#there's something really cool about being able to hear how the president verbally reacted when hearing about something big over the phone

[tompoose]

if you had to smite from the earth either nixon or garfield who would you eliminate. history will continue unchanged except if you smite nixon all the nixon memes disappear and if you smite garfield the orange cat goes with him

I would sacrifice anything that is dear to me to scrub this animal from all the veins of culture that it has slithered into. I was frustrated with the Garfield comic strip from the twentieth of August, 2024.

Jim Davis has given up trying to claw from the mud. He has drawn a cat looking at the reader and telling a wet joke. By making Garfield a mere static image to surround text, Davis has taken the work of his heart and lowered it to the level of the borders that surround a pop up window. My feelings on this topic eclipse and obliterate any other nuances to your question. If ever presented a shot at this king, I would take it.

[angelicorn]

FFVII Remake Analysis Chapter 1 (2/2)

Continuing from this analysis.

Before Cloud can explain to Jessie his relationship with Tifa, the elevator arrives and Barret shoves him aside to enter. The matter of Tifa is left in the air and we don’t get any info about her from any of the characters. Cloud reverts back to hardened and closed off body language—he crosses his arms and stands noticeably a distance away from Barret and Jessie in the elevator.

In the next scene, we learn that their group is called Avalanche and that there have been assassination attempts on an old man’s life—we can assume the old man is some executive or president of whatever company is responsible for the construction and maintenance of the reactors supply power to the city. Whether Avalanche was responsible for the assassination attempt is unknown.

Barret makes an elaborate speech in the elevator about the planet being sucked up dry by these reactors. We learn they’re a group of extreme environmental activists. Cloud was a part of SOLDIER who is closely affiliated to the company in charge of the reactors and he was hired to help Avalanche infiltrate and destroy one of the reactors.

Regardless of Barret’s distrust and attitude towards Cloud, he’s still out here giving a recruitment speech. Jessie’s probably heard it many times. She shrugs when Cloud looks at her, and then as Barret grows more passionate, evident by the increasingly volume on his voice, Jessie covers her ear.

As the player—man, do we have respect for a guy who’s passionate about a cause—Barret actually cares about the planet, what a softie. And while he may not actually approve of Cloud, he still gives Cloud the chance to decide to join their cause. Ofc, in typical Cloud fashion, he rebuffs Barret, but the emotional distance seems to lessen. Back when Barret said “we can’t afford any more mistakes,” he included Cloud in that “we” and from that point on, they work as together as a team, with the rally talk in the elevator serving as some form of initiation.

Cloud leaves the elevator, Barret basically warns him no funny business or he’s dead, and a few moments after that, we see this:

How very touching—and from this moment on, the players begin to grow emotionally invested in this group.

Their cutscene banter and battle dialogue with one another grows on the player. Tsundere 1 and 2 is a force to be reckoned with. Together, they’re exhausting, yet entertaining, and that adds more charm to their dynamic. The game pushes you to play as Barret for the hard to reach enemies where long ranged fighters are more efficient to use and the switching of characters in combat adds a sense of camaraderie.

The way this game flows really makes us fall in love with the characters while also feeding us the narrative by showing us rather than blatantly telling us, which isn’t quite as obvious, but makes for a charming and unforgettable gaming experience, is amazing!

Barret and Cloud head down to where they’re supposed to plant the bomb, leaving Jessie a safe distance behind. Tifa’s name is mentioned again.

Tifa—who the player hasn’t officially met yet—seems to be in good standing with this group, after all, Tifa gets the player (Cloud) a job with Avalanche despite his status as an ex-SOLDIER, and is able to convince hard ass Barret to hire him for this mission. This piece of dialogue is interesting as it not only causes us to feel the pressure of trying to live up to one person’s expectations, but two. Barret wants Cloud to prove himself not only to him, but in a way, to Tifa as well. And from the way Cloud reacted to Jessie’s question about him and Tifa being close, Barret dropped Tifa’s name here for a reason. He knows Tifa is someone important to Cloud.

As the player, we feel indebted to this childhood friend who talked the player character up to such a hard ass. We don’t want to let her down by doing a half-ass job, do we?

However, in typical Cloud fashion, he reiterates that he isn’t one of them and that he’s only in it for the money.

Minus brownie points from Barret. He angrily tells Cloud to finish the job and we watch Cloud set the bomb with annoyance. However, this event triggers another headache with flashes/visions of something ominous. This leaves us wondering just what exactly happened during his time with SOLDIER that is triggering these flashes and headaches.

Cloud sets the bomb and we are given our first choice. 20 minutes or 30. Either choice gives us a wise crack from Barret, which is typical and expected, but entertaining to hear. Cloud senses danger approaching and Barret takes Cloud’s hesitation as betrayal—which isn’t unreasonable. Barret was likely wary of Cloud from the start.

Cloud and Barret end up fighting a weaponized, mechanical scorpion and, after all the battle banter, they win and head for the exit.

Amidst their escape, Cloud manages to rescue Jessie, who, for new players who are unfamiliar with the FFVII compilation, gives us an impression of a possible love interest, however the dialogue between the two is a little...questionable? Jessie flirts, Cloud doesn’t react. At one point, during the escape, he tells her to shut up and climb. This leaves us with the impression that maybe he isn’t really interested. But we must play on to find out more. And, while Cloud may not be showing much interest, the players certainly have the autonomy to like her as much as they want.

We come across a short scene where Barret tells Jessie to go on ahead and not to worry about him because he’s got Cloud with him. Although he uses SOLDIER boy in place of Cloud’s name, we can sense an increase in trust from Barret’s end. Cloud corrects Barret by saying that he’s an Ex-SOLDIER boy, verbally disgarding the SOLDIER title and stepping into a role that Barret & co. can depend on to do the job.

Cloud and Barret make it into the elevator and the bomb explodes, but the damage is minimal, perhaps just enough to cause the reactor to stop working. However, we see Heidegger and the old man make the decision to destroy the reactor. The weapons inside destroy themselves and everything in it, causing the building to crumble. But why’d he choose to destroy his own reactor? What kind of plan is up his sleeve by doing so?

Barret is noticeably distressed in the elevator, but upon seeing how calm Cloud is, Barret tries to settle himself down. Imitation is a form of flattery. Perhaps Barret is learning a thing or two from our favorite merc?

Cloud saves Jessie one more time, does an awesome hero jump and they escape before the reactor blows up on itself, cutting power out from the city.

Chapter 1 is over and we can’t help but agree with Jessie when she says:

Information we learned this chapter:

Barret, Biggs, Wedge and Jessie are a part of an environmentalist group called Avalanche.

Cloud former SOLDIER turned merc who is helping Avalanche infiltrate a reactor owned by his former employer.

This reactor supplies energy to the city.

The reactors are bleeding the planet dry and Avalanche is trying to stop that.

Tifa is someone from Cloud’s childhood who got him a gig working for Avalanche.

Tifa is also someone important to Cloud evident by Jessie’s question about her, the flashback, and Barret’s mention of her name during a crucial part of the mission where Cloud must prove himself.

Genuine questions we’re left with after playing Chapter 1:

Why did Cloud leave SOLDIER?

Why does he get triggered with flashbacks and painful headaches?

What is Tifa’s relationship with Avalanche?

Who is the girl in pink that we see in the intro and when do we meet her?

Who is that old man and why was there an assassination attempt on him?

What will happen to the people in the city?

Why is Cloud so aloof and cold to the people around him?

Is Barret cool with Cloud now or...?

Is Jessie into Cloud? (lol)

Is Biggs into Jessie? (lol)

Is Cloud into Tifa? (lol)

Final thoughts:

After playing chapter 1, from a new player standpoint, we can recognize that the game uses rhetorical appeals to convince us to feel and think in certain ways:

Cloud seems like an unreliable narrator. Now, I understand that this is a game and Cloud wouldn’t be considered a typical narrator or the story, but since we are taking control of his character and playing as him, we are experiencing this story through his perspective, which makes him a special kind of unreliable narrator. He withholds information, like when he tells Barret he’s fine even after experiencing a headache and weird flashback/vision. he hesitated to explain his relationship with Tifa when he has a flashback of her, he doesn’t have Barret’s full trust, he left his former employer and typically sides with the enemy, even if it’s just a one time gig. We don’t know much about Cloud Strife, but based on his interactions with the other characters so far, he’s hiding things about himself from others and from the audience. The game plays out to make us question Cloud’s credibility as the protagonist and makes us examine the story on a deeper level (character interactions, music, quests, etc.) to help us come to our own conclusions.

I love this style of storytelling as it leaves room for our interpretations and for us to explore the story through other characters besides the main character, through flashbacks, through quests, npc conversations, etc.

[nakateleeli]

100 questions about Miss Naka

Y’all probably get tired of me talking about her, but I’ve had this post in the back of my head for a while and wanted to answer them because I like talking about Miss Naka and Welgaea and stuff! So hold on for a ride.

Since things change over the course of the story, all questions will be answered as though we’re at the beginning of the first game unless stated otherwise. I did change one question, as the removed question felt redundant and I could have sworn the added question was in there already.

1. What is your OC’s race? Human

2. Does your OC have any powers beyond what is normal for their race? She’s pretty good at a few things, but nothing abnormal for a human. She’s very agile and has strong legs. She’s got a pretty good resistance to cold, too.

3. What is their gender? Female

4. What is your OC’s favorite color? Pink

5. Are they religious? Not very. She does for sure believe in the goddesses, but she’s not the kind to pray to them for salvation or for a bountiful harvest or whatever.

6. Do they have a favorite outfit? If so what? The same red and white outfit she always wears!

7. Do they have a spirit animal? Not really into that sort of thing. Deer, maybe, if she had to. There aren’t really deer in Welgaea. Something with antlers.

8. Does your OC have a favorite time of year? Spring! Everything is pretty and just beginning with the year’s possibilities still ahead of us.

9. How does your OC travel around? By foot or a passenger caravan usually.

10. Does your OC have a best friend? Dis guy once they meet.

11. What is your OC’s biggest secret? She’s not really one to hold onto secrets, but she’s not exactly blatant about herself being a lesbian.

12. How does your OC feel about violence? It’d be swell to avoid, but often times it can’t be avoided.

13. Does your OC have a favorite time of day? Mornings are really nice. When the sun’s just coming up and the world is still sleeping. Very relaxing, lets you get your head straight before tackling the day.

14. Is your OC in a relationship? Not initially, but eventually with her.

15. What does your OC smell like? Probably the wind, or a grassy field, faintly flowery. Maybe a little foresty if she’s been out and about.

16. How old is your OC? 26 years

17. What is your OC’s weaknesses? Physically she’s not very strong. She can be a bit impulsive and will absolutely help people out to a fault.

18. Has your OC ever killed someone? Yes. She avoids it if possible, but sometimes you have to. Mostly just bandits and cultists, which common society doesn’t really treat the murder of much differently than killing a monster.

19. What languages does your OC speak? She speaks common fluently, while speaking bestia, elvish, and abaia good enough to get by, but not well.

20. Can your OC swim? Pretty well, but she’s no olympian.

21. Who is your OC’s biggest hero? Her dad!

22. What social class is your OC from? Lower middle class. She’s had an easy enough time, but they’ve always grown their own food and taken care of themselves.

23. What country was your OC born in? There aren’t really countries in Welgaea, and I haven’t figured out enough about the general geography to place things, but she’s from a pretty average part of common society.

24. How does your OC prefer to have their hair? Twin tails, with the front a stylized messy. She’ll put her hair up in buns if need be though.

25. Is your OC introverted or extroverted? Introverted, but she’s not a recluse.

26. Does your OC enjoy nature? Yes! She spends a lot of time surrounded by it either traveling or exploring.

27. What is your OC’s morning routine? Maybe start by making a warm drink. Or cool if it’s hot out. She’ll put her hair up into her twin tails before actually drinking it and relax for a few. She’ll usually do some reading at this time too. If she has to get dressed she’ll usually do it after this, and regardless will tidy up a little and put a little makeup on. Then make/eat breakfast right afterwards. Other than a bit of relaxing to start she tends to do everything back to back so she can get her day going.

28. Does your OC drink or do drugs? Nope, not at all. Doesn’t see the point for recreational use and she prefers her mind and body in peak condition. She sees performance enhancers as having both bonuses and drawbacks, which remove her from that peak condition, and even if there were zero drawbacks she would still rather rely on her own abilities and not become reliant on something else.

29. What’s your OC’s eye color? Purple, a little brighter than her hair.

30. Does your OC have any extra limbs? Are they missing any? Nope, just the usual.

31. What’s your OC’s sexual orientation? Homosexual/lesbian

32. Does your OC have any scars, moles, etc? Beauty mark under the corner of her right eye.

33. What turns your OC on? A nice person is a must. Someone who makes her feel like they want her is big. Someone who’s very casually open and confident about their body is also a big turn on.

34. Does your OC regret killing anybody? Any time she has to, but there’s nothing that continues to haunt her. Perhaps a botched job at some point that got an innocent killed.

35. Are there any smells your OC really likes? Nothing too strong, but flowers are nice.

36. Are they an honest person? Very much. She’ll only lie if it benefits everyone and isn’t the sort of thing that could come back to bite anybody.

37. What’s your OC’s favorite food? Pastas and meats, mostly.

38. Does your OC like to travel? Absolutely, it’s really all she does if she doesn’t need to do some work for money.

39. What’s the farthest your OC has ever traveled? She’s been all over the world, but has limited experience in the farthest corners.

40. Who is your OC’s favorite family member (if they have any)? Her dad!

41. Does your OC have any siblings? Who? Nope, she’s an only child.

42. What makes your OC angry? Intolerance and generally being a jerk. Active malice. Interruptions, be them verbal or physical, getting worse the more urgent or important the task is that’s being interrupted. She’s not going to go off the wall if it was nothing important anyway.

43. Does your OC have a pet? Nope!

44. Can your OC use magic? Minimally. She can do what’s expected of most people, like recharging a light crystal, but not much more.

45. Does your OC want to use magic? It’d be cool, but she’s not heartbroken about it.

46. Where is your OC’s favorite place to be? Anywhere quiet that’s outdoors. A place she can hear the sounds of nature, like a running stream, but still has a nice expansive view.

47. Has your OC ever destroyed anything sacred? By accident once. She tries not to go back to that town.

48. Would your OC ever use sex to get what they want? Absolutely not.

49. Does your OC care about hygiene? For sure. She doesn’t spend all day on it, but she cleans herself when she wakes up and before going to sleep; and bathes in running water once a day if she’s been out and about, or once every other day if she’s been inactive.

50. Does your OC like to take directions? She likes to figure stuff out on her own but she’s more than happy to take directions if she’s on a time limit or just doesn’t have any idea and the opportunity to ask comes up.

51. How would your OC react to getting lost? Unless she’s on a time limit, no big deal. She’ll camp out and survive for a bit while she works her way back to civilization.

52. What are 3 things your OC always has on them? Her swords and a small bag of holding, though the bag has quite a few items in it. Most importantly are a blanket, some spare change, and a change of underwear.

53. Who is the most important person to your OC? Her dad. Later on likely Ysami.

54. What is your OC’s biggest fear? Death and bugs.

55. How would your OC react to suddenly being told that they are now King/Queen, President, Ruler, etc? She wouldn’t believe them. If they managed to convince her she would take on the roll and its responsibility, helping everybody out as best she could, especially with whatever was lacking without a ruler, but she would try to get someone to replace her as soon as she could.

56. How would your OC react to suddenly having everything materialistic taken away from them? She doesn’t really have a lot to lose, she lives pretty lightly. Her swords would be the only big one. She’d be pretty heartbroken about it, but she’d have to go about making enough money to get another pair made.

57. What does your OC sleep in? She sleeps nude. If sleeping nude is unreasonable she sleeps in only a simple chemise with an unfitted waist. This would be like if she were sleeping at a camp site with others, and each person had their own small tent. If there is no privacy at all she sleeps in her bikini top and fundoshi.

58. What’s your OC’s favorite weapon? Her twin bayonets.

59. How does your OC feel about the government? Given how little government there is everywhere, it’s actually nice having government provided utilities like a police force to settle disputes and for protection, and hazard relief to help put out fires or rebuild. Even just regulations on trade so people can’t rip each other off or pull people into slavery or anything. Living with absolutely nothing to rely on is rough. Some government officials can get corrupt and self-serving though, so be aware.

60. Is your OC able to travel off world? Nope. At present nobody on Welgaea can.

61. How does your OC feel about ships? They’re nice. Be nice if they didn’t get attacked by pirates and monsters so often.

62. Can your OC fly? Funny question, but no.

63. Does your OC have any phobias? Nothing I’d go so far as to list as a phobia.

64. Is there any delicacy your OC hates? She has pretty basic tastes in food, so anything too out there is a turn off.

65. What is your OC’s favorite memory? Muscle posing with her dad.

66. What’s the best way to make your OC happy? Generally being happy yourself. Being around happy people rubs off on her.

67. What’s your OC’s favorite way to relax? Being able to kick back and take in the atmosphere. Even if she were at a party she’d be most relaxed observing to herself and not getting dragged into a conversation or the events.

68. How does your OC feel about being nude? She is very pro nudity. An at-home nudist, if she’s lounging around an inn room all day she’ll be nude for it. She’s very comfortable nude, but she’s not an exhibitionist and has no interest or desire to show off to anybody. In fact she’s rather off-put by the idea of someone oogling her.

69. Is there any trait your OC despises in themselves? In others? Before meeting Ysami she doesn’t really like that she’s a lesbian because of the embarassment that comes with asking people out or revealing feelings for people who aren’t, or end up not being lesbians. While young she was laughed at for it and had nearly sworn off getting into a relationship at all. In others mostly intolerance, especially of sexual preference. Also body shaming and forcing prudishness on others.

70. How far along has technology advanced in your world? Technology is pre-industrial revolution, but supported by magic, which is used for things like lighting and flowing water. Magic technology has advanced fairly far in small pockets, but is reliant on the rarity of advanced mages.

71. Would your OC ever kill a loved one to save the world? She would save both.

72. How does your OC feel about races other than their own? They’re cool.

73. How does your OC feel about their own race? They’re cool.

74. How does your OC feel about religious people? They’re cool, just don’t force your religion on others.

75. Can your OC make a good meal? She’s no professional, but she can cook up a decent meal. She prefers stove-top cooking to oven-based.

76. Can your OC survive in the wild? She does quite often just traveling around.

77. Does your OC prefer the city or the country? Generally the country, but does like visiting the city.

78. Did your OC have any schooling? Did they enjoy it? She was homeschooled by her father, leaving home with the equivalent of an early-highschool education. She enjoys learning and has continued to pursue it.

79. How would your OC feel about being naked in public? She doesn’t go out in public nude but kind of wishes she could, and that casual public nudity were more pervasive. She’s not an exhibitionist after all. She wouldn’t really be embarrassed or anything if someone saw her nude. If she were nude in an inn room and had to answer her door she would likely grab a towel or something to hold in front of her while answering instead of answering completely nude.

80. What are your OC’s feelings regarding sex? That it should be saved for someone you trust with your whole heart and love deeply. If your heart changes later on that’s fine so long as you did at the time.

81. Does your OC play any instruments? Nope, she’s never had any training. String instruments are neat though.

82. Does your OC like music? Sure thing, but she’s no connoisseur. She likes music with energy and a strong melody. Something pop-y. She’d probably like our k-pop and j-pop.

83. Does your OC like art? Sure thing, but she’s no connoisseur. She likes expansive landscapes you can get yourself lost in. She especially likes creative paintings of things you can’t find naturally. The fiction of the painting world, whatever that’s called. She appreciates other mediums, like sculptures, and has seen some neat stuff made, but doesn’t understand it as well.

84. Has your OC ever had a painting or photograph taken of them? She’s modeled a few times for the work. Generally not anything too big or professional, usually just for an art class or something. Though she’s modeled a good few times she’s only modeled nude once or twice for very specific situations. Like once was for a single female sculptor.

85. What is your OC’s favorite thing to talk about? Usually whatever she’s learned about most recently, since when she has down time she’ll read reference books and studies.

86. Has your OC ever made clothes? She makes her own, and has had to several times.

87. What’s the best piece of advice your OC was ever given? “Have fun!” -Her father.

88. Does your OC want to fall in love? Absolutely! Though she was scared it might be a pipe dream.

89. What does your OC want to do with their life? See everything. Learn everything.

90. Does your OC believe in ghosts? She’s been to enough spooked places she doesn’t have to believe any more. In a setting closer to Earth she’d likely not believe in them, but would be willing to entertain the idea if someone could get her actual proof.

91. Does your OC wear any jewelry? Not really, though she’ll occasionally wear earrings.

92. How will your OC die? This is a complicated question. I don’t know. Possibly a spoiler?

93. Does your OC believe in an afterlife? She’s not really sure. Even Kharon has been a bit ambiguous about what happens.

94. What is your OC’s favorite part about being alive? Seeing and learning something every day that shows the world is more complex than we ever expected.

95. Does your OC fear death? Terrified. She tries not to think about it.

96. Does/Will your OC ever have children? I’ve dabbled with the idea of her having a child, but I feel like not. Too complicated.

97. How does your OC feel about traitors? She’s a pretty good judge of character, so I feel like unless they were intentionally duping her from the start they’d have a hard time getting the upper hand on her. Otherwise she’d mostly want to know why. She wouldn’t want them dead, depending on what they did anyway, but she would have a very hard time trusting them again. She likely would eventually trust them again, but never completely.

98. What’s the craziest thing your OC has ever done? She’s helpful to a fault and will put herself at great risk without a second thought if someone needs the help. At some point I would not doubt she’s rushed into a burning building to save someone, or distracted an unreasonably powerful monster so someone else could get away. I’m hard-pressed to say these would be the craziest things she’s done because this is the sort of thing she’d probably do quite often. Though there is that one time she beat up the elf princess without even turning around.

99. How does your OC feel about killing animals? Avoids if possible, but sometimes you need to hunt to survive, and meat is tasty. Don’t be wasteful, be merciful, only do as necessary.

100. What is your OC’s name? Miss Naka “the Honeywhite” Teleeli