathers for freedom/the hawk, and the form (though predetermined) was home. I was legit so happy about it. I love this DM. It’s been a great time.

Anyways, long post over thanks for reading, hope you stay tuned for more wholesome content!

[vacation-grif]

What kinda feelings?

A LOT, ACTUALLY. Like I said before, the RTNY group was telling me to skip it because it wasn’t a good season, and I want to express how much I wanted to just form my own opinion, only to end up agreeing with them in the end. Let me break this down as best as I can now that I am on my PC. I mean no disrespect to the director and writer, as well as the cast and crew. Honestly, I’m worried that my opinion makes me feel like a boomer at this point.

First off, if anyone was going to tell me that I’m going to have headaches over bright flashing lights and colors over a Red vs Blue series, I wouldn’t have believed you. As I said before, they should’ve just called this “Red vs Blue: Epilepsy Warning THE M0VIE”. I understand that they are using the Unreal Engine, because my god the graphics on this is INSANE. But everything is...too bright. TOO. BRIGHT. Everything has a lens flare no matter where the camera turns, and with the high paced action, all the lights and colors, it HURTS.

-

Next, this is a fully CG-animated season. We haven’t had one like that in SUCH a long time, and this is the first in the 20-ish years of Red vs BLue. When I was a kid who didn’t have a cellphone, I could only imagine what Red vs Blue was like when my best friend would play it over our landline on a weeknight before we would go to school the next day. And I would come over and be like, HOLY SHIT. IS THIS FUCKING HALO?! So imagine my excitement when after 8 years of Red vs Blue using Halo 1 to Halo 3 assets, you see a Warthog just crash through the walls of Valhalla, something you’d never see in a Halo game. A fully animated scene of Grif running over Washington (hell yeah), and an angry Washington outside of his game model just climbing onto the hood of the car and shooting at Grif through the windshield at pointblank range. Then cut to episode 10 of the same season, Tex makes her triumphant return, fully animated instead of her Halo 3 game model. And in the last two episodes of the season, you get OUR VERY FIRST FREELANCER VS FREELANCER FIGHT. You find out this was the work of the late Monty Oum (rest in peace), and until Season 10, Red vs Blue was THE HIGHEST POINT OF YOUR FUCKING LIFE.

Then we go to Season 12 where the animation post Oum (he was working on RWBY at this point but iirc this was just before he died) was choppy at best and didn’t feel right until Season 13, where within the one year the animation team REALLY stepped up. And this actually carries over into Season 17, Singularity, where it became more animation and less game effects, or rather it was balanced. It wasn’t extravegant like Oum’s works, but given that these are the Simtroopers, some Freelancers, some Mercs, and time gods, it felt par for the course. It felt right.

We cut now to these upgraded graphics, which felt like when you were playing on your Xbox 360 and you jsut FUCKING SHOT into the Xbox One. It was, as you would say, unreal (lol). But it felt...off. The first two episodes, the entire action didn’t feel like what you spent 16 seasons watching. It felt like a whole another beast entirely. With the use of super powers, you would think oh the Freelancers had that! Yes, but those were all suit enhancements. These...didn’t feel like it. Zero’s and Phase’s teleportation didn’t feel like something that Fragmented AI can control. Shatter Squad’s at least felt more at home. 

The models themselves were a bit off too. Choppy at best, but understandable given that they were using the Unreal Engine. But you notice that they do a lot of hand on hip pushed out to the side type of thing a lot? Everyone does it. Except Raymond, West, and the big dude. Like the SASSY STANCE. Also, there was way too much power stance. Where if your feet were shoulder width apart, it was a bit wider, and also the pelvis was out a little more. A bit weird. Finally, everyone has an ass. Everyone. Even West. West has an ass, it was like, everyone was dummy thicc and the clap of their ass cheeks was alerting Viper.

-

Next, voice acting. I...absoultely could not stand the voice acting. It was completely over the top, overdramatic, over exaggerated. Granted, I’m a singer, a perform, but I’m not exactly a good actor myself in the few shows I’ve actually done. It felt like watching an anime. When you wtach something with dialogue of your own language, you can tell when you feel something is to over the top. If you watch something of a language you don’t speak, it’ll go over your head, unless you start to speak that language, and you speak to people who speak that language, then you start to pick up what is regular speaking and what is acting. When an anime gets dubbed, most times, the voice actors tend to over dramatacize in the same way the Japanese due, and some times it works, most times it doesn’t. This is because the Japanese way of acting comes from kabuki theater. When English dubbers do that with this weird over emphasized emotions, it is extremely offputting.

In some places, the voice acting is poorly done. Jen Brown’s performance from just getting out of a hospital to giving an expositional lecture about the new cast in literally 5 seconds of time was...off. Carolina should’ve had more time to recover, especailly after losing Washington, one of her closest surrogate family, she felt...a little too calm and normal. Not like the Carolina who was hesitant but trying her best to be a whole better person (see the Paradox Arc, S15-17). It was jsut quick shift, and now she’s making snarky remarks in that Jen Brown voice she does (my god step on me please) and also being a mother hen. Also, she really calls Washington David way more this season than she ever did before that.

Fiona’s performance was shaky at best in my opinion, I don’t know her very well outside of what everyone says. All I know is that sometimes, the way she emphasizes some of her lines don’t fit the situation very well. I think East/Phase was a lot better done than One imo. But she was mostly angry and competitive.

Raymond is the textbook definition of what I hate about taking a character’s role and making it their entire personality. Think of it like watching Power Rangers, and all of their roles is just defined by the shit they say. Jason is the jock, Kimberly is the pretty girl, Trini is......I’m not gonna lie, I don’t...know what to classify Trini, Zack was the cool guy, and Billy was the nerd (Tommy was Jock II also the rebel/loner). Raymond reminded me a lot like Billy, where Billy was defined by being so smart, half of his dialogue was just look at me, i’m fucking smart, let me use all of these big words. Half of Raymond’s dialogue was, look at me, i’m the tech guy, I’m nerdy and loveable, it felt like it was too over the top of trying to stand out. By the end of the season, after East’s big reveal, I started to like him a lot more because he knew what was more at stake. I want to say that my initial impression of him was immature at best.

West was too stiff. Just.. Too stiff. I get he’s old. But show some emotion, please.

Why am I emphasizing on this more? When you listen to the dialogue of RvB, and then you listen at this, even with the return cast of Carolina, Washington, and Tucker, the direction was different. I think it’s because of the new medium with Zero being all super animated like an action, where RvB was just a bunch of net videos that you’re gonna laugh at with well timed jokes. It was super casual, but also super real. Geoff and Gus and everyone else aren’t big actors or anything, but that’s what made it feel real. That’s what made RvB feel like its own thing.

-

In terms of writing, I get that this is RvB meets FnF (Fast and Furious). But I honestly feel that it doens’t belong. The story of Shatter Squad vs Viper would have been a lot better if it didn’t have the RvB name tacked on. It’s such a cool concept, but given what RvB was before, the tonal shift is jsut too great, especially when you only have 3 of the previous cast returning.

Speaking of, what happened to Tucker?! What happened to the guy who became a leader? Responsible? Not as arrogant? Maybe playfully arrogant at best, but not stroking his ego? What happened to HIS SWORD? Did they forget how Tucker’s sword works? That it only works IF HE DIES? Tucker didn’t die, and yet Phase was able to use his sword (which by the way is now hers). One of the earliest stories/gags of RvB and they just...retconned it and threw it away! Also, Tucker’s voice acting did NOT match the scene at all. It’s like watching a video game that was localized from Japanese, and the dubbers spoke too fast before the character could finish. Tucker moves outside of his dialogue and there is this weird seconds of silence. That...that was just a BAD return for him.

-

My final thought is that, if RvB Zero is not...the RvB I grew up with. Maybe the jokes are dated, but the memories of what RvB was is still real. This just...doesn’t feel like RvB anymore. This should have just been it’s own show, it’s own story, replace Wash and Carolina and Tucker with new characters, it just wasn’t their place to be in this.

The only thing I liked about this? I’m glad Danielle (I’m assuming this is how you would spell her name) didn’t go AWOL and returned to the team. I actually really liked her the most next to Axel. She was done dirty, but she still held on to that one bond she had as East that Zero didn’t give her as Phase.

-

I know this is probably not a great opinion, and I really hope that Rooster Teeth finds the ground they want this series to go in. Sometimes, you have to try new things, or else staying stagnant will make it go stale. It’s all about trial and error. I don’t know how everyone else feels about Zero, how the new audience and the old audience feels. RvB as a whole wasn’t perfect. They had their down moments. But when you feel that way for an entire season...it’s a problem.

[jack-of-spicers]

@onetruthcup thank you!! That's really encouraging to hear, I'm so glad you like my posts.

1) I think i like this time travel trope/subgenre in general because growing up undiagnosed autistic I often felt like I wasn't thinking or feeling the way a "real/normal" child would and it was really alienating so seeing a character feel the same way but knowing how to deal with it a little better is cathartic. I also think Jack's great for this because as a boy genius he's already had a fair bit of experience with those feelings and his whole MO is making the best of second chances so I think starting from scratch is exactly the kind of problem he'd actually thrive in.

2) I have a few thoughts, but not as much whole scenes as headcanons to flesh out the setting and figure the differences between Jack's original childhood and his new timeline. One thought I had is that the first Jackbot might have been designed as a personal bodyguard after Jack accidentally read about the Lindbergh baby or something and realized he was very small and targetable with parents who might not notice if he was gone for a few hours, but that might be a little dark.

3) most of the early character dynamics are family stuff! I think "Spicer" is one of those old trade names that stuck longer than the family business that coined it. Jack's paternal great-grandparents were probably the last tie to it, moving from general mercantile to antiques, and then Jack's Nana would have moved from antiques to crime, had a VERY successful heyday, and then Jack's father rejected her legacy and moved to archaeology back through antiques. Jack gets his red hair/eyes from his Nana, and the resemblance makes Jack's dad resent him a little, though he tries to reach out every so often.

The Spicers are not intentionally abusive, but they are neglectful and really probably shouldn't be parents at all. They're too busy living their own lives to really understand how much attention even a normal kid needs, and they like Jack mostly but they don't understand him. Jack's mom had high hopes of channelling his genius into something profitable and glamorous and pageant/prodigy mommed him for a few years, but neither of them were really happy with it no matter how many trophies filled the cabinet. Jack's dad used to be an Indiana Jones wannabe but has written a few books and settled into the academic socialite circuit.

Jack has a LOT of love and respect for Nana and used to idolize her like crazy, and she likes him and is proud that he's Heylin, but he was way too little to take seriously when she started "mentoring" him (telling him stories of the glory days and showing off old gadgets mostly) and she's too bitter about mistakes she made with his father to step up even when she knows his home life isn't really ok. She feels too responsible for Jack's dad being a bad parent in the first place to try and make up the difference herself.

4) the first order of business depends exactly how far back he ends up, because I think there's a LOT going on leading up to his turn to evil. Assuming he lands towards the beginning of his evil career (7 or 8?), the first order of business is probably to work out which of his mother's endless string of classes and competitions actually offers usable skills and which he should ditch (i.e. ice skating turned out to be a huge win for Showdowns). SCHEDULING, the foundation of all practical evil!

Second order of business is Jackbot upgrades. If he starts with his future-standard models with that many years of r&d ahead they should be properly formidable by the time he gets back into the field, and there's no risk of letting too-futuristic technology loose because all his original work is uniquely advanced anyway.

Thank you so much for the questions!

[muffintonic]

Alright, I think i’m done BOTW 2 spamming for today. Anywho, time for some thoughts in general!

1) I hated how the shrines in BOTW were so cold and dark compared to the bright and lively nature outside (I wish they had all looked like the Master Trials challenge where there were trees and stuff incorporated inside), so I hope if we’re forced to have dungeons they’ll be more like the Wind Waker ones. 2) I hope they don’t make us use the grappling hook or anything like in Wind Waker to move around the sky islands (I hated that mechanic). 3) I’m probably one of the few people who wanted less Zelda and more of the Champions in HWAOC since i’m only really attached to BOTW (and we saw a fair amount of Tetra in Wind Waker)/apparently Zelda’s been sidelined in all the other games, so i’m hoping in vain that we get more Champions material in BOTW 2. Also, Link could stand to have some more cutscenes centered around him as well (the few we got in some of the sidequests in BOTW were great). 4) I only really somewhat care about Riju and Sidon, so I won’t mind if the new gang gets sidelined in BOTW 2 (I still think Nintendo wasted the found family/band of brothers aspect on the dead characters--I love them so much and they’re all I want!! The problem is, they’re dead and I don’t really care all that much about their replacements!!! I dunno, maybe i’m hampered by the fact that I can replay the original champions’ memories whenever I want/read their diaries, but I can’t rewatch the new gang’s cutscenes AKA i’ve forgotten their characterization since they don’t talk to me much now that the game’s over). It’d be great if they have some weaving storylines in BOTW 2 that will get me more invested in them, but currently i’m not that interested. 5) Speaking of which, I know it’s 100% not going to happen, but goddang if I don’t want the Champions to have been returned to life. Nintendo totally squandered HWAOC by not making it a true prequel/canon to BOTW (the Champions Ballad confirmed that the Divine Beasts had trials in order to be synced to the champs, so the new gen use of them wouldn’t have happened without that + Mipha thought Link had changed in BOTW yet says in HWAOC that he hasn’t changed + some scenes like “Champion Revali’s Song” never happened at all/got replaced with alternative scenes that really changed some dynamics + basically all of Revali’s time-relative characterization from his diary/pre-100 years of solitude got thrown out + I feel like Daruk got totally sidelined), so i’m still craving that Champions content. Also, I feel like it’s totally unfair that Zelda came out of 100 years totally unaged while everyone else died. Life seems to really suck for people in the LoZ universe who aren’t chosen by divine powers. 6) They’d better keep it open world and non-linear. I can’t go back to being forced to backtrack/trudge through things, I just can’t. BOTW was everything i’ve ever dreamed about in a game (truly open world + non-linear + interactive + meaningful story + lots of outfits + beautiful landscapes) with Skyrim previously being the only thing that came close to what I wanted, so I really hope BOTW 2 doesn’t deviate too much from that. 7) I really liked Kass in BOTW, but i’m not sure what direction they’d go with him in BOTW 2/i’d be fine if he sat BOTW 2 out. I worked so hard to complete all his quests in BOTW so he’d go back home to his family, GODDANGIT, KASS. 8) Someone mentioned that since the first trailer had underground aspects, we’re probably going to be playing as Zelda with the Slate there, and I agree. They didn’t make a playable model for her in HWAOC for nothing. 9) I want to be able to stable the deer and bears and stuff, but I know that won’t happen. Being able to ride the moose and rhino things from the Hebra area probably won’t happen either, but I want to ride them!!! 10) I hope there’ll be at least a few new buildings and stuff in the towns/they’ve started construction on some areas in Central Hyrule, but I guess that’ll depend on how long it’s been in-universe since BOTW. Or maybe not, considering how there’s still Karson and Hudson even though Bolson retired from Bolson Construction--insta-towns like Tarrey Town could totally be feasible if they wanted! 11) I have one foot in the camp that believes there’ll be time shenanigans in BOTW 2. HWAOC totally threw me off with it being an alternate timeline, so i’m not sure whether we’re going to be experiencing that again or time travel itself, but I definitely won’t be surprised this time around if Nintendo goes that route again (and it would be super interesting to see the Link from 10,000 years ago). I’m not entirely convinced that the Link we see exploring the sky in the second trailer isn’t our Link, mainly because he seems to still have on the blue boxers from BOTW. 12) I also heard that maybe this will be the last LoZ game ever since something something Demise something Skyward Sword something something lore from games i’ve only vaguely looked into (i’ve only ever played BOTW --> Wind Waker --> HWAOC)??? If so, it kind of sucks that I came in just when they started making games with playstyles palatable to me (I had to look up every single thing when playing Wind Waker, but BOTW let me solve things according to MY logic/I missed being able to explore in HWAOC), but at least it’ll end on a super high note/I won’t experience later disappointment, I guess. If BOTW 2 involves breaking the reincarnation cycle for the Triforcers, I would be really surprised. (On a related note, Nintendo making Ganondorf good would also be a 100% shock to me, but it would be great to end on that as a subversion. Yes, I want them to bring back the semi-complicated Ganondorf from Wind Waker.) 13) I hope they don’t rush releasing it. I heard they pushed back BOTW originally (I got it in 2019), but it came out fantastic for it! I know COVID’s been affecting things, so I really hope they’re treating their staff right and are mindful of crunch. 14) I want even more outfits (there seem to be at least two new ones, if the variant of the Hylian Tunic crossed with Link’s Champion’s Tunic counts). Give me all the outfits!!! Also, I hope we get even more hair variations in addition to the hair down option (which is all i’ve ever wanted since I saw the mod that altered the Ancient Helmet). 15) I wonder if we’re going to get a bonus for having both BOTW and HWAOC save data. 16) I wonder if we’re going to be keeping the Champions’ skills. I’m going to miss being super overpowered, if not. 17) I hope Nintendo doesn’t cave in and make surfaces climbable in the rain. Having that limiter is more realistic and Link would otherwise be too overpowered with a super climbing ability. 18) I liked BOTW’s scattered music that got more noticeable in populated areas because it was fitting for the post-apocalyptical/nature aspect. Hearing your footsteps in an open field and the buzzing of insects was super nice and prevented me from getting music fatigue (which i’d probably experience since whenever I play BOTW it’s for 5-10 hours at a time). I hope Nintendo either keeps that or makes audio options. 19) I heard that BOTW 2 is going to be super dark or something, and i’m okay with dark, but not GRIMdark, so I hope it doesn’t go that far. From what we’ve seen in the second trailer it still looks beautiful, but I hope it doesn’t do that thing that some games do where after the midpoint/a certain story point all the scenery permanently changes to be dark and scary (that’ll seriously hamper post-game playability for me if so). 20) If they expand on the Zonai, that would be super cool! Doubly cool if the time travel shenanigans involve them/ancient Link being one! 21) I kind of want windstorms to be a weather feature. We had lightning, heat, and cold, but no wind! No, I don’t count the wind geysers and the occasional breeze in Tabantha. 22) I want a chest in my house to hold more weapons than just the gear mounts. BOTW only had enough mounts for the champions’ gear, but it also had rare items like the Kite Shield and Forest Dweller’s Sword that you can’t get anymore once you use them up! 23) I want to be able to stable my horses at my house. What’s the point of that little area if you can’t stable your horse there! 24) Speaking of Link’s house: where is Zelda going to live? If the castle’s not reconstructed, it’d be neat if Link adds an extension to his house for her. 25) I hope they open up part-time jobs (think Mabinogi) as an option to earn rupees. Having to hunt for Luminous Stone deposits or feed Trott to make money can be such a chore. I think some of BOTW’s minigames/sidequests might count as those, but those minigames were either frustrating if your goal is to earn money (since most of them cost money to play in the first place and the mechanics weren’t always easy), or didn’t earn that much in general. 26) I wonder if Kilton is going to have updated items since the monsters seem to have changed. 27) I want to be able to dive underwater (mainly so I can explore the beautiful reefs over at Lurelin). A dive meter like the one from Super Mario Sunshine would be cool. Also, it’d doubly be neat if you had a separate stamina wheel for swimming and could permanently upgrade your swim/diving stamina (the speed+ swimming items just consumed your stamina faster, which was a pain)! 28) It’s definitely too late for this, but it’s a shame that the Hylians have so many face/body/hair and outfit variations, but the Zora, Rito, and Gorons don’t. The Gerudo were kind of okay with the hair and body variations, but the other races seemed to have a serious copy-paste problem. I guess technically some of the more important NPCs (ones with quests/cutscene triggers) had different coloring, but they were severely lacking in clothing variation. Also, the only old Rito was the elder??? At least the Gorons and Zora had some old folks besides their leader walking around. Very weird, but I don’t think BOTW 2 can fix any of this. 29) I wonder how they’re going to do the final boss battle, considering how epic/cinematic the BOTW 2x battle was. What can top fighting (on horseback, no less) a giant, flaming boar made out of malice? 30) I wonder what the Yiga are going to be up to, considering how Ganondorf seems to be somewhat kicking in BOTW 2.

[reversemoon255]

So I’ve built 25 model kits and done 10 various upgrades over the past year, both kits and original. It’s a decent head above the 27 I did last year. And like last year (or technically the start of this year), I’d like to go over the kits I’ve done this year and give some brief thoughts on some of the move interesting or personal things I’ve built. It feels like a good way to round up the year.

GAT-XMAGI Striking Gundam Warlock

The first model I built this year, and the biggest custom I’ve worked on to date. I’m still very happy with it, though at this point, having moved onto other projects and having done some work on the PAX with my 30MM stuff, I’m not sure I’m going to “finish” it. I was supposed to make a transforming unicorn, lion, and phoenix that become different Striker Packs for it. I may eventually get around to doing that, but I don’t know when I’m going to get around to it.

Gundam G40

Maybe my favorite kit I built this year, and also the first I built this year. The best way I can explain it is it does everything it can to be different, but every way it does is interesting. It’s hard to explain, but it’s probably the highest recommendation I have on this list.

RMS-099BC Build Γ Gundam 

I built a small handful of P-Bandai kits this year, with Build Gamma being the first. I did a good bit of work on this one, and so did the designers. It has reworked joints to increase its posability, and has some fun reuse of its old parts. An excellent kit if you’re willing to spend the extra to get it.

神竜合士 Avalanche Valkylander 

Another example of my liking gold paint way too much, but turned out pretty great. My one thing I wish I could fix is the hilt of the sword, which is a darker red. I actually got Gundam Red shortly after doing this kit, too! Still, I really like this as an upgrade kit, adding a ton of additional armor to the Valkylander and allowing you to display both it and the Dragon Mode separately. Kind of wish they had a second set in white for the Ex.

RX-78TB-2 [SB] Gundam Stormbringer

My first MG Gundam in forever! I had a lot of fun building this one, but I probably should have tried a little harder. I did everything with a panel liner, if I remember correctly, and I should have done my usual fill stuff at the very least. I think I was somewhat intimidated by it, so if I do any more MGs, I’ll be sure to give it the treatment it deserves.

RX-78-02 Gundam Early Type (The Origin Ver.) 

I put a lot of work into this one, considering I don’t like it. It’s not bad, but I find it way inferior to all the other RXs I’ve built. And I built a LOT of RXs this year to compare it to. What weirds me out, though, is how everyone I’ve talked to seems to really like this kit. Difference of opinion, I guess.

AGP-X1 Alus Core Gundam 

The Alus Core might be my favorite of the Core-Types we got over the last two years. The head design, the effect parts, the overall design. It also feels the most solid of all of them, improving on the Core’s design while not going too far like the Core II did. And it’s upgrades are pretty cool, too.

JMA0530-MAYBD Wodom Pod + 

This was a very fun, very good, very surprising kit. Despite its odd shape, it’s honestly one of the better kits I handled this year. It was a very fun build, ended up being a super posable kit, and had a bunch of odd features that ended up being for the the eventual Re:Rising Gundam.

PFF-X7/N8 Nepteight Gundam

Probably my favorite of the Core Gundam’s Armors. I got to use a ton of my favorite shade of gold on this one, and I really like the gimmick. It’s also kind of hilarious how little the Saturnix, Uraven, and Nepteight were actually utilized in the actual show, having brief appearances in a single episode each, and not even being used for the entire fight.

Figure-rise Standard MetalGarurumon (Amplified) 

A huge improvement over WarGreymon, as it’s just as cool a build, but way more posable. Which is actually pretty impressive, considering it’s a quadruped, and that’s a much harder set of articulation to nail down. I also like how he has an original sword gimmick, and WarGreymon has an original shield gimmick. Super looking forward to Imperialdramon next month and Mugendramon after that. (But please do Dukemon or Shoutmon next!)

RX-78-2 Gundam [Beyond Global] 

Another one of the amazing RX designs to come out this year. While I still prefer G40, this is a close second. Ever time I talk about those two, I always suggest getting both of them, since they’re both so similar yet do the same things in totally different ways. They are amazing companion pieces to each other.

GAT-X303K Gundam Aegis Knight 

Re:Rising Go! Despite my love for Re:Rising Gundam, this is mostly on here because of how much work I put into the shield. I mean look at it; I made it super pretty. Still, five separate modes, decent posability, a great design. Justice Knight edges it out as a solo kit, but if you’ve got the team, it is a great topper to a good show.

PFF-X7R/ANIMA Gundam Anima [Rize] 

Definitively the best release of the Core Gundam. Has the most interesting of all the Armor sets, great accessory integration, and comes with a ton of parts you can use for customization. If you only want one, I’d say go for this over the Earthree or Uraven.

GNY-004 Gundam Plutone

Fon Spaak rides again! The Plutone has always been a design I’ve enjoyed, and it’s cool getting a physical kit of it. I’m actually glad it took this long to get to it, since it ended up being a stronger kit due to more recent philosophies about parts layering and posability. It probably would have been a bit better if they hadn’t tried to incorporate some of the old HG00′s design ideas as well, but the good far out shadows the bad on this one. It is P-Bandai, though, so wallet beware.

30MM eEXM-0Smk-III Alto Stark Kai II 

I built the base unit back in January, and in December I finish its fourth incarnation (Base -> Stark -> Stark Kai -> Stark Kai II, if you’re wondering why 2 is 4). It also took me a year to actually be happy with how it looks. It just took so long for it to stop looking like an Alto and more its own thing. It’s also the only real custom project I worked on this year. There’re so many custom projects I want to work on that I just don’t want to sink the time into at the moment, which is definitely something I’m going to have to work on in 2021.

Overall, while not every kit I built this year was a winner, I built a lot of good kits and had a lot of fun with them. I hope some of you were inspired to pick a few up this year. Maybe try some painting things you weren’t originally comfortable with. And if you built some cool stuff this year, let me know and I might try grabbing them next year.

[classic80sand90smovieloves2]

Meeting and Dating Mac

(Not my gif)(Requested by anonymous)

- You first meet Mac when you stop by to check on Valerie after she called you the night before, telling you all about what happened with her and Ted.

- You and her had been friends for a while and you decided you were going to try to cheer her up or at least make sure she was okay after such a rough night. Although when you got there you were greeted with the completely unexpected; trashed house, an interesting contraption in the pool and three furry guys roaming around your best friends living room.

- Immediately upon seeing them you dropped your things and froze; they turned around when they heard the thudding on Valerie’s carpet. All of them got up and started to move towards you in curiosity.

- You were about ready to faint before Valerie came into the room, saw you and ushered the aliens back onto the couch. Meanwhile you had quickly picked up your things and rushed out of there with Valerie hot on your heels trying to explain what you had just seen.

- She slowly coaxed you back into the house where you were properly introduced to the three extraterrestrials.

- Of course Wiploc immediately tried to “flirt” with you. Him and Zeebo probably freaked you out more than you already were before Mac and Valerie managed to get them to act “normal”.

- You went with Valerie to the salon where you got to see the guys once they were madeover. Like Valerie you were practically speechless when they came out especially once you saw Mac; neither of you were expecting a washboard stomach and the face of a movie star.

- Mac pretty much trails after you like a lost puppy when you arrive at the club (and everywhere else you go), trying to get to know you better with his limited understanding of the English language and people as a whole.

- The only time he leaves your side is when Valerie walks off and after he follows her you sort of assume he was only around you because you were next to Valerie.

- After Valerie tells him about what she and most girls want; a Mr. right, he goes to you and asks if he could be someone’s Mr. right (hint hint cough cough). You grow a little flustered but think he’s talking about Valerie so you awkwardly tell him yes and list off a few reasons why.

- Each reason makes him smile a little more and gets him to move closer to you before you ultimately excuse yourself to go sulk; confusing him as he’s left standing on his own and wondering if he did something wrong.

“He’s an alien, you’re from the valley. It could never work out anyway, you shouldn’t bother getting upset about it. This whole thing is crazy!” You keep telling yourself. But that doesn’t help the fact that your heart still races everytime you see him and that you are still indeed upset when you see him looking at your best friend.

- You still hang out with him and the gang all the while pretending you aren’t falling for him harder and harder every minute.

- Mac tends to watch you a lot, it’s because he’s amazed by you and your beauty but you just assume he’s interested in you because you’re human and a foreign being to him.

- One night as you were hanging out; alone together for the first time in a while, he asked you why you were single amongst other personal questions. He can’t help but smile as he listens to you describe your ideal man and the dreams you’ve had about that special someone since you were young.

- You begin to realize that your idea of a perfect man is just him; so you finally decide to confess no matter the outcome. Slowly, you start to finish your sentence getting quieter and quieter until you end it with “I guess I’m looking for someone like… you.”

“I am your mr. Right?” He asks slowly.

“Yeah,” you smile nervously. “Yeah, I think you are.”

- You watch as he smiles at you and stay still as he begins to lean in, letting his lips meet yours as his hand comes to hold your cheek.

- And from that point on, you began your inter-species relationship with the extraterrestrial.

- Wiploc tries to flirt with you a lot and usually thinks it’s funny when Mac reprimands him even though it doesn’t always happen. Mostly because Wiploc has the mentality of a five year old and 90% of the time his flirting is half jokingly asking for a kiss when he barely understands what a kiss is.

- Observing his weird quirks.

- Being amazed by his different, odd abilities. He just gives you a sheepish smile when he catches you watching.

- He’s probably the best man you’ve ever dated purely because he isn’t a man and hasn’t been contaminated by earthly society.

- Whenever you’re out on the town you sometimes have to remind him that normal humans cannot do certain things that him and other aliens can. Be prepared to watch that he isn’t making anyone suspicious.

- He doesn’t understand your insecurities. What’s the big deal about some markings on your skin or the fact that you have a different body shape then those around you? He’s seen all kinds of humans look all sorts of ways, isn’t looking different a normal thing with humans?

- Even though he doesn’t understand he helps you with them and reassures you whenever you get upset.

- What do you mean sex is taboo, why?

- Oh and what’s better than sex? Sex with an alien that can give you sexy time psychedelics.

- Helping him rehearse being human when you have to go somewhere important.

- He tends to mimic you when you do something he’s never seen/heard before like a gesture, facial expression or some kind of phrase. It’s really kind of cute.

- He copies a lot of things from tv.

Wow that compliment seems awfully familiar.

(Cut to you watching some rom com) That adorable motherfucker

- Travelling to space with him at some point, even if you don’t stay forever.

- Wiploc and Zeebo are pains in the ass but you can’t help but love them. Mac usually makes sure to keep them in line, especially when they try to run off or flirt (too much) with you.

- Always listens very closely to what you say. If you think you’ve been “heard” in the past, just you wait until you talk with him.

- Hand holding, he loves when you grab his hand in public even though it’s probably just to keep him with you and make sure he doesn’t wander off.

- Only has eyes for you, he’s completely disinterested in anyone else and he’ll quickly go over to your side whenever he can get away from the person keeping him from you.

- Even after you start dating he still stares at you a lot and you really don’t know why; you just hope it’s for a good reason. It’s because he’s absolutely in love with you.

- Loves affection, like he can never get enough or give enough.

- He tries very hard to impress you especially before you’re dating. Oh you’re stopping by Valerie’s, well it just so happens he’s shirtless and covered in grease while working on the ship. You think the guy in the tv is strong? Watch this!

- Listening to stories about his planet and space, more often then not its the soundtrack of your dreams.

- He’s honestly fascinated by you, even after you’ve been dating a while he’s still caught off guard by how amazing you can be.

- He always wants the best for you even if it’s not with him.

- But lets be honest would you even dare dump an alien especially when they look and act like Mac?

- Listening to his double heartbeat.

- He loves holding you to his chest whenever you’re laying in bed. He’s very cuddly for someone who really shouldn’t understand the concept of snuggling.

- Picking you any little flower he sees and is allowed to grab or can grab without anyone noticing.

- You need help? He’s always there for you.

- If you ever want anything fixed he’ll definitely give it a try even if he goes into it not really knowing what he’s doing. He’ll pick up a book from the library, touch a few of the pages and go to work. It usually only takes him about an hour to get whatever’s broken fixed.

- Be prepared to get alien upgrades on your home appliances.

- He can get sort of jealous but more often then not he just gets confused as to why he’s feeling the way he is. Before you realized what it meant it always confused you whenever you’d catch him standing or sitting beside you with a puzzled look on his face.

- He’s very sympathetic and he likes helping you with your problems so don’t feel like you’re being annoying whenever you rant to him. You could never be a burden in his eyes.

- He’s very touchy so you’ll end up having to swat his hands away a lot.

- Always trying to keep his hands on any part of you. It’s your job to decide when it’s because he wants you to himself or when it’s because he doesn’t want to get lost. (Spoiler alert: you cant ever really tell!)

- Trying to stifle your giggles when you hear his odd combinations of slang. Sometimes he purposefully strings together weird sentences just to see you try to hold back a smile.

“Miss Dude”

- He always tries to make you happy no matter what it takes.

- He loves seeing you; he could never get tired of looking at your face or being around you. You’re basically his home now so whenever he’s homesick he just looks at you.

- Hand kisses. He used to think it was just how humans addressed each other so he’d kiss your hand every time he saw you but now he realizes there’s more to it than that. Since he’s learned that there’s; usually, intimacy behind it he tries to do it even more now and reserves the action only for you.

- Listening to him play piano. He memorizes your favorite songs by heart(s).

- Gifts from space whenever he has to leave earth. You have a shelf full of moon rocks and alien plants.

- Be sure to keep a razor and some Nair handy for emergencies.

- He’s a natural at modeling for photos but the smolder he tends to have in them is literally just him squinting from the flashing light.

- He likes when you take him shopping with you, especially when it’s clothes shopping. He finds it fun when you style him even though he doesn’t really care for fashion all that much.

- For an alien he sure can kiss. He will literally kiss you until you’re weak in the knees and then some.

- Sitting between his legs with your back on his chest while you listen to him tell you about the stars.

- I feel like he’d have cat-like tendencies; head nuzzling, purring, etc.

- You’ll probably have to deal with a long distance relationship for a little while; it’s only a matter of time before he’ll have to return to his home planet for something.

- The instant he learns what “I love you” actually means he starts telling you it constantly and gets really excited when you say it back.

- Mac would have “proposed” to you (or the alien equivalent) the day he met you so rest assured he’s in it for the long run.

- And plus, an intergalactic wedding must be pretty interesting, right?

[hardnoctlife]

My Thoughts on FFVIIR

It’s been a few days since I finished FFVIIR, and I wanted to put my thoughts on the game into words, but I gotta get a few housekeeping things out of the way.

1.       These are all MY opinions. I understand and respect that others may have different opinions from me, however, that does not make this an open invitation for argument in the comments, bashing, etc. I have no problem blocking anyone who wants to be an asshole. Just be nice, please.

2.       I grew up playing FFVII and all of its spin-offs. FFVII was my first RPG, and ultimately what got me into playing video games. Nostalgia is a -huge- part of why I enjoyed FFVIIR so much, and therefore I am openly biased towards the game. I’m interested to hear the thoughts of people not familiar with the original, because they’re seeing the story with a fresh set of eyes.

3.       With that being said, I’ve already noticed drama surrounding FFVIIR fans who -have- played the original vs. those who haven’t, or those who haven’t played Crisis Core, etc. I am firmly of the belief that this is a great game for new and old fans and won’t tolerate any condescending attitudes in either direction. Video games are supposed to be fun, so let’s just all agree to enjoy the thing TOGETHER, shall we?

Alright, now that those things are out of the way, onto my thoughts. **MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD**

I’m going to be breaking this up into sections, because there is just too much to dissect! Let’s start with the characters.

“The Good Guys”

Cloud: Still my favorite character of all time, even more so after playing the remake. And of course, he is gorgeous. I could stare into his eyes all day. I know there has been a lot of controversy over getting new voice actors for the remake, but I feel like his VA did a great job. They nailed his personality of “broody asshole with a heart of gold”, and I think the remake had reasonable and believable character development when it came to Cloud’s interactions with the other party members. His dynamic with Tifa, Aerith, and Barrett was also spot on. I think it was a good move on Squeenix’s part to keep him pretty much the same, because he’s such an iconic character for the entire Final Fantasy series, so no complaints on my part!

Jessie: Okay, so, I hated Jessie at first. She was too flirty and all over Cloud for my liking, and I felt this strange disconnect between the “I used to be an actress but now I’m fighting for the planet” part of her backstory. Yes, she was still spunky in the original, but they didn’t draw it out nearly as much (I assume because she was killed off early). I -do- appreciate that the developer’s felt the need to give her more depth and show more interactions between her and Cloud and everyone else, but I also thought it detracted from Cloud’s relationships with Tifa and Aerith to an extent, especially the whole scene where she was asking him to come back to her place with him (yikes). And, true to Squeenix form, they killed off her character, even while letting Biggs and Wedge live (they both died in the original). So, in that sense, I didn’t really care that much for her, although her final scene with Cloud was very moving and redeemed her in some ways for me. So, yay for more screen time, but c’mon Squeenix, why do you gotta use your female characters this way?!

Biggs & Wedge: I loved the updates to their character models, and like with Jessie, I appreciate they tried to give them more depth and dialogue to make their involvement more significant. It did throw me for a loop when they both ended up living instead of dying when the Sector 7 plate fell. I was delighted to discover they survived (until I found out Jessie died and they didn’t). At times, I felt like their exalted importance detracted from other characters, especially at the end in Shinra HQ where Wedge shows up to warn everyone and Avalanche comes in to try and rescue Cloud & the gang, only to imply that he dies -there- instead. To me, it felt like an unnecessary moment to add in, but hey, there are only so many characters in the remake that people get to see, so why not give the Avalanche crew a more important role? I’m interested to see if this means that they’ll be returning in the next installments as they may be ‘fated’ to survive.

Barrett: What a glow up! Barrett looked good, he sounded good, his character was solid and true to the original. I have to say my favorite thing to see was how the banter and dialogue shifted between him and Cloud as you progressed through the remake. They went from basically hating on each other to complimenting each other and being buddy-buddy, and it was truly heartwarming. I even enjoyed using Barrett in battle (more on the fighting system later), which was refreshing. It was a good move on Squeenix’s part to show his softer side by including more scenes with Marlene, and he’s an excellent foil to Cloud’s character, which I feel was consistent for both games.

Tifa: My lady, the love of my life, my HERO. Tifa was -amazing- for me. Also, her VA was probably my favorite of the bunch. The updates to her outfit were much needed, yet she still retained her sexy allure, even if it was a little awkward to hear all the male NPC’s talking about how hot she was all the time. Other than Cloud, she was my favorite party member to use in battle—what a total badass!—and the scenes with her and Cloud made me squeal with delight. I was grateful for the extra attention put into their relationship, and how it was made clear that she was just as important and strong as the male characters.

Aerith: First, the positives. They expanded Aerith’s fighting range, which was appreciated, because in the original I only used her as healer. Her personality shone through a bit more, as she was even ore outgoing than I remembered her being (and even cursed a few times!), and I loved all of her interactions with Tifa and Cloud (my favorite trio/love triangle). Her backstory was pretty well communicated regarding the Ancients and her relationship with Shinra. On the flip side of things, I found her party banter annoying as hell and her voice grating at times (it reminded me of a high school girl), and I’m not sure how I feel about her interactions with the Whispers and what that implies for future installments. There was some hinting at the end of the remake that Aerith may not die like she did in the original (at least that was my interpretation), and I’m not sure whether I like that possibility or not, mainly because Aerith’s death is one of the most memorable scenes of FFVII, and that would change the entire plot. For better or for worse, who’s to say?

Red XIII: I loved all of the scenes with Red! His voice fit him really well, and they showed a lot of character development with him and the group in a short amount of time. I was sad you couldn’t control him in your party, but I’m hoping that will change in the next installment. I’m excited to see his backstory in Cosmo Canyon when we finally get to that point in the remake.

Chadley: This kid was annoying and weird, and I wasn’t sure exactly what his deal was, but he was definitely shady AF. Not sure why he was entirely necessary if he was simply a way to upgrade your materia, but hey, I’ll take that assess materia from ya buddy if it means new stuff for me to use. 

Johnny: Johnny grew on me. Was he also annoying and weird too? Yes. But he reminded me of a Prompto-Gladio lovechild and turned out to be a sweetheart, so I say he can stay, Squeenix.

“The Bad Guys”

Shinra executives: Not much to say here for me other than great job in bringing this diabolic group to life. Yep, still hate every one of ‘em. They stayed pretty much true to their original selves, and all of them matched what I remembered of them, right down to the dialogue. I thought it was an interesting choice to see Sephiroth kill President Shinra (in the original you just find him dead at his desk, impaled on Sephiroth’s sword), but I’m not complaining. That guy was a grade A asshole.

The Turks: Love, love, love how they portrayed each of these guys, and showed how they are also unwilling participants in all of Shinra’s shit. They definitely made them more likeable from the get-go and I felt a lot of callbacks to Advent Children. Reno cursing and being sassy was probably one of my favorite things out of the entire game. He had -so- many great lines, even if they weren’t direct translations of the Japanese. I’m hoping they will include more of the Turks in future installments (like Cissnei in Crisis Core) and continue fleshing out their story arcs.

Rosche: Okay, unpopular opinion, but I did not like this guy at all. I’m not sure what the hype is about him all over my social media. Could be the mullet, which is an automatic ‘no’ for me (Gladio from FFXV being the only exception), but he seemed like an irritating and very pointless addition to the game. His sole purpose appeared to be to prepare you for escaping Shinra and fighting from Cloud’s motorcycle towards the end, but I felt like he could have been taken out of the story entirely without missing anything. I didn’t hate as many of the newer characters (like Leslie) as much as I did him, but I guess he and I just didn’t vibe. I’m assuming he’ll return later on, so maybe my opinion will change. (I sure hope so.)

Leslie: Okay, at first, I was like, “who is this knock-off Noctis wannabe?” but I really enjoyed the backstory and depth they gave this seemingly minor character. I see that Squeenix is trying to provide new things for older fans to take interest in, and in this case, I felt he was a nice touch. (Edit: I was told that Leslie, Kyrie, and some of the other new NPCs were featured in an audio book?! Which I had no idea even existed, so...the more you know!)

Don Corneo: Even slimier and creepier in HD! Honestly, hats off to Squeenix for translating what was possibly the most cringy and controversial part of the original in a ‘tasteful’ way in regard to all of Wall Market. This guy was definitely a worthy villain in the remake.

Rufus: Holy hell. I never ever in my life thought I’d be saying this, but wow, is Rufus hotter than I remember. Thank you, Squeenix for giving me another foxy bad boy to drool over. He was also, for me, the hardest and most frustrating boss battle (even more so than Sephiroth), but it was totally worth dying to watch all the cut scenes with him over again. Can’t wait to see more of him in the next installment.

Hojo: God, I hate this guy. I know you’re -supposed- to, but he is such a creep. Hearing his dialogue in the remake was even worse than reading it in the original. Gotta say, dealing with his four wards in Shinra HQ was my least favorite part of the game by far, but I know he will get his comeuppance later down the road. All the dialogue was just as shocking as I remember, so, yeah. Good job?!

Sephiroth: Alright, anyone else feel like they made Sephiroth EXTRA SEXUAL in this remake?! You too? Oh, good, good, same bro. Now, it could just be me projecting, but anytime he came on the screen…panties were dropping y’all. Of course, I’m not one to complain about Sephiroth content. On the contrary, I lap it up like I just walked through the desert and found an oasis, BUT, I will say this…you barely see Sephiroth at all at this point in the original. As a reminder, the remake only covered the first 4-6 hours of the original game, and I get you can’t really do a remake without at least SHOWING Sephiroth for the people who have been waiting to see him in HD, but with that being said, he was VERY involved. I love Sephiroth, he’s a great villain, but they are definitely changing things with him, so I guess we will have to wait and see what happens.

My one criticism? His voice was my least favorite out of the main characters. Not saying the VA didn’t do a great job, but it didn’t sound deep enough to be as intimidating. I prefer the VA who voiced him in Advent Children, but I’m sure it will grow on me in time.

Gameplay

Battle system: When the remake’s demo was released, I remember a lot of people were complaining about how ‘difficult’ the new battle system was, but I absolutely love it. It’s just the perfect balance of turn-based and real-time, with plenty of options for customization. If you want more real time, you can set your short cuts, and if you want more turn-based, you also have that option. My only real complaint was that item use is also tied to the ATB bar, but overtime I figured out when to heal myself in a timely fashion (after dying more than a handful of times). Button mashers won’t enjoy this battle system because it requires a little more strategy, but I think the point was to create an updated version of the original fighting style that would appeal to both old and new players, and it definitely delivered. Seeing the classic limit breaks used and being able to run around during battle was so much fun for me, and I about died when I saw Cloud strike his OG victory pose in Wall Market’s coliseum. Also, the transition between running through Midgar and entering battle was SO incredibly smooth and seamless that at times you didn’t notice the shift. Phenomenal.

o   Boss Battles: As much as I enjoyed the battle system of remake, some of the bosses felt unnecessarily hard and/or tedious (I’m looking at you, Hell House). Making use of the assess materia early on definitely helped me out, but I legit got bored at times, especially that damn giant robot you fight with only Barrett and Aerith when escaping Shinra HQ. This is really just a minor complaint, but there were a couple bosses where I died several times (*cough* Rufus *cough*) before I figured out the secret to defeating them, while others were super easy or just not that interesting. Meh. For context, I played on “normal” mode, but it truly felt hard in certain scenarios. (That could just have been me trying to get used to the new fighting style.)

o   Materia: speaking of materia, I did notice some new materia in the game, which was neat, and although I didn’t care for Chadley (dude, where are your parents?) it was nice to have a way to develop and earn new materia throughout. I found it somewhat strange that summon materia was just a thing you could get so early on instead of having to work for it, but I was excited to use it. Shiva and Ifrit were definitely my favorite summons (which hasn’t changed from the original for me). My one big question: where is the freaking ‘all’ materia?! I know they kinda split ‘all’ up into many different types of materia, and you do have ‘pray’ for healing your entire party, but man, that was so versatile in the original so that was a hard adjustment for me not to have use of it.

o   Weapons: I think it’s cool that they developed an upgrade system to make use of your weapons long term, giving them their own abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. Made me think of FFX where you used the spheres to upgrade your characters. Also? I loved being able to see materia in my weapons when I switched them out. That was a really neat touch. 

Music: And here I thought they couldn’t make the music of the original game any more epic, but they definitely outdid themselves in the remake. I enjoyed hearing all the remixes and ways they wove the classic themes into different parts of the games. I think my favorite was when you’re going through sector 5 with Aerith and have to control the giant robotic hands. The music in that section SLAPPED. The in-game jukebox was also a nice way to honor the old school classics. Hearing Aerith’s theme for the first time just about made me cry, and listening to One-Winged Angel fighting Sephiroth? Nothing could beat that moment musically for me.

Side quests: I’m not sure about anyone else, but I really didn’t care for the side quests. They weren’t very fun for the most part, and considering how linear the game is, they felt more like chores that needed to be completed because I had to, and not because I wanted to. The only exception was Wall Market, but all-in-all, most of them didn’t add much to the story, unlike in FFXV where I could go down a rabbit hole of sidequests for hours and hours.

Graphics: This is clearly stating the obvious, as anyone with eyes will tell you, the game is nothing short of gorgeous. I cannot tell you how many screencaps I took of just Cloud. It was definitely a world that I wanted to run around in for hours (and did) and will do so again and again just to look at all the little details. My favorite thing to do is watch comparison videos of the original and remake openings side-by-side. How crazy is it that technology has come this far!

Playtime: My biggest critique of this game is that it was too damn short. Stretching the first 4-6 hours of the original into 40 was definitely impressive, but considering I waited 20+ years for the remake, it was pretty disappointing to finish the game in less than a week. Like most people, I’m wondering just how long they plan on stretching this out, how many installments there will be, and when the second part will be released. Hopefully not another ten years, but it -is- Squeenix we’re talking about...

Storyline

Most people who played will tell you that most of the remake stayed very true to the original, even lifting some of the exact dialogue and scenes. The nostalgia hit me so hard in parts that I was literally in tears. The first time I watched the opening in the demo, I cried. That’s the power this game has over many people, including myself.

In other ways, the remake improved on parts of the story or re-imagined them. We always knew it wasn’t going to be a copy and paste of the original story, which I’m sincerely grateful for. I would seriously hope that after 20+ years they would have thought of ways to improve or polish FFVII and make it new and exciting for returning fans and people just picking it up.

My pros regarding the updates in the story:

- They fleshed out many background characters and added in new ones. Most of the core group spent more time interacting, and the party banter felt natural and progressed realistically as the game went on.

- New mini-games and side quests expanded on the slums and made the areas larger and more interactive, yet they still kept the nostalgia of iconic locales.

- Plenty of fuel to fan shipping fires with emotionally charged scenes and pretty boys abounding (Cloti and Clerith especially).

- All of Wall Market was brilliantly done. I was wondering how they’d update it for the new generation, and it was seriously the best part of the game for me (and had me laughing the entire time).

-  Hinting that Zack is alive and/or Aerith may live is something I’m listing as a pro, only because I would love to see these characters used to their full potential, however, this is also a con for me, and I’ll explain why.

My cons:

Whispers: If you played the original, you probably had the same reaction as I did when the ‘Whispers’ showed up. “Wtf are these dementor-looking things?” At first, I thought they might be something similar to what we saw in Advent Children, and that they were ‘remnants’ or parts of Sephiroth, or somehow his minions, or even souls from the Lifestream, etc. When I found out they were actually supposed to be ‘protectors of fate’ or whatever, I rolled my eyes, especially when Barret was ‘killed’ by Sephiroth and then miraculously brought back to life. It felt very ‘deus ex machina’ to me in the sense that ‘everything has to go a certain way because we said so.’ While it makes sense, I really wasn’t buying it, but I’m assuming that we will learn more about them in the second installment. 

The Ending: The whole final boss battle of the remake was surprising, because it felt almost exactly like the final boss bottle of the original game, right down to the cutscene where Cloud is thrown through space and faces off against Sephiroth one-on-one. Before you defeat the ‘harbinger of fate’ (anyone else get KH heartless vibes?) and fight Sephiroth as the final boss, Aerith goes on her long spiel about ‘fate’ and ‘destiny’ and ‘this will change us,’ and it’s laid on so thick that it’s almost like they were setting us up for an alternate timeline, which is entirely possible, but that’s all speculation at this point. Regardless, they made it clear that whatever is coming next is going to be -very- different from the original, or possibly is going to be another timeline of the story, especially since Zack was shown alive and well. One criticism I heard from someone who hadn’t played the original game was that they treated Sephiroth and Zack like people you were supposed to know, and I can agree with that. They didn’t spend -any- time explaining their significance, backstory, or why people were so afraid of Sephiroth other than showing you little flashbacks into Cloud’s deranged memories, so in that sense, the ending might have fallen flat for those who don’t know exactly what Sephiroth represents or who he is, or why he stole Jenova from Hojo’s lab, etc, etc. Plus, throwing in Zack at the end is something that anyone who played the original game or Crisis Core would get, but new fans would also not understand the significance of. Personally, I screamed when I saw Zack because I was so happy , but I can see why that ending would be very unsatisfying and/or confusing for some.

Overall: 9/10

No, it doesn’t get a 10/10 for me, even as someone who absolutely loves Final Fantasy VII, but hey, no game is perfect. It’s honestly hard to live up to the hype this game has created since it was officially announced, and all things considered, Squeenix -did- live up to it. I will still be eagerly awaiting part two, playing the shit out of this game and squeezing the most I can out of it until I get to experience more.

I’d love to hear what other people thought (so long as the discourse is respectful of course). If you read this far, thanks for listening to my ramblings!