#this artstyle truly has not left my mind

[grayarkiv]

GREAT PRETENDER - wit studio (2020)

not only were the characters, storyline, animation and music enough to have my creative mind overflowing for years - the art has always stuck with me.

never have i seen a show that immediately had me in it's grasp purely based on beautiful sceneries. the use of colour to this day amazes me, and I truly wish more cartoons did this.

eventhough all of their scenery shots are based on exist architecture in various cities, it translates them to the screen as surreal, gorgeous godly structures. my desire to be able to create such beautiful, complex backgrounds and building is fueled by the existence of this masterpiece of a show.

even the inbetween shots to announce the case files, cases being progressed in changes of popping colours, give me more need to create.

the diverse cast and proper representation of different ethnicites and cultures should be a bare minimum, but sadly it is not. this netflix original had proper traits for once and left me appreciating their efforts. abby was properly fleshed out and had an interesting background, makoto and laurents usages of accents was top tier.

even looking at random stills that were mostly accidentally screenshot, I'm impressed and fawning overthe artstyle. idk if I'm glazing but the way their personalities are expressed at all times makes my head spin and my tummy warm with feelings of overexcitement and obsession over these characters and the show...

go watch if you haven't . the movie razbliuto is peak too.

[thecartoonrambler]

Indie Saturday: HFJ ONE review

Heyo!

Perhaps i can ramble about Indie cartoons and comics every Saturday? (Or rather- any Saturday i remember)

I decided to start it with the fantastic show ONE, by Cheesyhfj. It is an Object show, but giving it a bit of a phycological thriller spin to it. Making it really unique in my eyes.

Now, in case you're unfamiliar with object shows: they are independently created animated webshows with object characters, that typically compete to achieve a prize, inspired by the one that started it all Bfdi (which was inspired by Total drama island!)

What makes ONE special is The mystery of it. Every episode becomes more insane and creepy than the last. Questions fill the mind without end. The artstyle is also unique, with desaturated colours which exentuate the eeriness of the show all in all. Over all, i HIGHLY recommend watching.

If you haven't watched the show, don't carry on reading. It's a show you best shouldn't get spoiled.

Link to the series here: ONE

first season consisting of the contest on the plain and the second taking place "in the real world" is genius. Its truly really brilliant. As it keeps the story consistant yet simultaneously different all the time!

Sadly i feel a whole 3rd season is missing. I remember watching the last episode as it came out and thinking "wow that was a great episode! Cant wait to find out what happens next!" Just to be distraught at the fact that... That was the end! I could not have that. So many of my answers were left unanswered! As much as i adore the show and recommend anyone to watch it, that didn't feel like an end at all. Ive heard people call it an open end, but. I don't see it as such. An open end still answers at least half of the questions one has right?Does Liam make it out?? Does he find out how to save Amelia? And the rest of the gang? What was Stone's ordeal? How does he know all the answers? And why was he so so scared for liam before getting disqualified? Why DID Stone give Liam those papers that literally allowed the entire second season to happen? What was up with that? Why? Why was he so frightened? What were the other outcomes?? So many questions! And no answers!

To be fair, I havent watched the ONE Investigations videos that Cheesy has been uploading yet. Ill give my views when i do so! ;) Other than the abrupt ending though, I absolutely love this series. From the storytelling, to the characters and their designs, to the music and everything. Its really brilliant. Its a fantastic story. Theres something that meshes so well with the simplistic animation and the story being told. I love it.

[igneouswyvern]

Interrupting my usual posting to talk abt Cereza and the Lost Demon because I just beat the game today and I wanted to share my thoughts. Keep in mind I have never played a Bayonetta game in my life lmao

So first off the game is fucking fantastic. I had a wonderful time with it truly. The game is gorgeous to look at and it uses the storybook artstyle to its advantage and it is AWESOME. Nearly every area in the game had my jaw dropping cause it just looked so beautiful. In a similar vein the music was really good and I will definitely be going through the soundtrack for my playlist.

The gameplay is honestly really solid. Basically you control Cereza with the left stick, and use her actions with the L and ZL buttons, and you control Cheshire (the demon) with the right stick, and use his actions with the R and ZR buttons. The D-pad lets Cereza use one of four items and the face buttons control Cheshire's transformations. Controlling one character with each stick takes a while to get used to but it does work really well. The puzzles using this mechanic were really good too and I enjoyed them a lot. The combat can be a bit clunky at times but I think it works pretty well, using Cereza as a support character to hold the enemies in place while Cheshire wails on them. I will say it gets to be a bit of a slog towards the end of the game when every required Tir na nOg is an enemy gauntlet and none of them are puzzles, but it's not too bad.

I must say I wasn't expecting the game to be a metroidvania but it really is and a well-designed one at that. Getting blocked off by something you can't get through until you have a certain power and then coming back to it later is fun and looping back around or opening up shortcuts is always something I enjoy. The unfortunate part of this is that the game's map SUCKS ASS and the areas are very mazelike, so I had a lot of trouble trying to clean up items. I really wanted to finish off more of the skill tree before I beat the game but I wandered around in many areas and made very little progress with actually obtaining the items I could literally see just sitting on my map but couldn't figure out how to get to. If the map was better designed I probably would have gone for 100%.

Speaking of the skill tree, I liked it a lot. When I first saw it I thought it was gonna be tiny, but it actually expands twice more throughout the game. And I like that they don't let you get to the good stuff right off the bat, cause that means there are still cool upgrades to strive for by the end of the game. One thing I wish is that there were more upgrades that didn't cost Inferno Fruits/Moon Pearls cause when I have a fat stack of cash but cannot find a way to access the other items I need, it ends up being really frustrating.

As someone who has not played another Bayonetta game ever, I liked the plot a lot and I can confirm you don't need to play any other Bayo games to enjoy this one. It works really well as a standalone, and it establishes the lore and mechanics of the Bayonetta world pretty adequately without needing any background. It's also just a really heartwarming and fascinating plot. I cried at the end. I thought it was gonna be super basic and conventional but it did some really unexpected (for me at least) things in the end.

Tl;dr, if you like metroidvanias with cool artstyles I highly recommend it, whether or not you've played Bayonetta. I'd give it a solid 9.5/10.

A few more spoilery (and rambly) thoughts under the cut:

CHESHIRE AND CEREZA OH MY GOD MY HEART. Their friendship was so well done. The fact that you can SEE them growing closer in their animations together AUGH I love it so much. They try to go their own separate ways but they just can't do it without each other. Cereza is pretty helpless without Cheshire but he can't do it without her either. AUGH

I LOVED the Jabberwock sequence. Letting Cereza struggle with her own fear and then overcoming it and unlocking an ability that will allow them to defeat it and the confidence that comes with that. Meanwhile Cheshire realizing that he's not strong enough to beat it without her help and being deeply humbled by that fact. And when they team up to defeat this monster, this thing that has destroyed witch and faerie alike, and that Cereza was paralyzed with fear of and Cheshire almost got killed by, and we KILL it ONCE AND FOR ALL, it's so empowering and grand and awesome GOD.

And Cereza rejecting her teacher and every convention of being a witch and cutting her hair to save Cheshire. It's SUCH an impactful moment. It really shows how different she is. Everyone is telling her that demons are nothing but tools, to be used for the gain of a witch and then cast aside back to Inferno like they're nothing. But right from the start Cereza shows she's different. She refuses to use Cheshire as a tool, respecting him as a person and understanding that she has to get him back to Inferno because that's where he wants to be. She reasons with him, instead of controlling him. She works with him. She protects him, she sacrifices everything to save him. She is probably the only witch who has ever treated a demon like a person. GODDDDDDD

Okay onto the ending stuff. I remember as I was playing the game I was like "what if Morgana was a villain lol." And during the cutscene where Lukaon reveals his name I was like "this stuff sounds hella manipulative, it would be funny if he was the villain." But the story seemed pretty basic and formulaic and I kind of assumed the villain would be pretty boring. Like why would you fight the friendly person who's been guiding you through your whole journey? Why would your beloved teacher turn against you? But god, they really did it. And I LOVE that they did. Neither of these twist villains were a surprise to me, but that didn't make them less awesome.

The fight with Lukaon was super cool. I loved having to get all of Cheshire's transformations back, and then transforming into the Unbound form and getting a whole new awesome moveset was so freaking good. It was truly the culmination of everything we've accomplished, both in the fact that we get each transformation as an attack on the face buttons but also that Cereza and Cheshire control together, showing how they're a team.

Oh and kind of an aside but speaking of Lukaon I really liked that blue was always the color of the faeries, the color associated with evil. That's true for everything...except the tracks of the White Wolf. EXCEPT LUKAON/THE WHITE WOLF IS A FAERIE AND ENDS UP BEING OUR ENEMY (briefly). That just occurred to me but like THAT'S SO COOL I LOVE THE FORESHADOWING

The final fight with Morgana was hard as BALLS though. I got maybe three game overs in the whole game up until this point but it took me seven tries to beat Morgana. And of course I ran out of all my healing items and they didn't give them back. It was awesome to win but it felt like an odd difficulty spike right at the end though lol.

Man I'm not ashamed to say that I CRIED when Cheshire went back to Inferno. I was hoping against all odds that the two of them would stick together (ofc that wouldn't happen) but of course he had to go back. But their mutual promise to see each other again, to be stronger when they each meet? YEAAAHHHHHH THAT SHIT MADE ME CRY AUGH

Okay that's it. I saw this game in the direct last year and was quite intrigued by the artstyle and gameplay and decided to pick it up but I didn't think it was gonna be THIS good. It absolutely exceeded my expectations and I'm gonna be thinking about it for a while yet.

[i-cant-stop-fandoming-help]

Warrior Cats AU characters; Blazepool/Kokoro

Sadly, it seems like the picrew i previously used(Felidaze's cool cat creator) was taken down.

I used that Picrew mainly because I Cannot Draw Cats for the life of me, and because of art burnout, but I will either find another or being using the character creator on Roblox's Warrior Cats Ultimate Edition to show character designs from here on out. (if you play that, you can often find me in-game playing as the AU characters. Flufftuft, Owlclaw, and Waterberry are my most common ones, although I also have moonchaser, strikeclaw, darkthorn, coalboulder, splashstorm, dawnheart, deadheart, and memorysplash. I also have a fox morph "Yap" and two ocs, Sparrowfall and Leopardclaw/Leopard)

(Picrew; Skelo's Cat Maker . The artstyle is really cute! there was no social media listed in the... whatever its called, so I dont know what other place you could find Skelo)

"I feel a pain in my chest, having to give up my kit... But it's my clan or my kit, and my clan needs me more. Frostclaw, I understand you and your mate have recently lost all but one kit. Despite your grieving, I must ask you to take mine. I'm sure Darkkit will become a fine warrior with you as a parent."

"Blazepool, old friend, I do not understand how you can sacrifice a kit for your job. But yes, I will take her. What does Spiderheart think?"

"Spiderheart... That foolish tom left without a word, he didn't even know I was with kit. He left for the twoleg place, and there has been no sign from him since. I have no care what he may think."

"I see."

-

Name; Blazepool

Role: Medicine Cat

Clan: Skyclan

Apprentice: Splashstorm

Description; A solitary cat, this brown tabby is most known for her loyalty to her clan. Some believe that she only does her job because she has to, some believe she truly enjoys it. She is sharp-tongued and smart, and it often seems as though she can read minds with how fast she can tell why you are in her den.

Story Notes: While not originally planned for her to have too much story importance, this may change as I write. Spiderheart, her mate, is most obviously based on Sojiro Kurokawa. Her daughter, Darkthorn, is obviously based on Mikako.

Her parents were not clan cats. They were rogues whom left her for dead when she was four moons old-- putting themselves first when being chased by a fox instead of protecting their kit. If not for Cinderstorm and Crowstar, the Skyclan deputy and leader at the time, she surely would have died. She was taken back to Skyclan, and raised alongside Daisytail.

Design Notes: When making her design in the picrew, since I've only ever had rough ideas in my head, i started by exploring every option. the white chest/underbelly and muzzle felt most fitting for her character, alongside the darker fade to her upper back and forehead. And, of course, I made her a tabby since those are commonly found in canon warrior cats. I worry I made her look too much like the fandom designs for Leafpool(oh wow their names also both end in pool. maybe I should change it? hm.) and I'm wondering if I should maybe make some design changed. Fluffy brown tabby with yellow eyes whom is a med cat? hmmmmn... Jokes aside, I enjoy this design!

Other notes: While warrior cats is all fantasy-ish and stuff, with cats like Jayfeather, dovewing, and lionblaze having superpowers in canon, I've been trying to ground the AU somewhat more in reality. Due to this, I've been trying to figure out what to do with Kokoro, seeing as it doesn't seem that cats can have alexithymia. on the other hand, I don't want to erase it. aaaah im smacking myself with both hands.

I tried looking at one mental disorders and stuff that cats can have, and the most I was able to get was: FCD*(Feline Cognitive Disorder), Anxiety Disorders, and OCD(Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder).**

*Similar to Alzheimer's disease and commonly seen in elderly cats. Source; 21cats.org

**According to 21cats.org(Same as previous source), "Cats with OCD may engage in repetitive behaviors, such as excessive grooming and tail chasing."

[jaymber]

First off I wanna preface this by saying I haven’t been in the CP2077 fandom for very long and I’ve been following you for even less time but I absolutely adore your ocs, and seeing them cross my dash makes me smile every time I also love reading the tidbits of lore around them..I truly love them and everything you do and I cannot wait to see more 🖤 -ps do you think you could maybe do a up close of gabby’s tattoos? I’m real curious about them

Welcome to the fandom and thanks so much for your kind words! It means a lot to me!!!! 💜💜💜💜💜

And sure! I can do that, but keep in mind that I can't focus on modding more than like, an hour, so all their tattoos are rushed! Well, Gabby only has one technically, the other marks on their body are either supposed to be a birthmark or scars (I'll get around to make them into real scars eventually but... y'know...)

And hope you don't mind me rambling a little either! So here's a Keep Reading!

Oops, had to make Gabby bald for that one hehe 🤭

I'm gonna preface this by saying I can't draw, all these were taken from free vector sites. These are four different filigree images I put together, plus the sign of Venus (♀).

The thorns filigrees are a reference to Jesus' crown. Gabby got their tattoo after being fired from Militech for blowing their cover as a double agent and left for dead by Arasaka assassins. It's a symbol of their rebirth, but also a symbol they rejected their father's power (he's a descendant of the founder of Militech) to join the "mortals", the lower class.

The two other filigrees I used are inspired by rococco art, which is known to be a pastel and irregular artstyle with too many details. It suits Gabby's personnality.

The sign of Venus is both a nod at their gender (they partially identify as a woman) and their essence as a cambion (half-succubus). Lucifer is the former name of the planet Venus. Their stage name is Venere di Luce, Venus of Light.

Gabby has other markings on their body. Two scars and a birthmark.

Gabby's birthmark is a reference to the number of the Beast. I was inspired by The Omen. So, in some occult beliefs, the term "Antichrist" refers to all children born from a demon and a human, not just Satan. It's just another sign that Gabby isn't fully human.

Their scars are both branding marks made from hot iron and Holy Water. The one on their neck isn't as visible usually, I used Photoshop tools to make it clearer. It's the symbol for the Death's-Head Moth, a XBD "studio" who hired Gabby after they were fired from Militech since they cannot die, making them the "perfect doll" for them to play with.

It was applied to them shortly after they started hanging more and more with Maelstrom. Gabby had agreed for the scene, since they thought the mark would fade away pretty quickly. They didn't know the DHM's leader knew about their demonic nature. It's just there now. Forever. It'll always hurt a little bit.

The second branding scar is a symbol of Maelstrom. Gabby eventually broke their contract from the Death's-Head Moth to work with Maelstrom instead. They didn't want an initiation cause they like their face a little too much for that, so they chose a different approach to make themself an official associate of the gang.

They were publically branded by Royce, and yes, it was extremely painful. The scar looks right on some angles only. I'll make them into real scars eventually!

Also, I'm using your nice ask to say that I've changed Gabby's eyes to give them a more unnatural look! They're literally the goat now 🤭

[p-receh]

For an April fool's game, they have no right to make this good...but they still did it.

IT'S SOOOO UNBELIEVABLY GOOD LIKE HOLY HECK?!

Where do I start? Okay, history-ish lesson time.

This is not the first time that Sonic's PR team make a game specifically for an april fool's joke. During Aaron's era, there was an infamous website game titled 'Big's Big Adventure 3'. And as the name suggests, it tells a story of how Big showed up in random places like you might/might not see him as a cameo during the SA2 event.

Same format as TMoSTH, a visual novel style game with uh....flappy bird-inspired game, and of course the fishing segment as sub content.

And that's it. I like the story not gonna lie. I enjoy playing it. Full of meme content. But the existence of the game itself was huge in 2016. It may not be the best thing to re-live it in this era in my opinion.

I bet the website is down now but you can still watch some playthroughs from youtube though.

And after seven years, the new Sonic PR team create a game for another april fool's joke. But this time....I don't think this is not full of memes to be laughing by the community. It's...unexpectedly something else.

Sure the highlight of the trailer first and foremost: "Sonic is dead" was a real deal. It was all over the internet even though you were not active on sonic at that time.

I personally didn't watch the trailer yet I knew that highlight. So I play it blindly without any knowledge of what the hell happened before this existed.

But as I open the game, I was shocked. It starts with deep and slow music like typical mystery games you played, great art designs, and a nice choice of colors that encapsulated the title itself. Simple, yet the qualities that represent are almost like it was not made for such a free game, even as a joke for that day.

I have yet to start the game but it left me with such an impression.

I love everything about this game. They nailed every. single. one! Even with each traits that were being misrepresented by fandom, somehow corrected to their very core! What is this? What in the world am living right now??

And this is one of the stories that I want to read in fan fiction. Just a group comes together creating unexpected events or just doing their normal life. Whether Eggman got in the way or not is up to you. It has silly and quirky moments freely.

The jokes landed perfectly without making them OOC. In fact, I got a bunch of new headcanon from that game. It has so many memorable scenes that you might already see most of them on the internet.

For the protagonist, yes I can confidently say I related to Barry that much. Even at some point, I felt I was inside the train surrounded by these extravagant abnormal people. I truly thought every response that Barry had was exactly like mine if I was in that scenario. (looking at you Tails)

For a mystery game, I kinda think how they summarize the whole case cooouuld have been better. The sub-ones did a great job to wrapped up the messes. I don't hate the whole problem tho. I actually adore it. Hmm, I might need to replay it again soon and see if it could change my mind about it.

Mini-games! It might be my personal bias so apologize for my taste. If I want to, they should add an additional setting to adjust Sonic's position. I struggled A LOT during mini-games. God why Tails had to toss every thinking section to me, please stop T_T.

For Music... wow I didn't prepare how well thought out this music has. The ost of this game is uniquely true to its theme and It still stuck in my head for days. The theme song and the interrogation section are my favorites. Some mini-game section is also catchy and upbeat!

Artstyle! Oh I loooove the design throughout the game. Each character got well design clothes that are creative and also stay true to their character with a bonus to the lore of the story! Deegeemin has my list as one of fav sonic artists.

Conclusion?

please play the game

[sharlulu]

Hi! Hi! It's me again! Loved your previous answer! Stephan and Gray are truly made for each <3

Also if you don't mind I'd like to know which manhwa/manga are your favorites? And which underrated manhwa or anime would you recommend is a good read/watch?

Thanks and have a good day!! (Guessed it might be day where you are since our time zones seem to match. It was pretty late where I live too when I sent the previous ask😅)

Hi anon! Yup, it's day for me too, hehe.

Fav mangas:

Pandora hearts (i actually own physical copies of this one; if I were to rank my favs, this would take the first place. Great worldbuilding for a fantasy story, great characters, and the end just left me in tears) completed

Witch hat atelier (started reading it not long ago, and just loved it! I adore the magic system here and the concepts that this story explores are also immensely interesting) monthly updates

Frieren: beyond journey's end (a very melancholic fantasy story, I loved the atmosphere and the characters; and the artstyle was also great)

The apothecary diaries (one of my fav main characters and a great detective-ish storyline + palace intrigue + setting in ancient china) but oh my god are updates slow

Adabana (a very dark story about sexual abuse, murder and just angst in general. Nearly all men here, except for one, are trash. I guess this has an interesting potrayal of female rage and I'm pretty sure that the main heroines loved each other) completed

Fav manhwas and recs:

Duty after school (one of my first favs, has a very interesting artstyle and storyline. It's, hm, humans vs aliens war, but focuses on the characters and their relationships. And, eh, they are all high schollers) completed

Annarasumanara (actually has a k drama adaptaion, beautiful love story, just vibes no plot) completed

Hand jumper (has a very interesting fantasy concept with a morally grey and very smart mc, who is also not op) on hiatus

The weight of our sky (a story inspired by real events in 1969 kuala lumpur malaysia, emotionally gripping and also made me cry) completed

And ofc weak hero ;)

They are all available on webtoon btw. And I would say that half of them are criminally underrated

Oh and i also have the guilty pleasure of reading all those villainess reincarnation manhwas. Tho i never finish them 😅. The only ones which i can kinda recommend are Your Throne, Raeliana, Who made me a princess.

Underrated anime recs (not sure if these are underrated, but anyway):

A place further than the universe (slice of life, a nice story about chasing dreams) 13 episodes

Death parade (have no idea how to describe this 😅 interesting concept and great execution?) 12 episodes

March comes in like a lion (a story about a shogi prodigy; focuses more on internal struggles that actual shogi. I'd say the season 2 is better that the first) 2 seasons, 22 episodes each

Magi (typical fantasy story with great animation and character design. Keep in mind that it's not finished, and won't get a continuation any time soon) 2 seasons, 25 episodes each + a prequel

Whoa, that took a long time 😳, thanks for the ask, i had so much fun making this list, hehe

Have a nice day, anon!

[cepheusgalaxy]

*spits my coffee* (/jk) OK, so, this one's hard so I had to think for a while, but for (high) fantasy anime with no romance or harem we have a few options:

Dungeon Meshi - you may have seen it in your dash, because Tumblr absolutely LOVES it. Comedy fantasy about an adventure party exploring a dungeon who lost a member of their group to a dragon and want to rescue them. They have no funds to go, though, so they start cooking and eating monsters in the way. Ppl like saying some of the mcs are coded as autistic and tbh I don't disagree. 10/10 beautiful artstyle, amazing worldbuilding, and top tier animation, same studio of Kill La Kill and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, if you know it.

Hunter X Hunter - i had actually forgot thid one as I raided my mind for anime that fit your description—which is funny because this one is A Classic and one of my forever favorites. It's about a boy whose father left him when he was a baby to become a sort of adventurer; what in this seting we call a Hunter. When he turns 12, he decided to go on a journey to find out what about being a hunter is so great that made his father leave him...by, of course, becoming a Hunter too. 11/10, amazing soundtrack and colors, the voice actors totally kill it (Maryia Ise, who acted Ray in The Promised Neverland is there two and her voice is just *mua*) and the story in general is beautiful. Quite the Battle Shounen too, if you may. It is also divided in two anime, the 1999 version and the 2011 version, which is longer and adapted more of the manga, and is also the most famous one. The first episode of HxH 1999 also has some lore exposition we don't get in the other version, so if you don't mind seeing the Ep 1 twice, I 100% recommend it. Also a banger bc of the platonic relationships.

Magi: The labyrinth of magic - literally nobody (hyperbole thats too close to reality) knows this anime but it's also one I really like. It is sorta inspired in the A Thousand And One Nights tales and is about a very very poor dude who one day finds this boy—this weird boy, who appears to have the powers of a top-tier magician; what in this setting we call a Magi. With his help, the guy decided to raid a 'dungeon' and gain the power of a Genie to conquer his dreams. 9/10, it's not that much of A Master Piece but it's a very good anime. It def loses points bc of some intersexist moments but if you can enjoy it despiste that its totally worth a shot. For me an element that truly shines on Magic is also its worldbuilding and especially the magic system. It's the most Hard magic system I've ever seen I think??? And it's just chef kiss.

The anime has about 2 seasons of good size, and I found it pretty enjoyable, but it doesn't adapt a huge part of the manga which is very frustrating, so I'd advise you to read the manga too, if you like manga or want to try.

There IS also some side plot romance between two of the supporting characters that starts about near the middle but it's not very Big but it may not 100% fit your order bc of that.

Magi: Sinbad no Bouken - The Diary of Sinbad is the spin-off of the main Magi series, and in my opinion it might be even better sometimes. The anime is way shorter than Magi (with what, 12 episodes?) so for this one i much more recommend the manga than the anime, BUT the anime is also good.

It tells the story of the son of a desceased fisherman named Simbad, who is recruited by the military service for a mission of cleaning a misterious building magicians have decided to call 'the dungeon'. Sinbad hates his homecountry's military, but when he finds out that who cleans it will have imensurable power and gold, he decides to go to heal his sick mother. Over the course of the story, Sinbad goes on a lot of adventures to make his goals a reality and its SUPER good.

Sinbad takes place 14 years before Magi and focuses more on the setting itself, not telling us much about the magic system and not focusing on it much like the main series does. This one got no romance from what I remember, and the cast is very endearing.

One Piece - another ABSOLUTE classic. This anime is famous because A. It started in 1997 (ish) and its still being released to this day. It's got like a thousand episodes (LITERALLY) by now? For reference about twice of Naruto Shippuden. And B. IT IS INSANELY EPIC. I haven't watched it myself but I know it's good and I also know there's no romo bc the author said in an interview i think that they don't want any characters to be involved romantically in any way. It's basically a pirate adventure story with insane character proportions (in the bad way when it comes to girl charactets though) and it's pretty celebrated as one of the best anime of our time.

*sacks them up neatly with your name as I risk the order from the restaurant notepad or smth like that* enjoy your meals!

Do you guys want any anime recs please know I am the anime guy so if you want an anime no worries

[bougenvilleeaa]

Here are my some of my favourite panels from Nightwing #83!!

pt. 2

that no one asked for, but i'm gonna do them anyway.

SPOILER ALERT FOR NIGHTWING #83!

11. Clark asks Dick for a favor.

This really shows how much Clark trusts Dick, he knows he isn't the kid he was when they first met. Clark truly sees him as a friend, and not just a "he's my friend's kid" figure.

With that note, asking Dick to help out with Jon is a big deal. Jon Kent is now supposedly the main Superman on Earth.

Seeing as Tom Taylor is also the current writer for Superman: Son of Kal-el (check it out, definitely worth reading), I'm willing to bet that Nightwing will also be making an appearance in that series. And I absolutely can't wait for it!

Especially since Damian (Dick's youngest brother, the current(?) Robin) is Jon's bestfriend, I would love to see how Jon will interact with another one of the Batbros. The oldest brother vs. youngest brother parallels is definitely something I'm interested in seeing.

12. DickBabs kiss.

Oh, yeah. It's all coming together now.

I'm a sucker for kisses where one of them starts rambling and the other just shuts them up by kissing them (which is exactly what happened here).

Look at him smiling after the kiss. He's so happy.

I also love that Babs' is bringing back the nicknames LMAO.

Both Dick and Babs are drawn and coloured really well in this Nightwing run with Bruno Redondo on the art and Adriano Lucas on the colours.

This artstyle + them kissing + this angle? Perfect.

13. The Alfred Pennyworth Foundation.

I love how it panned out to all the different people involved in this story as Dick made his big speech.

Barbara listening intently to what he's saying on the screen.

Little Haley probably has no idea what's going on, but she's getting pets while watching her dad on TV, so she doesn't mind.

Meili Lin and Melinda Zucco watching him together. Meili solidifies her liking towards Dick and Melinda slightly smiling as she realises what her mother said.

Dick proudly announcing the name of his foundation. The foundation that was made possible by the man who left him all that money in the first place. The Alfred Pennyworth Foundation.

14. Batfamily showing their support for their eldest brother.

I love that we finally got canon confirmation that the Batfamily does in fact, have a group chat.

Steph keeping it short and simple.

Tim being the genuine, proud younger brother he is.

Jason trying to be subtle about his pride, trying to add a snarky, humorous comment to mask the true intentions behind his text.

i'm convinced he's damn proud of dick, he just won't say it to his face to maintain his front.

Damian being slightly awkward in showing his pride (he and Jason have that in common). He was probably on the verge of tears when Dick announced the foundation.

i can totally imagine him typing something and deleting it over and over again because he's unsure what to say before finally settling on "Not that it's a competition, but you win."

Neither Jason or Damian are the type to ever say "I'm proud of you, Dick" to his face so they settle for dry humor and sarcasm.

Cass going all out with the emojis. It makes sense for her, being who she is. Her main means of communication was literally everything else besides language so her spamming emojis is totally in character.

But where's Bruce's respond, you ask?

Right here.

15. Bruce thanks Dick.

Bruce said less than 15 words, but somehow, that's enough for Batman to show how much something means to him.

Such a sweet moment, realising his eldest son had his father figure in mind when he arranged all this. It must've bloomed Bruce's heart.

i 100% believe Bruce is crying behind his cowl.

Bonus:

Close up of the Alfred and Bruce panel.

<- part 1

[ygreczed-3]

I was looking for something to post this week in my files and remembered this unfinished AU. You can see it’s an older artstyle ahaha

It’s not much but hopefully you’ll enjoy it !

More under the cut ;)

So about the AU :

I’d say it’s set between 1085 and 1990... Don’t ask why, I just like the aesthetic haha. The small town Connor is from is Tulcate (pronounce it “Tool-ca-teh”). I drew a lil map so you can visualize it better. It’s very small, like maybe 500 inhabitants ? 

So every Friday afternoon Connor get on the train in Detroit and comes back to his home town to help his mother at the Pelican, the family restaurant. He has to ride his bike from Tulcate train station to his home and the restaurant. Hank’s house isn’t on the map because he’s not leaving inside Tulcate but has a cottage a little bit further on the lakeside.

Connor is a college student in Detroit during the week but comes back to Tulcate in the week-ends to help his mom with the family restaurant. He's got a brother too but he left for a journalism school in Phoenix and it's way too far for him to come back often. Connor lost his father at 4, he doesn't remember much about him and basically grew up without any paternal figure. He's known to be a nice, dedicated kid with an inner sense of leadership and local folks really like him.

His mom's called Molly.

Hank is the new police Lieutenant in Tulcate, he's freshly transferred from Detroit. He's actually the one who asked for this transfer because he needed some fresh air after his wife had a miscarriage. The couple couldn't come over it even after several years, so they broke up and decided to sell their house. With his part, Hank bought a cottage lakeside and asked to be transferred to a calm place.

He's nervous about being a total stranger in a small town so on his first work week, he went all around the town to introduce himself and get to know people. Most people like him.

_______

Connor comes back home.

Connor : Mom ! I'm back ! Mom ? Molly : I'm with a client ! Connor : Yeah, don't mind… me… Molly : Hi honey. How was the trip ? Connor : … Ha… yeah it was… okay, as usual. Molly : Wait, I'm sorry! Connor, let me introduce you to Hank Anderson, our new police Lieutenant. Lieutenant, meet Connor, my son. Hank : Nice to meet you, Connor. Connor : Nice for me as well… hm, Lieutenant.  Hank : So, where are you from ? Connor : I'm a college student, I live in Detroit during the week… Molly : The sweetheart comes back every week-end to help his old mommy. Hank : That's truly kind. Molly: Right ? Connor : Well, Detroit isn't that far… Hm, and where are you from, Lieutenant ? Hank : Detroit, actually.  Connor : … Why would you want to come here ? Molly : Connor ! Hank : No, he's right, this may not be every police Lieutenant's ideal career plan but I'm really happy to be here today. I was sick of the city, the lights, the noise… It was too much. Molly : I'm sure you're gonna like it here, right, Con ? Connor : Yes, it's a nice place, really.  Hank : I'm sure I will. Anyway, thank you for the meal, Molly. I'll come back. Good evening to you. And good luck, Connor. Connor : … Thank you sir.

_______

One week later

Connor and Hank talk shyly, Hank is sitting at his table, they have a respectable distance between them.

One month later

Connor got closer to Hank's table.

Three months later

Connor is sitting with Hank as they chat.

Hank : So how long are you here this time ?Connor : Four days ! I'll be able to help mom with the cooking. Hank : Oh that's nice. Connor : Are you working this weekend ? Hank : I told everyone to take their day off, I'll be the only cop on duty in the area. Connor : What a shame. You're gonna miss Tulcate's Egg Hunt... Hank : I stopped hunting Easter eggs at 10 years old. You're not making me do it again at 37. Connor : Hmm… Hey, you could join us ! We're having a family diner sunday. My brother will be there too. Hank : I don't know. It's a family diner… it's for family. And you didn't even ask your mother before inviting me. Connor : She's not like that ! You shouldn't stay alone on Easter. Hank : Connor… Connor : Come on, you're eating at the restaurant almost every week-end already. Hank : Hm...If Molly is okay with it… Why not ?

_______

Molly and Hank are chatting.

Connor : I'm home ! Hi Mom, hi Hank. Hank : Hey. Molly : Speaking of the devil ! Hello sweetie. Connor : What ? You two were talking about me ? Molly : Well, Hank is having his first week-end off for months, he was asking me about the best fishing spots ! I was telling him you and Niles used to fish when you were kids. Connor : Oh, yeah ! I huh… I wish I could show you our special spot but this isn't really on any map. I can take you there, though. Hank : If it's okay for you it's okay for me. I would have invited you to fish with me if you weren't working. Molly : … You know what ? You two are gonna have this little fishing trip. I'll take care of the restaurant. Connor : … Are you sure ? Molly : It's okay sweetie ! You'll help with the storage when you'll be back, there's no emergency here. Hank : If I come here to pick you up at 9 in the morning, is it good for you ? And I'll take you back here before 6PM. Connor : … Yeah… Yeah okay.

_______

Hank and Connor are fishing.

Connor : Nines and I we used to come here a lot to fish. We were the only ones to know this spot. At school we were bragging about all the fish we were able to catch in one afternoon.

Hank : I used to fish with my father when I was a kid too. Then we moved to Detroit and the other kids were into basketball, movies and comics, so I dropped it. Connor : Most of my friends were fishing with their dad too back then. I never did that. Hank : … Where is he ? Your dad… Connor : He died in a car accident when I was 4. I actually don't remember him a lot. I missed him a lot when I was younger, though. Growing up without a father was the hardest part, especially considering mom was doing her best to support us and take care of us. Sometimes I just needed him and… I felt guilty about it, because despite her best efforts, mom just… wasn't enough. Hank : … I'm sorry to hear that. None of you deserved this. Connor : Do you still have your father ? Hank : He died too. It's been… five years now. Connor : I'm sorry for your loss too, Hank.

Connor gets closer. He hands his beer bottle.

Connor : To our fathers ? Hank : To our fathers.

_______

Hank, Connor and Molly are dining together.

Hank : … and then Tina asked us "How do I look ?" With her new uniform. And I couldn't help but say "With your eyes". Connor : Oh jeez, Hank… that was bad ahaha..! Hank : I know, it just… came out ! I'm an old man already, that's it. Molly : Come on, you're a vigorous young man, Hank. You're not even 40 yet ! Hank : Thanks for the reminder Molly ! Molly : … You know, boys… I really like it when we can have some time together. I'm glad you two get along… As you may know, Hank, I lost my husband when the kids were young. They grew up without a man in this house. I'm glad Connor finally found a father figure… It really fills me with joy. Hank : … I'm glad I can help.

_______

They walk in silence in the middle of the night.

Connor : I'm sorry about that whole… father figure thing. Mom can be cringey sometimes. She just wanted to thank you for being there, I guess. Hank : She didn't say anything bad. Connor : Really ? You looked… thoughtful when she said that. I thought you'd been hurt in your feelings or something. Hank : … And what do you think about it ? Am I a father figure to you ?

Connor stops walking and looks at Hank cautiously when he turns back to face him.

Connor : I don't see you as a substitute father, Hank. And I don't want people to think that's who you are to me because… I want us to be friends. Without you acting like a dad, without me acting like a kid. I just think… we work so well as friends, or… I don't know. Do you… Do you see me as some brat ?

Hank : Jesus no. You're probably the best friend I've had these last years… I didn't realize… We had such an age gap. It just feels nice hanging with you… Connor : … I wish we could have met sooner, you know. I feel like… we've lost so much time. Hank : … Don't worry kid. Life always take us where we need to be.

_______

Hank and Connor are running towards a bus shelter because it's raining. 

Hank : What the hell ?! Connor : Told you it was gonna rain today. Hank : But it was all sunny and shit this morning ! Connor : Weather can be tricky here during spring. Hank : Great. I'm drenched. Connor : Are you cold ? Hank : No I'm fine, it's just… Wait, are you cold ? Connor : … Maybe a little. I mean, the shelter is protecting from the rain, but not from the wind. Hank : Hm, I think I can do that. I'm a literal wall, just come closer and I'll block the wind. Connor nods and comes closer. They're just very close, they're not hugging. Hank : Is it better ? Connor : I still feel the wind.

Hank encloses his arms around him.

Hank : Now ? Connor : Hmm… It's a lot better, thanks.

… You're so warm…

_______

On the pontoon at the end of Hank's garden

Connor : I feel guilty. Hank : Why ? Connor : I should be helping mom at the restaurant… Hank : Don't worry, she said it was okay. As long you help with the storage room, she can take care of the rest. Connor : … She said that to you ? Hank : I think she feels guilty asking you to work for free on your weekends. She wants you to have fun while you're young. Connor : …

Connor stands up and takes his shirt off.

Hank : What are you doing ? Connor : I have fun.

Connor jumps into the lake and splashes all over Hank. He merges up the surface and looks at the pontoon. Nobody's there.

Connor : Hank ?

Hank is swimming under water. Connor sees the bubbles on the surface then Hank comes out of the water and spits water on Connor's face.

Connor : Gross. Hank : Sorry, it was too tempting. Connor : … There's a leaf in your hair…

He removes the leaf but then pauses. Hank’s blond hair is wet and fall in front of his face : the man passes his hand through his hair.

Connor : I’m gonna... do something stupid. Hank : Yeah ? Connor : Stop me. Hank : No.

They kiss.

_______

That’s all I have honestly ahah. Feel free to add your own headcanons or ideas ! Maybe I’ll add more but I can’t promise anything...

[marieanneline]

wait wait hold up i am actually seething about the reveal

ya boi's not a dabi stan. at all. the only reason i'm remotely interested in his character is if he's actually related to shouto and how that would affect hero society in general. i remember reading the training camp arc, seeing him being one of the villains there, him saying todoroki's full name, and thinking "SIBLINGS?????" because agshdfjlk their EYES are SO SIMILAR!! i really want to give credit to horikoshi being able to portray their similarities from artstyle alone because that's talent.

(it's more apparent in the anime since you see the eye color— but appearance-wise, shouto takes after rei and dabi takes after enji the most, so this definitely isn't the best photo to prove my point...)

anyways,,,, dabi's ideals of heroics fall in line with stain's ideals and so we all already theorized how if he was the long lost big brother touya, it would be because of the fact that his father really wasn't a hero. this makes sense. and so, we're all fucking right. props to us, really, and props to horikoshi for all the foreshadowing because i had fun :)) in terms of story and plot, i think this reveal is fantastic.

alright, on to why dabi is a dick

(i'm assuming this was his choice and no one pressured him after all)

the todoroki family is on the road to recovery!!

- shouto finally visits his mother back in season 2 and visits her every chance he gets. you see the effort he makes and it's nice to see him change from season 1 to 2 (early-roki!!)

(guys he even sends her letters- look at that sparkle by his face!! he's sweet :)) and rei's smile!!!!)

- enji (whether we wanted it or not, i don't mind much personally) is trying to atone for everything he's done to his family

- natsuo, who originally wasn't fond of shouto because he had their father's attention (although he does come to the horrible realization that shouto was one of the most unfortunate) and mother's attention (because she wanted to protect shouto), has a closer relationship with his little brother now (can you believe he didn't even know shouto's favorite food was cold soba until ch. 192?? i was sobbing). he really regrets the prejudice he had against shouto and he's trying to be an actual brother to him now.

- rei's almost recovered enough to be released from the hospital!!

- fuyumi and her idyllic "happy family"– wHICH, BY THE WAY, ALMOST CAME TO FRUITION. their mother coming home, shouto connecting with his siblings, and enji being not-the-way-he-was-before is the best outcome they could have hoped for. and it was happening.

and i realize that all of that setup is for this very moment

this? this. this. this is being broadcasted. to everyone. that means the citizens know that their new #1 hero is directly related to a member of a really bad villain organization (i almost called it a terrorist group oop-).

by ruining endeavor, the citizens faith in heroes will collapse. this also affects shouto's reputation as an upcoming hero, and i am so terrified of what this could mean for him. imagine your career ending before it even started, just when you found your passion for being a hero again. all that progress he's made for himself since starting UA could be seen as pointless to him and i would hate for him to retrogress like that because it's not his fault. i would absolutely hate it if the media starts bashing shouto for being related to a villain, when he was also a victim of abuse.

seeing this look on shouto's face is making me dehydrated istg i'm fucking SOBBING— he doesn't even look angry!! in the last few chapters he was angry and worried for his friends, teachers, father maybe, other heroes... but he just looks sad. and the fact that the panel chooses to show the left side of his face is.... there's so much to unpack.

but yeah, this is being broadcasted. does fuyumi know? the cameo she had showed her working so maybe not. natsuo's cameo showed that he was at a lecture, so he also probably didn't see.

but rei did. that's like- that's the person i would want to keep this from the most.

the effects of this entire reveal genuinely scare me. how will this affect rei's mental state? she'll realize that what enji did is actually so much worse. their first child being a villain?? i'm terrified for how she'll react, she's doing much better in recent chapters after all. her kids are visiting her, shouto sends her letters to keep in touch, and enji sends her flowers and respectfully keeps his distance. i really don't want this reveal to result in a relapse. and if she does relapse, then fuyumi's ideal of a happy family is once again out of arms reach. the future of their mother finally coming back home is so far away again and it's genuinely so heart-breaking.

:(

plus— how will fuyumi's little elementary school students react to her being related to a villain? will the school fire her because of her connection to a villain and how that might cause concerns for students and parents????

it's also hard to say exactly how this will affect shouto and natsuo. natsuo was the closest to touya when they were kids so what would his whole opinion be of what touya's become? will he have a moral crisis?

in terms of moral crisises, i guess i'm more concerned about shouto. the boy knows he wants to forgive his father, but this is just making it so much harder. and after this, will he still want to? and finding out that his own sibling is a villain... remember the stain arc? there were some parallels between midoriya's, iida's, and todoroki's positions in the last chapter and i'm worried about what that could foreshadow. from that arc alone, we know that shouto doesn't agree with stain's views at all [i forgot what he said but it was really compelling]. we know that dabi's a stain follower though, so will this disrupt shouto's sense of justice? i hope not.

but family has always been kind of a weak spot for shouto, hasn't it? i hope this doesn't affect his resolve to be a hero because i do think that there's a way to– somehow– not have a corrupt hero society and i want him to fight for that.

touya being a villain is perfectly valid though, i don't doubt that. it's just disheartening to address that while every other todoroki was working hard to become a normal family, here's their oldest brother, who's not really dead. what's going to become of that altar at their house now?

learning the extent to touya's hatred towards endeavor is truly terrifying. we know enji is or was a horrible person and his redemption arc is based on the very fact that he can't be forgiven, despite some of his family trying their best to do so or at least get over it. but the fact that touya has even thought about killing shouto? that's just. ouch. touya's definitely gone through too much abuse, and all of the todoroki family problems are because of enji's bad parenting. but this does not justify murder and especially that of his younger brother, who also got the brunt of the abuse.

needless to say, i am a fool. i don't know if anything i just said will ever be true, but the important thing to take from whatever the heck i just shat out is that all of this is/could be a result of this reveal. it's the fact that dabi seems to have no sympathy. it's the fact that he doesn't care if his blood related family crashes and burns. really, if this is solely about endeavor and what he did, there's no need to bring the rest of the family into this. rei was sent to a hospital for god's sake. shouto has a scar. it's excessive and unmoral and although questionable ethics and values are key traits of a villain, it doesn't justify how much he's hurting the todorokis.

(look at this shit eating grin he has. no remorse. he really doesn't give a shit about the others but I DO and I'M so SAD)

and assuming that the whole "endeavor's wife admitted into hospital" was swept under the rug in terms of media, will that suddenly come back to light? because it shouldn't. maybe it should be known that she's in the hospital because of marital abuse but either way rei should not be dragged back into this disaster, and neither should the rest of them. there's also a chance that the media will accuse rei of having abused her kids too, which is messed up for different reasons. they're trying so hard to have any semblance of a normal family, and if dabi's way of revealing this to the world ruins that in any way then i hATE THIS REVEAL ASDFGHJKL—

[the-acid-pear]

Scarface was too fucking boring, didn't make it past chapter 3, but that's good, because that means Baki-Dou time 😍

Time to read the fourth book in this series! Excited to see Musashi <3

Chapter 1

COLORS

Baki please stop flexing

A FELLA SAYING THE SAME I SAID WHEN YUJIRO PULLED HIS SOB STORY, FR GO TRY SOMETHING ELSE! What happened with that whole "i don't care about fighting" eh Baki?!

Chapter 2

HOHO ALI JR???

ah no :/

HOLY FUCK is this quality bad!

He wants to taste defeat i see

TOKUGAWA PLEASE STOP SMOKING

Oh they removed the... Egg in the back of the neck, nice

God this guy's tits so fat 🥵

FINALLYYY HOW LONG SINCE WE SAW A FIGHT IN THE ARENA? A PROPER FIGHT I MEAN

Chapter 3

He doesn't even know 🐍

DON'T BRING THAT FELLA HERE RETSU KICKED HIS ASS IN TIME. RECORD

Oh i saw fanart of this scene

Baki, it's your fault that you are bored, you fucking teen

This shit boring ME

Chapter 4

Oh, goroukou is a title

I like how the prime minister is becoming a recurrent character

I thought he said babe for a sec-

That little "oh~" is a bit sus, are the old men... No, it can't be 😳😳😳

I'm fucking choking fuck

GOD ALMOST READ THAT AS JOHN CENA 😭

"yes <3"

These ppl never learn

Chapter 5

What a way to go, a la gamzee /j

This dude so weird lmao

FAHDGAHDH king

Dude he has huge round eyes tf you talking bout?

IGDUFSUEASEUURSS he's such a freakkk 😭😭😭

This is the most wtf thing Baki has pulled, remember when this was about fighters fighting? I don't know enough about science for this shit either man

Okay so their hug wasn't Tokugawa being touchy like he is, this guy is even worse, se juntaron el hambre y las ganas de comer HSHAFSFG

Chapter 6

Baki's dead

Katsumi about to kill get killed by my grandpa i see

ALSO KATSUMI OG HAIR WOOO

Katsumi bro don't be so happy over nearly killing him-

I love seeing him get better tho

Uwaadgsgsjdga 😍😳🤤 twisting my hair irl,,, 🥴

Finally Motobe remembered he was a character here 😐

FSGSHDAHDA KOSHO PLS

I LOVE that they got dark lips again

IM SORRY GOUKI HOW DO YOU KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT EVERYONE?! LTDKFsjyrd 😭

Jack's scar looks cool ngl

Retsu living the good life lmao

AND HOW DO YOU KNOW, GRANDPA?

Hana just doesn't care, smartest Baki character lmao

Idk what they talking bout but good for em <3

Cum basement

Chapter 7

SHOW US MUSASHI'S COCK

Obsessed he thought his heart was failing 😭

Dude you can just hear the heart beat of your friends/opponents just like that? 🤨

Notice Gaia in the top left 🥴

WHY CAN HE RECOGNIZE EACH OF THEIR HEARTBEATS AAHSGA

Thick 🥵

Unironically built different

Chronic back pain if you ask me, that's how I stand to relieve my agony

Did. Did you just call him a femb-

STOP SHOWING ME PANELS FROM VAGAMOND

I love John sm lmao

Mr Musashi has 2 (3?) dads

Chapter 8

HAIRY LEGS 🥴

Those things look like boobs

Bet you would know eh SHAFADB

They jerked off the mummy?

Reminds me of eye surgery

AFjshAFDGAJAHAF

Mf came out the tube ripped af 😭

Chapter 9

Everyone is so feminine lately good ol Kureha fell behind 😭

I like his bandana tho it's cute

OH HE TOO? AND HE'S NOT EVEN THAT STRONG

Fat tits 🥴

Eheojeudkshs 😖😳👉👈

JACK STOP YOU ARE BIG ENOUGH ALREADY

HOLY FUCK

You know like i understand Baki, he is at the highest he can be rn, NO ONE can defeat him, but the rest? Like c'mon y'all just beat each other up or something

Ah, the miracle of birth 😍

Chapter 10

I love how all these two do is hang out together in bars, boybosses

TF IS UP WITH THAT ICE? AHDHS

I love what they have

Hana thinking of getting his 4 limbs broken again i see

WOOO!! Nice cock Mr Musashi 😳

HANAYAMA PLEASE 😐

Chapter 11

I love those freaks

I just now I'm seeing the little scars on his cheeks from the fight with Spec ☺️

I love the fact that Musashi has hair in his legs BUT not his arms like ??? Okay king

Heated scientist moment

HOHO POGGERS 👀

Chapter 12

UTSURAARSDFAFA sibling goals

GIRLBOSS 😍

URAURUSYRSAESGA IN LOVE???

Holy shit she's amazing

Chapter 13

And his ass is very thick too 😳

Those fucking sunglasses, obsessed

Debatable, he got struck by lightning :/

HE WAXES HIS HAIR? OMFG OBSESSED

WHY IS HE WEARING THAT LMAO 😭

Nooo they censored the cock again 😔😔😔

DO IT QWEEN 💅

STOP SAYING SHE'S GONNA FUCK THE CLONE

"I'm exciteddddd" "ok."

Chapter 14

You just hate seeing a girlboss win

She truly is amaizing

Also i just realized spirits have been showing up since the first book so this isn't so crazy lol

MF HOW IS THAT GONNA HELP 😭😭😭

THE LITTLE BUBBLES AND SPARKLES... I BET HE DID 🥺

Chapter 15

WHY ARE HIS TITS SO ROUND AND FAT GODDAMN IT,,, 😳😖

Glad seeing some things never change

He looks so much like Jun

IGSITSURAURZES EPICCC

Someone question if Yujiro knew how too write obsessed,,,

Chapter 16

Goddamn it you got even older in the past 3 or so chapters bro

Mouth to mouth soul transference

OHHH

HIS EYEBROWS FELL HOW IGDUTSITDIYDIGD

Some mf got turned on by this HELP 😭

Chapter 17

I love how Yujiro and Hana are still getting ready to throw hands while this happens lol

Okay yeah that was super disrespectful honestly, guy is having a chat :/

HAHAGSJAHA obsessed

God i thought it was Hana the one grabbing some random lady for a second AFDJSJSSJS

He cute af ngl

POOR GUY MUST BE SO CONFUSED OMFG,,,

Fsr I'm surprised he can talk, like it should be obvious but in all the fanart i saw he never said a word, also, he's so damn respectful 😍

Chapter 18

Idk he was never that clever /hj

Hehehe blood

I love how John can only sit that way

The size of his balls lmao

Coward won't even fight with his dick out smh :/

God he mad cute-

Chapter 19

I MISS THE DEATH ROW FELLAS FUCKKK

Hm i think this random tiny bald man is not Tokugawa but someone that looks awfully similar to him

YEAH NO SHIT I FEEL SO BAD FOR HIM, HE MUST BE SO DAMN OVERWHELMED

Apparently there was a cameo, i don't know enough about anime to know or care

Chapter 20

He's tripping balls

Tokugawa should have gone a bit slower with this poor guy, this is like a lot to process at once <:/

Nvm he's doing better than me

Oydirsusefs look at himmm

WAIT A FUCKING SECOND OMFG DIDN'T DOPPO FIGHT THIS GUY?!

SOMEONE ELSE RECOGNIZED HIM HE ISSS

Chapter 21

OHDIRAYEASURRSUURS HE DOESN'T KNOWWW FFS

Musashi be like °_°

LOOK AT THAT SMILE LMAO

He's just chilling, mentally killing this dude

Murder baby

Chapter 21

The way his eyes are drawn is so cool

YRAURSUFSIDTGA

And he jokes too! Wow I'm in love 😍

(nsfw) CAN YOU HANDLE DICK LIKE THAT TOO? 😍

WOW

I TAKE BACK THAT QUESTION

I remember a show where you would bring your own knives and swords and go thru a bunch of test, Musashi should have been one of them

Mf truly is like :]

I love how he didn't buy it

I can't wait for him to fight Yujiro 😍

Chapter 23

He truly is 😌

ATFJAIDQYSF OBSESSED

He was happy this time at least, 5 times he lost already btw

Tokugawa truly in unhateable lmao

Chapter 24

IM SORRY, HIS LEG???

Oh I forgot Musashi does that

JAGSKSGSKSGS HIS FUCKING FACE I CAN'T 😭

I miss when translators would add notes i don't want to google shit myself :/

"I'm hard as rock" /j

Chapter 25

Look how happy he issss

MUSASHI POG MUSASHI POG-

I love how Tokugawa can't believe he got it first try and it's trying to lie now sjdakdyv

This mf is actually making me insane what the actual fuck i don't know what he has but he's gonna make me act up 😳

Mf be shadow boxing too dammit /j

Baki please

Chapter 26

OLD MAN JUST WANTS A PUBLIC TO SEE THIS LMAO

Look at the size of Baki's eyes holy fuck lmao

He's gonna yeet him!

OH NOOOO

FIRST HIS DAD NOW MUSASHI, THIS GUY CANT CATCH A BREAK LMAO

Chapter 27

How little time passed? They have barely moved

Yeah you did it last book too Baki

King shit

Chapter 28

AKSGSKGSJSGS KING

I love how he only now realized

Okay no he has a point

I love how he just calls him boy

Look at that smug face

I trust Musashi but at the same time he, really should be walking around this new world alone. Now, if i were to accompany him... 🥴/j

Baki please

Chapter 29

I love how soft the artstyle suddenly got, like if done big a big brush

Yujiro you just insulted every single anime character in history

Baby Baki's just like "Ok."

I like how Yujiro looks here

AUGHHJF HE'S SO BABY 🥺

HOHO badass

Chapter 30

He died 😔

Idiot hasn't even beat he 0.5 reaction seconds lmao 🤣

HOHOOOOO?!? 👁️👁️

"my curiosity exceed my fear!!" I RESPECT THIS MAN SO MUCH??

Chapter 31

AMAIZING HONESTLY

Fighter to fighter communication

SHIT LOOK AT THE STATE OF THAT HAND

He's just gone now LMAO

I honestly don't mind Baki being weak against this, he never fought against a two handed swordman, this is new territory

Chapter 32

Oh his really tripping balls now this is why he shouldn't be alone

NVM HE'S STILL DOING BETTER THAN ME ON A DAILY BASIS, I HAVE A LOT TO LEARN FROM THIS MAN

I just now realized he's barefoot

Nice ass king

The policemen are quite nice

He's very cooperative but i can't blame the cops either

Chapter 33

Yeah no shit that must be so insane

IF YOU HADN'T DROPPED OFF SCHOOL THEN...

That's kinda funny but idk man he's right i think

He's just like :3

I love how he isn't picking up a fight out of malice but rather just instinct like, he can't understand shit that is going on

YOU ARE SO RIGHT BAKI IT ISN'T BORING FOR ME EITHER

Chapter 34

Don't you fucking dare shave him Itagaki

It's funny how it took 2 books and a half for Baki to start being a protagonist

Holy fuck did Baki add height or is Miyamoto that big?

Wow how perfect i ran out of space just now!! Having fun with this book ngl :]

[la-li-lu-le-lol]

what are your unpopular mgs opinions?

Hmmmmm. I'm gonna have to think on these because I don't have very many. (Edit: just kidding I have too many.)

++ I really, really like Meryl, more than a lot of the (female) fandom does, and while I wholeheartedly agree that she and Snake clearly weren't meant to work out, I don't blame them for getting together. They both went through all that shit at shadow moses and can't tell anyone about it and are presumed dead by the rest of the world, what else are they gonna do but cozy up in a cabin for a couple months and try to forget everything? Until they realized that they were only slapping a bandaid over Big Mental Traumas and had very little in means of an actual foundation for a relationship, ofc. Meryl probably left of her own accord. In summary, my views on snake/meryl is "theyre cute but It was always doomed to be a fling and it's good that it didnt last."

Snake and Otacon, meanwhile, weren't so quick to attach and remained platonic friends for a much longer time before beginning to develop romantic feelings (in my mind). They had way more stability to work on, and also the whole NGO thing probably helped them along some, too. Lol. :U

++ I also don't hate Naomi. But I do think she could have been a much better villain if she weren't written like hot garbage.

++ I fucking love the beauty and the beast unit. They're awesome. Idgaf if its dumb fanservice.

++ On the topic of fanservice, I don't hate quiet's outfit! I do wish her weird, scary inhuman-ness was played up a LOT more than it was, though.

++ MGS3 Is a great game but it suffers horribly from "tell, don't show". All of Metal Gear has this problem and I don't mind, but mgs3 in particular dumps on you naked snake and the boss' supposedly super deep relationship based on nothing but a single conversation during virtuous mission? Cmon. Give me more than that before I gotta set out to kill her. It's tough since the rest of the game is so good. Why couldn't we have been given flashbacks of them bonding?

++ My bar-none no-competition favorite soundtrack in the whole series is from the dumb spinoff psp card game. Metal Gear Acid 2, to be precise. I don't know why my brain loves that music so much. It just... yeah. Serotonin. Essence of Vince bangs THE hardest.

++ I love Kiefer Sutherland and I think he did a p good job. But he would have done even better if he had actual good lines.

++ I can't stand MGSV's realistic artstyle.

++ MgsV's stealth is commonly praised to be the best of the series and I kind of agree, but I HATE how you can mark enemies to see their silhouettes through the walls. Weak-ass crutch feature. Truly satisfying stealth doesn't need or require that. Ofc you can turn the feature off so at least there's that. :U

[codetrainwreck]

Code Geass Season 1 Interview Collection

All of these interviews were translated/summarized by Celiss @ GameFAQs

CLAMP Summary of the Newtype Ookawa Nanase x Taniguchi Gorou interview. Note that the early designs on that page are by Ookawa Nanase, but the finalized CLAMP original art (not to be confused with the finalized KimuTaka character designs) were done by Mokona, a different CLAMP member. All info listed are from Ookawa and Taniguchi themselves; dialogue in ""s means those are the parts I didn't rephrase at all. - Suzaku originally had a "sharper" look to him. Ookawa -- "Originally I imagined him as having Chinese-like, sharp, single-eyelid eyes." Taniguchi -- "In order to have Lelouch stand out more, I had this design changed to a softer, rounder image." - On the early design for Lelouch (white hair) Ookawa -- "I imagined Lelouch as someone everyone will find to be "cool"; a beauty, to put it simply." Taniguchi -- "We talked about Tackey & Tsubasa as well as early Kinki Kids." (Popular Johnny's idols in Japan) - Ookawa attended the Episode 1 sneak preview / test screening; according to her a large number of reporters and other mass media-related personnel showed up as well because of the pre-show hype. When the 1st episode ended, the room went dead silent. With the fast-moving plot and the episode ending with Lelouch going "Die, all of you" as he Geasses the soldiers into killing themselves, everyone was left speechless. However, the momentary silence was later broken by tremendous applause. Taniguchi himself wasn't at the screening, but he heard about what happened as well. - How did CLAMP come to be part of the Code Geass project? Producer Kawaguchi was the one who wrote to them first. That was the first time CLAMP heard from him, and also the first time they received a request to design characters for an anime. The members only met the director more than a year later; they were already on board the project when the characters and world view were nothing more than a vague concept. CLAMP offered some "interesting ideas" and these helped shape the world of Code Geass. - The character illustrations shown on the page are preliminary designs; when these were first drawn Code Geass wasn't about a war with an Empire but something different. Taniguchi said "We're making a hit show", and wanted to create a show which appealed to everyone. They ended up using the Johnny's artistes (Tackey & Tsubasa; early Kinki Kids) as a sort of model for the characters (probably Lelouch; those Johnny's artistes are usually thought of as "Prince" types, especially early Domoto Kouichi of Kinki Kids) - The character "Zero" was decided from early on, and is one of the characters left unchanged even when they adjusted the story. CLAMP members call Zero's mask "Tulip" (because of it's appearance) They wanted to create a mask never seen before in previous Sunrise shows. They were told to create a mask showing only one eye, and there were two possibilities for that, the other being the masks used in palaces (...which kind of palace? Asian or Western?) Taniguchi -- "When I saw Zero's mask, my thought processes all came to a halt (laugh) It was extremely simple yet had impact." The biggest merit of having CLAMP do the designs is that, according to Taniguchi, they can come up with things normal animator-turned-designers can't. The clothes, for example, may seem impossible (*coughZeroandC.C.'scostumescough*), but CLAMP still went ahead with them anyway with the simple reasoning that "These are better!" - How did the designing process work? CLAMP members drew a certain number of illustrations, handed them to Taniguchi and Taniguchi would later return it to them with his own comments. The designs would be changed according to his wishes and the cycle repeated. The comments ranged from "I want you to redraw just this part" to "I want you to add this part of the character with this part of that character and come up with a new character." Taniguchi pretty much gave CLAMP free reign over the designs, telling them not to worry about what the CG world was like, and because of that they came up with all kinds of variations, from SF to Classical, for things like the military uniforms. There were altogether some 40 ~ 50 designs; C.C. also had traditional Japanese clothes as well as Western Barbie-style clothes. (Now we know why C.C. cosplays so much. Taniguchi probably included them because he thought it would be a waste not to...) - Ookawa -- "Taniguchi doesn't like girls with big breasts." (This is true; Taniguchi is famous for being anti-fanservice. He supposedly hates "jiggling chests" the most, but it seems that since GunxSword he's had to compromise on this area because frankly, sex sells) Ookawa - "Even though I drew all kinds of female figures and body shapes, only the flat-chested designs were returned." (The unreturned designs = No Good) Taniguchi: "It's not that those aren't allowed (laugh) It's just that when you transfer them on to the screen it usually ends up even more exaggerated, so I wanted to keep the original designs under control, at least." - Taniguchi also likes having characters who have something different on one side of their bodies (the "unbalanced" balance) Lelouch has one red eye, for example; Villetta's and Jeremiah's hairstyles also fall under this category. Taniguchi -- "I like it. It's sexy, don't you think?" Ookawa -- "You like characters with sex appeal, huh." Taniguchi -- "Sex appeal is important. CLAMP's characters are all sexy. That's another reason why we decided to request designs from you." - Before doing the character designs, KimuTaka spent every day copying CLAMP's art from their artbooks and manga. After analyzing CLAMP's art to his best ability, he then started on the character designs. He did his best to design them in a way so that the other animators would be able to draw them without deviating from CLAMP's original artstyle. - According to Ookawa, Schneizel was designed with "Lelouch's arch nemesis" in mind. The most time was spent on his design. Taniguchi wanted someone who could appear either good or bad and had a large sense of scale (2 meters... okay so he probably wasn't referring to height, but still) - Lloyd is the professor-type CLAMP is good at (Ookawa's own confession), but originally he wasn't supposed to be that much of a mad scientist. It happened mostly because of Shiratori Tetsu's acting (In the audio commentary for episode 1 Taniguchi mentions that he gave Shiratori free reign over Lloyd's character) Ookawa was surprised when Lloyd turned out the way he did. - Which characters do the CLAMP members like? Mokona (she did the final character original art) liked Clovis, so when she saw that he was offed after only 2 episodes she was really depressed. According to Ookawa, Clovis was killed off a lot earlier than originally planned. Taniguchi apologizes for this, and then remarks that Jeremiah, on the other hand, has survived longer than originally planned. (The power of 2ch, indeed) - Taniguchi: "If you rewatch the first half of the show after watching episode 23, you might discover new things you didn't see before." He refuses to say what these things are, saying that this is an enjoyment exclusive to viewers who noticed themselves. - Okouchi was the one who insisted that a mask was necessary in order for it to be a Sunrise anime. - Ookawa -- "Director Taniguchi is someone who makes it clear what his likes and dislikes are, and this really helped our work. I like Cornelia, and I hope she can be happy." (I'm sure she'll get along well with Fu-kuyama, that crazy Cornelia fan) - Ookawa seems to be a Lelouch fan. She says that she worries whenever Lelouch does something stupid or uses the Geass in a wasteful manner. - CLAMP will still be doing the designs for the sequel, or perhaps have already done them. --- Animedia Q. Is it true that the Emperor is invading countries because he is looking for (Geass) "ruins"? A. In episode 19, General Bartley said "The Emperor decides which country to invade going by the location of the ruins" (I'm not sure how gg translated this). It is unclear whether this is truly the motive behind the invasions, but as the General has been investigating this for a long time, his statement that there are other such ruins, at least, must be true. Since a gigantic Geass mark surfaced on the Kaminejima ruins, it appears that it is somehow connected with the Geass. (Well duh) Q. What exactly is the "Mental Elevator" (Intellevator) the Emperor mentioned? A. This is still very much a mystery. However, because this is something coming from the Emperor, it may have to do with the mystery of the ruins he is said to be searching for. (...Double duh) Q. What is the 2nd Imperial Prince Schneizel looking for? A. Bartley and co. are picking up where Clovis left off with his investigations, which is why they went to Kaminejima. It seems that they have a vague suspicion on what the Emperor's objectives are, and intend to get a jump on him. At this stage this is all we are able to infer. It is probable that there is a certain something the Britannian royalty all wish to obtain. (...? Immortality? Pizza? And Schneizel vs Emperor, go! If Schneizel isn't a bad guy, or had nothing to do with Marianne's assassination, Lelouch should just team up with him already >__> With Suzaku, the Emperor would be dead in a day) Q. After episode 23, what will become of Britannia's "Area 11"? A. As we have just reached the part where the next step of the battle would be to destroy the Britannian government office (the palace-like building with flags), the answer to this question will have to depend on the outcome. Should the Black Knights triumph, Japan may have its rights restored while the Britannians may be forced into a vulnerable position this time around. (Take away all their cellphones! That'll teach 'em!) However, both the Chinese Federation and the EU, names which have repeatedly come up in the show, are both keeping an eye on the situation. How these two forces will act is something to look out for in the future. Q. What happened to "Good Morning'd" Orange? A. I too am surprised. Even though it's amazing that he's made a reappearance in the show, it's "Good Morning'd" after all. (Meaning the line destroyed the serious, cool mood of the scene XD) It seems that after the Narita battle, he was picked up (in the same sense you pick up rubbish / abandoned animals), turned into a subject for experiments and then modified. I'm sure many viewers have already realized what happened because his silhouette is in the OP. The resurrected Orange can't be beat! (Literal translation = "is the strongest") Q. What happened to Shirley's "memories" erased by the Geass? A. Basically, those memories will not return. The Geass works only once. Having seen the memo with her own handwriting, Shirley made her own inferences and somehow managed to grasp the truth of the situation. Although there was a subtle scene in episode 23 where she reacted to the name "Lulu", with the situation becoming increasingly hectic, her chances of meeting Lelouch again will diminish. (What does this mean? She's not going to get her chance to confront Lelouch about the truth after running away from it in episode 22?) Q. Will Kallen's real identity never be revealed to her friends in school? A. Although Suzaku already knows about it, he didn't say a thing about it in school, so as long as Suzaku and Kallen herself keep quiet no one will know. However, in episodes 24 and 25 Kallen, along with Zero, may storm the government office. What will become of the school when the settlement becomes a battlefield...!? (Are they hinting that the school will be in danger --> Black Knights come to the rescue --> Kallen's identity is finally revealed?) *The caption for Nunnally's picture: Sayoko's position itself has become somewhat ambiguous. There isn't a single person left who is protecting her... (I noted this because this sounds bad. Protect her, Arthur!) *The caption for Milly's picture: Having given up on Lelouch, she plunged headlong into the engagement with Lloyd. However... (However...? JUST JOIN THE BLACK KNIGHTS ALREADY!) Q. If the settlement is attacked, what will become of Nunnally and Arthur? A. In episode 23, it appears that the school is still somewhat safe and peaceful. Although Nunnally was frightened, she still has "the mysterious" Sayoko-san with her. Sayoko was told by Diethard to "Stay as you are and wait for further orders." (Episode 21) Things should be alright. Is Arthur with them!? (No, he's obviously outside taking down mechs left and right) However, should Japan achieve independence, Britannian schools would be in danger. *The text below (not in the blue boxes) written by the magazine writers (not the CG staff) says that if Lelouch doesn't go back to Ashford, Nunnally's safety will be "a candle in the wind". However, since this is his beloved sister we're talking about, it makes sense to think that he will definitely return in episodes 24 and 25...!? (...did they really need to end the sentence with an interrobang?) Q. Will "Chigusa"-san join the Black Knights? A. Chigusa-san = Villetta. She's currently cohabiting with Ougi and living a life reminiscent of the Showa period (...loving couple, wife waiting at home etc?) The octopus wieners she made for Ougi's bentou truly had a lot of impact. However, because her memories disappeared not because of the Geass, they will return someday. With that the two of them will become mutual enemies, which will make things difficult. *The lower text says "There is no way a Britannian female Knight will pass all her days living a lovey-dovey life in secret. But don't cry, Ougi!!" (I... want to see him cry >__>) Q. When will C.C. give the OK to Lelouch the Geass user? (This is the literal translation of the question; it seems that what the question is trying to ask is: Exactly what does Lelouch need to do in order to fulfil the terms of the contract?) A. This is far from clear. It seems that C.C. sealed the contract with Lelouch with a certain objective in mind. This contract is valid until that goal is reached. (Does this mean that once her wish is fulfilled, she can / will take Lelouch's Geass away from him?) For Lelouch, his goals are to defeat Britannia and the Emperor and also to create a happy world for Nunnally... However, what C.C. stands to gain from these goals of his remains a mystery. Q. Is Wall h4x Suzaku's (okay, so it actually says wall-runner Suzaku) physical prowess that of a normal human being's? A. Yes, he's a normal human being. It's just that he possesses extraodinary physical capabilites. It seems that his excellent Knightmare piloting skills has to do with him being unexpectedly compatible with Lancelot, and nothing more than that. Lloyd of the Special Dispatch was quick to notice this. (...? What about Fake Okouchi and Real Okouchi's previous hints about there being a secret behind his abnormal physical strength? Unless this answer is supposed to be a red herring?) Q. With Euphie dead, is Suzaku's mental state alright? A. He can't be alright, can he? That's not the usual him. If you listen carefully he said "Ore" (? He was still Boku-Suzaku during the phone conversation though, but I might have missed him saying "Ore" in episode 23), even though he had been using "boku". However, it seems that that is Suzaku's original personality. Up till now he's been faking his personality because of what happened with his father. He can no longer continue his facade now that he's snapped. Rather than saying that he will be somewhat like a beast from here on, it would be more appropriate to say we will be able to see Suzaku's real personality. Q. Why is it that up until the very end, Suzaku still doesn't have a "cellphone"? A. It's because there is a clear rule regarding this; Elevens and Honorary Britannians are not allowed to have one. It's a Britannian rule. This was probably decided in order to nip any possible insurrection in the bud. Also explains why Cecile-san had to personally come and get Suzaku (in episode 17) Q. After episode 23, what will Suzaku's next move be? A. To take revenge? For Euphie. Against Zero! Perhaps he isn't thinking about the future at all. Although he's fighting as a Honorary Britannian, it seems that he's just rushing headlong into the battle with personal grudges to settle. However, he pretty much cannot die due to the "Live!" Geass on him. A rather painful future may be awaiting him. Q. Who is more amazing? Suzaku vs Lelouch 10-point showdown! 1. Knightmare piloting skills: Suzaku 2. Hunting ability: Suzaku 3. Game skills: Lelouch 4. How they treat Nunnally: Lelouch 5. Popularity with the girls: Tie 6. Popularity with the guys: Suzaku 7. Studies (Science/Maths): Lelouch 8. Studies (Humanities/Arts): Lelouch 9. Independence (Cooking): Suzaku 10. Independence (Money concept): Lelouch (Lelouch wins 5-4. Lelouch is actually pretty good at cooking (It's part of his official character profile, IIRC; Sayoko also mentions this in her Diary section for DVD vol 2's booklet) Some of the reasonings behind the Lelouch vs Suzaku results are pretty nonsensical, actually. For example: 9. Independence (Cooking skill): Suzaku Lulu has been feeding Nunnally ever since their childhood days. His cooking skills are absolutely perfect. Suzaku received a strange Onigiri (Cecile's) Therefore... ...What does that have to do with cooking skills? >__> If anything that only proves Suzaku isn't human. As for Popularity with Girls, it's a tie because while Lelouch may have a hidden fanclub at school (I forgot who said this... FO?), Suzaku is popular with older women. This is also part of his official character profile; Suzaku admits it himself in the booklet for DVD vol. 03. However, he denies being attracted to them, but considering his first love (a house maid) happened when he was 3 years old... >__> Suzaku wins in the Popularity with Guys section because Lelouch doesn't really mix around with other students, only with his fellow Student Council members. This isn't really fair considering Suzaku probably has a hard time getting along with other classmates as well, but I guess that all changed after Euphemia knighted him. Though I think if it had been Zero vs Suzaku Zero would have won hands down. Zero has Diethard (Obsessed stalker), Tamaki (Tsundere) and Orange (also a stalker when you think about it >__>) --- Taniguchi Some interesting stuff from the Taniguchi interview: - Taniguchi appears to be hinting that Suzaku will have more scenes in the 2nd season. He mentioned that for viewers who want to watch this show thinking of Lelouch and Suzaku as double protagonists (Like Kazuma and Ryuhou in S.cry.ed; however, officially, Lelouch is the only protagonist in this show; everyone else is a supporting character), this motif will come up from here on. (He probably means that the difference between Suzaku and Lelouch will be made even more obvious in the future) - We'll be seeing more of Lelouch romantic relationships (probably in the 2nd season) According to him they decided not to put too much focus on those in the first 23 episodes because it would only complicate matters. It was necessary to show what Lelouch's primary focus is (Destroy Britannia; happy world for Nunnally) - V.V. will be a key person in the 2nd season; same goes for the mysterious long-haired Chinese guy (? Girl?) shown in episode 23. - By episode 26 (Taniguchi probably means 1st episode of the 2nd season; it seems that he's thinking of Code Geass as one whole continuous season) viewers will be able to see what Lelouch currently has in mind and what he intends to do next. - In case the sequel wasn't greenlighted (they already received the OK for it back in December last year, at least), they had an alternative route prepared for the story to take, one which would have ended the story in episode 23. It would have been a non-conclusive ending though; according to Taniguchi it was more of a "psychological" ending for Lelouch (think EVA ending) - By Taniguchi's own admission, the real story has only just begun. --- Kawaguchi The Kawaguchi interview itself is quite strange. It feels as though Director Taniguchi, Scriptwriter Okouchi and Producer Kawaguchi all have different interpretations regarding the show. On the subject of the phone conversation at the end of episode 23, Kawaguchi says that Okouchi originally wrote the scene intending to dramatize the mistaken nature of Lelouch and Suzaku's friendship (lit. trans: how it continually "passes each other by"), but Taniguchi said "If you need to confirm it, then you're not really friends" (The "After all, we're friends, aren't we?" line) and had the meaning of the scene changed. So... are they truly friends or not? I suppose they're "friends" in the sense that they truly care about each other, yet at the same time they can't be "true friends" because they're still hiding all sorts of secrets from each other. Kawaguchi, at least, is adamant that Lelouch and Suzaku cannot be considered friends. I'd like to see an Okouchi-only interview next to hear what he has to say on this matter XD Also, Kawaguchi referred to Lelouch as "Lulu" twice in the interview. Kawaguchi is a big fan of Lulu Quality, indeed. --- The infamous phone call in 23. Producer Kawaguchi actually offered an explanation in his interview on why Lelouch has Euphie's number. We know that he definitely has her number saved because "Euphemia" showed up on his cellphone; we also know that calls from unknown people show up on his phone as "No Number" (episode 13 -- assumed to be a call from Ougi and episode 15 -- Mao) Basically the (lame) explanation is: "They must have exchanged numbers on the deserted island (laugh)" I wonder what name Euphemia saved Lelouch's number under though. She can't possibly have saved it under "Lelouch"... she's not that much of an airhead... right? >__> Though "Zero" is a lot worse, but not as much as "My First Love, Eheh <3" --- Fake Okouchi questions from 2chan 1. (Did Suzaku know that Zero = Lelouch at the end of episode 23? If so, did Lelouch realize it as well?) No comment. 2. (When exactly will episodes 24 and 25 be aired during the summer? Will they not be aired first via Biglobe's internet streaming?) I don't think so . We weren't able to secure the slots in time. It's a little thick-skinned of me to say this, but to make up for it the animation and the directing etc. will be impressive. 3. (It seems to me that Suzaku is more important to Lelouch than Lelouch is to Suzaku. What exactly does Suzaku think of LuluNana?) To Suzaku, Lelouch is more of an old friend. As for Nunnally, rather than her being just the sister of a friend, it appears that he thinks of her as an important person. 4. (Will Lulu and C.C.'s line "Bestow upon me the mark of destruction! Consecrate it!" used in the pre-airing CMs appear in the show? A word about this line please.) I don't think the line will appear in the show. The lines said in the CMs are more like "catch copies" <"catch phrases" in English> 5. (Did Suzaku see V.V. or C.C. in episode 22? What was the reason behind it?) <-- The light silhouette in front of the Gawain It was C.C. It's somewhat like the mirage(?) of C.C. only Lelouch could see in episode 1. He saw it because he has the Geass potential. 6. (C.C. talked to Marianne in episode 23. Is Marianne in the World of C?) No comment. 7. (How does C.C. go about choosing Geass users? As long as they have potential everything's fine? For what reason did she choose Mao and Lelouch?) It's a secret, but the main criteria involved in the choosing is related to the bloodline as well as where and how the person grew up. 8. (In episode 7, C.C. said "The blood does not rebel" (Children take after their parents) Whose blood was she referring to? The Emperor's or Marianne's?) Both, I suppose. C.C. was teased *by Marianne* a lot, so I think she just wanted to get her back for it *by claiming that Lelouch takes after her?* 9. (Who's stronger: V.V. or C.C.?) It depends on what you mean by "strong", but if you were to make them fight each other mano-a-mano I think C.C. would be declared the victor. 10. (Will the "Lelouch being good at household chores" character setting be used in the future? Is it true that he made Zero's costume himself? Will such hidden character settings appear in the drama CDs etc?) I think the scenes that were cut from the show *such as the kiss with Kallen?* as well as the character settings that have yet to be shown will be included in the drama CDs and such. *He didn't actually state a specific media* 11. (What's the meaning behind the OP shot in which Lelouch rides a horse? What about the mugshots? Whose hand is it in the scene showing someone trying to grab hold of the person floating with the Geass mark?) Horse-riding is a sort of reference to piloting a Knightmare *they're "mares", after all* It implies that his (Lelouch's) main role isn't to pilot a Knightmare *he's more of a commander*, unlike Suzaku. Also, his elegant way of spurring a horse onward shows his prince-like quality / nature. This is further supported by the background, which was drawn with the Britannia homeland in mind. As for the mugshots, I think that those show the key characters whose actions help move the story forward, but I fear that only the director knows the truth of it. As for the hand, I think it's probably Nunnally's. (Actually I don't know either, but the skin-tone is the same as Nunnally's) 12. (What is the debt from 7 years ago? Will it be revealed in the 1st season?) The "Debt" doesn't only refer to one specific thing. One of it has to do with the Kururugi family forcing LuluNana into confinement *in a storage shed, no less* 13. (Will the Emperor's past cronies and Knight appear in the show?) That would depend on the 2nd season. 14. (Why is it that even though Nunnally calls Marianne "Okaa-sama" (polite), Lulu calls her "Kaa-san" (informal)? It's rather strange for royalty to do that.) I think perhaps it's a sort of code showing how he respected, trusted and in a way depended on his mother. The same goes for Suzaku calling himself "Ore". *Meaning it's a sort of clue about what goes on in their heads* 15. (How much time has passed in the show between episodes 1 ~ 25?) The actual length of time is made ambiguous, but I suppose it's quite close to the broadcast length in real life. *About 6 months?* 16. (The difference between a Knight and an Elected Knight (Suzaku, Guilford) please.) Originally, the term "Knight" is a general one referring to all Knightmare pilots. Elected Knights such as Guilford and Suzaku are those chosen by the royalty as personal protectors. It's just that for the convenience of the conversation there are times where the term "Knight" actually refers to "Elected Knight". 17. (A hidden character setting, please. Anything is fine.) In the early planning stages, Rivalz was named Radner *? Katakana = "radona"; I have no idea whether this is a name or whether he's referring to another famous person or what* and had a much bigger role. In a way, he had an evil side to him, more so than Lelouch, and was truly "bad company". However, if he was to be made into someone who had too much in common with Lelouch, Suzaku's existence would have less of an impact and thus changes were made. 18. (Will the period in which LuluNana lived by themselves be shown in the show? Or will these be covered by the Picture Dramas and Drama CDs?) Unknown. 19. (Was the Marianne shown in episode 22 part of C.C.'s memories? Why did Suzaku faint?) Rather than say that was C.C.'s memories, it would be more appropriate to say that was a scene showing her "vision". *That's exactly what he says in katakana* Suzaku collapsed because of C.C.'s shock attack. 20. (Villetta once said "Britannia is scary" when she was still Chigusa. Were those her real feelings?) That was her reacting to having been seriously wounded and having lost her memories. Besides that, she felt peaceful during her time with Ougi and was also influenced by his way of thinking. 21. (What are the requirements for the reactivation of Suzaku's "Live!" Geass? How will it affect him, exactly? Make him go berserk?) He will return to his original way of living and become more and more honest. *His "boku" personality is a false one used to protect himself* 22. (Are there plans to use the cut Zero / Kallen kiss scene (Source: Megami Magazine) in the future?) It is true that that scene was cut. A lot of adjustments were made around episode 20. The kiss event was to give Kallen courage after she lost her nerve to continue to act as a member of the Black Knights. Originally there was supposed to be a sequence of scenes showing her remembering the kiss, shaking off her hesitations and fighting whenever she was about to be discouraged. 23. (A word about the Emperor and Marianne, please.) No comment. 24. (What is the relation between V.V., Suzaku and Nunnally?) For Suzaku and Nunnally, it's just as I said in the answer for the 3rd question. As for V.V. and Suzaku, no comment. At the moment V.V. and Nunnally are not connected. 25. (A word about the future of the Ashford Academy Student Council members.) The school will become a part of the battlefield due to various calculations *? from which side? Nina...?* 26. (A hint about love relationships. Also, a word on why Euphie fell in love with Suzaku. Is Suzaku no longer a virgin?) No comment. *Yeah, 2chers like asking which characters are virgins. See: Virginity Theory* 27. (Kaguya called herself The Goddess of Victory. Did something happen before this to support her claim?) Unknown. --- Ura de Net Geass! Participants: Tanaka Kazunari (Tamaki VA) Yoshino Hiroyuki (Secondary scriptwriter / series composition) Kawaguchi Yoshitaka (Producer) Morotomi Youshi (Producer, MBS TV station side) - An 8 hour meeting was held to determine C.C.'s name and real identity. Supposedly none of the participants ate or drank throughout the whole thing (Okouchi: "Give me something to eat!") According to Yoshino, whenever he thought the meeting was about to come to an end, someone would start up again and the meeting would continue with no end in sight. XD - The title "Code Geass" was a fairly last-minute decision (the tentative title was "Lelouch of the Rebellion") The production team were in a panic over the lack of a proper title; "We need a title to design the title logo!" etc. - Yoshino: "A strange scriptwriter joined around episode 12." (referring to himself) According to him, for episodes 1 ~ 11 all he did was comment on Okouchi's scripts: "Oh, I like this. I don't like this. This is cool." etc. Okouchi got annoyed and told him "Why don't you write the scripts then?" (Yoshino wrote the scripts for episodes 12, 13 and 19) Dark Okouchi >__> - Mao's repetitive clapping didn't exist in the scripting stages; Taniguchi was the one who later added it to make him "more annoying". Also, according to the producers, the Mao arc had the highest ratings o__O - Originally, Toudou was supposed to join Lelouch's side much earlier. They talk about the Diethard and Toudou shot in the ED. All are baffled by it; conclusion: "Only Taniguchi knows." - Okouchi wrote the script for episode 18; according to Yoshino, Okouchi told him: "Isn't it exciting, leaving viewers wondering whether Lelouch Geass'd Suzaku?" Yoshino: "So how are you going to wrap this up?" Dark Okouchi: "I'll think about it later!" XD Each time Yoshino asked him if he's thought of it yet, Okouchi would reply: "Not yet." Seems like Okouchi is a fairly laidback character XD - Yoshino ended up writing the script for episode 19; supposedly he requested to do it, saying "Oh well, if (Okouchi) wants me to write a script, I might as well do the island arc." (he's more or less the fanservice supervisor for this show) According to him (and the Newtype Taniguchi + Fu-kuyama interview), this was how Lelouch's trap was supposed to work: Lelouch successfully digs a proper hole --> However, a boar appears behind him --> Lelouch tries to Geass it: "Lelouch Vi Britannia orders you to SIT!" --> Geass doesn't work on animals --> Lulu Quality Tragedy (Wait, isn't this just like that one fancomic? o__O) However, Taniguchi changed it all, telling Yoshino: "Well, in the first place, Lelouch isn't capable of digging such a hole..." - The reason why the writers made Kallen stand on Gawain's shoulder instead of getting into the two-seater cockpit with Lelouch in episode 19: "There's no way Kallen will hand over the 2nd-pilot position to anyone else once she's in there." Good point. - Will we see Gawain engaging in electronic warfare? Maybe, maybe not. However, officially Gawain is equipped for it (Druid System) The producers and Tanaka all agree that Gawain is pretty much a h4x mecha in this show. - According to Tanaka, right after the airing of episode 22, 3 of his friends rang him up asking "What the hell was that? I need to know what happens next!" etc. According to Kawaguchi, "some of the viewers may have been satisfied with the handshake in episode 22, but actually, a lot more people would have been upset..." - After episode 23, the production team received letters from fans saying "Okouchi is so evil", "Dark Okouchi" etc. According to the 4 of them, Okouchi doesn't like that. Realizing Okouchi may be listening to this, they start sucking up to him, saying things like "Okouchi is a wonderful person!" "He's an... *long pause* honest person!" Tanaka: "I love Okouchi!... okay, moving on..." XD XD XD - Tanaka says he isn't allowed to talk about episode 24, but he dropped some hints, like: "I had no idea that part in episode 23 was a foreshadowing" and "So that was what that person was doing". Okay...

[pokemonacademy]

I tried to copy the game's artstyle, but I think I kinda gave up somewhere midway ORZ

I never did intend to *try* and copy the art style for the sketches, so yeah, that’s why they look different XD

I actually considered making the curse less straightforward and thought of making it that every time he lies, he loses a memory or an emotion which if it accumulates, will make him as good as a living human 'puppet'. Y'know, a memory-less person, like, totally no memory would be as good as a human doll, right? Or a completely emotionless human for that matter. But then, if he loses his memories or emotions, I thought that his problem, which is his personality and mindset would be wiped along with the memory or emotion, and that would make the curse pointless? Like, if he loses his problem (his mindset) just like that, then in the end, he wouldn't learn the lesson, yeah?

Name: “Ludwig“ (Luther Varnham)

Age: 21 (18 when cursed)

Occupation: third son of a noble family; currently a wandering musician

“LUDWIG”

“Just my luck…”

The young man clicked his tongue as he pulled the glove off his hand; instead of flesh, what reflected in his eyes was something that resembled a hand, and it was made of what appeared to be wood.

His eyes narrowed bitterly at the sight as he pulled the glove back where it belonged. The young man balled his hand into a fist, and muttered words under his breath, “tch, there goes the other one… when will I ever be liberated?”

It could be said that Luther’s life ended on the eve of his eighteenth birthday.

The memory of that day was still very vivid in his memory: extravagant gowns and coats, exquisite cuisine, and false smiles; those were things he hated the most.

It was one of those rare occasions when even his parents was around. They rarely ever visit him at the manor, to the point that he even wondered if they remembered that he, their third son, even existed.

The servants, his companions, weren't any better. When he was a child, he recalled thinking of them as his own family, but he soon learned that they never truly cared for him. Of course, they were servants, therefore, they're only around because they needed their employment. The smiles and concern they showed him? All of it was false.

For as long as he could remember, he had always been alone. A party for him? Ha! Hilarious, it was all an excuse to show off their wealth and power! He hated social gatherings like these.

"Luther dear, what are you doing over there?" it was his mother, "come! I will introduce you to a dear friend of ours, she came all the way from Angielle."

The woman next to his mother looked very elegant. It could be said that her beauty really stood out, but her smile somehow made him feel uneasy.

"My, my, Is that the small runt? He has grown into so big!" the lady grinned cheerfully.

Luther simply scoffed, ignoring the remark, "I'm going out." and with that, he turned around.

"Luther!" his mother called out, but didn't bother give a chase, "apologies about that! I don't understand what's going on with that boy. Just ignore the lad, and simply enjoy the festivities!"

The lady furrowed her brows, muttering words under her breath, "a party where the celebrant is dispensable?" and then she chuckled, "Fu fu... I see what's going on here. Now those rumors of his ill temper makes sense."

Luther wanted to get out of that place, and simply go to somewhere quiet- anywhere where he wouldn't be able to see or hear those people.

-That's how the young man found himself at the forest close to the manor.

He kicked a small stone as he walked along the dark forest clearing. He watched it roll, only to witness it stop in front of a what appeared to be a human silhouette. Upon closer inspection, he could tell that it was the lady.

He took a step back as she walked toward him.

Why? Why did he feel a crippling fear of her?

"We've met a number of times when you were but a child. Back then, I saw honesty and kindness in your eyes, what a pity." she continued to approach him, "hmm, but I could still somehow see that child within those eyes..."

"What are you prattling about?" he finally managed to speak up, "leave me alone you hag, is it not obvious enough that I wanted to be left alone? Do I have to spell it out?"

"Ah, as I have heard. Your tongue has become barbed, yet my eyes do not lie. What you truly feel is different, no?" she was inches away from him. Just then, she reached her hand out toward him, “poor child… you do not deserve this pain.” the woman said as she stroked his cheek.

He wanted to slap her hand away, but something at the back of his mind told him that doing so would make him regret it.

... Just who was that lady?

“Very well then, I shall grant you your wish!” she smiled sweetly, “with this, your heart shall be freed from all the lies and deceit that closed it off. Should you find the kindness and honesty you once had as a child, then you shall be freed!”

Luther cocked his head, puzzled by the woman’s words, but alas, she simply continued as if ignoring his confusion.

“However, should you never be able to find it within you, and continue distrust others, then not only will you cease being a human that you loath” she pointed her slender finger at his chest, “but you shall also lose what makes you one, and you shall never have to feel the pains of rejection and betrayal… nor happiness and joy. Isn't that wonderful?”

The woman pulled her hand away and smiled once more before turning around.

Before he realized it, she was gone.

"You fool! Did I not tell you that I do not need that?!" he threw the piece of cloth onto the ground, "now, get out!"

It was the next day, and a usual scene at the manor.

"Yes, young master! I apologize!" the maid bowed, her eyes were at the verge of tears as she scurried out of the room.

Luther was about to hold onto his head when he noticed that his finger had something wrong with it. No, saying that there was something wrong with it was an understatement, for it didn't even look like a human finger, but... a piece of wood?

Over the next few days, it happened again, and again; it happened every time he spouted hurtful words.

That was when he realized it- he was cursed.

The lady’s- nay, the witch’s words then became clear: if he could become honest and kind, then the curse would be lifted; if he could not, and his whole body turns to wood, then he will lose his human heart- he will be nothing but a wooden puppet, in the shape of a man.

Every time he spouted hurtful words, or denied others, a part of him turns to wood, but if he shows kindness, a part of him will presumably return to normal.

Wish? She said she was granting him his wish? Was that a joke? A cruel joke!

At first, he tried to hide it, but it did not take long before the servants, and shortly after, his parents learned of his condition. They became ashamed of their disfigured son, and ordered to have him locked away, hidden from prying eyes.

He wanted to laugh, it was a cruel joke indeed. Weren't they the ones who brought that witch? Why was he the one being punished?!

Truly, there was no one he could trust.

Everyone was the same, humans were all the same- selfish beings who only cared for themselves.

Their kindness? Their smiles? All of them were all masks.

The irony of it? That included him.

Luther smiled bitterly. It dawned to him that breaking the curse would be impossible for him. The conditions were made to be as such that he couldn't break it. Of course, that's how it was- the witch never expected him to break it!

With that, he decided that the only way to break the curse was to confront the witch. Being locked up would not make his condition any better, even if it may suppress the curse by isolating himself from others.

He told himself that couldn't rely on anyone.

Thus, he decided- to travel to Angielle, the witch's origin, and find a way to break his curse.

Under the alias of Ludwig, he ran away and traveled as a wandering musician. He traveled across many lands, and searched for any clue to break the curse, as well as any information on the witch who cursed him. However, his efforts bore no fruit. After three years of wandering, he finally found himself in Angielle, but never found the witch; he did hear that there was a certain place in the kingdom that helped cursed ones like him.

In front of a place people called the Marchen, he stood.

Ever since he started traveling, he only managed to turn a part of him back to normal only a couple of times, so by now, about half of his body had turned to wood. Not long before he arrived there, his whole hand had also already turned into wood after he got into an argument with a girl who tried to ask him directions.

Under those clothes, he was a freak. Whenever someone saw his wooden part, he would be shunned.

"Maybe I'm better off turning to a puppet..." he muttered to himself bitterly as he marched inside the small building.

WORDS: 1474

[retphienix]

Alright, it's about time I give this game a fair shake at things instead of just hating it from the bottom of my soul for an hour of gameplay over a decade ago.

Here’s the gist of the story.

FFT is quite possibly my favorite game. Most definitely my favorite FF game.

Many years ago I rarely purchased new games due to being a kid with no money, but a friend of my cousin had this game an I got a chance to play it (and FFX) for the first time when we visited once.

I hated it.

I ended up just playing FFX for the remainder of our visit, another game I don’t like too much.

This time around I’m doing things a little differently.

First off I’m older and more willing to accept a game for what it offers rather than what I demand it have due to expectations or namesake. Difficult in this case, but I promise to give the story it’s own room to grow.

Secondly I’m finishing the game regardless of anything so that I feel I get a truly fair shake at how all it’s features, story, and gameplay mechanics sit with me. (Not that I feel you have to beat a game to get a fair idea or opinion, but this is me judging for myself so that’s what I’m doing)

Third is that while I’m giving it a chance, I’m still going to complain about the things that bother me. The reason I’m playing is to see if it can change my mind or offer something I didn’t see before. I can stay open minded while still mentioning the things that urk’d me both 10 years prior and today.

Starting out you find that you are -

In ‘modern day non-descript-land’, I mean Ivalice that super fun place from FFT.

Not Ramza or anyone interesting from FFT

I quickly rectified that second point.

Neither of these are really negative on their own. Though the artstyle not being nearly as charming as FFT or interesting as it should be seeing as they did bother to use some nice details doesn’t help at all.

You’re introduced to a few interesting characters such as protagonist who isn’t Ramza but I’m calling Ramza from now on, Five-Head the girl, and shy bullied child.

In all truth, I don’t mind any of them so far.

Ramza hasn’t said or done anything to give him a character yet aside from caring for his brother.

Ritz (cracker) is loud and proud and inoffensive*.

And Mewt is... I already said all the characterization he’s been given.

They are all flat right now and I’m left to hope they expand from here. Unfair to say anything about them this early on because they’ve been given a grand total of 14 lines (split between them) to characterize themselves seeing as the wonderfully detailed spritework from FFT hasn’t popped up to give them characterization through animation.

*= She does offend in one way and that is by making the terrible artstyle PAINFULLY obvious. In FFT we had noseless characters whom I grew to love and find endearing. So far FFTA has upgraded the portraits by adding noses and by GIVING EVERYONE RIDICULOUSLY HUGE FOERHEADS. Everyone looks like eggs! I’m not a fan.

The first bit of gameplay we’re shown is a snowball fight and this ‘fight’ is a huge reason as to why I quit playing way back when.

It’s boring.

It’s dumb.

It doesn’t introduce gameplay efficiently or in an interesting way.

It doesn’t progress the story or push the characters strengths/weaknesses/traits or personalities.

It’s filler, as the start to their game.

You waste a few minutes of your life playing a small handful of rounds as you throw 1 damage snowballs at classmates and they do the same.

The only interesting thing I noticed was the lack of camera controls.

I will honest to god try my hardest not to do this often, but compare this to the first fight in FFT.

FFT has you start the game in a real engagement. The pre-fight intro was much more interesting with Olevia and carried urgency through the injured squire rushing through the door.

It got you interested in what the heck was going on immediately, and that was just the pre-fight. The fight itself was a REAL fight that had people dying and let you use a small array of moves to get a little bit of a handle on things while getting you interested in pushing further into the game by showcasing sweet abilities that you couldn’t do yet, but these clearly ‘end-game’ units could use.

In this one you throw snowballs. That’s the ONLY thing you can do. The pre-fight was silence followed by lining up to have a snowball fight, followed by one kid complaining and switching teams. No one does anything other than throw snowballs unless you count the end of the fight where someone throws a *gasp* snowball with a rock in it.

ANYWAY.

We finished the snowball fight, or rather it was interrupted by Mewt getting bullied, and we agree to join up after school to hang out. Mewt said he’s getting a sweet dnd handbook and Ramza invites him and Ritz over because it might cheer up my brother Doned (dumb name).

We do that, it’s a short visit.

Doned is a sickly character who feels like he exists to give Ramza depth. That feels cheap. Ignoring that he’s fine I guess. He’s just bored and wants some joy, which makes the premise of this game seem like a possibly outlet for him seeing as we’re about to be transported to a mystical land of possibility.

We look at the book, immediately say it must be magic despite it not showcasing anything magic to us. Our reasoning is literally that since we can’t read the language it must be magic, lucky coincidence.

Our guests leave the shortest visit ever and that night the book transforms the town of Ivalice into the continent of Ivalice (Neither Ivalice is thematically the same as the Ivalice from FFT so honestly I don’t care and wish it had a different name).

Entering this strange new world immediately throws us some curve balls.

It tells us that there are plenty of new races in the world. That’s kind of cool.

It tells us that there are Judges for every battle. THAT’S THE LAMEST THING EVER AND IS WHY I IMMEDIATELY STOPPED PLAYING AS A KID.

And it implies that it might be too scared to show death in this title compared to FFT seeing as this fight ends with the enemy knocked to his knees and TAKEN TO JAIL for breaking the rules. Lame.

Ignoring that and hoping for the best, we’re introduced to a moogle and dragged along to his clan which he lets us name as we will presumably be making all the leadership decisions regardless of any title we’re given.

Weird, but I like clan mentality things in games. Just.... I didn’t even become leader or anything and I’m naming them and undoubtedly leading them now.

Ok.

I chose the only name befitting Ramza and his misfit gang of do-gooders. Heretics, as we were in the Ivalice of old.

This is where I begin my new adventure.

I may end up mentioning these complaints way down the line but

1. I’ll also throw in that whenever a new location is discovered via plot reasons YOU LITERALLY CHOOSE WHERE IT EXISTS IN THE MAP. I don’t really like this. Like at all. If it’s meant to make me feel empowered in some way, or add thematically to SOMETHING it doesn’t feel right and it just makes the map look like a stupid mess to me that I’m supposed to fill in because the devs couldn’t figure out how to make a world.

2. Classes are separated among the various races. You can’t become every class. Each class is basically race exclusive. I really don’t like this and I don’t feel like explaining how limiting, arbitrary, and annoying this is.