#this is also part of why Jesse has a different hairstyle in the very first drawing I did of him outside his ninja suit

[the-ninja-legacy-whip]

is jesse's hair based on a existing hair piece and if it isnt do you know if there is a piece thats close to it

I initially made a very valiant effort to search for a hair piece that matched my vision when first designing him (ofc for Lego related purposes) but the closest hairpiece I could find for him…was Chad’s. And you can imagine why I wasn’t about to use THAT on him lol

Maybe there’s been a new hairpiece that’s popped up in the years since that might be suitable, but I haven’t actively looked :d

[brwnicons]

Hello! 🦋💜 would it be alright for me to ask for Jesse and Jason with a s/o who is Princess/Royalty core? Please and thank you 🤗

☆ Oh, to dance with Jesse dressed in a black suit with golden details. Excuse me for the delay, I hope you like it! ☆ I've got a lot of problems uploading this... Tumblr, please.

Slashers x Reader from Royalty

-> Summary: GN reader, Jesse / Jason (separately), Headcanons

-> Warning: Slight reference to killing in Jesse's

Jason

• How did you end in Camp Crystal Lake in the middle of the forest in first place??

• Probably you went to disconnect about everything

• The first time you met Jason, he got super curious about your neat hairstyle and your shiny and elegant accessories

• He will never treat you differently due to your family position, to his eyes your just another person and he doesn't see why he should refine his manners when treating you

• The moment you tell him that you're from a noble family he'll be surprised and curious about everything

• You're like those nobles from the fairy tales??

• Jason comes from a humble family so he'll have a million questions about your life

• What do you mean you eat on silver plates?? Aren't those to decorate

• Ans 7 kinds of forks for one single meal?

• And what in earth is a caviar???? His favourite meal has always been his mother's pie

• If visit him and bring him presents, clothes, food... he'll melt on the floor

• You one brought him also a family album to show him your place and family

• It all feels like from a book to him <3

• Either way, he's got the purest of loves to give. He doesn't love you for your family status nor your money, he loves you for your kindness and personality.

Jesse

• This man will know just how to treat you

• For the first time he laid his eye on you, he knew you HAD to come with him

• In the first encounters he will kiss your hand like a romantic™️

• Probably he also bows jokingly, followed by the expression: "My dearest"

• Although as yout relationship keeps growing more intimate he'll probably make laugh of your "noble family traditions" like your elegant manners even when you're drinking a cup of water or of your refined vocabulary.

• If you ask him to accompany you to a ball or a family/business meeting he'll be so excited! He knows how to behave around rich people and gain their favour, and he also gets to know part of your family!!

• About his work, he'll be glad the moment your discovered it and didn't run away

• Now with both of your money together there no policeman in the near cities that hasn't got your favour

• Nor politician

• Nor judges or lawyers

You're a very dangerous couple

[aj-thegreatest]

Next up is Topaz and Hody! I did them next because 1) They’re the big thing now and 2) I want to get my Mewni redesigns outta the way before the rest. They were pretty fun, and the first example of my rewrites! Sometimes when I redesign a character, I’ll rewrite them to fit the change. It’ll be minor or major changes; basically my spin on them. I’ll explain everything below, but here’s the final if you wanna skip!

I’ll start with the designs first, then my rewrites:

For Hody, I wanted him to resemble Larry more. I went with his canon design instead of the redesign, since I liked it more (gives me big himbo vibes).

So Hody has his eyes and hair/fin style, but Camie’s eye color. I simplified the outfit so it’s easier to draw: the red sash just goes around his waist, but above his tail. I covered up his chest, kept the gold and red gems, and made his arm armor shorter. I went with the colors that harchibudytgorichi used, cause I love how muted they are! Also, he’s wearing a skirt now! I’ll explain that later.

Topaz’s first change was her hairstyle. No real reason, but I thought her hair being half shaved would look cool! To compensate I made her hair longer, so she’s still a warrior. I gave her Cole’s nose and eyes, so she’s even more aligned with him. But now she has Phyrus’ colors to equalize. She also has pudge! I remember when someone asked if older Topaz could have pudge, and I thought it was a missed opportunity. Alot of her outfit is based on Cole’s (with some Braze too). She has shoulder armor with spikes, a gem placement like Cole, and pants with fur boots. I tried to make her more “battle ready”, with the utility belt and more coverage. No tiara, but her earrings are a hint to her status.

Now onto the good stuff Let’s start off with Hody! Instead of being jerky and prejudice, he’s dumb but has a big heart. Major Himbo vibes. Like Maria he wants to help the Waterfolk kingdom, but can’t retain a lot of knowledge (Diplomacy, Trading, etc). So he fights as a warrior to support them. Hody was a bigger deal until Astro came along, but his strength is acknowledged. He’s still protective of Maria; he can’t accept his sister growing up and surpassing him. To him, she’ll always be his baby sis. It’s also why he’s hesitant towards Astro; why would she need to date??? He does respect him right off though. Eventually he realizes Maria’s grown now, and that won’t change their relationship. After this, Hody treats Astro as part of their family. They also spar on occasion. He’s way more accepting of monsters since he’s too dumb/kindhearted to realize. He hangs with the Johansson brothers but the dynamic is different, I’ll explain later. Hody also loves wearing skirts and dresses; his fashion style leans towards Billy Porter. I...just thought it’d be neat. He was supposed to be the heir, but after meeting a fire-headed warrior that might change… In this version, Topaz is more aggressive and tactical. She never goes in without a plan or escape route, especially in fights. After a horrible “relationship” with her controlling dead ex, Topaz left her tribe to get some space and explore the surface (Cole’s idea). Nobody knew about their relationship, but once they did they were not happy. Her relationship with Scorch went on for too long. It made her feel weak and scared. Which she hates. So Topaz pushes those feelings down and fights to cope. She also doesn’t like unfamiliar people touching her...something Hody (a person who hugs everyone) learns that very quickly. She loves her dad and thinks highly of him. She often stands up for him and his ideals, wanting to help the tribe be more intellectual. Topaz doesn’t read a lot, but books about war and strategy are her favorite. She misses her mom, but doesn’t talk about it (yet). She finds her escort flighty, and wants to teach him to think smarter. Once they travel together, they’ll definitely get closer and help the other with their issues. For Topaz it’ll be her mother, her last relationship/fear of intimacy, and getting close to people. Hody’s will be his feelings about his sister, his place in the Waterfolk kingdom, and his relationship with the Johanssons (which he’ll also learn to put himself first instead of others, but I’ll explain in the next paragraph). I’d compare them to Jess and Lake from Infinity Train. I think they’d both slowly realize they have feelings for each other, and soon start dating. Because of Topaz’s previous relationship, she’s hesitant about doing “heavier” stuff early on. But Hody understands. At some point Hody gives his heirship to Maria; around that time they’d either get married or engaged, and travel around Mewni. They do have kids (maybe 2-3 because this Topaz hates pregnancy idk) and just chill as parents. Now onto the Johnasons!

Hody hangs with the Johnasons, but in their eyes he’s on thin ice. Because of Hody being pro-monster, there’s slight tension between them that Hody side steps. He thinks befriending them will change their minds about monsters, and accept them more. When Topaz comes in, things become shaky. Hody tries to keep the peace but Tor, Twister, and Gale aren’t having it. However, Topaz convinces Hody he needs to look out for his own well being/mental health, and that sometimes you can’t change someone by being their friend (Also conflicting ideals can break a friendship, maybe for the better). After Hody confronts them, Tor puts his hands on Topaz and they both beat them up (Topaz more than Hody, but ehhh semantics. Idk if Twister and Gale would get involved but 🤷🏿‍♀️). Afterwards, Gus comes by and apologizes to Hody. He wasn’t actively prejudiced but complacent and, while not as bad, has its own issues. He asks if they can still be friends, which Hody readily accepts. Topaz is suspicious, but they eventually warm up as a trio (This would also progress Gus’s development, like the 2nd or 3rd step).

...This was a long way of saying I like Grumpy Girl/Soft Boy better than the og dynamic but I’m done! Next one will come out whenever, here’s their full body!

[hopevalley]

Season 8, Episode 10: Old Love, New Love, Is This True Love

All right, so...like I said, work has picked up and my eyes feel like old marbles from staring at numbers (the woes of working in accounting I guess) so I want to get this written up and tossed into the nether before I lose steam and motivation to do it. The interesting thing about these little write-ups is that as the week goes on they just get harder and harder to write...

I do apologize in advance to those who like the long-winded write-ups. I’m just not up to it at the moment. Still feeling kind of bleh from the episode.

Let’s go back to an old format, shall we?

The Good

We might as well start out with the things about this episode that I enjoyed! 

Gossip Hour with the Men was one of the best openers they’ve had on the show in a while. It was genuinely funny without being meanspirited. Nobody looked like the bad guy. Everyone just calmly talked about it alike it was a normal thing to maybe call off the wedding. Bill calling out Carson for giving marriage advice was pretty funny, Mike was a delight. I don’t know what to say. I’d watch a whole episode of The Boys just hanging around spending time together.

--

Florence’s worry that she’s ugly was...not a terrible idea for a storyline, but the actress is too good-looking to pretend to be ugly (I saw her in this pretty yellow dress on Instagram a couple years ago and she was smashing)? Also, it’s not like Ned is a handsomely aged gentleman (like Henry lol) so it makes even less sense for the characters. I think they should have gone with Florence feeling she’s “plain” and that dressing up Super Nice makes her feel uncomfortable because she just doesn’t feel like Herself and worries maybe it’s projecting a false sense of Who She Is or something? I guess overall I still liked that an attempt was made to add some depth to Florence and her difficulties in choosing a dress/hairstyle, so...it goes here.

--

Ned asking Henry to be his best man was nice, too. I can forgive the shoddy pacing and weird placement of this request (like I do with almost everything in the show) but only because the scene was just...so incredibly wholesome. 

I like how Henry just casually is like, “Well maybe today’s just not the day.” I think it eased Ned’s mind just a little that he CAN back out if he really wants to.

I think it’s worth thinking about the fact that Ned and Henry would have always worked very closely, since the mercantile would have been a company store before the mine closed down... I like Henry and Ned as pals.

--

I’m glad the “investment” thing with Jesse and Clara’s savings was brought up in a way that...makes sense. And also, glad it wasn’t forgotten.

--

I really liked Molly and Florence in this episode. I’m a little sad Florence married Ned because I AM SORRY BUT I WANTED TO KEEP SHIPPING MOLLY AND FLORENCE TOGETHER UGHGHGHH

But their relationship is so good and maYBE Elizabeth will learn something from them.

Hey Elizabeth...you see that?

YOU SEE THAT?

Just saying.

And then later...

“You are the sister I never had, the mother I forever wanted, the friend I have always needed. From the depths of those dark and terrifying coal mines you’ve walked beside me, picking me up whenever I’ve stumbled along the way.”

AAAAAAAAA IT GOT ME.

--

I’m...really liking Fiona and Mike’s relationship, whatever it is. I kind of think they’re not headed toward anything romantic. Everyone thinks Mike is really into Fiona but at the end of the episode we realize he likes talking to her about business; it’s almost like they have this shared passion for numbers/ideas and he likes infodumping to her (and vice-versa).

I think they’re going to end up being “just friends” and Fiona will end up paired off with the man Elizabeth doesn’t choose. They hinted at Nathan briefly in this episode (with Allie’s hair), but who knows? I’m over trying to speculate on where the triangle is going at this point, but I actually like Fiona’s relationship with Mike so much that I’ll be disappointed if she fades into the background with Nathan or Lucas. Mike deserves more screentime. 

--

Ned and Florence sharing their fIRST KISS. My husband got emotional over this. And I admit, it was starting to get to me, too. I can’t NOT root for them. 

--

I said it before and I’ll say it again: I WOULD DIE FOR THE CANFIELDS.

--

The wedding was nice. I liked that Bill and Joseph officiated it together; it gives Joseph a li’l trial run of pastoring and finally Bill gets to use some of that power of his to officiate a wedding.

“Please, if you’d like” is such a Bill way to say that they may kiss LOL.

--

Also, I have to admit that I did enjoy Lucas calling Nathan out about Allie. She wouldn’t be caught in the middle if he’d leave Elizabeth alone AND HE IS RIGHT LMAO.

The last good thing: Elizabeth telling Nathan she doesn’t blame him for Jack’s death. Nice. Good. Thank you. He probably needed to hear that.

--

...THE BAD

Carson and Faith. UGH. UGHHHHHHHHHH. BREAK UP ALREADY I HATE YOU BOTH.

I appreciated that Carson had the ring ages ago, and I did like his conversation with Minnie—or more accurately, her advice to him. I felt like she was nudging him toward, “Remember why you became a surgeon in the first place.” If he became a surgeon to help people, then there’s no reason he can’t help people where he is. Sure, he might not be doing state of the art procedures but with Faith working alongside him, he can afford time to learn new things and go to doctor conventions or even take a specialized class now and then. No other doctor could get away for very long but he has that chance!

And he’ll arguably be doing more good in the middle of nowhere than in the city. All the doctors want to live in the city. Nobody wants to barely get paid for their time in the countryside.

We had a whole episode that made it clear that Faith and Carson don’t make a lot of money and do a lot of charity work. They also work for trade goods (mostly food). So it’s like...a pretty big difference in lifestyle? 

Half the reason I can’t get invested in these characters is because I really can’t stand Paul Greene. He just...annoys me on every single level imaginable. But he’s a decent actor and I can’t help but feel that his character was a massive waste of space for the past few seasons through no fault of the man himself. Imagine introducing a character like Carson and then leaving him to rot before you try to make him interesting with a romance plot that nobody asked for.

Yes, some people really like Faith and Carson, but as a whole I think the fandom didn’t buy into them as a ship due to the lack of chemistry.

It really is a shame. This episode didn’t do a thing to endear me to either character. Please, Carson. I am begging you to leave town.

--

This one particular line of dialogue almost enraged me.

WE KNOW WE KNOW WE KNOW WE KNOW WE CAN SEE THAT FOR OURSELVES. WHY DID THEY HAVE ROSEMARY SAY THIS LIKE IT’S AN EPISODE OF A CHILD’S TV SHOW?

--

Elizabeth.........

How could Katie have...looked up to her? She was never in her class? That was? Never part of anything? It was just something they threw in here to force Elizabeth to make 1% more sense in the role she’s in but IT STILL DOESN’T WORK.

I felt like I was back in Season 5 again with Lori and Elizabeth putting their nose in everyone’s business except it’s just Elizabeth!! The whole plot, which was boring and contrived anyway, should have gone to Molly, since she’s Florence’s best friend and another woman from town that Katie would have known as a child.

AND ALSO, MOLLY WOULD HAVE KNOWN KATIE’S MOTHER AND WOULD REMEMBER THE GRIEF THAT NED STRUGGLED WITH.

I know they wanted to make Elizabeth give advice so that she’d Realize that she needs to, I don’t know, make better choices or something, but it was too on the nose for me and I hated it.

GinithePooh on Reddit made a good comparison to Elizabeth in this episode by saying she reminded them of Clippy from Microsoft Word, always popping up and offering to help when nobody really needs or wants advice.

To honor their incredible idea, I opened Photoshop and created this gem, which I will also be posting separately so that people can reblog it if they wish to.

I also don’t think I need to say also filed under The Bad is the fact that Elizabeth didn’t even apologize for being awful to Rosemary and then gave her unsolicited advice to other people for two days straight. I can’t believe they wrote that? 

All I can say is that her apology to Rosemary, when it comes, better be good.

--

And I didn’t like this either:

I wish it had been followed up by literally anything: Nathan saying he’s sorry he didn’t tell her sooner or something to make the hand-holding actually be a little more innocent.

As it is, it just seems so deliberate? 

Maybe the next episode starts off right in this scene and we’ll get that? If so, this might actually end up being fine. I just don’t think it is if it doesn’t get a little more direct attention.

--

& THE UGLY

I debated on putting anything in here, because I’m not ready to talk about my feelings on this matter, at least not fully. But I’ve been pretty quiet all season so far, and...eh, why not just mention things in advance? What will it hurt?

Let me preface this section by saying I’m biased and I doubt hardly anyone on this site will agree with me, so feel free to just ignore this part if that’s the case.

There are two things that I really didn’t like in this episode.

I hate the slanting toward Bill/Molly.

I like Molly just fine but I don’t like her with Bill. I’m biased as all getout and also worried about the future/potential Season 9 with regards to this. I don’t want to see it. Like at all. Why, you ask? You should know why if you follow me. I’m super transparent.

It’s because I like AJ AND I WANT HER BACK LOL.

John Tinker rewatched the series so we know he wouldn’t have missed that hanging plot thread—especially since he didn’t forget any of the other things that were brought up this season! So why didn’t she appear this season? The love triangle absolutely needed to be a focus or it would have never ended, so that’s part of it, but I’m also pretty sure Josie Bissett wasn’t interested in doing any filming last year during Covid. My only “proof” is that Wedding March 6 wasn’t filmed last year even though it was scheduled to be filmed, but it makes sense. Last year was chaos.

THAT SAID, Jack Wagner posted on his Instagram the other day that they are actually filming Wedding March 6 now, so... I guess AJ’s re-appearance in Season 9 wouldn’t come as too much of a surprise if they wanted to write it.

You’d think I’d be hyped about that, and I kind of am? But it doesn’t come without its share of worries, too. We just had the worst love triangle in the history of love triangles and I really don’t want another one, especially if it makes any of the characters in question look stupid or mean.

I fully admit a well-written love triangle could be a LOT of fun for them* (low stakes because they’re not front and center characters), but I saw how Nathan was written so far this season and I really, REALLY do not want to see that happen to Molly, Bill, or AJ.

Anyway, not a fan of the Molly/Bill stuff. No chemistry. I don’t want it.

*I would totally write a fanfic like this lmao.

--

And finally...the part that everyone will hate me for:

I DO NOT WANT TO SEE ABIGAIL COME BACK. And I specifically do not want her to come back ‘cause I do not wanna see Henry/Abigail happen.

I fully recognize that a lot of you like it and ship the heck out of it, and that’s...good. I’m glad you enjoy it. I loathe it, though, and I worry that all these hints (more like...mentions) are leaning toward...something. Like, either they’re:

1) Sending Abigail off/tying up that loose end with Henry (since nothing was ever clarified either way), or

2) Warming up the audience to receive Abigail back on the show.

I’m pretty into the idea of one-sided Henry/Abigail. Hindsight is 20/20, regrets, that’s all some juicy stuff to give a character like Henry. Some things can’t ever be made right again. He had too direct of a connection to the death of her husband and son for me to ever want to see them together. Forgiveness? Yes. A careful but meaningful friendship? Yes. Romantic relationship? Uh...no thanks.

I liked the Abigail mentions at first because I felt like...the character still mattered (as she should) but I’m at a point where I feel like they’re trying really hard to steer the fandom’s view a certain way and not knowing where it’s going is extremely unsettling to me.

--

I’ll probably talk more about the things that bother me when the season ends, because I’m hoping to have a better idea of where things are going to be headed, but for now just...know that I feel very apprehensive.

And keep in mind that I primarily watch this show for Bill these days, since all my previous faves (AJ, Frank, the old Abigail, Dottie) have exited, stage left. I also always really liked seeing Henry. So as you can imagine, seeing plotlines I hate for the only two characters I’m invested in? Is making me consider dropping the series next year.

My husband told me I should hate-watch it, but I don’t know if my heart can take it. I’ve been following this series for so long...it just...kind of hurts to feel let down like this? 

But sometimes an ongoing series ends up going where you...didn’t want it to, and it becomes something that’s no longer right for you. I hope that doesn’t happen, but last night’s episode makes me feel like...it might be happening for real this time.

I guess if that holds true it’ll be back to fanfiction for me. Will that novelization I planned ages ago end up getting written? Will I write the best love triangle fanfic known to man? WHO KNOWS.

For now, we’ll all have to wait and see! Two more episodes left. I’m really curious to see how they resolve some of the open plots right now. :>

[dear-wormwoods]

Ch.2 reactions part one

Okay so I’m gonna post my reactions and thoughts about the movie in a few different posts because... I have a lot to say. Obviously, spoilers ahead for literally everything. 

Thoughts on Adrian & Don’s scene

- The parallels start literally immediately - James Ransone has said he played Eddie as if he never really grew up, and Adrian is first introduced playing a carnival game alongside a bunch of actual kids so the first perception we’re meant to get of him is that this is a guy who is still a kid at heart. We quickly learn two more things about Adrian - that he’s idealistic, and that he’s naive.

- Even the way they’re styled and dressed, with the same height difference as Richie and Eddie, Don dressed more conservatively with a jacket on and Adrian in bright, eye catching colors with the same preppy hairstyle. Intentional casting, intentional wardrobe.

- The film adding to this by giving importance to Adrian’s asthma - including a closeup of his inhaler that shows it is the same exact inhaler Eddie has.

- Adrian openly mocking his attacker, displaying both his naivety and his bravery, was always such an important parallel to Eddie standing up to Henry and making fun of him in the novel, so I was thrilled that was included here. The fact that they went the extra mile and had both characters use very similar insults was the cherry on top.

- The parallel of Don and Richie both being unable to save their loved one and having to just watch it happen.

- So an important parallel from the novel was that IT bit Adrian in his armpit first, in the same spot where IT later bites Eddie’s arm clean off. And the movie consciously changed one and then consciously changed the other to match, proving that this was BEYOND intentional. IT bites Adrian in the chest this time, and then IT stabs Eddie through the chest later. 

Thoughts on the Phone Calls

- Bill: Really thought this was McAvoy’s weakest scene and I would have much preferred a conversation with Audra that was more similar to the book. I get why they minimized Audra’s role overall, but this scene was really ineffective and it didn’t have to be.

- Eddie: A risk analyst is a perfect job for him, first of all, and his conversation with Myra was short and effective. They’re both paranoid about safety while simultaneously being unsafe (Myra warning him about rain that stopped hours ago even though talking on the phone while driving is far more dangerous than rain, and Eddie being irritated at her for calling him while he’s driving as if he wasn’t literally asking for death by driving so recklessly and antagonizing other drivers lmfao). Neither of them know how to talk to each other, neither of them are happy while talking to each other, and both are projecting their issues onto a crappy sham marriage - Myra literally has to beg for love (people who actually feel loved don’t do this), and Eddie is using her as a replacement for his mother. Like the vast majority of Eddie’s scenes, it’s played for laughs but has an underlying misery that works very well.

- Still Eddie: The fact that he got into a car accident during his call with Mike was so fitting… driving is the one thing Eddie loves doing, the one thing he feels confident about, the one time he feels brave, the one outlet he has for channeling all of his pent up aggression, and the one time he lets himself take risks, so of COURSE the phone call would swoop in and ruin that! Brilliant.

- Richie: I have hoped since Ch.1 came out that modern Richie would be a stand-up comedian (or on a skit show like SNL) so… thank you Andy for hearing my prayers. Also, Richie’s manager guy had major Eddie vibes, which may have lowkey been a shout out to the miniseries’ choice to have him subconsciously seek out Eddie types in his career. 

- Ben: I loved the little trick they did with using miniseries Ben, that was such a nice cameo. Loved Ben’s giant fancy house and how the wide shot of him standing by the window was such an effective visual representation of his loneliness. Really missed Ricky Lee though, and Ben’s high functioning alcoholism. 

- Stan: Loved the bird puzzle, loved the easy comfort that Stan and Patty had, loved the overall serene vibe of their house right up until the phone call. I wish Stan and Patty talked more, but I think their relationship dynamic came across pretty well even in that small exchanged. Really missed the writing on the wall, though, and Patty discovering him.

- Bev: I really liked the way Jess portrayed Bev when she’s with Tom versus Bev normally - her entire demeanor is different, her voice is different. It’s obvious that Jess really understands the cycle of abuse, so it’s unfortunate that the scene was so short and escalated so quickly, because she was capable of doing so much more with it and wasn’t given the time to. But I liked her kicking Tom and whacking him on the head the same way she did with her dad, that was a nice ‘this is the moment I found the strength to fight back’ parallel.

Up next: the restaurant scene, the Derry Town House, and the clubhouse scene.

[mamusings]

Supernatural Season 1 Thoughts

So I'm rewatching mainly to distract myself from the dogs breakfast the show has descended into. But also because my feelings about the show as a whole are decidedly mixed. I come to it as a buffy fan. I've always been curious about spn as a successor show to buffy, but only watched thr first 13 seasons in 2020. Blame lockdown.

Anyway s1. Blinding start, blinding finish. But the middle is just too many MOTW episodes without enough season arc development. I keep wondering who the show is for. It feels aesthetically very male. Lots of blood, guns and violence. Well-realised horror feel - although I think it's hard to really feel fear when you dont particularly care about who might die. It's only when you threaten a major character death that things hit harder. Also the genuflecting to realism by drawing on urban myths feels like something for stereotypically 'male' rather than 'female'. Probably reflects my preferences that I was never to into the MOTW format some buffy fans loved and that I was always more interested in the story telling than realism or even consistency. Monsters as metaphors works better for me. But Spn is a much more cloistered universe. Two guys and their absent father is what s1 is about. But it dits weirdly between being comfort viewing and needing attention. There's much that starts to feel formulaic with MOTW episodes: Impala on the road scene, some rock music, an opener that gives you a new mystery and people to go with it blah blah. You can practically set your watch by the final denouement happening in the final 8 mins. It feels like the show is diligently checking off every myth and monster going which gets tedious. I found the need for setting up yet another family in danger was something that gets hard to care about. "Oh look a couple, someone's gonna die, shall I fast forward until sam and dean show up." And yet there are some interesting undercutting of the white working class vibe the show has. Two that stand out to me are: the 'female gazing' of the camera work off Sam and Dean. There's a lot of panning - are we getting in the boys with the guns and hardware and then offering up the handsome male bodies for women? I felt a little cheap, but they they are v cute. The other is having a black/bi racial woman play Dean's only serious love interest. The ghost truck thing is terrible but putting attitudes to race at the centre of this particular storyline was intriguing. Perhaps a counter balance to the overall wwc feel of things. (Full disclosure I am a black woman and I enjoyed seeing this - even tho I did have several moments of wondering was the predominant female look so uniform back then. All the girls have the same build (and did we all wear such low rise jeans?) plus long, wavy/curly hair...except Meg who basically has Sam's hairstyle ha ha)

What's impressive? The first few episodes give us a cluster of core lines: bitch/jerk, no chick flick moments, and the sibling dynamic This show hits its stride right in the pilot and wendigo is still one of the scarier episodes. Thats a really good opening shot imo.

It's no surprise that what's really riveting is Sam and Dean. But on rewatching I saw a lot more on why this is so interesting. Basically when the characters are introduced you first get Sam. He's your archetypal nice guy whis hot everything though for him. Stanford, girlfriend, friends, great test score but also and crucially hes likeable. Then you get Dean and hes introduced as a dick. Breaks in, wrestles Sam, comes on to/is sleazy with Sams gf. So cocky bad boy: check.

In the pilot dean is the annoying big brother to a t. So they set up two contrasting personalities. Dean is disrespectful to cops, Sam is embarrassed by it. Dean is into hunting, Sam is unwillingly persuaded. Dean is insensitive, Sam kinder and sweet. Dean plays dumb, Sam's the academic achiever. But what we witness over the course of the season essentially reverses this. Sam's the real rebel defying his father, Dean the obedient son. Dean gets a lot of scenes showing him make swift emotional connections esp with children or people in caretaker roles. Dean's very adult 'I'm 26 of course I go on hunts alone' is unmasked by the fact he gets Sam to help him because hes lonely. And Dean (often clumsily) tries to help Sam move on about Jess and open up about his nightmares. While the explicit dialogue casts Sam as the geeky loser brother what we see in this season is that the loser is actually Dean. Sam has friends, Sam has a relationship, Sam has a life he wants to get back to. Dean has no one and some of the hardest emotional hits this season are when his mask is lifted to show us just that. For instance shape shifter Dean voices his jealousy in Skin. Also Azazel taunts Dean about how he needs Sam and John in a way that they dont need him.

The closing episodes really bring some of these contrasts home. Dead Mans Blood gives us a great bonding scene between Sam and John, for me that's a moment where it falls into place that they so much in common that it leaves Dean on the outside. They both loved women they lost to a demon. For both of them (at this stage) the mission, as in killing this demon, matters more than family. Its Dean who constantly prioritises family, even while his family deprioritise him. Both Sam in Salvation and John in Devils Trap put sacrificing themselves to kill the demon as their first priority. Whereas Dean consistently argues for family, first persuading John that they are stronger together, then telling Sam that the three of us 'is all I have' in Salvation. The point gets hammered home in Devils Trap where Dean says (in case the stupid viewer missed it "you and Dad are a lot more alike..cant wait to sacrifice yourselves, but I'm going to be the one to bury you").

Much of the rest of the relationship development is about showing us the partnership Sam and Dean are developing. You see increasing ease in working together - maybe most cliched in how they toss weapons back and forth in Hell House. Plus that interesting sibling dynamic when you love someone and find them intensely annoying that feels enjoyable even if your own sibling relationship is nothing like it.

But what's interesting is that while Dean's character is revealed throughout the season. You see through the episodes the difference between his Dean presents himself and hiw he is, but dean doesn't change. Hes immature and emotionally driven I'd also savvy and brave. Its Sam who changes. Not in how he is, but in his priorities. Sam realises the good bit about Dean among the stuff that irritates him. But most importantly the final episode shows us Sam moving from thinking the mission is what matters just like John. To thinking his family matters more. He doesnt shoot Azazel inside John and when John berates him for it his look at the bloodied-up Dean in the rearview mirror speaks volumes.

It's all the more striking because thus argument has been the core dilemma for the last 3 episodes. It's also the crux of how Dean, for all his obedience, sees himself as falling short of who his father wants him to be. He cant turn his heart off. Its Dean who calls his dad sounding like a tearful little boy in Home. It's when John approves of him making the heart choice and using the colt to save Sam, that Dean realises it's not his father but Azazel speaking. I find that painful to watch it's been so well set up. You get lots of preview of Dean really wanting approval and when it finally comes and you're all ahh fsmily bonding, Dean puts it together and goes you're not my father. Ouch.

Absent fathers and eventually I guess an absent God is a big spn theme. So there is something to say for looking at it in this season. John's absence is the driver of the whole season. But it's also the foundation stone of both Sam and Dean's character. What we get most of in s1 is a sense of the impact of his fathers absence on Dean. The childhood neglect, but also the absence of approval. My European background always makes it jarring when children address their father as sir so I hope I'm not over reading this. When John gets back the way it emasculates Dean is jarring. The jumping to attention with the yessirs and the following orders is such a distance from the cocky law breaker. Its interesting that the first scenes in which I recall the boys speaking in unison are these yessirs. But the scene I remember most is a trivial one, Dean offers John a machete out of Babys messy looking trunk - hes already been pulled up by dad for inadequate car maintenance. But John pulls a bigger, better, cleaner machete out of his high spec truck - Dead Mans Blood. Sums it up for me. Dean is so eager for approval, his father withholds it so casually. Sam is less like this, because he had Dean to parent him however ineptly. Sam did not have a hoid parent in Dean, but Dean showed up. Sam starts to make that realisation in season 1 and there are a few thank you moments. Contrast Dean's only outburst against his father when hes admonished to call when in trouble. He takes a leaf out of Sam's book and notes that they did call in Lawrence and they called when Dean was dying in Faith, hes angry and rightly so. John didn't show. But its interesting that Dean's fight with John sounds like a child fighting with a parent. It even ends with 'I dont care for your tone' from John even as he accepts Dean's point. Constrast Sam and John who have a much deeper ongoing disagreement. But Sam fights his father from an adult position. He's not looking for approval or acceptance, Sam claims his ground, argues his point. Dean still just needs to be loved.

But as well as the impact of the absent parent there is also having grown beyond the parent. I feel like the final few episodes show us that 'the boys' have surpassed their father. John's fake colt idea is lame and Dean calls it. By contrast the devils trap at Bobby's to catch Meg feels like a moment of brilliance particularly as the trap is sprung on the viewer so we feel surprised too.. Sure they call in help from Bobby, but what they do is well planned and they pull it off. And calling in helo when you need it us grown up.

Theres an element of fate vs character exploration when it comes to Sam and Dean. What happens to Sam is fate. It's not related to how he is or how he behaves. We find that out more fully soon. Whereas what happend to Dean relates to his character. IMO Dean actually has the option of walking away from hunting that Sam tried to exercise. Unlike Sam, hunting wouldn't have pursued Dean by killing his girlfriend. But Dean's character means he doesnt chose to walk away because family is important to him, in a way that it isn't for Sam until the end of this season. Its interesting that Sam perceives of himself as having choices he doesn't have. Whereas Dean sees himself as having no choice, when in fact he does. But I guess we don't know that yet so maybe the argument doesn't work?

#supernatural #sam #dean #winchester

[ifieverweretoloseyou]

Here is my indepth analysis of the trailer.

First off the trailer begins the morning after the e3 gameplay trailer. Dina asks Ellie about the kiss they shared the night before and they also begin their patrol soon after, which is how we can tell that it is after the e3 trailer. It’s interesting that Dina and Ellie are together because in the e3 trailer Jesse told them that they have to be ready to leave at first light and it seems that they were late at the gates of the city as well. So it makes me wonder whether they spent the night together.

The town seems to be doing really well.

Dina and Ellie are by themselves on the patrol, but there are a lot of other people out on separate patrol routes.

Ellie wears a gas mask when they enter a house with spores even though she doesn’t need one. She’s only with Dina so that confirms that even Dina doesn’t know about Ellie’s immunity.

Then they get separated when the floor cracks and Ellie falls through. The scene after that is of Dina aiming at a clicker. It’s easy to tell that it’s Dina because her hair is much darker and it’s tied up higher than Ellie’s. The way the camera angle is set over the shoulder makes me think that perhaps there will be a part where we play as Dina unless that part is a cutscene. Maybe we will see both of their perspectives when they get separated. 

Then the next part they show is of Ellie looking for Dina, following tracks in the snow. The tracks look like they were left by people walking on foot, but it’s very hard to see anything so I might be incorrect. Something must have happened in that house, they were either attacked by people and Dina was taken or forced to separate because of the infected.

The tracks lead Ellie to a house. The house looks lived in, because personally I doubt that it can look this clean and put together 20 something years after the apocalypse.

Ellie searches the house and finds a door that looks to be to a basement and in front of it there is a shit ton of fresh blood(which will be important later). When she enters she gets a shocked expression like she’s seen something scary and inhales sharply, which is not that surpising, but I will expand on it later. Then she is attacked by a person that definitely does not look like one of the seraphites. Which is something that surprised me a lot because i thought that the seraphites were for sure the bad guys that Ellie wanted revenge against.

This is the guy that attacked Ellie and he definitely does not look like a seraphite.

This is how the seraphites look like for comparison. They wear much different clothes and the men all have shaved heads. 

Then poor Ellie gets beaten up and held to the ground, forced to watch as something happens followed by a loud gunshot. The gunshot happens when the screen fades to black which makes might be used just to trick us. It might not be even included in the scene and just used to scare us, I’ve seen stuff like that used in other trailers.

(Quick side not to say that Ellie is buff now. Also this scene is not before Ellie opens the door for Tommy because look at her hairstyle, it’s different than the one she has when she’s speaking with Tommy.)

Then Ellie is in a house, likely inside of Jackson and after the patrol judging by her bruised face. The bruise on her cheek is in the exact same location that she gets sometime during the patrol. Then Tommy brings her a box. At first I thought that the box contains the pistol she later puts in her backpack, but it’s such a weird box to be storing a pistol inside. That box must contain something else. This scene makes me wonder where exactly might Joel be. The logical thing to me is that Joel would be the one checking up on Ellie and not Tommy. Maybe Joel was out on a patrol as well which is why he didn’t go with Ellie when she went on her journey to find and kill everyone.

Ellie then says something that is very interesting to me. “I have to finish it.” What does she have to finish? What did she start?

Then they show us Ellie gearing up. In the first shot Ellie is putting a gun in her backpack and she’s wearing winter clothes. In the second she’s holding a bow and she’s wearing completely different clothes - her shirt with cut off sleaves and her hair in a different hairstyle like in the first trailer and the gameplay part of the third trailer. So those 2 shots are not happening during the same time even though when you watch the trailer for the first time it looks like they are. I’m putting attention on this fact to show that Naughty dog are making some things look like something they are definitely not.

It’s more than likely that the game will have multiple timelines. The way we can tell which thing is happening when is by Ellie’s hairstyle. The parts where her hair is shorter and in another hairstyle is sometime after what happened during the patrol.The parts where she’s wearing winter clothes and her hair is up in a bun is before and slightly after the patrol. During most of the gameplay that was showed, the bruise on her cheek was healed, which means that those parts are at least a couple of weeks after the patrol. Though in the scene at the end with Joel she still had the bruise so that means that that happens much earlier in the game than it might seem.

There are at least 3 groups of people that Ellie is fighting against. The seraphites, hunters or bandits and then there are these guys

who look to be military or some kind of scientists. They look to be much more ‘professional’ than the seraphites or the hunters. They are wearing military clothes that are distinct to those of the other groups. They are armed better and they even have rifles. In comparison most of  the seraphites have either bows or melee weapons. The dog that attacks Ellie might be theirs, it has a harness on and it’s probably trained to attack.

The military guys seem like really sick bastards. The first thing that tipped me off is that in one of the scenes a military looking guy tortures a guy tied to a chair.

I’m going to blur his junk because I’m pretty sure that he is butt naked and I don’t want tumblr to tag this as inappropriate as it’s already taken me like 5 hours to make this.

So, my theory is that the people that attacked Dina and Ellie during the patrol are the military guys. There was so much blood in front of the door to the basement as if someone was dragged there so if it was Dina’s she would have been dead already. So I think that there were more than one person in that basement. I think that they have taken more people from the other patrols. Judging by Ellie’s shock when she opens the door something really messed up was going on in there. What I believe is that they were torturing people. Maybe to force them to tell where their town is. Or maybe purely for entertaining, what makes me think that is that they forced Ellie to watch what they were doing. Also the thing with the guy in the chair.

That scene is vague on purpose. We aren’t shown anything in it, not even the people that are holding Ellie down. The only thing we see is the blood, Ellie’s surpise and then anger (she doesn’t shoot immediately though her gun is raised so she can see danger, but maybe some of her people too) and the guy that disarms her. He’s wearing green-ish camo clothes just like the rest of the military group. There is something written on his hat, it might not mean anything, but it might be a hint as to who this group are.

Does anyone really think that they will give away the death of a character as important as Dina is this easy? They are just tricking us to believe so.

Dina might be kidnapped or tortured. Something happens, but I’m certain that she’s not dead. Maybe a lot of people are taken, maybe nothing of that sort happens, but Ellie ‘started’ something and she’s going to finish it.

I think that Ellie is after the military group and the cult are just bystanders. I think that the seraphites are more a part of the mystery woman’s story.

Here is another proof that a lot of the things in the trailer are not really what they seem like. Look at the backgrounds of the scene with Joel and Ellie. The background with Ellie looks like she’s outside and the background with Joel looks like he is in a house. Those are likely 2 absolutely separate scenes, but Naughty dog makes it look like they are the same.

[seeroftodayandtomorrow]

A Musical Affair

Chapter 2

Read on AO3

“You have to go,” Grandmama said after taking a critical look at the card. “Lady Rachel St. James isn't quite the thing, of course, but she is influential enough we can't afford to offend her.” She gave back the card, then added under her breath, “Or anyone, really.”

Blaine was glad. He had wanted to go; at the very least, Rachel hadn't seemed to judge him on anything else than his musical taste, and hadn't seemed too curious about him. Maybe it was just that she was really self-involved; if so, he should take care to surround himself with self-involved people.

Truth be told, he was lonely. He missed the company of his friends—if they could be called such, since none of them had written or called on him since he left school. But he missed other young people, or other people in general that were not his mother or grandmother. Maybe he should go back to school after all. Even if it was not Cambridge, but something more suited to his present lifestyle. He would make new friends, who had never known him as the son and heir of the Earl of Dalton. And after graduating, maybe he could become a barrister. It was a gentleman's position and would perhaps appease his mother, who had yet to come to terms with the fact that her son might actually have to make a living.

It wouldn't be so bad. Would it?

He'd be...one of many. He wouldn't be noticed. Beau Brummel had said that to be truly elegant, one must strive to go unnoticed. Well, Blaine would be as elegant as one could be.

Still, for this occasion, he chose a waistcoat that was a little more out there than what he usually wore, and felt a little more like himself as a consequence. His grandmother straightened his cravat as he was about to leave, giving him an appraising look.

“You never know who might be there,” she said with a wink, and he knew she meant eligible young ladies. He had no ambitions in that direction; his only goal, for now, was to enjoy himself and maybe make a few friends.

There were, actually, more than a few young ladies sitting in Lady St. James’s morning parlor, and the picture before him was as diverse as London itself. A young black lady was talking to the hostess, and another with similar facial features to his grandmother was sitting at the piano. He instantly felt at home; although his grandmother was in manners and habits as English as could be and Blaine had inherited little of her features, he had been made to feel he was different for his whole life.

He was given a few uneasy or curious looks after introductions had been made, but nothing out of the ordinary, although a blonde girl by name of Miss Pierce asked him at every given opportunity how he felt now he was not an earl anymore. At first it had been interesting to him since no one had ever taken his feelings into account in this whole affair, but after a while, it became unsettling.

Fortunately, the opportunities presented were not many, as the morning was mostly spent singing. Everyone had a good voice, some even equaling Rachel's, with the exception of maybe a quirky young person with the unconventional name of Sugar. He felt unkind thinking this, but at least, he did not seem alone in that opinion, even though Sugar herself seemed to hold her own talent in higher esteem than it deserved.

Sir Jesse St. James was not present, but a few other gentlemen were, and the duets sung often seemed to hold a similar air of expectation as they did in a more public setting. A few duets sung, like a few dances danced together, seemed to be courtship and promise, be it only for a day or so. It was, Blaine thought, something he did not wish to participate in, and for once was happy that, in this society as well as everywhere else, he did not count as eligible anymore. He varied his duet partners and sang more often with Lady Rachel than with anyone else, as she was already married. After a few times, however, Lady Rachel stopped him.

“My husband is the musically jealous sort,” she said, smiling. “I have to take care not to sing with another more often than I sing with him, or there will be trouble. He would be here today, were it not for business, but you will meet him another time.”

Blaine smiled as he imagined the reaction grandmama would have at the mention of “business”, but he was glad at the implied invitation. “Gladly,” he replied, and it wasn't a polite lie. He had heard a lot about Sir Jesse, and while there was no great scandal anywhere, he seemed an unconventional gentleman who did not give too much importance to societal rules.

After an hour or so, he took his leave, thinking it best not to overstay his welcome on his first visit. He received the hoped for invitation for next week, and as he was already taking his coat from the footman, the lady hurried after him.

“I almost forgot,” she said. “I need you to accompany me tomorrow evening, if you're not otherwise engaged. It will be the most delightful evening, but St. James doesn't care for these things. He doesn't mind me going, though, but I can hardly go by myself.”

“I'm at your service,” Blaine said because there was no other option and also because he had a feeling that maybe Rachel's idea of a delightful evening would better match his own than, say, his mother's. “Where are we going?”

“I'll tell you on the way. Just come pick me up after dinner, and don't wear evening clothes.”

He all but snuck out of the house the next evening, only telling grandmama he had an engagement with Lady St. James. She didn't seem to know if she should be pleased about him apparently having earned the lady's esteem, but she nodded, not even asking what kind of engagement it was. He crept back up the stairs to change out of his evening clothes after dinner, and then went on foot to Lady St. James house rather than take his grandmama's equipage and risk the coachman reporting back to her.

The lady was dressed simply as well, which rather suited her, and in her carriage, she finally filled him in on where they were going.

“A friend of my father's...well. He's not exactly what you would call a respectable man. He's an actor, or at least, he wanted to be. But no theater would have him, and so, he now has an...unlicensed theater club, if you will. He gathers all kinds of talented people and hosts performances in this little assembly hall, and it's always really special. Sometimes I sing there as well, though then I go masked.”

“That sounds interesting,” Blaine said politely. He wasn't at all sure it was the kind of event he should be visiting, and he was especially glad his grandmother didn't know where he was going. It didn't sound like the sort of respectable evening she would like him to have.

“I especially want you to meet a friend of mine,” Lady St. James continued. “Now, you must see, these are all people I knew before my marriage, and so they are not of the ton. You would meet none of them at one of Lady Susan's soirées or at a ball. My friend is a wonderful singer, and a wonderful person.”

“I'm sure he is.” Blaine leaned back into the seat of the carriage. Whatever might happen, he was in for an...unusual evening.

The part of town the carriage finally stopped in was not one Blaine had visited often before. It was not exactly poor—the houses were small, but well-kept, and there were some very fine shops—but Blaine was still glad he was wearing tweeds. His usual evening garb would have screamed “Rob me!” to anyone who saw him.

They entered a building that was just this side of run down—Blaine suspected the darkness and dim light of the street lamps made the house look better than it would in the harsher light of day. Some efforts had been made to give everything a festive air: there were fresh flowers in vases on the stairs of the front entrance, everything was spotlessly clean and freshly scrubbed with some sort of scented oil.

It was, Rachel explained, a little-used assembly hall, as people in this part of town rarely visited balls or parties. Its main use this days was for political assemblies and, increasingly, for the little performances Mr. Schuester's group was staging.

They sat down in the seats arranged in front of a small stage. Blaine made himself comfortable, expecting a strange but certainly enjoyable evening.

There were a lot of talented performers. Most sang, but a few danced, and Lady St. James whispered each performer's name to him before their performance. He had not expected to remember them, but he forgot all of them as soon as, in the second half of the evening, a young man appeared on stage.

He was pale, with brown hair in an upswept Brutus hairstyle that suited him better than any other man Blaine had ever seen, with the exception of, maybe, Beau Brummel himself. His black suit was simple but impeccably cut, and when he started to sing, his voice was nothing but angelic.

Blaine felt himself start to sweat. He was uncomfortable aware of it, seemed to feel drops and then a steady trickle of sweat running down his back. He wiped his shaking hands on his trousers, then took out his handkerchief and mopped his brow. His dismay increased when Lady St. James touched his arm, whispering, “This is my dear friend, Kurt Hummel. I'll introduce you later.”

Introduce! He was to know this man! He'd have fled if he could, but he knew there was no way to escape the introduction without looking like a fool. He'd just have to take care not to make himself look like a fool when he stood before him. Kurt. He feared he would blush and stutter and make a bad impression. Why did Rachel's friend have to be this Mr. Hummel? Why not anyone of the other performers?

He leaned back and tried to focus on the song, but it was no use: beautiful as it was, Kurt was more beautiful, and his voice only increased his attraction. Blaine would have to employ a lot of deception in the next few weeks to be his usual cheerful, serene self at home.

When Kurt finished his song and an encore, Blaine clapped so hard his palms hurt. He couldn't help himself; even when Lady St. James turned to him with a big smile and people in the row before them turned to see who was applauding so enthusiastically, he didn't stop.

Only when Kurt rose from his bow and seemed to look directly at him with a pleased and somewhat confused smile, Blaine let his hands sink. He was embarrassed, but Rachel seemed pleased.

“He is amazing, isn't he?” she said, and Blaine could only nod, feeling warmth and color creep onto his cheeks.

For the rest of the performance, he tried to control his emotions. At the very least, he had to manage to not show them on the outside. When it was over, he applauded with the rest of the audience, not showing any special appreciation even when Kurt returned to take his bow with the others. His knees shook a little when he rose, but he correctly offered Rachel his arm when they made their way through the leaving audience towards the back of the stage.

Still, he had a feeling that meeting Mr. Hummel, even shaking his hands, and not showing anything of what he felt would be very difficult.

[thoughts-of-loyalty]

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia - Japanese Overview Trailer Analysis (Megapost)

Hoo boy, Nintendo dropped a massive video on us today.  Nintendo of Japan, that is.  We’ve gotten an Overview Trailer for Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia.  While most of this was probably explained before, we finally get a lot of demonstration as to how it is going to look when playing Echoes.  We also get a look at some new character designs, either through actually seeing their portraits, via combat models, or map sprites.

There’s really a lot to sift through, so I’m warning you all now, there is going to be a very long post under the cut.  As always, spoilers for Fire Emblem Echoes.

So, we finally get out full-ish look at one of the Chapter 1 maps that Alm goes through.  I could be wrong, mostly because it’s been a while since I’ve played that map, but I believe that there’s been another soldier added, on the far right.  Not that it changes much, but if this is the case, it’s cool to see they’re tweaking the maps some.

This isn’t really anything new, but I just wanted to quickly post a screenshot of Gray in the Mercenary class, mostly just because it’s cool to see his appearance as one.

We also get to see what look to be the new characters Berkut and Fernand (if that is their English names) in combat with Alm’s group.  So they’re definitely encountered as enemies during the story.

Now, funny thing is, this looks like a map in Chapter 3, where Alm fights a group of 3 Paladins (if memory serves).  This may mean that some of the various generic enemies you encounter along the way now have Berkut and Fernand as enemies instead.  But who knows, it could be a new map entirely.  It’s too early to tell.

We then get a quick look at Clair’s combat model, getting to see what she looks like in Echoes.  There’s not a whole lot that can be gleaned from it, considering we don’t have too many clear shots, but it appears she’s got a more practical hairstyle, being tied back and all.

We get another look at Berkut and Fernand again, this time with Berkut as a Gold Knight (at least, that’s what the class generally was called) and I think Fernand may have become a Paladin now.  This means that the two might be recurring enemies of some sort.

We also get to see group exp distribution in action, in what looks to be shortly after the completion of Celica’s first map in Chapter 3.  This was standard for Gaiden, where Group EXP was earned and divided among units after a map’s completion, but we never saw the process.

We then see that, if I am correct, the game announces when a unit has reached point at which they can promote.  This was in the original Gaiden, where it’d be mentioned you could progress to the next class.  Considering that Lukas is a Soldier, I figure that mean’s he’s reached level 7 and is going to become a Knight.

Just a small blurb, because I intend to go over the screenshots related to this in another post: we get a small information on how the villagers can promote into five different class lines.  Nothing we didn’t know before, but I want to talk about it more in another post.

Moving on...

We finally get our first look at Catria, who I’m sure a number of you have seen in either Shadow Dragon, Awakening (as one of the extra teams), or Heroes.  She was indeed in the original Gaiden with her two sisters, Palla and Est.  She looks very nice, but it’s gonna be hard to get used to her after having seen different looks for her in both Shadow Dragon and Heroes.  Eh, well... still cool to see!

We also see a quick tidbit where Alm’s learned a skill from the Levin Sword, which I take to mean that all the weapons have skills of some sort, likely a number differentiating each other.  I figure these skills are gained through repeated use, like weapon ranks in other games were.

We then get a quick idea of what some of the skills will be like:

Sadly, I don’t have too many ideas on what the skills are or what they do in particular.  That said, there are two things I manage to take particular note of: 1) You aren’t required to be in the third tier to get these skills.  This probably isn’t surprising, but it’s good to confirm.  As we can see, Kamui is noticeably a Myrmidon and Leon is a Sniper, both of which are second-tier classes.  So the skill learning probably doesn’t entirely depend on what class you’re on in the line. 2) Alm’s Levin Sword skill seems to double the Levin Sword’s power.  The Levin Sword dealt a straight 15 damage, and knights had 1 Res.  So, if he dealt 29 damage, this likely means the Levin Sword is dealing 30 damage as a result.  The more you know~

Following up on that last screenshot with Catria, I take a closer look at the boss and I think that’s Vrai, a boss from Gaiden in Celica’s path.  I figure it’s him due to his hair (which resembles its look in Gaiden), the shield (which indicated he was promoted to Myrmidon, which he was in Gaiden), and the sword, which I believe to be Vrai’s Darkness Sword.  He wasn’t a major boss, but it’s cool to see him looking unique all the same.  He especially looks unique considering...

We get a clearer look at Deen and Sonya, two bosses Celica had to choose between fighting in Gaiden.  Whoever went unfought would be recruitable when defeating Grieth, while the other was, well, dead.  It seems Deen has had an update to make him unique from Vrai (who was literally a pallet swap), having spikier hair now, and Sonya’s a bit changed too (not by much, though).

Sadly, we don’t get any close-ups due to how the video is structured, but we get our first look at Forsyth (green) and Python (blue), a soldier and archer (respectively) who join Alm in Chapter 1.  Though I do wonder what they’re doing in a village, considering that they were recruited in the Deliverance HQ in Gaiden.  Guess we’ll see eventually.

We also finally get to see Atlas, the only villager in Celica’s path, who joins in Chapter 3.  He’s definitely changed a lot from his Gaiden days, as he’s definitely more handsome now.  Though I guess time will tell if his usefulness has improved with his appearance.

Interestingly, it seems you’re prompted when someone’s going to join your party, at least in this case.  This is definitely interesting, as Gaiden just added them into your party after conversation. I wonder if this will be common, and why you might have the option to turn them down.

We then see a bit of exploration, where a sword of some sort is resting in what looks to be a barracks or something.  It seems that it zooms in slightly when going for an item, so I wonder if this will occur when examining other items, and if it’s required to get specific things.

Now, humorously, we see Alm do a little bit of a spin when it’s his turn.  We’ve seen him raise his sword triumphantly, but this spin...?  That’s new.

#DoTheAlmTwist

We also get to see Jesse as this game’s volunteer for the difference between Classic and Casual defeats.  It seems that the portrait used is different in these cases, too.  Furthermore, it looks like they’re fully voiced (my poor heart).

As we also get to see the Mila gear in action now, where the turns are indeed rewound back up to what seems to be the start of your previous turn.  It does seem to undo EVERYTHING, though, so caution should be used so as to make sure you have it ready for when it counts.

Thanks to the rewind, we get to take a look at some of the units that we haven’t really gotten a chance to see before, as well as some promoted versions of already-revealed units.  They are, from left to right: Top Row: Gray (Myrmidon), Alm, and Tobin (Bow Knight) 2nd Row: Clair (Falcon Knight?), Faye (Paladin), Lukas (Knight), Mathilda (Paladin), and Python (Bow Knight) 3rd Row: Luthier (Mage), Kliff (Sage), Silque (Saint), Clive (Paladin), and Tatiana (Saint) Bottom Row: Delthea (Mage) and Forsyth (Knight)

It’s nice to see some of the newer map sprites, they really look cool and I can’t wait to see their combat models!

And then we get our first look at Juda, one of the main villains in Gaiden.  And hoo boy, does he look different.  So, props to them for updating Juda’s portrait so that he no longer looks like a toe.  Flip side is, though, now he looks like Dracula’s hunchback friend.  Eh, well, I guess it’s an improvement?

And then we get to see this mysterious cavalryman who is currently unnamed.  I’m willing to bet he’s a relative of Celica’s (come on, his hair), but as to what their relation is, I don’t know.  He definitely can’t be a random soldier, though, there’s too much effort put into his appearance there.

We then get to see Saber as a Dread Fighter, fighting against a heavily armored monster of some type (I think, anyway).  What exactly it is, well, I’m not sure.  It’s cool to get our first closer look at the Dread Fighter, though, so hey.  And they’re definitely keeping the acrobatic-ninja aesthetic there.

We also get our first look at I think Mathilda, in her base Paladin class.  We sadly don’t get too much of a look, so I can’t make a real assessment of her looks or the like, but she does definitely look good!

And finally, we get to see... NUIBABA??  Yep, that’s right!  Everybody’s favorite gremlin has been given a major makeover, so much so that Nuibaba’s now a female!  That’s... well, I didn’t expect a genderflip, but Gaiden was always hurting for female villains.  Either way, it looks like Nuibaba gets a bit more focus now!

And that’s all the really stand-out parts about this newest trailer!  Gods, this looks like it’s gonna be a really cool game, at least design wise.  I’m really excited for it!

Did I miss anything?  If you think so, don’t be afraid to message me and tell me what I’ve missed!