#tbh I don't have a lot of high hopes that we'll see them interact a ton in canon...

[feroluce]

Some off the cuff 1k of Skirk & Tartaglia (skirtaru???) hcs before 4.2 proves me wildly wrong, they are very much a dynamic in process to be changed as we see more of them and as I think and consider them more, but I wanna see them interact so BAD.

Anyway. Tartaglia is an idiot who develops a crush, or at least something like a crush, on anyone who can give him a good fight. Obviously there are plenty of people who can just kick his ass- he's ranked at the bottom of the Harbingers. But they all suck, and there's no passion when they fight! They don't appreciate it the way Tartaglia does! So it's not a good fight and those assholes don't count!

So I think little Tartaglia was doomed the second he saw a very very pretty lady with a very very sharp sword and she immediately beat the shit out of him. Like she awakened something in him right then and there, unfortunately for the rest of the world haha

And then! Not only could she beat him one handed! But she took the time to teach him! And this! This was exactly what Tartaglia had wanted when he ran away from home with nothing but some food and his sword! He'd wanted an adventure! He'd wanted something new and different and wild!

And he can have that now, with Skirk and the Abyss! So his crush could have instantly dissolved right there, but it didn't, because Skirk was weird and interesting and Tartaglia adored that.

((Wheezing imagining Tartaglia trying to show off because he wants to impress his shifu, and she genuinely is impressed because Tartaglia progressed so fast, but then she pops his teenage boy ego with a pin and he deflates sjzjnskdkz))

He develops such an endless amount of respect and admiration for her. He's so happy and so proud of himself when he masters the Foul Legacy, because this was a goal laid by his shifu and hell yeah, he blew it out of the water!! And I'd like to think this was when Skirk said those words in his profile-

"You shall ever be the eye of the storm,"

"And the clashing of steel shall ever accompany you."

"The pitch-black memory of stepping into uttermost darkness,"

"Shall, at last, become the strength by which you will overturn this world."

-with Tartaglia knelt before her and her sword at his cheek, as though she were knighting him. And Tartaglia realizes then that oh. He likes it here. He likes being in the Abyss. He likes being with Skirk. He likes hunting and killing and surviving here in the Abyss with Skirk. Morepesok is and will always be home, but it was stagnant there. Too much of the same. No room for growth.

But the Abyss is boundless possibility to explore in every direction, and Skirk has never flinched away from him even once. Tartaglia can be as violent and bloodthirsty as he wants; Skirk is worse. She gives zero shits. She loves to fight and hunt and kill and make things bleed. Tartaglia is free to explore and revel in all of his worst inclinations and instincts and that is what the Abyss and Skirk become to him. Freedom.

And then he falls out of the Abyss just as suddenly as he had fallen into it. He didn't even get to say goodbye.

And it's not all bad or anything. Tartaglia isn't miserable. He's plenty capable of making his own happiness. He brings his own joy everywhere he goes (derogatory, unfortunate for everyone else ndkdjdjkd) and he genuinely likes being around other people. He would have missed a lot of things if he'd been permanently trapped.

But now there is an itch that he can't scratch. And it's driving him nuts. And he misses Skirk. She was fun to be around. He liked her.

He finds himself seeing things in everyday life and wishing he could show her. He pulls out ingredients in the kitchen for dinner and wants her to eat his special dish and show off how good he can cook. He reads through reports about the Abyss and he never finds what he's looking for (a swordswoman, an entrance, anything-), but he wants to ask her her opinions about them. He sees a really nice sword and wonders if she would like it. Little things.

Tartaglia decides he's going to find her. Even if it's just for a chance to thank her. Even if it takes years, decades. He just wants to see her again.

And then, it finally happens! They really do get to reunite! I have no idea what will happen in the archon quest of course, but like. I really like the idea that after things settle down, Skirk decides to stay for a while. She doesn't really want to live here or anything, but she's curious. She wants to see what Teyvat is like. She especially wants to see Snezhnaya, like Tartaglia used to talk about. And Tartaglia decides to go with her, he's an experienced traveler, a man of the world after all! He'll take her wherever she'd like to go.

And I'd love for them to say goodbye to The Traveler and Paimon and depart from Fontaine on a classic will-they-won't-they sort of vibe, where it's obvious that Tartaglia has Some Feelings about Skirk, but it's not clear how Skirk really feels about him yet. But it's the kind of thing where it's hopeful, and you want to root for the guy to get his love interest haha.

(The Traveler and Paimon bump into them a few months later and Paimon chides Tartaglia because Childe have you seriously not confessed yet the hell have you been doing all this time, which he responds to with hey, Skirk is a classy lady, give me time to do it right! and meanwhile The Traveler can see around Tartaglia to where Skirk is sitting at their campfire, manspreading on a fallen log, eating raw meat with blood on her face and dripping down her arms BNSKXJSMKDMD)

[chromajelly]

what's on your s5 wishlist? the silly, goofy things!!!

oOoooh ok here we go!! I feel like these are mostly vibes and not that very specific (or all silly) but I hope they jiggle your brain all the same hehe

Mike channeling his overly dramatic and sassy S1 self is high on my hierarchy of needs tbh

The party goofing around and shitting on each other's music tastes while making mixtapes to retrofit everyone with their own walkman and cassettes in order to fend off Vecna's possessions.

Honestly, just having the party reunite and catch up. Lucas and Dustin asking Will what California life is like and whether or not he met any cute girls (bonus if we get great cinematography and performance from the interested parties to highlight how deep the question goes)

New outfits!!

Mike spending some quality family time with his sisters and his mom. Maybe after him and Nancy clue Karen in on what’s been happening. Bonus point if that gives us more Karen and Joyce interactions down the line.

Mike’s hair getting even longer. I wonder if he'd use whatever to tie his hair with (elastic bands, the horror) before an aghast Nancy just gives him some decent hairbands.

El and Lucas hanging a lot more while also helping Max work through all the big changes which eventually is comfortable enough that she uses them (in a poking fun kind of way) as leverage to give everyone a hard time.

I can't wait to see more of Argyle tagging along and dishing out absolutely brilliant plans out of left field.

Which actually makes me wish we'll get to see Murray and Argyle buddy up at some point

Will absolutely reaching his limit when UD deniers start making things difficult for the party and finally snapping at someone and everyone going :000 He only does it the one time and the second time he does it is when they zap Vecna out of existence.

If set during winter, please give me byler goofing off and Mike inadvertently brushing off some snow off Will's coat or something. Just send them both in a panic and have them overthink every little thing the other does for an entire episode.

Background byler. Don't care what or how, but would be nice to have the established relationship weaved in when the big overt stuff isn't happening on screen, ya know?

[tiredassmage]

7 & 8 for the swtor asks? :)

Saving this for after work was the correct choice (and also I overslept, oops >.>) bc bOY WERE WE BUSY. So thank you, this kept me a bit more sane, lol.

ask list here!

7. Which player voice actor is your favorite and your least favorite?

To probably no one who has seen an ounce of my content ever, I'd listen (and... have... by playing) to the Male Agent for hours. I think I'm up to 3 male agent ocs and the urge to make more? Constant. Inescapable. More than likely inevitable, tbh. I'm a glutton for the punishment of Imperial Agent story, apparently. Just leave me where I lie, there is no saving to be done.

Female Smuggler gets an honorable mention as well because I adore her. I adore the humor of smuggler. I adore the sass, the take no shit.

THEY HAVE THE RANGE!

Anyway, my least favorite is... probably either of the Jedi Knights, I think. Side by side, they don't feel as distinguishable from one another as some of the other classes. The job is done; I've played both at least through the class story and I wouldn't mind doing it again just looking at voice acting, but I feel like other classes have a bit more pop and variety. Or maybe I've just played my Knights too predictably akdfnlksdnflsdf.

8. Name your top favorite companions.

Oh man. Oh boy. How do I pick??? Y'know what, maybe I'll choose violence. Maybe I'll pick my favorite from every class. I've played them all. I could do that. (It's just as daunting to consider as it may be to read.)

Preface: I think my faves are largely story-based in my reasoning - I like their story, I like how they're engaged in the story, etc. Very rarely do I swap companions because of a felt need in gameplay given everyone's capability to do anything, but I have done so for story reasons.

Okay, I decided I'm insane enough to try to pick one from each, so since that's quite a list, find that beneath the cut:

We'll start with Agent, my beloved, and Vector. The Friend The Agent Needs. No more need be said. I want to hug them. I hope he's having a good day. One day, I'll do his romance, too. Dot stop playing male agents challenge. (I'm such a creature of habit.)

Bounty Hunter's a tough call because I found myself fond of practically the whole damn crew. Real found family vibe. Idk if I love one of them so much over the other as much as I just appreciate the crew's dynamic overall so, so much. The level of interaction and mingling with the crew just felt so much higher or hit so much harder than a lot of the others that I'd rank BH as a class story relatively high on my list solely for companion interactions.

For Sith Warrior, again, to little surprise if you've heard me open my mouth, Malavai Quinn. Ironically and slightly unironically my "he did nothing wrong" bastard. I'm, unfortunately, so incredibly attracted to this smart idiot of a man. The repression of feelings to explosion of passion and dedication in his romance is chef's kiss kind of shit. They're lying if they're trying to convince me that this man isn't a disaster bisexual. He's just. So insanely pretty. I'll forgive him even if I ever make a character that won't.

I think Talos is probably my favorite Inquisitor companion. Whoever said we were robbed because we don't have an Inquisitor x Talos romance in-game? You're so right. Dude has a cool name. Love this history nerd. He's so incredible. I am so pleased he was still being bright and bubbly on Elom. Miss him.

Trooper is hands down Elara. Constantly tip-tapping like a very excited, happy dog when I see I can talk to best girl. I love her story. Her romance is incredibly sweet. She's the single thing that got me through a 2nd Trooper playthrough.

Smuggler's another no competition in favor of Bowdarr. I want to give this Wookie so. many. hugs.

Kira Carsen for Jedi Knight. Again, no competition. The friendship is so, so sweet.

And Jedi Consular is a tough one to round out on. I have a lot of love for basically the whole crew, but I think I'll have to go with Qyzen for being bestie original MVP. I'm so glad we get to build a friendship with him because I don't think we get to see Trandoshans in quite this same light anywhere else in the game.

And also Theron Shan. I can't do this list without him. Sir, I'd die for you. Sometimes you're an idiot and I love you. Insert, after all, why shouldn't I romance Theron again meme here.

Honorable mention to Major Anri. I'm love her. If I have to fuck with her directly in saboteuring of the Empire, I'm going to feel SO many emotions. Keep me in your thoughts kan;fladnkfl;dsf.

[stanharu]

beastars episode 24 thoughts!

this post got kinda long i have Many Thoughts on this one

Overall I had fun watching this ep but I could really tell it was rushed and there was so much that got cut, which makes me super sad. our fears about the finale having pacing issues due to all the added scenes & rearranging were confirmed & it rly sucks, but i'll elaborate more on that in a bit.

this week's ep covered the end of chapter 92, chapters 93-97, and included small bits of chapters 98 & 99.

so the ep starts with the ED and the latter part of the tunnel scene with ibuki and louis. i liked the visual effect they used to show that they were in the dark. louis' voice acting was also On Point. for the most part i think this scene was done pretty well but I can tell it's being rushed also. I really wish we got more buildup and narration instead of just jumping straight to ibuki telling louis to shoot him. the way it is in the anime feels less impactful imo.

also im sad we didnt get to see this in the anime

before i move on, i wanna talk a bit about louis and his relationship w/ the shishigumi and ibuki. i feel like in the anime quite a few of the lil moments that really endear you to the shishigumi and also ibuki were either cut or kinda glossed over, which is strange to me considering how much effort and care went into the ED. it's very emotional and good but i feel like maybe anime onlies are missing out only seeing the anime and the MV. but idk.

legosi and riz's fight was quite rushed as well. there's so much narration and dialogue missing from it and that really rubs me the wrong way. It wasn't all bad but compared to the manga I just don't think it's as good. I will say tho that I really liked the sequence w legosi and the moths. I thought it looked really nice and was pretty well done.

also i liked how the backgrounds had some anti-yahya graffiti, its a nice touch imo

it says "high quality horse meat"

I was happy to see legosi do the "tell me more" pose but I'm honestly disappointed that the anime took out the whole exposition about why legosi did it. like i feel like without that it's just legosi being weird when he has a reason for it!!! This is just one example of the anime taking out crucial narration during the fight.

I also think it's kinda weird how they changed how louis shows up at the fight. im not sure how i feel about riz just charging at him like that, but i liked how legosi kicked him before they ran lol.

i dont have much to say about pina's small scene but I did wanna say that during my first watch thru of the ep i was too distracted trying to read the graffiti behind him that i didn't notice him getting his phone out of the dumpster and calling the cops lmao

it says "devour yahya"

and now... here we are... the predation scene.

overall i thought it was pretty well done but, like the rest of the ep, i could tell it was also being kinda rushed. some important beats werent given enough time to really sink in, and there's a few bits of narration taken out of this part as well that i find disappointing :^(

tho i did like how the anime called back to this scene in s1 when legosi mentions utilizing his strength.

also this part where louis is remembering ibuki had me like😭

I also really liked seeing louis cry. I was crying too sjdflskjdflsjkdf. i thought that scene was really good, its prolly my favorite part of the ep tbh. getting to hear the whole predation scene voiced made me kind of a mess lol. i really liked louis' expressions throughout this whole ep too. studio orange used their whole louis expression budget on these last 2 eps lmao.

seeing legosi instantly get all beefed up was great too. he looked a little ridiculous but i kinda loved it lol. he's so huge and poofy. i love him.

big pomeranian

anyway, im also sad they took out louis' line about being reduced to a flashback character lol. instead he tells legosi "be a hero" again which... im not sure about that change. i liked the part with riz thinking back about tem tho. tho imo the way riz realizes he's in the wrong feels pretty sudden. again adding to how rushed the whole ep feels.

before i move on again i just wanna say legosi looks so cute. even all puffed up and covered in blood. how does he do that

baby boy baby. i wanna ruffle his cheek floofs.

i think one of the things im most disappointed about from this whole ep was how the fight got wrapped up. i really like how the cops show up and totally shift the tone in the manga jslkdfjskljdf. im also really sad we didnt get this interaction

tthe anime really took out most of the sillier moments from the finale, which makes me pretty sad to think about. i know the anime and manga have different tones but pls let the boys be silly sometimes!!

the next part where legosi and louis finally establish their friendship was really cute tho ❤️ even tho it was pretty different i enjoyed it a lot.

BABIESSSS 🥺😭❤️❤️

the wrap-up for this arc and this episode gave me whiplash sdjlfkjsdf. it literally speedruns thru legosi's predation conviction, being released, louis & haru's graduation, and legosi deciding he's going to drop out of school. that is SO MUCH AT ONCE. also i was holding out hope that legosi would have his new years call with haru after the fight instead but that didnt happen!! so it just got cut!!! kinda mad about that tbh. legosi and haru having a lil scene at the very end made up for it a lil bit but that's still one of haru's few moments in this arc that's just not included.

we didnt even get the part wher legosi learns he can't marry haru bc of his conviction.

ive been really hoping for a season 3 announcement once this season ended. with all the background allusions to yahya, the added plot point of someone stealing elephant tusks, and sebun and melon's lil cameos in this season, it seemed to me that studio orange was kinda teasing a 3rd season. but now, with the dismissive way the anime ended, and paru's note from earlier today, im less sure about the possibility of a 3rd season. i'd still like to see the rest of the series animated, but i guess we'll just have to wait and see if more anime is announced in the future.

if we do get another season in the future i just hope that we swing back around and actually address the things that got completely glossed over in the last couple minutes of this episode instead of charging forward w/o touching them again.

i really think the finale for this arc should've been two episodes at least. not including the tunnel scene. i think then things wouldn't have felt so rushed. people have been saying this season really would have benefitted from at least 1 extra episode and i cant help but agree. some have even suggested a whole 24 episodes just for this arc, but i think that this arc couldve been done properly with 12 or 13 episodes if there was some better prioritizing on what to include and what to cut.

like i dont mind not getting the parts about legosi's family if they can be addressed somehow in a future season (or if theres no more future anime seasons thats a plot thread that doesnt have to be worried about). i could have lived w/o seeing sheila & peach's chapter animated if it meant more time for the focus of this arc. and was the kangaroo red herring really necessary?

adaptation wise, i dont think this season was as good as the first. i still think it did fairly well, but i know that it could have been much better. ive been excited to watch this season with my friends once the dub releases, but now im wondering if i should just tell them to read the manga instead. sighs idk. perhaps it comes thru better as a bingewatch, or perhaps im being a bit too harsh. idk. at some point ill do a rewatch and see how i feel about the season as a whole, but that wont be for a while.

if you've read this far, thanks for reading my ramblings!! it's been fun to make these posts every week and im gonna miss getting new episodes every week.