#there are like..no downsides. its absurd

[thaimolpiyas]

playing minecraft origins + again...moth is super fun

[ghcstao3]

Johnny likes art. Likes looking at it, likes creating it, likes learning about it. He’d always known he’d end up in something involving it at the end of everything, and that he does.

For a few years now, Johnny has worked as an art restorer. Primarily fixing up paintings, it’s pretty close to ideal work—he gets to study all sorts of new styles, and bring pieces back to life so they can be admired again, as they were always meant to be.

The only downside is that it’s freelance work.

At the very least, gone are the days where Johnny had to make a real effort to establish himself—but just because he gets better jobs now, doesn’t mean he gets better supervisors.

His current employer is a great example of this.

Johnny had been hired by a man named Ghost, real name unknown, to revamp a private collection of his for an absurd amount of money. Johnny would be an idiot not to accept—even when part of the terms included working onsite and with provided tools in order to get everything done.

The house—manor, more like—is beautiful, nearly as stunning as the eclectic collection or artwork Johnny is meant to repair itself. He’s greeted by a man going by the name of John Price, supposedly a dear friend of Ghost’s, here to meet Johnny since his employer wouldn’t be home for another day yet. He’s kind, not strange like Johnny thought anyone involved with this might be, and he introduces Johnny to the few pieces he’d be working with.

It’s… intriguing, to say the least. Because the pieces come from different time periods, but all look as if in the same state of decay. It’s bizarre, Johnny thinks, because all other artwork in the home is pristinely kept.

That isn’t to say he’s not grateful for this opportunity, of course.

John makes good conversation until he ultimately leaves Johnny to his own devices. First day progress is well along, and by the time Johnny is seen out, he’s feeling optimistic about this job.

Then he meets Ghost.

It’s like the atmosphere of the manor has entirely shifted around the man and his broad, imposing figure. Even eyes that share the warmth of coffee pierce through Johnny, and Johnny isn’t sure what to think of the mask that obscures most of the man’s face otherwise. His voice, low and gravelly, rumbles through Johnny as he makes inquiries about the previous day, about Johnny’s process, then dismisses him to continue his restoration.

Even though Johnny doesn’t see him again until the end of his work day, he feels like he’s being watched all the while.

The third and fourth days are the same. The fifth, Ghost surprises Johnny by sitting in the room for part of the day, though he offers no commentary between incoherent grunts and what Johnny hopes to be hums of approval.

The sixth day, Ghost asks, “What do you think happened to the artist?”

Of course, there’s no signature, so even if it was by an artist Johnny knew of, there’d be no indication.

But he considers the question anyway. Considers the painting, it’s clear inspiration in impressionism, it’s pale colours and light, flowy strokes. And yet, it seems contradictory to the style—the scene within is almost… angry, sorrowful. Like grief. Its problem had been a tear in the canvas and fading paint, nothing overly difficult or unsurprising for Johnny.

So he shrugs. He doesn’t look back at Ghost, maybe afraid of that gaze, of gauging any reaction.

“Hard to say,“ Johnny admits. “A painting doesn’t tell a whole story about its inspiration, let alone its artist. And not knowing any of the artist’s other work, or when it began and ended—it’s hard to say.”

Johnny can feel Ghost looming over him. He tries not to shrink in on himself too much, but it’s almost impossibly.

For a long moment, Ghost doesn’t speak. He barely acknowledges Johnny’s response, and Johnny wonders if he’d ever get one.

If he had said the right thing.

“Hm,” Ghost finally decides. Johnny can feel his presence straighten, putting distance between them. He says, “I’ll give you a hint.”

Johnny offers a slight nod, eyes fixed on the painting before him. He still doesn’t dare turn back. “I’m always happy to learn.”

“This artwork, everything I’ve hired you to restore,” Ghost says, “it’s all from the same man.”

Immediately, Johnny frowns. His gaze darts across the piece and the collection of others he’s meant to look at, all of completely varying styles and forms, before whirling around to ask something, anything of Ghost’s statement—but he discovers Ghost to have already left.

Well, Johnny supposes with defeat.

He doesn’t know if he should let himself become curious.

(part 2)

[weirdsht]

HAHAHAHA imagine Cale with someone weaker than him + a troublemaker and oftentimes think crazier than him, but they're useful so that's what tied them together with the gang💀 bro might feel the stress his hyungs felt whenever he throws himself into danger lol and would start reflecting. Have u done this b4? :D

Is This My Karma? - Cale/Reader

notes: anon... did you take a look inside my mind? or maybe my docs? because the series i'm going to publish later has a similar prompt. i was gonna make it a surprise but since the cat is out of the bag imma announce it here lol. i'll be making a cale/reader slowburn series or at least try but while waiting for that you guys enjoy this small drabble from anon's ask first

tags: fluff, sickfic, reader is an idiot, cale is also an idiot, idiots in love basically, choi han is in charge of their single braincell, established relationship

English isn’t my first language so there will be grammatical errors

Pls don't repost my work anywhere without my permission

Constructive criticisms and any kind of interaction are more than welcome

Requests are open and welcome

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“For the last time, you will not pass your cold to the White Star. How are you even going to achieve that? Also what merit would it bring if that punk catches your sickness?”

Cale glanced over at the sick person in his bed speaking nonsense. Well, it’s not completely nonsense as it was possible.

…If that said person wasn’t on the verge of dying because of a fever.

“We both cough know it’s cough possible. Plus you’re not looking at the bigger picture of cough White Star getting a fever.”

“No you’re just thinking irrationally-”

“Ah ah, I’m still cough speaking. Let the cough sick cough speak.”

“...I think the sick should shut the hell up and sleep.”

The person who is Cale’s significant other only glared at the commander before drinking the water Choi Han handed to them. When arguments like this first happened the swordmaster would interject to create peace.

But that was before he learned just how unhinge this person was.

_____, Cale’s headache and significant other, was a naturally weak person. Even weaker than Cale without ancient powers. However, despite their physical prowess being on the weaker side they have a very useful ancient power.

They have a wood attribute power that can conjure flowers, grass, and trees with either poison or healing powers. Its downside is that the abilities do not work on _____. However, they can make flowers that can spread whatever sickness they have at the moment.

“We all know you just need to fling me at cough a good distance near Mr. Steal-My-Cale’s-Looks and I can pass him my cold with the flowers. Easy peasy Ron’s lemon squeezy.”

Cale remembers _____’s explanation being that the flowers' pollen would contain the same bacteria and virus as their body. Or something along those lines.

“...”

“Hear me cough out, okay? Imagine this, White Star with his plate on the verge of breaking, coughing out so much blood, armless in every sense of the cough as well. Imagine a cough nasty fever and cough combo on top of that.”

“...”

_____ looked at the silent Cale expectantly.

“Sometimes I really wonder why I got together with a punk like you”

“But you love me!”

Sigh

Cale couldn’t refute so he just sighed.

At first, he let _____ join their group because they were useful. Not only is their ability useful but they are also intelligent. They have the see the faults in Cale’s plan and think of a counter-measure. They can also conjure up great plans.

Well, most of the time at least.

Other times look like this…

“No, we are not doing your absurd plan. Just go to sleep and get better, I’ll take care of things.”

Cale kissed the top of _____’s head.

“And don’t even try to think of sneaking out like you did last time. Alberu and Tasha almost had a heart attack.”

The previously smiling _____ because of Cale’s kiss was now pouting because of the reminder. 

Meanwhile, Cale let them be as he went out of their bedroom.

He let out another sigh as he did. Behind him was Choi Han struggling to suppress a smile, wait no a laugh.

“What’s up with you?”

“No, it’s just that Cale-nim you and _____-nim are really similar.”

Choi Han added after seeing Cale glare at him.

“Sometimes that’s how your plans look to us.”

“Haaa”

Cale couldn’t help but notice how his acting like his sworn brother right now.

‘Is this how the crown prince feels about me?’

Not just the crown prince but everyone else as well.

‘Was this why team leader-nim and Choi Jung Soo insisted that I should farm with them even after retirement?’

There was no way, right?

‘There’s no way me and _____ are similar. I’m not self-sacrificial like that. I always make sure that I will live.’

Right?

Looks like he finally got all my warnings.

Cale ignored Super Rock’s voice.

But still, he can’t deny that he caused his group some headaches.

“...I will reflect on myself.”

Choi Han only nodded and smiled at the dazed young master.

Meanwhile, Cale’s mind is a bit chaotic right now.

‘Did my karma come in the form of my significant other?’

There’s no way that’s the case… right?

Right???

[hazelnut-u-out]

Pondering on the overall arc of Rick and Morty again. In the past, I’ve said that the point of Rick and Morty is that everything matters, way too much. (At least, there’s an argument to be made there about Rick’s character progression.)

Rick was backed into a philosophical corner by his experience of what it means to be alive. If everything matters, that means that what happened to him actually had consequences on who he is. If, somehow, he can find confirmation that nothing matters, instead— that there are no real consequences and he’s one of the elite few to understand the significance of cosmic insignificance— then he mourns for nothing. Nothing that happened to him and nothing that was taken away from him mattered.

It’s the opposing vice of ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’ The application of value to trauma is equally as invalid and toxic as removing it entirely. I don’t know about you, but what happened to me didn’t make me stronger, and I loathe hearing that from people. It made me who I am, sure, but I can appreciate that I have my good qualities in spite of what I’ve been through— in spite of those who tried to take them away from me. Those people and experiences don’t deserve credit for anything I’ve become. There is no positive spin on the negative impact of trauma. It was negative, and we keep on going. The truth is, on some level, Rick is broken— and without either nihilism or application of a metric of ‘worth’ to his trauma, he would have to worry that he’ll be broken forever.

Unfortunately, the downside of nihilism comes from the concept that, if nothing that broke you ever mattered, then no effort to heal those wounds would matter. Therefore, nothing Rick does to other people would matter, and nothing he could do to right those wrongs would, either. That is his biggest character flaw. This is what his development has been confronting.

This is why I find it more likely that the resolution to Rick’s philosophical issues will round out at absurdism. If nothing matters, then EVERYTHING matters, because you have to enjoy and protect what matters to you. If the universe creates infinite idiots just to eat them, then you might as well enjoy the ride instead of trying fight it until you inevitably get thrown off. Maybe the point of life isn’t to deny that our trauma is substantial, or even convince ourselves of its worth. Instead, maybe the point is to acknowledge what we still have when we get to the end of the line despite every curve ball the universe tried to throw at us. It made us, it will eat us, and our only way to give it the metaphorical middle finger is to ensure that our lives will mean something in spite of our cosmic insignificance. If we are meaningful in a meaningless existence, then what does that say about our power over the infinite? If we value fostering our positive traits instead of punishing them for their lack of value, then what does that say about our value on our own, as we are, both unchanged and changed by the insignificance life itself represents?

Maybe it’s special for Rick to be alive (for Rick to love; for Rick to fail and succeed) simply because of how not special those experiences are.

At the end of the day, being 'replaceable' is what makes things special, not the other way around. We get to choose to care, and that's terrifyingly beautiful.

[sharkneto]

if you had a chance to write for the umbrella academy, what’s something you would’ve added or removed or otherwise changed about show canon

Oh. What an ask! You know, I try to stay positive here on tunglr.com about the Umbrella Academy. I adore the show, love the characters, focus on the positive and things I like rather than the negative things I don't. That said, the show has issues, more and more as the seasons progress. I do have opinions. And you asked :)

Read more because this is going to get long.

Starting in S1, there's not much I'd change - S1 is really tight, it's really character focused and its dark themes covered by sibling absurdity is delicious. Only thing I can think of off the top of my head to change is

Five has the gun in the finale. There is no tension with Allison having the gun for if she's going to shoot Viktor or not - we all know she isn't. It also makes Five just running up and getting caught in the energy tentacles stupid because he's never fought like that the entire show, he's more strategic than that. So, Five has the gun, we know from the comics Viktor gets shot -- it makes Five not shooting him more impactful, differentiates Five from his comic counterpart, and in general is a richer character moment for all involved. The only downside to all of that is it sidelines Allison, but some finagling of setting up the situation can put her back in a meaningful position (someone wrote a fantastic reimagining of this scene that gave Five the gun that still kept Allison in a key position with a heartful roll in how it shakes out, probably a couple years ago now. If anyone remembers who wrote that or can link it to me, I'd love to reread it again).

That's really it for S1, off the top of my head, anyway. On to S2! -

Handler stays dead, AJ is the big bad. The only downside to this is that we don't get Kate Walsh back, because she is so much fun, but the Handler absolutely died at the end of S1 and they retconned her to not-die so she could be in S2 (...because Kate Walsh is such a delightful villain). But AJ should have had a bigger roll in S2. He's the head of the whole Commission! The Handler was but a cog in the machine - what does that look like! The Hargreeves suddenly have the entire might of the Commission after them instead of a rogue Handler (pin in that for Point 2). Also, his character design fucking slaps, I'm still obsessed with him. And now, I'm hearing you go: But Lila! And I answer you - AJ is her adopted father. That whole plotpoint stays the same but AJ instead of Handler for parental figure. Diego's reaction to his girlfriend's father being a fish sells that all on its own.

The Commission should not be a benevolent force, with just the Handler as a rogue, evil agent. S1 Commission is a morally dark gray force of bureaucracy hiding behind the uncanny, cheerful veneer of the 50s. Their chosen method for keeping history "on track" is just a fuckton of murder. They left a kid to rot in the apocalypse for four decades. They have an entire department dedicated to making sure disasters occur (through strategic murder). The Infinite Switchboard is also dumb and only exists for fast plot for Diego to figure out what's going on - S1 method for the Commission knowing when the timeline is getting fucked is agents on the ground who call it in (S1 Commission inefficiency, my fucking beloved.). In summary, no one at the Commission is a good person (looking at you Herb and Dot! You are not and should not be positioned as good people!), and making the Handler the ~only~ bad egg there and everyone else positioned as good and allies weakened them significantly as a villain.

Viktor! He shouldn't have had amnesia! Robbed him of character development in facing what he'd done, how his life had been a lie, and the complicated feelings left behind between him and his siblings over all of that. I get it was a comic thing, but they didn't do the comic reason (Shot In Head), and they've changed lots else from the comics, so this should have been another point the deviated from.

Raymond should have gotten to meet Five. I just think that would have been fun.

The song that plays in Viktor's violin mind palace when he's getting tortured should have been [Viktor's] Orchestra from the S1 OST and not that goddamn Bach Partita. They already had a very meaningful and beautiful violin piece composed by Mr. Russo, what are they doing bringing in this random Bach? Missed opportunity. My feelings on this are so strong that I am including it with the above impactful plot changes.

There's probably some smaller tweaks for S2 that I'm not thinking of now, but that covers the main changes and this is already getting long and we haven't even gotten to S3. Because, oh boy. S3.

I give S3 a lot of forgiveness for being made during the pandemic. I think a lot had to be adjusted for Covid restrictions (There was supposed to be a whole Japan trip thing! Which is why the Hotel is all Japanese themed. The trip got scrapped, the theme did not, so it just comes off as weird and orientalist), and they still managed to have really great character moments and developments. That said -

Too much happened in S3. They should have done Sparrows or the Hotel (which I like to call the HOb, and is the shorthand I'll be using from now on). Both with the Kugelblitz made this season insane.

Lila isn't pregnant. The show has a real hard time writing women who aren't mothers or dead and they were almost doing a good job with Lila until this, she almost escaped it. I'm going to be honest, my first thought when it was revealed that she was actually pregnant and it wasn't just Stanley shenanigans was "Oh, abortion". I don't think it makes sense for where she is to be having a kid, and it ties her down in a weird way for the final season. Instead of being about her figuring out her shit after finding out her mom killed her, had her real parents killed, and her life is all a bit of a lie, it's now about being pregnant and/or being a mother.

The HOb isn't some weird universe reset button. Why didn't they like Fucked Up Space Prison from the comics??? That's so much fun! I'd allow it to be paired up with the Sparrows if it's a fucked up space prison, they compliment each other then. It being a reset button that Reggie has known about this whole time and is the reason he collected the kids also doesn't make sense with him killing himself in S1 for the original plot of the show. They almost hit the vibe they could have had with it, with the hallways and floors swapping around. Play with that more, make time weirder, don't have cheap-horror samurai guardians. Forever mourning how much cooler and weirder the HOb could have been.

A lot of people complain that the Sparrows were so minor in the season. I am not one of those people - most of them were tertiary characters, and with all the other plot happening and the focus (rightly) on the Umbrellas, they featured exactly as much as they needed and should have (without changing the season to make them the main antagonists). My only change here is Sloane shouldn't know physics. Why does she know physics and why is she as good as Five, who has 30 years on her. There's no set up or indication she is a math person (she loves reading and travel!) until they have their Kugelblitz math discussion and then it's never alluded to again. Is this petty? Yes. Do I stand by it? Yes.

Ah, Five. Obviously, Five shouldn't be the founder of the Commission. That whole plot, while great for the Five and Lila Frenemy Trip, reeks of Cool Reveal We Thought Of To Be Cool. It doesn't have any real major impact on anything, and it makes no sense for Five as a character that he would have created the Commission and then sat alive in their basement by himself. The guy spent a lifetime alone and tore the universe apart to be with his family and they want me to believe he sets up his life to end by himself and away from his family after making evil corporate time cops? Yeah, alright, sure, mmm-hmm.

There should have been a conversation about what happened in the barn at the end of S2. That was huge - Five unlocked a whole new application of his powers and watched his whole family die again. With the rewind powers, they should have given an in-universe reason for why Five couldn't use them at any point and not just pretend they didn't exist anymore. The Kugelblitz is eating time, if it's eating time there is nothing for Five to rewind or jump back to - there. I did it. Just some sort of acknowledgement for why Five's plot-breaking powers aren't breaking the plot.

Five should have been friendlier and more trusting of Reggie, incorrectly viewing them as relative equals thanks to his age and experience. From Five's point of view, Reginald has always been right and Reginald did help him when he talked to him in the 60s. He's a dick and unpleasant, but so is Five. It was the perfect set up for some delicious betrayal and hard lessons for Five to understand their father the same way the rest of the Umbrellas do.

I'm going to be honest - there is probably plot things I would change for how Harlan slots in with the Kugelblitz, but S3 is my least rewatched season, and when I do rewatch it I usually do a Five Watch (just skip through and watch Five plot), so I do not remember it well enough to point out what I would change.

Final point I'm going to make - Allison. I genuinely loved where Allison went this season. The most controversial part of her plot, assaulting Luther, I thought made perfect sense and I have a lot of thoughts about where her mind was during all of that. But I do not think the writers understood just how fucked up her doing that was, and that scene should have had further fallout and more direct conversation about what happened. Give it more gravity and consequences, if only for Emmy's sake because it really felt like the writers dropped her in the deep end for the amount of hate Allison got for it.

There are probably more things, but it is getting late and this is getting long. I adore this show, but my god does it leave so much potential on the floor. Leaves us lots to write ourselves because of that, I suppose as a silver lining.

[scope-dogg]

What mecha shows did you enjoy but would not recommend to people (flawed personal favourites, shows with high entry barrier, etc.)?

Several come to mind.

Blue SPT Layzner: TV run got shitcanned prematurely and has probably the mast slapdash ending of any mecha show save maybe the TV run of Ideon. OVA adaptation opens with rushed compilation of first half of TV series that's dull to watch and not especially coherent on its own before it gets to the altered and much improved ending. Feels like there's no right way to watch it, you have to do both and piece it together in your head. Definitely one to check out after you've seen Takahashi's better work like Votoms and Dougram, though it's infuriating because the series has banger music and mecha design, and the hypothetical ideal version of the plot that you don't have to basically kitbash together in your head is really good.

Dancouga: Production values are amazing in first episodes and then turn to complete dogshit shortly thereafter, like they literally spent their whole budget up front and then had to pay their animators in loose change and leftover fast food. Very strange pacing. However I've always really liked the main protagonist Shinobu Fujiwara whose voice actor honestly carries the show on his back, and I've had a soft spot for Dancouga the mecha itself for a long time - but it doesn't actually show up until half way in. Yet somehow I can't deny the charm of the show despite how slapdash it is thanks to its interesting approach to the super robot formula, and it leads into Requiem for Victims which is the true ending for the TV plot and a followup called God Bless Dancouga, both of which are banger OVAs (and then another kinda shitty one after that but who cares.) Unfortunately they all make no sense without watching the TV run. It's a franchise for hardcore mecha fans only, though IIRC the 2000s sequel Dancouga Nova is basically disconnected and stands on its own, for better or worse. I've yet to watch it.

Tryder G7: 80s super robot show that's kind of like a part slice-of-life anime, honestly ahead of its time in a lot of ways. Would be my go-to recommendation for 80s super robot shows if there was a decent fansub. The one that exists is a Russian translation of the official Italian subs that then got translated into English and it's as disastrous as you might expect. Not only is it incoherent but even as a non-Japanese speaker I can tell it's often inaccurate. Frustrating because I can tell it's a good show that deserves a proper English sub for fans.

Cross Ange: Notorious show by the Gundam Seed creators. The concept and lore of this show is batshit insane, the mecha are cool, the main character turns out to be interesting and likable despite very negative first impressions, however there's no denying that it's buried under a thick vaneer of shallow coombait and it runs itself off the rails with zany plot at points. Honestly better than its reputation suggests but hard to recommend without looking like a pervert.

Shinkon Gattai Godannar: Basically the same thing, coombait super robot series, fun action, not a bad story. At the same time if you've ever seen a gif of absurd breast physics in anime from the 2000s there's a decent chance it's from Godannar. Good show at the end of the day, better than it has a right to be, artstyle is gonna be a big turnoff for many people and I don't necessarily blame them.

Gundam Build Divers Re:Rise: Probably the weirdest of the build series, also IMO the best. Downside: you have to suffer through the profoundly mediocre original Build Divers to get the most out of it and I'm not sure that price is worth it.

Probably more that I could add. Honourable mention has to go Gundam Seed Stargazer because you have to suffer through Gundam Seed Destiny to get to it, but I hear that the new Gundam Seed movie that's also set after Destiny is good so perhaps the cost-to-benefit ratio of suffering through Destiny has changed.

[fiharri]

Welcome! "Are you blushing? Did I make you blush?" strikes me as such a Leliana thing to say, at least in Origins, so maybe Leli x Morrigan, or your Surana?

Oh man, you gave me such a good choice. I'm going to use this as a chance to work with Morrigan a bit!

Leliana had a dastardly plan: get Morrigan to sit around the campfire longer by showing her a gift she had planned before the silly recluse had a chance to make her way off on her own.

Zevran, Alistair, and Sten had occupied themselves with some sort of game involving a cup, a ball, and a sword, and frankly Leliana didn't want to know any more of what was going on there. Wynne had the Warden off doing a routine medical check, which gave Leliana exactly the opening she needed.

"Morrigan," the former chantry sister sing-songed, "I've got a little something for you."

"What have you chosen to vex me with this evening?" Morrigan sounded at best annoyed and at worst genuinely peeved.

"It's not any sort of prank, I assure you." Leliana reached into her pocket, running her fingers over the metal of the gift. "It's…a peace offering, you could say. I've been hoping you'd spend more time with us 'round the campfire at night."

"I've no time for idle chatter whilst there's a Blight to stop."

"You're not stopping the Blight moping in the corner. Here." Leliana procured the golden pendant, shaped into the form of a crow. "I saw it, and it reminded me of how you…well, turn into animals."

"You thought of me?" Morrigan's expression had suddenly shifted from merely annoyed to genuinely baffled. She touched the pendant like it was a precious thing. It was, if its price was anything to be considered.

"It wasn't hard. You're always turning into all manner of different shapes. I thought you might like a little reminder of that."

"'Tis quite a gift. It must have cost you a handsome sum, assuming you acquired it the legal way." And then, somehow, the impossible happened.

Morrigan's cheeks turned pink.

"Are you blushing?" Leliana burst out, in shock as much as anything else. "Did I make you blush?"

"What?" Morrigan exclaimed back, pulling her hand away from the amulet. "Of course not, you must be mistaken."

But one downside of Morrigan's way of dress was she couldn't hide it: the blushing had spread across her face and down to her collarbone, covering the entire area in a pink flush.

"I did! I made you blush!"

"Absurd. Keep the silly amulet," Morrigan scoffed and stepped away.

"No. It's a gift, with no expectations attached. Here." Leliana held out the necklace again.

Morrigan, for her part, snatched it in an instant, clutching it closer to herself like the offer might be rescinded if she didn't. "Honestly. To think I'd be blushing like a common girl receiving flowers."

"You di-id," Leliana teased.

"Ridiculous."

As Morrigan skulked away to her own little hideaway, Leliana kept an eye on her. And she did see as the witch of the wilds huddled over her new jewel, running her fingers over the fine metalwork. And that made her smile.

(And if she blushed too, then that was between her and the fire.)

[smash-64]

2023 Game of the Year Countdown #1 The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie Nintendo Switch, 2023

For a fourth time since 2018, a Trails game takes my #1 for the year.

Breaking from tradition, this Trails game has no sidequests. It has a very linear story, although technically there are three linear stories and you can jump from one to another for most of the game. In many respects, this is the “Trails in the Sky the 3rd” for the Cold Steel series. Not only is the story more linear, but we get redemption arcs from past villains, and we also get an absolutely disgusting amount of playable characters. Chrono Cross has 45 playable characters, and people often say that’s too many. Well…Reverie has 50. And each of them gets at least a little time in the spotlight. It’s fantastic for Trails fans, and I adored it. I put 150 hours into this game and I’m not sure I could have put less time into it.

Playing the game on Switch, there were definitely a few times the game chugged, so I can’t give the game a perfect 10. Many of the cutscenes in Crossbell City were bogged down by the sheer number of NPCs, and was noticeable to me, a person famously unconcerned with performance. I can see why people advocate for playing this on PC or PS4, but the portability of the Switch trumps all else in my mind. This is really the only downside I experienced with the game, although it did not affect my enjoyment at all.

Having three linear storylines to follow in any order you want is phenomenal. You can keep going with characters you love, and are never forced to stick with the ones you don’t for very long. And with having a linear story, the pace of the game is potentially sped up a little bit from the traditional Trails experience where sidequests can often lead to very long delays in the main story.

The story itself offers a ton. Obviously I can’t spoil a game that is the 10th in an interconnected, on-going series, but I’ll just say that once the main story is over…the postgame story is equally as interesting and gives fans a peek at some of the series-long questions and issues brought up in previous entries. 

Combat is fairly standard as far as the Cold Steel games go. I love Trails combat and this game tweaks little, as nothing was broken. It’s perhaps a little bit more difficult than CS3 or CS4, since the Break mechanic was pretty OP in those two games and it has been toned down slightly, but you can still take full advantage of it if you’re smart and plan well. I also like how some of the accessories drastically increase specific stats, so min/maxing is actually fun in this game. I was able to get Tita Russell’s attack and HP to absolutely absurd heights in this game. She is no longer baby; she wants power!

As previously stated, almost every single character gets their time in the spotlight. Some more than others, of course, but the fact that we get 50 playable characters, yet every one of them gets a chance to shine is a wonderful piece of work by the developers and writers. I’d say that perhaps Musse gets very little, but she had more than enough focus in CS3 and 4. Even Machias gets his own episode, and he is so often forgotten that even I forget about him at times.

Music is good as always when it comes to Falcom. I appreciate some of the battle tunes, like Elegant Prowess, and the game has its own unique sound that sets it apart from CS3 and 4. Maybe not to the same extent that Sky the 3rd sets itself apart from FC and SC, but the tracks unique to this game sound different enough that they are easy to pick out. There are dozens of returning tracks as well, since we revisit quite a few places from previous entries. 

My favorite character is Estelle Bright, and I was glad to see a focused effort to put her in the spotlight more often. She wasn’t in CS1-3, and played a more supporting role in 4 than anything else. Meanwhile, Lloyd and Rean ran the show. Estelle is not one of the main storylines in this game, but it’s nice to see her back with some of her famous one-liners.

Overall, I can’t really say enough about the game. It’s an amazing JRPG experience, but one that requires playing the 9 previous games in the series. Maybe that’s a daunting task to some, but the good thing about trying out a Trails game is that there is always another one to play afterward.

[theromanticrationalist]

My ‘The Big Bang Theory’ Rankings

Seasons 1 - 2: I haven’t watched all the episodes in these seasons, as it doesn’t really interest me because they were still trying to figure out the characters, so they feel rather one dimensional to me. Though, there are some cute Sheldon episodes/moments for sure! Mainly he and Penny had cute banter and chemistry!

Season 3: For a season without Amy, it is actually really good - well for TBBT. There are so many of my favorite Sheldon episodes and moments in this season! Also Raj was more prevalent as a character. It seems like they finally found their voice as a show and established their vibe. It is super fun and funny! I mean there are few snags still, but overall it’s a good one.

Seasons 4 - 5: Literally only watching for the Shamy! Their story arc and characterizations is what elevates what would otherwise be a pretty mediocre bunch of seasons. I don’t know why they took a nosedive with all the other storylines and characters. Maybe they only had enough braincells for Shamy?? I mean - fair. But literally everything is crap - Leonard and Penny’s on and off again situationship (their drama was SO ANNOYING), Howard and Bernadette’s whole thing (like what was even their point?? It wasn’t until they became a family that I found their characters and stories had any purpose, e.g. Howard actually becoming a man and learning to be the father he didn’t have. Bernadette’s character became funnier too in later seasons, even if she never was my favorite.) Raj’s characterization was instantly thrown out the window for an absurd string of increasingly bizarre scenarios that were really pathetic. (Why didn’t they keep him and Lucy together as a couple?? I’ll never understand that.) Too many stupid, puerile sex jokes, politically incorrect jokes, cringy nerd jokes, and not nearly enough science. Just give me the Shamy! … who were so perfect, of course! Early Shamy in the beginning of their courtship was really special. ❤️

Seasons 6 - 11: This to me is where the show really shines the best! Each of these seasons just gets increasingly better and better, until it culminates in the Royal Wedding of Weddings! 🦢✨ Raj’s character, unfortunately, doesn’t improve much, but that is its one downside. I love rewatching these seasons so much! I mean mainly for the Shamy (although I never rewatch The Hiatus) but the other character stories get more interesting, as Leonard/Penny and Howard/Bernadette become more established. There is so MUCH more science, as we actually get to see the characters doing their respective jobs. And of course, Sheldon and Amy developing their Nobel Prize winning “super asymmetry” model which perfectly and symbolically represented their journey together as a couple. To me The Big Bang Theory is literally about Sheldon and Amy’s love story, that is what the title refers to, imo. This show will always be the greatest rom-com ever told, following the patterns and story beats of that genre. That‘a why these season are the “meat” of the show.

Season 12: After experiencing the high of seeing newly-wedded Shamy life and their eventual overcoming obstacles to achieve the Nobel Prize, this season is mostly a dud. For the final season of a beloved sitcom, it is actually pretty disappointing in all respects. It is boring even in many parts. It is like they didn’t actually know what to do with the characters at this point in the game (even though I feel like the show could have written itself, it had everything, but whatever) - other than building towards Sheldon Cooper’s inevitable Nobel Prize win. Weirdly, that meant they suddenly developed a HUGE interest in Raj’s character, like “Oh yeah! We need to actually DO something with this guy before this thing ends!” And his story with Anu was really good and developed his character in unexpected and wonderful ways. However, of course, in the season finale they were like: “JK! We are resetting him to factory settings! Har Har Har!” - which completely nullified literally everything they had built in regards to his character - so, there’s that. sigh.

Anyway, did I mention Shamy?? Because that’s what this whole shabang is all about! 😍😍😍

[fatalism-and-villainy]

top five Hannibal episodes, maybe?

This is an ever-fluctuating list, but:

Mizumono - best episode of the show, point blank, in my opinion. It's so full of suspense but doesn't feel rushed or like it's cramming too much in. Everything has time to breathe and let you feel its weight. Things like Alana's feeling of violation from Hannibal's deception aren't just remarked upon, we stop and watch her get slowly submerged in black water, her nightmare come to life. Will's struggle with himself is fully internal, but so perfectly conveyed through visual storytelling - the parallel conversations with Jack and Hannibal, each representing one side of him, and then the two halves of Will's face coming together as if they're both a mask, with no one, least of all Will himself, knowing which one is "real." Will being visited by GJH, the spectre of his own darkness, right before the destruction of the family that Hannibal stole from Hobbs. The callbacks in the visual motifs in the final sequence to the first episode, but this time Hannibal isn't helping Will keep Abigail alive. The way their confrontation isn't really a fight, it's just emotionally raw and desperate, with Will's veneer of detached confidence cracking for the first time in this arc. The most perfect encapsulation of how gentle all the violence between them is. Its only structural flaw is that the Abigail reveal isn't well handled, but I'd chalk that up to structural problems with the whole season. The rest of it is perfectly set up by the rest of the arc, like meat falling off the bone.

Coquilles - the first season 1 episode that's really, really good. All the moving parts seem to come together, with the case of the week smoothly establishing resonances with Will's issues and Bella's. Aesthetically, the murders capture the true essence of the show - grotesque yet sacred, committed with complete and utter earnestness on the part of the killer. The vigilantism and obsession with salvation for his victims has significant parallels to how I imagine Will might function post-canon, and it's telling that this is the first time we get foreshadowing for his potential transformation. And I love the inexplicable magic realism of killer's visions of his victims heads' on fire, and how that strangeness gets folded in on itself even more with the symbolism of Will's head on fire, within his own hallucination. Wonderful bizarro arthouse feel with beautifully human performances from Laurence Fishburne and Gina Torres to ground the whole thing.

Su-zakana - One of the best episodes for balancing complete absurdity with pure poetry. The woman inside a horse with a live bird inside her chest, as a symbolic rebirth, is totally insane and yet! It works! It's beautiful! It's macabre humour married to sweeping romanticism! It's Will's love for Hannibal that can't die no matter how much it's buried! Peter and the social worker act out an absurd, deliberately-credulity-straining pantomime of Will and Hannibal's dynamic - completely with the absolutely ludicrous, fantastic imagery of the social worker crawling out of that horse - and yet in its absurdity it paints such an effective contrast, really shows that Hannibal cares for Will, in his own twisted beautiful way, in a way that Ingram never cared about Peter. "I envy you your hate" hits so hard. Also it introduces Margot and features heavy-handed fishing metaphors, which is fun. Only downside is we have to watch Hannibal and Alana have sex, which is not my idea of fun.

Yakimono - I'm so attached to this one, despite not being the biggest 2A fan. Really the centerpiece of this one is the framing of Chilton, which yields some of the most superb black comedy of the entire show. The OTT shock and horror on Chilton’s face when he looks up and sees Hannibal standing over him all murder-suited up. Hannibal saying “one moment, please” to the federal officers knocking on the door while he is chloroforming Chilton unconscious. The whole hilarious sequence of Chilton wandering around the carnage in his house with that pitch-perfect music. The chase at the end with him running ineffectively from Jack. Absolute masterful comedy work from Raúl Esparza. Also throw in that gorgeous flower tree tableau empathy sequence with Will carrying the heart to the sculpture and making it beat and Miriam Lass’ weirdly kinky summation of her time in captivity… it’s just so high up on my list for enjoyment.

Antipasto - I’m not sure whether this is strictly top 5 for me BUT I do feel like I need some 3A representation on this list given how much I love that arc as a whole, especially episodes 1-3, and how much space it takes up in my imagination. Of those first three episodes, this is really the best one, imo - I love the way it captures a dreamlike, fantasy version of Italy, with all these dark fairytale undertones (especially with scenes like Bedelia in the bath - the sense of getting pulled into this fantasy as frightening and yet compelling, like being on the edge of the sublime). I love its subtlety in engaging with Will’s absence - it’s not over-the-top in establishing Hannibal’s loneliness, and Will’s absence is only mentioned once, in flashback at that, but it so neatly ties together all the subtextual threads woven through most of the episode that his usual shenanigans aren’t satisfying anymore without an equal partner, and that Bedelia isn’t filling that role. And the final shots of Hannibal folding origami on the train are soooo good.

[skiddlecat]

This is prev. Yes, it was about Pebbles. The conversation itself felt a little bit like it crossed into being some kind of absurdity because *we're* NPD, though we've gotten good enough at functioning with it that we don't usually broadcast it. Downside of this, of course, is that not broadcasting it means that some people are comfortable enough to casually talk shit about Our Own Disorder while we're still in the room. Would not recommend this experience.

its always pebbles man. always fuckin pebbles. i could go on a whole thing about how fuckin' stupid that is but i already did that in the reblog . so so sorry you have to go through shit like this man. every day i wake up and some fictional character is being used as an ableism scapegoat

[firstagent]

For the 02 movie, at the start, the director said this was a story that only works for the 02 cast. It got me thinking about how the other season's cast would handle the movie's events. How do you think it would go?

Good time to point out that anything making me compare different season casts or rank characters within seasons on any ridiculous criteria are the best asks, so keep stuff like this coming.

Whelp, first off, adding our big spoiler line...

And here we go! To set some ground rules, here's what we are considering as "movie's events" we need each team to process:

Each team was formed as a result of powers created by Lui's wish to Ukkomon. Some of these will be real absurd, but we're rolling with them.

Each team needs to hear Lui's story and judge Lui's responsibility vs. Ukkomon's in this mess.

Each team needs to consider the possibility of losing their Digimon's bonds vs. everyone becoming partnered to one.

Each team needs to decide how to whether to tackle Ukkomon head-on, stand back and accept what happens, or give Lui the chance to sort things.

Unless they embrace the chaos, each team loses their digivices.

Adventure

Weirdly, a child's wishes powering Homeostasis isn't too hard to swallow after all the other stuff they found out from it. They'll be more sympathetic to Lui than the 02 kids were, partially because they all have very personal situations they'd welcome divine assistance with, and partially because the bluntness we saw from Hikari in the movie didn't start developing until Zero Two and only reached its peak in tri. They might be too idealistic to consider the downside of everyone having a partner and definitely would prefer Lui take the lead and work things out himself. But they'd go through with it, as losing their digivices wouldn't be that different than losing their crests.

Tamers

Ukkomon slots right in next to the digignomes for plausibility, so no issues there. But if any group is both-siding Lui vs. Ukkomon, it's these kids, especially once Lui starts claiming their relationships are manufactered. Expect the Digimon to weigh in a lot here, Renamon in particular. We'd get a lot of beautiful speeches, but they'd be far more reluctant to let go of their bonds, and kinda distraught losing their D-Arks at the very end. They too might be willing to play out the idea of everyone becoming a Tamer, and might not be motivated enough to fight Ukkomon themselves. This might be the mostly likely season to give Lui his birthday present in the end.

Frontier

Very much doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. They all literally have Digimon inside them, so they're supporting Ukkomon here, especially if it enabled Ophanimon to dish out the spirits. Despite them having little love for Lui, they only come around once the implications are clear. They know full well the power being dished out here, and everybody having a spirit and the capacity to become a Digimon? Absolutely not. More likely to take out Ukkomon on their own than giving Lui any say (or closure), but take it out they will. Harsh but efficient.

Savers

Surprisingly similar to Frontier! Between Masaru completely whiffing and telling Lui the right approach is to tackle his problems on his own, Touma concurring with his backstory, and Ikuto generally savoring his experiences being bailed out by Digimon at a young age, Lui might not bother seeking their help in the first place. They might even laugh off the first partner stuff without confirmation from Yushima or BanchoLeomon. They're definitely not taking everyone getting a partner lying down, so taking out Ukkomon then becomes a pretty routine DATS mission in the end. They'll convince themselves their digivices were only holding them back, so losing them won't sting that much.

Xros Wars

Polar opposite here. Taiki is determined to help Lui at all cost, and Ukkomon's natural connection here takes it to Bagramon, so this team is painting it as a malicious entity from the start. In fact, it's their disdain for Ukkomon that could well prompt Lui to reassess his issues and want to make peace on his own, perhaps even accepting Ukkomon's wish against Xros Heart's pleas. It's then that Lui discovers Ukkomon's ability to generate weird temporal perceptions stems from its connection to a different Digimon, one that creates a new perceived world for all those newly created partnerships to play in, and that's how Hunters really happened.

Appmon

With no connection to AI development, hearing about Ukkomon powering Minerva will rattle Haru a lot. However, once they get over that, they'll use Lui's story as a perfect illustration of how beneficial AI can be while cautioning about the dangers of overuse and not instructing it properly. It's a far more logical approach, but they'll get roughly to the same place V-mon got with his handshake speech. They're far more willing to consider letting everybody partner with an Appmon since it's not that different from everybody having a smartphone. And they definitely aren't parting with their buddies willingly. Still, they let Lui try to reason with Ukkomon, which could bite them in the butt since their Appdrives absolutely are powering their Appmon bonds.

Adventure: (2020)

Ukkomon's powering everything? Sure, why not? These kids are definitely drowning Lui with kindness, with all the support and good vibes in the world. Like their 1999 counterparts, they're more likely to understand his side. Unlike them, they're more likely to question Ukkomon's intentions. It's hard to say how they'd handle the idea of everyone receiving a partner, but if Lui insists Ukkomon needs to be stopped, they'll defer to him, even at the risk of their own bonds. Without as much reflection going on, Lui's less likely to realize the need to fix this himself and agrees to let them destroy Ukkomon without a conversation. Again harsh, but Lui's more comfortable with it than in Frontier or Savers.

Ghost Game

After they roll their eyes one more time at Hiro's dad when they find out about Ukkomon's connection to everything, they're less likely to be that affected by Lui's story. Those kinds of horrors just kind of slide off them by now. Enough that they'll want to handle this delicately and get more information, including from Ukkomon itself if possible. Instead of Lui, they'll be the ones trying to engage it and gather its intentions before taking any concrete action. If Lui's story checks out, they're absolutely against everyone getting a Digimon partner but will seek out a way to deal with it without murder. They will definitely miss their digivices and all its extra features, but they'll keep their Digimon around and wonder how they got through a whole movie without a GulusGammamon appearance.

[betawooper]

why YJH orv shouldve been a girl

*Specifically a trans woman, btw. If she was a cis woman that would be a different conversation and there are nuances regarding transness which wouldnt exist in what im talking about otherwise

(This is gonna be a bulleted list bc fuck ordering things in an essay format, also mega orv spoilers so look away if you havent read the novel in its entirety)

it wouldve been a legitimate time save in previous regressions while mastering breaking the sky swordsmanship and that concept is So Funny to me

the transcenders are all gnc af, theres a whole theme surrounding breaking from the norm to reach their true potential, it wouldve fit thematically

if done right, it could emphasize the theme of loneliness thats tied with joonghyuk’s character if none of her other companions are trans; even if they were it wouldnt have mattered since they would have forgotten she was a woman in future regressions anyway

if she tries to repress her identity bc expression of it is deemed unnecessary or meaningless, even more points

would have pushed the narrative foiling with dokja even further since they already have opposing imagery and metaphors, now they would be the opposite gender too

the ‘does dokja and joonghyuk is gay’ joke wouldnt poke fun at the thought of two men being together, but rather at the absurdity of a relationship occurring and still being called such in the first place simply bc of joonghyuk’s gender

bonus points if you emphasize joonghyuk’s canonical lack of interest/attraction to men in light of this, dokja could have joked about that easily

random person: “you two look like lovers lol”

dokja, internally: the bitch is literally a lesbian but Okay-

it would have fit orv’s style of comedy a lot and also remove the slightly homophobic undertones of the original joke too, do you see a downside to this? i dont

she would parallel sookyung (dokja’s mom) even more since joonghyuk essentially “raised” dokja after sookyung could no longer do so

theres already a strong theme about how twsa became dokja’s caretakers in a sense and having joonghyuk be a mother figure instead of a father figure would push the idea of her taking up what should have been sookyung’s duties

besides, the narrative focuses way more on how the lack of a present maternal figure affects dokja over a paternal one so itd be more relevant

also insert joke about joonghyuk being a milf

next, this would parallel sooyoung a lot more, there tends to be this joke amongst creative circles that a creator often projects parts of themselves in their works and that includes characters, both of them being women would make that way more obvious

parallels hayoung bc uh, Trans obviously (sooyoung loves her trans main protagonists lmao)

transfem joonghyuk wouldve made her dynamic/relationship with seolhwa much more interesting since they wouldnt be a typical “het” couple anymore, seolhwa’s character could have been given a little more relevance with the kind of conflicts which could arise from this, the most obvious relating to sexuality

on that note, their ideas of femininity and how they prefer to express it are completely different despite them both being the same gender which could bring up interesting conversations about it (mostly thinking about that scene where seolhwa and joonghyuk go to the auction house prior to gigantomachia and talk about cosmetic skills, this scene couldve been way more fleshed out than it was presented in canon)

if you still want the punisher to exist, this could also fit into that conversation about gender expression and bring up interesting ideas depending on how butch you make joonghyuk

both seolhwa and the punisher would add a lot of complexity to joonghyuk’s whole relationship with self-indulgence and happiness since again, bc of her situation as a regressor she either wouldnt want to open herself up in the interest of practicality or doesnt feel deserving of it when her goal hasnt been accomplished

god are there more points? ill edit this if so but this is already so fucking long-

I actually wrote a whole thing about joonghyuk being uncracked during the events of orv and the comedic potential of it is endless when dokja is the only one who knows, so trust me when i say it does work out very very well (i can link to the stuff in the replies? so far ive got uhhhhh *counts* 54k words of that shit)

Anyways transfem yjh supremacy

[irrigos]

this is only tangentially related to fl, but ive been thinking a lot about the genre of historical fiction where nobody is prejudiced ever (or if they are, it's in ways that aren't real, like being prejudiced against rubberies but not people of color, or are no longer relevant, like people in fl still being anti-catholic but not antisemitic. as far as we know anyway)

it's... interesting. it definitely has its pros, and i see why people would want to craft that kind of world to play in, but i also think it's worth acknowledging the downsides, too. also this post is really long but i couldn't find a good place to stick a readmore. look at my posts, boy

like, i get that nobody wants to write Period Accurate Racism Simulator, both for personal moral reasons (ie "I don't want to write racist texts") and for commercial reasons ("No person of color is going to want to buy Period Accurate Racism Simulator") but also... so much of society is structured around prejudice that historical stuff almost falls apart without it

i was in two Regency-era larps, and both of them were "no prejudice" alt history, one of which had a whole alternate timeline explaining why Britain was a global superpower even though colonialism didn't happen, and the other one... well never quite got around to explaining the worldbuilding. but both were in agreement that Queen Elizabeth I ended sexism forever (and also homophobia and transphobia i guess??)

but like... so much about what is iconic about the regency era (especially in regency romances) is the negotiation with extremely strict social rules, which were, at their core, about controlling women. a woman can't be alone with a man because that's improper! i mean... what if they fuck each other???? But if it's equally valid for this woman to be in a relationship with another woman, then... it would also be improper for her to be alone with other women? okay so she can't ever be alone... but if polyamory is a possibility, then i guess she can't be in groups, either, because they still might all fuck each other!!! so nobody can... ever be around anybody? of course, if we dont view a woman's assumed reproductive capability as a commodity that must be protected and secured, then we don't need to police who she is alone with, but then we remove the stuff that's fun and interesting about Regency romances! At this point, we're just writing regular fiction, but everyone's dresses are really high waisted.

And I mean, if we imagine a Regency era Britain where colonialism flat out did not happen... how are any of these characters this wealthy? How are they still using the products that were made accessible to Britain because of colonialism, like fabrics from India? If there were no colonies, then Britain didn't colonize North America, then there was no Revolutionary War, which means France didn't go into debt FUNDUNG the Revolutionary War, which means it wasn't in the dire financial straits that lead to the French Revolution, which means that Napoleon would not rise to power because of his military service DURING the French Revolution, which means the Napoleonic Wars aren't going to happen, but obviously we're still having the Napoleonic Wars because how are you gonna do Regency Era without its tentpole features, like people achieving upward mobility through exceptional military service against the dreaded Napoleon. And don't even get me started on how the history of Corsica would fit into all this!!!

People made the decisions they made because of the world they lived in, and if you change fundamental aspects of the world they lived in, its absurd to have them make the same decisions.

And on top of that, it actually ends up being kind of limiting for what kinds of stories you can tell. i mean, if no prejudice exists, then you can't have anyone interacting with it, internalizing it, or overcoming it. To have a character that, for example, is concerned about homophobia would be as bizarre in this setting as someone worrying about societal backlash because... idk their favorite color is red instead of blue. Who cares! Do you care? Clap if you care.

I know that's the fantasy some people like engaging with, and that's perfectly fine, but... well, it's not what I like writing.

I think Fallen London splits the difference pretty well- society still exists on the Surface as it always has (more or less), so you can still write characters engaging with it, but having London be it's own little pocket of equality has its own problems. I mean, if London was moved underground and the Masters granted everyone equal rights under the law, then that means no minority has ever campaigned for an expansion of their own rights and succeeded. There was no real Women's Sufferage movement in London, because there was no need. But there were Suffragettes who did cool stuff!! Stuff that might be interesting to engage with, but you can't, because of the setting. You have to overlook the accomplishments of real marginalized people, because the very premise of your story depends on the new government just... deciding to be nice.

Is this a problem that needs fixing? Nah, I don't think so. I think it was good when FBG went to remove some of the #problematic bits of text that still hung around (like changing the description of the Fourth City Airag so it's less... shitty, for example) because that doesn't fit with the tone they're setting. But I think it's fun and interesting to look at the opportunity costs of these decisions!!! im just having fun lol

[claire-starsword]

The Guardiana Magic School Run - Part 11.5

Here we are indeed. This is Narsha's final interlude before she catches up with our force.

The first time I played this game, I moved Narsha a bit and was rushed by four ghost, dying in one turn. Perhaps because of that I have a warped perspective of the difficulty here. Of course, this time I have a much beefier Narsha here, so things might not be as bad. Depends on how much damage these ghosts do.

Staying where we start, the two first ghosts can rush Narsha anyway, so I'm moving a bit without getting in range of the other ones. Obviously I'm also casting Attack on Narsha as usual, that's the only strat in these interludes.

Look at how easily these things swarm you, I might have messed up. Perhaps casting Step would be better to try and avoid some of these guys. Especially since I already have absurd attack due to getting the Heavy Mace. Uh oh. Only one strat in the interludes huh, shut up me.

Most spots get me swarmed by four ghosts as I predicted, this gets me swarmed by only three. yay.

I guess I'm casting Step now anyway in case its useful later.

oh

lol

never mind my worries then let's have fun.

also you can see now why I said in my rules that it would be hard to keep Zuika and Mawlock fully uninvolved in this challenge, there's way too many ghosts swarming in too quickly, and I can't stop Zuika from countering.

What I didn't expect when writing the rules was that this would actually be a downside, he's literally just taking exp away from Narsha, I love you man, but she doesn't need the help today.

Oh well. That issue didn't last long.

Unfortunately, Narsha does not have Max's epic counterattacks, so she has to dispatch one ghost per turn, and even 1 damages pile up after so many turns. I have already used up Aura to heal once, and will have to use the Healing Seed as well since I have no herbs, thanks Kraken. If I need healing later on it will have to be the Shower Cures, which are a big waste on a single character. I do wanna see her solo this though, so let's go.

Except for the boss, the remaining enemies are spellcasters, which is not a big deal for Narsha's godly magic resistance, but should still be more than 1 damage. So that sucks as well.

Thankfully they don't seem to come all at once, so I can try driving them away while getting to the chests in this area as well. I think both contain Shower Cures.

oof that's damage. also I was not supposed to put myself in range, mistake.

Thankfully, these guys only have MP for a single spell, so as long as I oneshot the one that didn't attack I should be fine.

I do that, and the remaining one's physical attack is as impressive as you can expect of a spectre. Unfortunately more of their friends came forward. And unlike these things, Wizari has plenty of MP.

Let's see if they give up or something I guess.

They in fact do not, and things are getting quite stupid. I'm feeling that casting Step earlier on is gonna save me here, but it will require some brains. They all have bad movement so I should manage to get out of some of their ranges at some point.

I head to the top right corner and the enemies give up, but don't return to their previous position, so that's not helpful.

This sweet spot however gets only Wizari on range to attack me, so that's nice. She has 20 HP, so I'm not sure Narsha can oneshot, but I'm not underestimating the queen either.

>:D

Now I should be in range of a single Wisp.

And that's it baby! With these smart gaming moments I get to wipe out the Wisps taking only one more spell. Narsha is still pretty battered so I'll have to waste a Shower Cure anyway, but that's fine. I might wait a bit for it though since I don't think the remaining Wizari can do all this damage at once

(also i've already said this before i bet but it's so weird that they brought a character from Soul 2 as a generic enemy like, I guess she could do projections of herself but. Still weird. The other enemies are a fun reference but this is just weird)

Anyway. I grab the last chest and projection or not, Wizari is dumb enough to come forth despite me not being in range. So waiting to heal was not even necessary. I'm gonna heal anyway for safety since I don't know how much the Soul Eater does, and then get very sad if that turns out to be unnecessary as well.

Also let me say, I love the effect for Shower Cure/Aura 4 in this game, it's very cool.

yeah it was unnecessary. Alas.

We get the kill (is this thing even alive??), get 1000, a level up, and Step level 2 for our troubles. Another excellent job from Narsha, and it was actually challenging in terms of positioning and stuff. Man I'm so happy with how she's going.

Yes you will!! I can't wait!!

Losses: 0 Deaths: 2 The expected deaths on Narsha interludes: 0/3!!!

[shiroscorner]

It boggles my mind that people are still trying to deny that Near is trans because it wasn’t directly stated in the text. Last time I checked people don’t develop breasts randomly in their late twenties and the pronouns that people call you by don’t change for no reason.

Near has also grown their hair out to an absurd length and are wearing some feminine clothing as well as her signature white Pjs. While those two things don’t necessarily make a person trans adding these two facts to the first two I mentioned and keeping in mind that in a visual medium you’re meant to show as much as tell like manga is; that is almost an explicitly telling you What’s up people.

Characters don’t need to be explicitly said to be trans for it to be obvious that a character is in fact trans. The fact of the matter is that Near being trans was not apart of the plot of the 2019 Death Note one shot and because Near has clearly been undergoing HRT for a long time and has probably for an even longer amount of time been out it wouldn’t have been anything new to Near’s team of FBI and CIA agents who’ve been by her side for over half her life at this point. So no one would have brought it up. 

This is the way representation should be. Just having it there without it being a big deal. I like the way they did this. They didn’t have a big long scene where they talked about how Trans Near was then got back to the plot. They didn’t spend forever trying to show look how progressive we are. They didn’t try to make it a sex thing. They had her just exist like any other character. Her personality hasn’t changed at all as a result of her transition either. She’s still the same toy loving super genius we’ve always loved.

The only downside to representation like this are the morons who wanna deny that its a basic fact of Death Note that Near is Trans.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk. (p.s I worked really hard on the spelling and grammar, but I’m dyslexic and would appreciate any constructive criticism on how to improve, please be respectful while doing so and don’t insult my intelligence because of a learning disability. Thank you)