hotdonnamt

[amandapandemonium]

Reblogging because new piece out in Qu Lit Mag! And it’s non-fiction this time. Preview here, support the magazine (aka buy a copy) to read the rest: http://www.qulitmag.com/watching-drew-die/

Other stories:

La Cueva de la Cabra: https://addtocartmag.com/2023/02/27/la-cueva-de-la-cabra/

The Room in San Carlos: https://www.hauntedwaterspress.com/the-room-in-san-carlos/

The Women Who Wear Black Hats: https://bangalorereview.com/2023/03/the-women-who-wear-black-hats/

Podcasts/Readings:

La Cueva de la Cabra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEF_fMcrMU4

The Room in San Carlos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntlcFfc-kcY&t=4s

Many thanks to anyone who takes the time to read these.  Much love,

amandapandemonium / A. C. Silva

[possiblyunhinged]

Right... here is an undercooked opinion on feminism nobody fucking asked for...

No one can convince me colour analysis 'experts' online aren't the biggest dweebs in the world. Wear what you fucking like. Develop a personal style separate from glorified pyramid scheme workers known as influencers. We are just being sold shit all the fucking time, and our lives are being reduced now to being consumers twenty-four hours a day.

You don't need a skort from fucking TikTok shop or grease paint shovelled into a cute little package mislabeled as a foundation. You don't need a coffee cup from Temu with a matching straw because some woman online who is now 95% human hair extensions and glue has one. Just because Hailey Bieber puts a lip balm in a phone case doesn't mean you need to have one as well.

Misogyny is tightening its chokehold. Meanwhile, some women appear more concerned with working out if they're a deep autumn or which of Taylor Swift's exes to send hate comments to. Now, I wouldn't care if they didn't hide behind a thin veneer of feminism to avoid criticism, but they do. So fuck 'em.

You can't get through a day without seeing a news story of a woman murdered by a man...

BUT IS RED MY COLOUR?! I NEED TO KNOW IF IT MAKES MY SKIN LOOK SALLOW, I DON'T KNOW WHY, BUT IT FEELS IMPORTANT.

And I will not get started on grown-ass women saying 'girl code'... just say the most exciting part of your life is waiting for a mid-man to text you... please, get a hobby and stop wielding feminism exclusively in times you need to justify being a bellend... I realise the irony of me calling somebody else a bellend as I write this with venom pouring out of my fingers.

With peace and love, pls get a fucking grip.

Love from,

Undoubtedly a massive hypocrite, but a very tired one xoxo

[ride-thedragon]

I do think I hold the opinion more that Nettles was a child of Coryls instead of Daemon if she was, in fact, a dragon seed. I know people like to place her on Daemon because of their relationship, but to me, that never makes sense or holds water, so let me show the reason why I think its Corlys.

So.....

1. She's born on Driftmark.

Any other seed born on Driftmark is born to a Velayron. Even though Nettles still doesn't have the markers of a Velayron, it would make sense that she's sired by a Velayron from Driftmark.

2. She grieves Driftmark.

It's one of the better parts of her story rats tied to her empathy, but her identity is tied to Driftmark, I made this post before, but I'll just tag it for greater explanation.

3. She's tied romantically to a Targaryen.

Depending on who you believe it to be, the Velaryons of this era that live past the dance are tied to Targaryens romantically, especially if we should know about them. Also, all Coryls' kids are.

4. He defends her.

In the same breath, he defends Addam with in the book he defends Nettles. It's an undercooked part, but he even gets accosted for it later when it's brought back up that he defended the traitor dragonseeds.

So why doesn't he claim her?

1. She's a girl.

Realistically, she doesn't really benefit him. He'd marry her off or use her to add a dragon, but truly, he doesn't need to and she seems to be fine on her own.

2. He probably doesn't know or understand the relationship.

Yea, he probably doesn't know or understand the relationship they have.Daughter, granddaughter, distantseed, the man is old and at best could remember, at worst could be going of a hunch.

3. She doesn't look like him

He doesn't have to claim her if he doesn't want to. A white-haired, white man and the brown skinned, black haired girl don't share many traits.

4. She's older than the of Hull boys

That's not to say she has greater claim, but I do think it adds a sense of duty to her as his eldest child alive. It makes it easier to just claim the boys he has no doubt in.

But why?

Thematically, I do think it allows for small changes in the story. Sheepstealer is a Driftmakr dragon, and the dragon he's tied to (Cannibal) is tied to Corlys in the end. They have a very small but notable relationship. It makes her his second daughter and lets her live. Also, my biggest gripe with the Nettles and Daemon relationship is the fact that Daemon has a power of three things going on with his kids, so for me in order for Nettles to he his kid, he'd have to have another int he narrative by another woman, which he doesn't to our knowledge. I won't say it's 100% the right answer but certainly not one to dismiss.

[artist-issues]

I find your analysis on the Disney movie “Wish” movie rather interesting. The fact that there are actually a considerable amount of Christians working on Disney movies is actually really cool. I heard from people that the concept art for the movie was “better” than the movie itself and I was curious about your thoughts if its fine by you. I actually have no intention in watching the movie, but I am interested in the reviews. I personally find the idea of a villain couple really interesting and unique. Star having the ability to shape-shift into a humanoid would be interesting too, especially since the movie already has the goat for a marketable toy. Thank you for reading my ask!

Here is a screenshot of a YouTube video about the concept art:

I totally agree that basically anything would’ve been better than what we got. I think having Star be a character that Asha can actually talk to and have a human interaction with would’ve been great.

If they wanted to have a heroine who believed in everyone getting to have the chance to make their wishes come true for themselves, they needed to explain where that idea comes from. Having her realize that that’s what she believes, out loud, in preachy exposition during a two-minute interaction where she suddenly understands that King Magnifico doesn’t grant everybody’s wishes, (why all of a sudden? She’s lived her whole life in Rosas. She knows Wish Granting Ceremonies only happen once a month—didn’t she or anybody else ever think “hey why doesn’t he give them back if they’re not going to be granted this month?” But I digress) fell totally flat in the movie.

They should’ve given us a background for Asha, or at least hinted at how she came to be the bright, blandly-caring character they keep telling us over and over that she is.

They started to, with the mention of her dad. But it was super halfhearted and undercooked. Who was her dad? What was it about him that supposedly inspired her to care about everyone’s wishes getting granted? If it was the fact that she wished he would not die of illness, and it didn’t happen, and she doesn’t want anyone else to “feel grief” (which is an iffy message, but whatever) then show that to us. Show us evidence of how much her dad meant to her beyond her sketchbook drawings. Maybe he was an inventor and he lived by the philosophy of making life better for the people of Rosas. Maybe he came to Rosas when he was a child, because his family home had been destroyed, and they took him in and treated him so kindly that he spent the rest of his life trying to return the favor by creating new toys and tools that the people of Rosas could use to better their lives—and he taught his daughter to feel that same level of “care for the people” that he did before he died! Then, when she realizes Magnifico came from a similar background as her father and chooses to protect wishes instead of risking them destroyed, she would have an opposite role model in the memory of her father, who chose to work toward wishes even though he’d had his own destroyed at a young age.

But no. There’s none of that shown. Just a throwaway conversation, where the characters just outright say, “Your father was a philosopher always talking about the stars; he used to say the stars were there to guide us and make us believe in possibility!”

But if they had a Star character that shapeshifted into a human?

Suddenly, an alternative to Magnifico’s magic takes shape in the form of a person, with his own set of beliefs and a worldview that could directly inspire and change Asha’s.

It would have been better for her character development to have m than a mute icon to interact with. It would have been better for appeal, too. Instead of just…talking out loud and using exposition to outright say what’s going on in her head, like she’s Batman in an old comic strip narrating everything she thinks about, she could’ve had someone to converse with, argue with, be convinced by.

She starts the movie wanting everyone’s wish to come true, for no well-demonstrated, compelling, human reason. And then she ends the movie still wanting everyone’s wish to come true. There’s no well-done character arc. The only thing she learns from Star is that she has his same power if she really believes she can use it. (But like I said, she’s never shown doubting herself in any real way in the movie before meeting him, aside from nerves before an interview, if you can call that self-doubt.)

But if he’d been human? She could’ve been different. She could’ve started out the movie with the seeds of someone who can work toward her dream and take risks, but maybe tragedy from losing her father has made her pessimistic and she no longer “believes.” But then Star, he can come and wake back up those feelings. People are more inspired by a person who teaches them something through a human relationship (like Rapunzel teaching Flynn to want something more than a life of ease alone, or Jasmine teaching Aladdin that royalty can make you feel trapped too if you’re always having to pretend to be something you’re not) than they are by a pet-like, silent glowing ball with a “loving light.”

I wonder what their idea was. Maybe the Star she wishes on is the youngest star in the heavens. Maybe the “stars” are a community of watchers—they all chronicle human lives as stories, and when people need those stories most, the stars remind them and inspire them of why it’s good to dream and take risks. But Star? He’s young, and he naively believes that the stars should do more, fix every problem that mortals have, and so he breaks the rules and comes to earth to help Asha when she wishes on him.

Obviously there’s got to be some limit on his power, and some thematic indication that Star was wrong; you shouldn’t do all the work for people and give them whatever will make them happy in the moment. They need to work for it themselves. So maybe he was slowly getting weaker and losing his power the longer he was on Earth, but didn’t realize it or didn’t worry about it.

Anyway, he’s determined to help Asha with whatever she’s wishing for, but she (kind of like Tiana,) really just wished on him in a moment of vulnerability, and is usually pretty pessimistic. Maybe she almost-instantly gets in trouble with the King for Star’s appearance, and regrets wishing on him.

Either way, they have a difference in views; Star is a hopeful, bright guy who believes mortals can achieve anything they set their mind to if they try, and that’s why he believes in helping them—Asha is a pessimistic teen who’s faith got strangled by tragedy, but he starts inspiring her to keep trying anyway. Eventually Star and she, even though they become friends, reach a low point or failure in the adventure, and they have their big argument, and Asha starts to backtrack and go back into believing “there’s no point in wishing on stars—it’s crazy to think anything will get better; I’m not going to take any more risks, I’ll lose what little I have left.” and Star learns his lesson; yes, mortals can achieve their dreams, but there has to be a part of them that wants to work for it and has faith; he can’t do that part for them. He can’t just positivity-talk her into it.

And then maybe the King captures him and Asha has to take action again or lose him forever, and doing that teaches her that she’d rather try than live a life of no wishing, or whatever—

—Again, I’m not meaning to do rewrites here. I think the main point of the movie was flawed or too vague to begin with, but I DO think they could’ve made something that was at least interesting, even if the main point was problematic. And the concept art proves it, yeah. Thanks!

[traewilson]

So yesterday I saw Inside Out 2 in the theaters. Gotta say, I left quite conflicted. The film itself is good, pretty darn good, in fact. But all my thoughts about it that aren't just "the animation is purty", or "it made me laugh once or twice", were largely negative? It is decidedly, I dare say objectively worse than the first in most respects. This film gives the established characters much less to do that aren't Joy, and the new emotions are wafer-thin that aren't Anxiety. It isn't nearly as funny or as emotionally impactful as the first. If you're expecting any plot beat to hit as hard as Bing-Bong from the first, curb your expectations.

The old characters who aren't Joy aren't given anything interesting to work with. The new (non-emotion) characters are mostly bland and undercooked. One of these characters just plain disappears from the movie completely, never to be seen again, and it's so ODD. It's a kind of narrative sloppiness you usually dont get from animated films from Disney specifically.

And then there's the new emotions, most of whom are wafer-thin and barely even characters. Anxiety being the main antagonist is given dimension and nuance almost rivaling Joy, but Ennui? A one-note joke character. It's funny because Ennui is a big word so Joy calls her "Ui-Ui" instead. Embarrassment has a bit of nuance being the one emotion from the new batch to be friendly towards the older emotions, specifically Sadness, but otherwise again his whole bit can be summarized as: Ha Ha, Big Guy Be Bashful, Please Laugh. There's no spin on the joke. It's just that ancient moth-bitten joke, again. But Envy is I think the worst of the bunch. The character does nothing throughout the film. All they do is cheer on Anxiety. They don't even really act envious which is really really odd? You'd think they could be a twist baddie - where like Envy wants to take the controls away from Anxiety and run the show herself. This is one time that tired Disney trope of the twist villain could've worked. But THEN we wouldn't have the seemingly mandatory now Realistic Panic Attack Scene, so, this character just Exists. A vestigial character that adds nothing, does nothing - it just Is. Criminal waste of a talent like Ayo Edebiri. Darn shame. Maybe in the third one you'll get to do something.

The film tries to follow in the footsteps of Turning Red, in regards of being a analysis of life as a child entering puberty, and it's a wet fart in the wind compared to what Turning Red did. It doesn't have the honesty, the heart, the integrity - it's toothless. It's too generic to be of any use to someone in the same position as Riley in the real world.

But this isn't why I'm writing this. No. There's a specific scene in the movie that just hasn't left my head since I saw the movie, and I have to get my thoughts written down and out there so I can stop thinking about this already.

Minor unimportant spoiler here. So in one scene, Anxiety is compelling a team representing the imagination, if I recall correctly? Anyway, she's compelling the imagination - represented like animators working on animation - to draw up as many scenarios as possible that affirm their paranoia. Joy and Gang enter, and stealthily start drawing up potentially positive outcomes, upsetting Anxiety. Joy gives a rousing speech about how they should draw the things they genuinely believe in, and not let Anxiety push them around, culminating in a chair being thrown at the Apple commercial Big Brother monitor Anxiety is speaking to them through. The mind cops show up, Anger immediately tries to pummel them (based,) and the gang is forced to run away.

To me, this is yet another in a long line of Disney not so subtly trying to control or manipulate discourse through their art / product. Now, an important disclaimer: Of course, all art is trying to say something to the audience - at least any art worth its salt does. But this isn't any one artist's messaging; this is the Walt Disney Corporation's messaging, to my thinking. The difference should be stark between the messaging of a lone human being and a monolithic megacorp's executive staff. Be aware: this is my read. If you don't see what I see, cool and fine. Just keep an open mind.

This sequence has no bearing on the rest of the story. It's a digression that only exists for the sake of the message contained within. It obviously is addressed partially to Disney animators. Disney is acknowledging they've been overworked before, and it gives them the false hope they have a voice within the company, that they can defy their boss and make a stand. They can draw what they want! They can say no! This is, of course, nonsense. Disney does not support this. If their workforce acted out like this, they would all be fired, and Disney wouldn't lose an ounce of sleep over it. I feel like it's a message to the audience as well - a virtue signal to give the dullard audiences the impression they're Good Guys when they most definitely are not that. And I feel it's sending another message to both animators and audience - the solution isn't actually changing anything. The bad leader is calmed down, put back in their place within the system, and the old leader restored. This kind of messaging is mind poison to a susceptible mind, young or old. You dont change anything. Only the leaders can fix the problem with leadership, and the solution is simply to get the Right Leaders in charge again, for everybody to reconcile their differences. I see Anxiety as the Republican Party in the eyes of the executives / writers and directors - mentally unstable, but well-meaning. A vital component to the functioning of the Body, but one that needs to be kept pacified or it will run out of control and cause damage; try to dominate the Body and cast out the people who know what they're doing. Anxiety is, to my thinking, conservatism in the eyes of the team / the executives. You could extrapolate extrapolate it out so that Anxiety is literally Donald Trump. Admittedly the evidence is slim. The domineering (orange) authoritarian who monopolizes the power around themselves. Envy is the mindless sycophant who blindly agrees to everything Anxiety says - the Marjorie Taylor Greenes, the Ted Cruzes, the Lindsay Grahams. Ennui holds the controls too, but does nothing with them beyond introducing sarcasm to Riley's mindscape. Ennui is the passive fool who sees everything going down and just Does Not Care enough to do anything to stop it. And Embarrasment, in the eyes of the team, is the Good One who is doing good behind the scenes, helping Sadness. The liberal image of the ideal Republican. This is, I admit, a major stretch, and it's ultimately just my read. But I don't think I'm completely off base here.

Uhh, so yeah. Not Pixar's best, and not really spectacularly bad in a way that's at least memorable like Cars 2 or Good Dinosaur. No, it's just another Pixar movie. And you know? I almost think that's worse than if it were a spectacular failure. Cars 2, Good Dinosaur, they make me really stop and think. They're fascinating. Inside Out 2 isn't interesting. It's emblematic of the continued downward spiral of Pixar into becoming an empty shell, fully filled by Disney.

But hey it played the Triple-Dent Gum jingle again and Anger hates cops so 8/10

[aristocrating]

Hot take: Kent haters are the worst people in all of fandom. Especially all these haters coming in now who don't understand the history of the fandom. They put so much energy into hating him for no reason. He already "lost" in canon. He "apologized." He's not a threat to zimbits, right? RIGHT? WHY ARE YOU BOOING ME? I'M RIGHT!

I think the phenomenon you're observing is a symptom of the fact that few people are skilled at the art of being a hater. As a certified Hater, allow me to elaborate.

I think it's fine, healthy even, to hate on Kent for several reasons: he's all setup and no punchline. Everything about Kent in canon is undercooked, he's hardly even a husk of a character, a ghost in a brittle narrative that people (like me) just can't let the fuck go. Colloquially you might call him overrated. And I would say, sure. You're onto something. Yap about it to me.

But what I can't stand is people conflating the barely-character of Kent Parson with some sort of moral judgement about either the character or the people who like him/wish we had gotten more of him. Especially when it involves pop-psychology armchair diagnoses of someone who barely appeared for three comic strips. Kent isn't manipulative. He's not malicious. He's not evil. He's barely even in the comic. Kent Parson isn't real, he can't hurt you. IF you want to delve into the subject of what Kent Parson could be representative of (trauma, envy, retaliation) then I expect that you approach the subject with empathy and an interest for valuable character analysis. If you show up with "Kent is actually xyz and that's my justification for hating him and people who like him" I'm going to assume that you apply that fundamentalist thinking to your interaction with real life people too. He's a cartoon character. If what he represents to you upsets you, it's your responsibility to put your phone down.

Re: history of the fandom. Is there any place where the stuff that happened is chronicled? I don't wanna regurgitate it all in this post (so apologies for being vague (Am I the drama? I don't think I'm the drama. Maybe I am.) but I think it would be valuable for people to know what went down so they can know why anon is so exhausted.

As far as hotness of this take. I feel like this take is kind of baked into the Check Please mythos at this point, as well as the context of the greater fandom discourse (re: pro-shipping and what not). I think I will give it a mild 5/10 problematic faves

👱🏻‍♂️👱🏻‍♂️👱🏻‍♂️👱🏻‍♂️👱🏻‍♂️

Ps: "valuable". I should be an English high school teacher, god.

[quirkwizard]

Incite Analysis?

I think "Incite" is alright. I'm always down for having more support Quirks in the series, even if it is ultimately still combat-oriented. It helps keep things diverse. Especially since it's a support power with a surprisingly large scope. I think it's interesting for the role Trumpet has. As a political leader, Trumpet's power is not only determined by his voice and people's faith in him, but how loud he is, screaming out and over at any opposition and guiding people's emotions the way he wants them to go, but losing all ground the second people stop trusting him. But like a lot of Quirks, it comes down to presentation.

Not only is it a visually uninteresting power, it's barely used in the story. Which is odd since you think that a power that works as a massive force multiplier would be really useful considering how the PLF War went down. By extension, Trumpet is probably the most undercooked member of the entire MLA, which is saying a lot for this group. Having an actual political figure like this in the MLA is interesting, but he's mostly around to keep Spinner busy. The most interesting thing he does is spin doctors the brutal death of Curious into fuel for his campaign. He honestly should have just combined the Trumpet and the bug guy from later in Spinner's story.

[sorenblr]

Gotta say tho, for all the positives of Chainsaw Man, it also boggles the god dangling mind to see so many people on Twitter thinking they're some kind of code-deciphering manga consumers because they have an average grasp at the idea of character development. And then they proceed to act like development is the only thing that can make a good character while waiting for the first opportunity to mention "media literacy" being at an all time low. As if the fucking Riddler wrote it, or some such!

Not aware of whatever discourse this is referring to, and maybe it's already passed, but "character development" is certainly one of those discursive bogeymen when applied to popular discussions of narrative, like "anatomy" wrt figurative art. That is, it's one of the only vectors of analysis that can find any purchase in the free-for-all discourses of shared social media spaces, and eagerly overemphasized. And it's a valid line of inquiry, but since the form of twitter et al. encourages mostly reflexive insights, the yields are usually undercooked. I think development is also more readily emphasized in these places because it reduces easily into big, repeatable patterns: this character ends up with a scar or a prosthetic, this villain undergoes a 'redemption arc' etc. Graspable signifiers intended to service mostly young adults or massive audiences.

Anyway, twitter is a wasteland. As of this writing we're observing a 15-year old discourse on the viability of turn-based RPGs regurgitated over a click-bait Kotaku headline. On other days we can probe into the really pressing questions, such as "was walter white a good guy" or "should all media model morally upright behavior"; what good is any of this shit? Look instead to the philosopher-kings of tumblr* for real, substantive insight...

*adults with dissociative personality disorder compulsively checking fandom tags for things to get mad at

[peppertaemint]

I'm curious about your analysis or even just your take in the meaning of Guilty (both MV and song together as a whole). Along with the teaser/trailer and the mention of Bataille's book, the whole thing seems to be a complicated onion with so many contradicting facets. But if you ignore all of that and just watch the MV, then it is rather a straightforward "hurt people hurt people" and some Lord of the Flies reference. But my head keeps thinking it's more convoluted than that lol. Would you tell me what you think the MV is about? :D

My initial take is pretty straightforward but completely undercooked, lol. This is my unvarnished and un-researched take.

I think that the concept has to do with sin and behaviour outside of expected moral bounds. I think this is where the eroticism comes into play. The dance involves self touching, which can be a hint towards the "sin" of masturbation. His character seems to be held in a place where he is tightly controlled and conditioned, and he experiences physical abuse as a form of behaviour control. It seems like he could be in a place where children are taken to correct "sinful" behaviour, perhaps to correct gender dysphoria, or androgyny, or homosexuality, sins of masturbation, promiscuity, et cetera.

Some of the George Bataille quotes I've seen centre on how eroticism and violence and death are linked. I think the eroticism here is less surface or obvious. People expected this sort of Madonna style sexuality of his previous work, but that's not what we're getting here. It's taking criminal to a whole different level.

There is a link between the sensuality of violence and that of traditional eroticism. This is a bit mindbending. The best example I can think to explain right now is David Cronenberg's Crash. Passion and eroticism are linked literally with the bodily experience of a car crash, its violence and trauma. The violent climax of the car crash is likened to the ecstasy of orgasm. In Taemin's Guilty, the ecstasy of orgasm is linked to a different type of harm to the body and the mind. At the very beginning of the video, how he runs away and has a sort of fit, it's rather orgasmic. I think he's showing us the ecstasy of harm and losing control in many parts.

The video is more complex than it seems on the surface, I think. On first watch, I think it's easy to say okay well he's breaking free of something blah blah blah. I think over the coming days when we actually look at the details closer, we'll see a lot more there.

The entire sequence in this outfit and its setting hasn't been touched upon. The dance that he does in thus setting reminds me of the just me and you contemporary dance performance. I do think there is the struggle of gender underpinning the entire concept, but also a struggle with sexuality and the corporeality of eroticism that so many find sinful.

In quite a few concepts, he has explored the idea of ecstasy through being destroyed or destroying oneself. I think this is another iteration of that. Another exploration. And I think he's done a brilliant job of elucidating that ecstasy in a new way that is really centred on a unique contemporary dance style.  many people have said that he's able to tell a story through his dance and I think this is another great example of that. He's merged cinema and dance into a narrative form to the point where almost feels like it's own language.

I'm not sure where I fall in the Lord of the flies references anymore, but surely there are some present. And we see his character becoming worshipped. But I think there's also a consideration as to what is real and what is not and how many narratives are present in this piece of cinema. Perhaps certain sequences are the daydreams of someone locked up. They could be the fantasies of someone who is not free. Does he escape? Does he get liberated? Those are interesting questions to consider.

[giantkillerjack]

ur post about queerbaiting and the dismissal of people in fandom to critical analysis is so incredibly true thank you. i feel like marcille's writing in the anime has been super misogynistic a lot of the time and every time i bring this up all anyone wants to say is "well maybe this isn't for you! and you shouldn't watch the show!" like. i don't think this is about taste lmao, i am analyzing the text in front of me and coming to conclusions about the craft of it.

[This is in reference to this post]

YES!!! THANK YOU!!!!!

It is so so frustrating!!!!

It's like being at a restaurant and being served a bunch of delicious appetizers, but then one of the bread appetizers is literally just a plate of crumbs; and then when you're like, "Hey, uhh, why are we being served literal crumbs?", a bunch of the other folks eating at the restaurant are like,

"WELL HOW ABOUT YOU JUST DON'T EAT HERE THEN??!? YOU MUST NOT BE THAT HUNGRY, SO JUST FIND ANOTHER RESTAURANT AND DON'T EAT WITH US!!"

And maybe they say it politely, but "Aw, sorry, maybe this restaurant just isn't for you 💖" is just trading out an aggressive dismissive tone for a patronizing dismissive tone. It's the same message.

And it's like! I was honestly happy to move on from the crumbs once my complaint was acknowledged because the meal overall is still delicious, but then all these folks got SUPER WEIRD AND DEFENSIVE ABOUT IT, so now I find myself double-checking all the other dishes -- and, actually, you know what those eggs DO look a Iittle misogynistic undercooked!!!!

[i-mode]

as someone who hasnt played yiik (planning 2 though!) how much did the submitter for the insufferable poll get wrong? also whatre your thoughts on michael as a character

other people in that poll post's reblogs have already mentioned most of the stuff but its less 'outright wrong' (aside from that one part where they talk about the game itself which is another can of worms i dont particularly feel like getting into rn) and moreso like 'taking the information the unreliable narrator gives you at face value' so while alex IS a horrible person its not because of the things mentioned because most of them are either exaggerations/cover-ups for what he actually did or just outright lies to make himself look better. hes also stuck in a loop of self destructive behaviour which does not allow him to improve in turn making him stray from the usual 'bad person -> improves as story goes on' trope and i think thats one of the things i really like about him as a character ... hes weird! hes kinda fucked in the head! hed rather be stuck in his own head than actually go out and improve himself! hes shit as a person but genuinely so fascinating from a character analysis standpoint. hate that guy!

as for michael hes .. fascinating! idont think about him as much as the other characters to be quite honest because he never really appealed to me and his role in the story did feel undercooked BUT ... as an i.v beta tester (without revealing anything) i can safely say everyone who had their eye on him Will be eating good with the content ackk have lined up for him cuz Ooh ho ho .. good shit ...!

[gillie266]

Yeein' On That 'Haw Ch. 10-- Breaking and Entering or Dumpster Diving?

Once I finished assuring Norm that we wouldn’t be in this dumpster for long, I turned around to see if there were any, like… treasures I could fish out of the filth. Maybe if we found some C-4 in this dumpster, we would be able to counter Billy. There were some old banana peels, some burger wrappers, a couple paper cups and–

…There was a man in the corner. 

I immediately began screaming. What else was I supposed to do? There was a man curled up in this dumpster!

Well, I guess I was also technically in the dumpster, but I didn’t know this guy’s intentions. I hardly noticed over my own terror when the unknown man also started screaming. Norm turned around, expression disgruntled, and slammed a hand over my speaker. “‘f you don’t shut the hell up!”

I silenced myself, and the man’s screams died down shortly after. We stared at each other wordlessly for a time. Hang on a second, I recognized this guy! This was the guy I almost witnessed the murder of!... Actually, does it count as murder if it’s a swan? I like to think so. We were in similar boats, him and I. He just dealt with it… far more frequently. I also thought his entire being was funny. Like, he had a bandy-aid on his forehead that read ‘fuckface.’ That’s hilarious! Couldn’t quite remember his name, though. 

Norm immediately pointed his revolver at the man– not quite intending to shoot, but ready to if need be. “Who’re you?” He began.

The fuckface guy lifted his arms in a terrified gesture of submission, pressing himself farther up against the dumpster’s wall. “R-Randy! Randy Jade! Please– Please don’t shoot me!” His flip-phone-head’s screen flickered frantically between various colors, expressing panic. He seemed fucking terrified of Norm, though I could tell it wasn’t just because he had a gun. Now that I got a better look at him, myself and this guy were dressed pretty similarly: hoodie, flannel, some worn jeans– the only difference was the color scheme, of which he wore cooler-toned colors like blue and grey. Fit his overall vibe, honestly. Oh, and the bandages on his hands. Those were pretty wack. 

“Hang on, Randy Jade? The Randy Jade?” I took a step closer to the cowering man. “Like, phone-sex hotline Randy Jade?”

Wow, this was becoming better by the second. I had seen this guy around, but never quite made the connection that he was the same guy with the cheesy-ass introduction on the phone-sex hotline. I never imagined they could be the same person!

Both Norm and our newly-met friend froze. Norm looked at me with his most confused expression yet. “...Y’call phone sex hotlines?”

I paused. “Oh, right, uh,” I waved my hand dismissively. “For funsies. I thought it was funny that there was a phone-sex hotline in a city full of phones. Irony, y’know? I’m a curious person.”

Randy extended a meekly accusatory hand in my direction. “Are…Are you the person that heard my introduction and just… started laughing? Continuously? Until I hung up?”

I snickered at the memory. His introduction was ridiculous! “Yeah, that was me.”

“Oh.” I could practically hear the frown in his voice as his head lowered to look at the floor. “That really hurt my feelings.”

I suddenly felt overwhelming pity for this poor man. But now I was confused– why was he in this dumpster? Oh well, Norm still had a gun pointed at him, I might as well ask. “Say, Randal, what’re you doing in this here dumpster?”

“I live here!” Randy exclaimed, and immediately regretted it. He quieted down. “M-My jobs don’t really pay the bills, so I pay Bunny to let me live in his dumpster.”

Well, he gave us a location, so that was good. Outside Bunny’s Burgers. Christ, I hated that place. The burgers were dry as all hell, and always undercooked. I gestured to Norm to lower his firearm, which he did. “We’re good, Norm, he’s about as dangerous as a cold, wet sock.” Randy did not object to my analysis of his dangerous tendencies. Though, despite Norm having lowered his revolver, the poor man still seemed absolutely petrified of him.

“Does that technically mean we’re breakin’ an’ enterin’?” Norm mumbled to me. 

I paused. I actually wasn’t sure. “Nahhh, I think it just counts as dumpster diving. Not as illegal,” I whispered back to him. I returned my attention to the cold, wet sock of a man before us. “Randy, you’re cool with housing criminals for a little bit, right?”

Randy tensed. “Uh, well, I–”

I cut him off. “Great! We won’t be long.”

I turned to peek out of the little cracks in the dumpster’s walls. I could hardly see anything, but I’m pretty sure there was no Little Billy in the alley. I bit the inside of my cheek in contemplation, trying to think of a way out of this situation. Billy surely knew exactly where we were via some… magical child abilities, probably. We definitely couldn’t fight him, so we had to lose him somehow. 

“Any ideas?” I heard Norm mumble to my right. 

I slowly shook my head. “No. I don’t think so.”

“Well, I got one,” he continued before leaning in closer. He lowered his voice to say “We could always use that destitute feller over there as a distraction. Get ‘im t’ talk t’ the little varmint.”

I paused to contemplate his proposition. I looked at Randy. He did seem like prime Billy bait. If there was one thing I knew about Little Billy, it was that he loved tormenting people with too little self-respect to fight back. I tilted my head. “Huh. That’s not a bad idea,” I commented incredulously. “But how will we get him to do it?”

“I-I’m right here. I can hear you,” a slightly-offended Randy interrupted my thoughts. “What are you guys even running from?”

I didn’t answer his question, only approached to attempt a negotiation. “Randy, buddy,” I laid a hand on his shoulder, probably catching seven different contagious diseases (rabies included) as I did so. I felt the sad, sad man recoil under my touch. “We need you to do us a little favor.” Yes, speaking to him like he was a feral animal was my intention. He probably thought himself as one, anyway. “You like being a good person, right?” 

Randy didn’t notice that I was actually asking him a question until I stared at him expectantly. “Uh… y-yeah, I guess so.” He tried removing my hand from his shoulder, but I only squeezed harder.

“I thought so. Well, now’s your chance. You can actually do something for someone instead of sitting around like a limp, sweaty noodle.” A smile crept into my voice, but not onto my phone-face. “Doesn’t that sound nice?”

“Wh-What are you trying to make me do?” Randy asked. “I’ll do a lot, but there’s certain things I’ve had enough of!” He glanced at Norm. “I’ve dealt with enough cowboys at work that I don’t think phone-hell or heaven will let me in. I think I’ll just be stuck in a wild west style saloon for eternity.” He visibly shuddered. I couldn’t help but briefly question that in my mind, but decided not to talk about it. Norm looked mildly offended.

“We just need you to distract someone, Randy. It shouldn’t be that difficult, just make some crazy noises until we get away. Sound agreeable enough?” I lifted my hand from his shoulder, much to his relief. 

The swan-wrangler fell silent, gaze fixed on his tattered sneakers. “I’m not good at distracting people. I just kind of blend into the background,” he admitted. 

“Not when you’re screaming! You’re good at that, right? You do it a ton.” I lifted my hands in a somewhat motivational gesture, then glanced back at Norm to see if I was doing a good job. Norm only shrugged. 

There was another moment of awkward silence while Randy contemplated my proposition. He was taking a little too long to decide for my tastes, so I gestured to the yeehaw-man behind me. “Oh, and he has a gun. So you kinda have to do what we say.”

That seemed to do it. Randy tensed once more and frantically said “Okay! Okay, I-I’ll do it. Jeez.” I heard him add under his breath, “Why have I had a gun pulled on me thrice this week?” 

I decided not to question that last bit and retracted from Randy’s personal space. “Great! Now we just gotta wait until Billy inevitably shows up–”

“He’s outside,” interjected Norm, his bag pressed against a crack. “Better git on over here, kid.”

I nudged Randy, who hurriedly stood and awkwardly shuffled his way to exterior wall of the container, lifted the lid, and vaulted out. I stooped over to peer through a crack, just as Norm was. We both watched in stunned silence as Randy attempted to strike up a conversation with Billy, who immediately informed him of the grenade he had slipped into his pocket. 

While Randy panicked and fished said grenade from his pocket, Norm lifted the lid of the dumpster, jumped out, and then helped lift me out of it soon after. Thankfully, Randy had used some common sense and gotten Billy to turn his back to us. We began booking it to the end of the alley so we could get the hell out of there. 

Out of seemingly nowhere, Little Billy fucking appeared right in front of us. No, he didn’t like, run up and block our exit, he straight-up apparated. I yelped in shock and skidded to a stop, followed by Norm. 

“Hey, bozos! You should know better!” He vaguely gestured over our shoulders to Randy, who was still holding the grenade (which turned out to still have the pin in it) and seemed just as confused at how Billy blocked our way out. “Guys like him are boring! I need at least some resistance to my torment or it isn’t as fun! That guy doesn’t even have an ounce of self-respect!” I watched as Randy sagged and turned to slink back to his sad-man dumpster. Damn. Poor guy. 

“Jesus Christ, Billy,” I groaned exasperatedly, “Why are you even working for Mingus anyway? Is she even giving you anything?” 

Billy shrugged. “I dunno. Just because.”

I stared at him, dumbfounded. Just because? I guess I should have expected that. It was Little Billy, for phone-christ’s sake. He did all kinds of shit for no reason other than he felt like it. I shook my head to clear it of the confused fog that it was filled with. “Can you just, like… kill us already?”

“Nope! Gotsta keep you alive for the Mayor.” He balled his hands into fists and rested them on his hips in a display of ego. “No death for you, bozos.”

“I swear to Christ, I’m gonna wring your little neck!” I snapped and lunged forward to do just that. Little Billy practically cartwheeled out of the way and held up his hand in a pacifying gesture. I stopped. Man, I really was about to strangle a child. Wow. I heard Norm let out a relieved sigh through his teeth from behind me. 

“Y’know what? I like ya, bozo. You got balls,” Billy mused, not acknowledging the fact that I had just threatened to literally strangle him to death. “I think I’ll leave ya alone. Why not?” He paused for a moment, then perked up. I could pretty much smell the impish grin on his dumbass little phone-face as he reached into his pocket and retrieved a rectangular device from it. 

I fully thought he was about to like… shoot us with a bazooka or something, so I lifted my arms in a defensive gesture. He looked at me like I was the dumbest motherfucker on the planet and gestured confusedly in my direction. “Calm down, bozo, it’s not a bazooka. That’s in my other pocket. You should know this by now.”

I pursed my metaphorical lips. I think my concerns were valid. “Then what the hell is it?”

Billy extended the device in our direction, revealing a walkie-talkie-esque shape with an antenna extending from the top and a big red button in the center like a goddamn cartoon. It was clear what it was: a trigger. For what, I wasn’t sure. “A countermeasure,” the little shit stated, sounding like some sort of mentor in a superhero movie. 

“Alright, vague, but I’ll take it, why not?” I shrugged and extended a hand to receive the trigger. I noticed Norm bristle behind me, and gave him a brief look of concern. His expression remained stoic. 

“I’m gonna vanish from the story now, later, bozos!” Billy exclaimed, using two baby-carrot-ass fingers to salute Norm and I before… literally fucking vanishing. No smoke bomb or anything, he just… disappeared. I frantically looked around, trying to locate the little rat child, but finding nothing but shattered hopes and dreams. 

“...Christ,” I mumbled, resting a hand on my phone-face. “That kid is gonna kill me. Probably. Yeah, he’ll definitely be what causes my death.”

Norm spoke up, taking a place at my side, “Which ‘s why we won’t be usin’ that there trigger.”

I looked at him, confused, prompting him to continue. “Why not?”

After a sigh and some hesitation, he elaborated. “Y’said that kid ‘s basically th’ bane o’ everybody’s existence, right? I don’ trust anythin’ he gives us. We ain’t usin’ that. Might as well throw it away.”

I scoffed incredulously. “We shouldn’t throw it away. If it really is a countermeasure just in case our plan to assassinate Mingus fails– which I’m assuming that’s what he meant– we might very well need it.” I glanced around and leaned in closer to Norm. “As much as it confuses me to believe it, I don’t think Billy would lie about this, and this specifically.”

“And what ‘f it kills us ‘f we use it?” Norm’s voice gained a little bit of volume, which gave me pause. Did he really care that much? I recalled his earlier confession in the subway, and reasoned with myself that yes, he did really care that much. 

I hesitated for a moment. Maybe, I thought, I should just agree with him and throw the trigger away. But my instincts didn’t let me. I just had a good feeling about it– it might have ended up being the thing that saved our asses. Even if Billy supplied it to us. Fuckin’ weirdo. 

“I guess that’s just a risk we’ll have to take, Norm. I’m sorry.” I shoved the trigger into my pocket, being careful not to accidentally press the button in the process. Norm’s expression falled to discontent, and he visibly tensed. I began to worry that I might have pissed him off, but he would just have to deal with it. 

“Fine, you win.” He pointed an accusatory finger in my direction. “But ‘f we die when usin’ that, I’m blamin’ you.”

“You would have blamed me anyway, so I’m alright with that,” I half-joked while turning to face the end of the alley. “Let’s… find the cat, I guess.”

Norm sighed, beginning to follow me once more. “Love seein’ th’ enthusiasm.”

[deadbeatbirdmom]

I find myself (a) sold on roughly 80% of that long take on peoples' undercooked perspectives about Yang and (b) deeply appreciating the commentary on her dad's blind spots (which-along with SRQ-really feeds a critique of the way Oz handles his special-op teams). It's honestly rankled me for some time how no small number of fan-essayists will praise the show's subversive cleverness but tout that Vol. 4 cabin stuff as a straightforward 'sensei knows best ya knucklehead' arc.

I think you're referring to this post I reblogged. I'm sold on most of it too, but was too tired and generally lacking in spoons at the time of reblogging to say anything but 'great analysis' in a tag.

I very much appreciated that part about Tai's blind spots too. I don't hate Tai, but I do think Yang deserves better than to have something that is fundamentally a part of her (namely her Semblance) written off as a temper tantrum when she uses it so differently. I figure when she first unlocked her Semblance that it was used like that at first, and that's how it got stuck in Tai's head.

I do wonder what Tai's Semblance is. Maybe it's similar to Yang's, and he's projecting his thoughts on his own Semblance onto hers.

But Yang must have grown so much since first unlocking her Semblance, and she's used it tactically since the start in the Yellow trailer. Granted she couldn't use it terribly tactically against Adam in Volume 3, as she had no idea what he could do. But I don't think she had any good options there. Do nothing? He might have killed Blake right in front of her. Try to shoot him? At that range she might hit Blake herself. Close the distance? Well, we saw what happened when she did.

Once Yang knew what to expect from Adam, though? In Volume 6 she closes the distance and avoids losing another limb by dodging. She learned. He didn't, to his cost.

[arkus-rhapsode]

My Thoughts of FE Three Hopes

Wow, Arkus talking about 3H? What is this? 2018? Also talking about FE3H, I must have a death wish.

So before I start even talking I really want to put this disclaimer out here, especially when talking about the divisive nature of 3H, these are my OPINIONS. This is not a objective analysis of the game nor am I am claiming it to be. These are the thoughts I had playing this game. If you enjoyed it, good. If you didn't, that Is also good. You do not have to agree with me, but I am asking for people to be respectful if they want to engage with this. And if you do agree with me, please do not use what I say as an excuse to attack people with other opinions. I am not trying to personally attack or offend you if you like this game/character/plot point. This is my opinion of a piece of media. There is plenty of opinions of this game on the internet, all I am doing is adding my thoughts to the conversation.

Anyway, people might now I am generally more middling on 3H nowadays. I think its greatest strength was its character writing and its willingness to try different things even if I wasn’t a fan of them like the time management aspect. But I felt the social sim aspect and developmental issues behind the scenes resulted in a much uneven game and at times unfinished project. I’ve also looked back and realized a lot of its politics are not that great. Like the strength of the narrative is the character conflict, that you have these three forces who all want what is best for people like them with crests, and its very compelling drama where you see how much they care about each other, but just can’t agree. But step back from the context of the conflict, the issues aren’t really crests or even the church, but rather the feudalist system which is never really addressed in a major way (And we know you can be a rich noble without a crest). With most of the plot centering around a lot of people who are nobles. Heck, you have actual subjugated and colonized people and most of their plots are either treated as backstory or something to be resolved in their character endings (Even Claude and his anti racism isn’t that relevant in comparison to the strife of the crest bearers and their place in Fodlan). While I think characters like Dedue and Petra are good, the story of 3H is not their story. Like every ending still seems to maintain the system with slight alterations, the thing that’s changed the most is who is calling all the shots in Fodlan. Which isn’t uncommon for many FE’s that maintain a simple “The good lord is the good one to rule”, but given 3H attempts to ask more nuanced questions, it feels like it the political aspect is much more undercooked. Which sucks because anytime discourse about 3H happens it boils down to: “Church bad! Church good! Fascist! Not fascist!” when there is an actual discussion to be had about the issues of the internal politics of the game and how it relates to the status quo. But again, when it focuses on CHARACTERS the 3H story is very good.

But hey, now we have Three Hopes! A musou style game that is an alternate take of the 3H world with loads of extra content! Surely this will be able to scotch tape the issues with the original while also providing another three completely separate routes that are all satisfying on their own, right?

Well... not really.

Look, I know I’ve lost people when I said that, but from what I have seen, I think a lot of people wanted Three Hopes to be, Fodlan: The Definitive Edition. Give the people Three House with all the stuff it missed out. Like how Persona Royal is the definitive way to play P5 which not only improved the story in an organic way, but still let you experience P5 as it was. But 3Hopes isn’t that. 3Hopes is a completely alternate universe, with honestly so much variations, I would say trying to apply logic and revelations from Hopes and retrofit it to houses just clashes too much and doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. I see a lot of people try to apply stuff learned about in Hopes as being relevant to Houses, but I disagree with that. I feel like knowing about this in Hopes doesn’t retroactively fix the problems of Houses, and I feel some character are almost completely different so the application of this Hopes characters ideas and thoughts are relevant to the Houses version isn’t really fair. Overall, if you are just here for another game with the Fodlan kids though, I get why this has its appeal and its easily the better FE Musou while integrating more FE elements. But it is a spin-off and I am treating it as such.

Okay if you are still sticking around to listen to me ramble after that, let me just get positives I liked about the game out of the way first.

From a story standpoint, I like that this game is willing to fill in stuff from 3H that went either on addressed or was flat out ignored. Shez is better than Byleth in everyday and their relationship with Arval feels far more genuine than Byleth and Sothis. Yes their design is very “OC do not steal” but honestly, I prefer your MC to just be a mercenary that got made a student and not a teacher.

In terms of routes, I will touch on some subjects later, but I actually do believe 3Hopes did manage to make Edelgard in particular more compelling, by actually showing her weeding out the conspiracy in the Empire and centralizing her power rather than it being all off screen, as well as actually allowing her to do more dubious acts when wartime came which was one of my biggest issues with Crimson Flower as a whole as it was an antagonist route where they didn’t do a lot of the actually pretty bad stuff they did in other routes like making the Dukedom which empowered Cornelia. So using Bernadetta’s father as a pawn or saving Lenato as an act of good faith with manipulative undertones actually made Scarlet Blaze a better route. 

Speaking of routes, I quite like how 3Hopes was willing to basically say “This character could go any way in this war, and this is who is ride or die their lord.” I avoids some really weird stuff like Ingrid ever being on black eagles with the only reason being “The Professor told me to” and also adds an interesting layer with characters like Yuri or Dorothea who will do what is best for them and their groups. It also I think allows for more story opportunities like Felix and Sylvain backing Dimitri, Hilda and Holst tag teaming with Claude etc.

Rhea not just disappearing or getting captured also adds for her character to take a lot more initiative. Rhea is mostly passive in 3H with the exception of Crimson Flower. Which led to her character basically being a lot of speculations. And I don’t particularly care for discourse that ends up just being based on speculation. SO yeah, Rhea feels like more a character here.

The politics in 3Hopes are... still pretty bare minimum. I like more characters talk about policy more openly and address concepts like getting people involved in government and the only reason they are keeping lords around is to manage things until they are replaced. It doesn’t feel weighted on one side or the other: all lords get a chance to have an opinion. But again, it is something. 

Graphics wise, it is an improvement. It looks far better than 3H and the character animations, expressions and attacks look so much better. Like Im not even gonna say “Well its a Musou, I expect it to look good”, because I remember FEW, it didn’t look that great with some of its animations. 

That’s the positives out of the way. Lets get into the negatives.

So you know how I said the three routes in 3H generally feel unfinished or not as fleshed out as they could be? Well 3Hopes is the same. It adds more, but due the spin off nature again, it feels not quite finished. I think you should know what 3H is before playing it, but Hopes has just a lot of “because I said so” momentum to its plot. I understand it needs to get to next battle, but it also doesn’t feel super meticulous on its route system. So it really just feels like Fates where everything was already decided for me when I make the choice of what house to join. 

I do respect the game willing to just say that war and conflict doesn’t end no matter what choice you make, but it also just generally feels like you accomplish little when you beat the route big bad, but there’s not a real resolution.

Now while I think Edelgard became much more interesting character in Hopes, I feel like she also gets a worse treatment. Having things like Hagemon Husk and mind control forced on her really feels like its limp wristlet trying to avoid her doing her most ambitious acts, and generally not addressing her and Those who slither in a satisfying way and once again just focusing her sights on Rhea. I have never been a fan of Thales’s influence on the plot and boy it doesn’t becoming any clearer in this game. Scarlet Blaze again feels incomplete with Tharles and Rhea just doing themselves in feels extremely unsatisfying. And before you think I am picking on Edelgard, trust me I have words for all the lords. There was a lot of people upset with Claude in Golden Wildfire seemingly being so bent on killing Rhea as that was the only way to fix the system. While many have already pointed out how that is wrong and basically his own ending proves that conflict doesn’t just end when one figure head is taken out, I actually do think this showed an interesting thing about the perception of 3H characters. Claude is often called a schemer, but we don’t really see him take any duplicitous actions beyond not reveal his racial background. He’s honestly a pretty open guy, but one willing to be very observational which sets him apart from the very single minded Edelgard and Dimitri. However, Wildfire does make Claude much more manipulative in his actions with Edelgard and his murder of Rhea. But many found this out of character as it seemed as Claude is the one who always found another way. I think overall, Golden Wildfire is fine, but once again, it playing with a different Claude and I think that will effect some people.

And now we get to Dimitri. Who I think got the worst of it all. Dimitri is quite literally down a character arc. I like intro of actually feuding with his uncle, there’s definitely manipulation by Cornelia, but if you know 3H, Rufus has a bit of a point in his fear of Dimitri. But that really never comes. Boar Dimitri is primarily absent and we honestly lose the best part of his character journey, needing to learn his vengeance isn’t going to fix the issues his people are facing. That he must take that anger and make a better Faerghus as king. Im not against maintaining sane Dimitri, but it really feels like Azure Gleam is objectively trying to be the good route. Multiple characters like Miklan get a redemption, the Church sides with Faerghus, Claude and Dimitri ally with not manipulation by Claude, Edelgard is made into a puppet and saved by her adoptive brother and left in a state she is no longer a threat, and he still has his close friend in Shez. Like literally, Dimitri gets everything he wants with his mental issues never being an obstacle. 

Some have theorized that this was intentionally, this was the team creating a deconstruction of the concept of the golden route. That secretly everything happened is bad. But I don’t believe this theory. I believe due to Dimitri being the most popular lord, we saw a route where a lot of his edges were sanded down to give the player a more dream-like, almost Kaga era, style story of noble people over coming noble problems and magic bad guys in black robes was the real evil. Dimitri was already subversive of the standard Fire Emblem lord, he is Sigurd or Chrom that thinks powering your way through will make things right and then needs to be told that how he has acted is wrong. He went to edge and needed to be pulled back. And if not, he will ultimately die.

And speaking of characters, Sothis’s sudden change is... again not that well done. I like the idea of Sothis controlled Byleth and it works for Shez’s story, but its also super disconnected from any church stuff so it feels like another missed opportunity.

And of course there is the game play issues. For a musou game to be this many chapters, its generally monotonous. Some people love it and will never get sick of it, but I will admit when I am on my 3rd play through of the game, I was feeling like I had scene Shez’s ultimate attack a hundred times by that point.

So did I hate this game? no not really. Its an FE spin off game with completely different play style, the only thing I can compare it to is the last FEW which it is a lot better than. I don’t think Hopes and Houses should be treated as linked, they are clearly different takes on the same concept. I think I found myself liking Hopes when it pandered to me already knowing the characters. But I honestly still think Houses was the better way to experience these characters for all the faults I have with it. 

Overall, it is a not worth full price title, but I can’t say its awful. I think what it tries to do is commendable and if you just want more time with the Fodlan kids, I think you will love this. But I just can’t say I liked it myself. 

[crocslederg]

Dear parents of Zachary, aged six weeks,

I would like to express both my condolences and my gratitude for the brave sacrifice of your child, Zachary, aged six weeks. You see, your child, and nearly two-hundred others like Zachary, aged six weeks, have been savagely consumed by me while possessed by the demon of ‘late night munchies.’ Please know that I express remorse for these actions, and that the ending of Zachary, aged six weeks, life was not in vain, as it was necessary for the greater good. As a gesture of goodwill, thanks and commemoration of the short life of Zachary, aged six weeks, I have attached a culinary review of your child to this letter.

Child: Zachary, aged six weeks

Age: Zachary, aged six weeks

Critique of Child: Worst child I’ve ever eaten, negative a billion out of ten stars. Ignoring the lack of cleanliness, the excessive saltiness of the child probably due to all of the crying it’s done because out of all the people it could’ve been the child of it had to be *your* child, the absolutely horrid taste of it which was like that of cheese that has rotted for hundreds of times the duration of its life, and the fact that, despite being a *RAW FUCKING BABY,* IT WAS STILL SOMEHOW FUCKING UNDERCOOKED, I did a chemical analysis of some of the leftover blood around my mouth and found that there was a substantial amount of arsenic in it. Never have a child again

[rocco-delorenzo]

Beyond the Plate: Elevating Food Safety in Our Global Kitchen

Food safety is a fundamental aspect of public health that affects people worldwide. Ensuring the safety of food from farm to table is crucial in preventing foodborne illnesses, which affect millions of individuals annually, leading to significant health and economic burdens. As global supply chains become more interconnected, the complexity of maintaining food safety increases, highlighting the need for stringent standards, effective management practices, and ongoing public education.

The Scope of Food Safety

Understanding Food SafetyFood safety encompasses various practices aimed at ensuring that food is free from harmful contaminants, such as bacteria, viruses, parasites, and chemicals. It involves multiple stages, including production, procurement, storage, distribution, preparation, and consumption.

Current ChallengesGlobalization has expanded the variety and availability of food products, but it has also increased the risk of contamination and foodborne diseases. Other challenges include the adaptation of pathogens to new environments, the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and the impact of climate change on food production and safety.

Strengthening Production and Procurement

Safe Agricultural PracticesThe foundation of food safety lies in the methods used during crop cultivation and harvesting and animal raising. Implementing good agricultural practices (GAP) reduces risks of contamination from the start. This includes controlling water quality, minimizing the use of pesticides, and ensuring animal health.

Traceability SystemsTraceability systems are vital in tracking food products from origin to consumption. They help in identifying the source of contamination in the event of a foodborne illness outbreak, allowing for quick response and containment. These systems rely on technology such as blockchain and data analytics to enhance transparency and accountability in the food supply chain.

Enhancing Processing and Storage

Processing Standards Food processing facilities must adhere to high standards to prevent contamination. This involves regular sanitation procedures, strict personal hygiene practices among workers, and the use of food-grade materials. Adhering to Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) systems in these facilities is critical for identifying and controlling potential hazards.

Advanced Storage SolutionsProper storage conditions are essential to maintaining food quality and safety. Innovations in packaging, like intelligent packaging that, can indicate the freshness of the product, and improvements in refrigeration technologies play a crucial role in prolonging shelf life and preventing food spoilage.

Distribution and Retail Management

Regulating Food DistributionEnsuring safety during the distribution of food is a complex challenge due to the variables involved, such as temperature control and handling procedures. Regulation and regular inspection of vehicles and storage facilities are necessary to uphold safety standards.

Retail and Foodservice PracticesAt the retail level, whether in supermarkets or restaurants, food safety must be rigorously managed. This includes proper food handling, maintaining clean environments, and ensuring that food is cooked at temperatures that kill harmful organisms.

Consumer Education and Participation

Public Awareness CampaignsEducating consumers about food safety is fundamental. Public health campaigns can teach essential practices such as proper handwashing, safe cooking temperatures, and the risks associated with raw or undercooked foods.

Empowering ConsumersEmpowering consumers with knowledge about food labels, expiry dates, and safe food handling can significantly reduce the risk of foodborne diseases. Mobile apps and other digital tools can provide timely information and tips to consumers, enhancing their ability to make safe food choices.

Policy and Global Cooperation

Strengthening Food Safety RegulationsGovernments play a crucial role in establishing food safety standards and regulations. National food safety policies should be based on scientific evidence and aligned with international standards to facilitate trade and protect public health.

International CollaborationGlobal cooperation is essential to tackle food safety challenges, especially as food supply chains cross multiple borders. Organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) are pivotal in fostering international dialogue, sharing best practices, and coordinating responses to global food safety issues.

A Collective Responsibility

Food safety is not just a regulatory requirement; it is a collective ethical responsibility that involves governments, industry players, and consumers. As our food systems continue to evolve, so too must our approaches to ensuring food safety. By integrating advanced technologies, enhancing global cooperation, and actively involving consumers in food safety practices, we can safeguard our global food supply against present and future risks. This proactive and inclusive approach will help create a safer, healthier future for everyone.