#whoever has been working on her videos is incredible

[moonbyulz]

LISA - NEW WOMAN feat. Rosalía

[harrieatthemet]

Questions

in which Zane Lowe pays a visit and Harry’s a D list celebrity in his own home.

She’s so excited.

Regardless of what the circumstances may entail, she’s got an incredibly uncanny way of assuming everything is about her. The accumulation of faces, some familiar and some not, the propped up studio lights meticulously scattered throughout the first floor of the house, men with video cameras; it all has to be a backdrop for her. 

At least, that’s the impression she's under. Exactly what it all was for remained a mystery to her, but it didn’t matter. A precise reason was merely unimportant. Besides, she was too busy relishing in the adorning of passerby’s; the cooing and compliments of adoration, all the musing at her outfit (the outfit she picked, a ballet ensemble overflowing with enough glitter to blind anyone within a 2 mile radius). 

She hates being spoken to like a baby, regardless if she still is one, but she’ll allow it from the man crouching down in front of her “Who did your hair, sweetie?” 

It’s a compliment, so she’ll let it slide. Additionally, she’s taken notice to the audience around him; a grouping of people that have now trained their attention to the smallest person in the room. Her. And she’s not going to disappoint them, either. 

The man smiles ear to ear, a mic hooked to the collar of his shirt and two phones sandwiched in his palm. He, and the crew behind him, lets a string of aw’s out adoringly as Angel Baby grimaces shyly, running her pudgy hand along the hair hanging off one of the bows from her pigtails. 

“Daddy does my hair,” Angel Baby’s voice is soft, and she grins a littler harder when the man mewls at how adorable she is, “he wuvs the bows.”

Putty in her hands; Angel Baby is no stranger to working a room, especially adults, and knows quite well how to play up the chubby toddler bit to win the heart of whoever she may need to. A victim, you call it, and Harry’s a repeat offender. She’s got Zane Lowe on the docket now, too. 

“Bubba,” Harry’s exhale glides across the kitchen, like a sigh of relief, “where’ve y’been? Think Mumma might need help outside, should y’take a look ‘n see?”

Absolute buzzkill. Subconsciously she knows everyone’s here for him. Camera’s go up and the posture across the room gets a little stiffer, more proper. Zane straightens out the bend in his knee until he’s standing upright, looking down at angel baby instead of eye level like before. 

On the heels of an album release comes the stress of all that entails; interviews, press, tours, deadlines, so on and so forth. The past few weeks Harry’s been a ticking time bomb, much edgier than usual. A perfectionist by default (and by habit), he’s a stickler for doing everything precise and exact. Ultimately, that must be why the house is exceedingly tidier than usual and he’s ready to scurry Angel Baby out of camera shot. She’s got other plans, though. 

“No, please.” She smiles because, well, she said please like Harry taught her. 

Manners are very important; please and thank you are a must.

“Bub,” now Harry is standing beside Zane, his glide from the other end of the kitchen quick and with intent, “m’loving how polite y’are, but m’not asking. Daddy has work t’do and-”

“I don’t mind if she stays,” Zane interrupts, his body turning towards Harry, “if that's cool with you.”

Angel Baby’s absence in the yard is enough for you to assume that she’s somewhere inside, stirring up trouble and tap dancing on Harry’s last nerve with an innocent smile and a doll in her hand. 

Which is exactly what she’s doing: working his last nerve. She’s put together in an adorable package; the outfit, the pigtails and bows, a chubby little face and the sweetest puppy dog eyes. He knows all too well how she plays it up to get her way, but he knows she’s got the menace tendency hidden underneath no matter how thick she lays the cuteness on. 

“Alright,” He wants to seem chill, everything’s fine. He’s Harry, he just goes with the flow, “totally cool, yeah.” 

It’s music to her ears and now she’s surely got everyone right where she wants them, which is basically eating right out of her hand. They’ve got the cameras trailing right behind the trio, her hand wrapped snuggly in Harry’s as they walk out towards the patio and settle by the pool. 

The skipping as she tries to keep up with the two men double her size surely has to have the possy behind her swooning, but she peeks over her shoulder ever few skips just to be sure. And she side eyes you once she notices you just off in the yard, arms folded across your chest with the look. In an attempt to spare her a stern reprimanding from her father (which is never really stern, honestly. He intends for it to be but ‘She's just too fucking cute, can’t yell at an angel like tha’!), you mouth a quick ‘behave’ to her before she shrugs and looks away. 

“I know it’s a strange place to start,” Zane shrugs, throwing one leg over the other, “but I noticed your nails.” 

Your stood just behind the camera and, yes, the general aura of the physical setting up is quite relaxing; the calmness of the pool, the warm breeze of mid-June, the sun beginning to take it’s break before the moon can step in to take its place. So you should be figuratively patting yourself on the back for such a romantic execution of a backyard landscape, but instead your completely zeroed in on the mischievous toddler perched arrogantly in your husbands lap. 

“I think f’me, like-” and right on time, Angel Baby wastes no time in jumping in.

“M’wearin daddy’s nails,” she states proudly, extending both hands as if she somehow needs to provide proof, “’nd they’re glitter pink.” 

Zane is good with her; patient and kind as he pretends to do an astonished double take. He even turns it up a notch to feed her ego, like he’s never seen pink polish topped with a coat of glitter. 

“M’love,” Harry hums, adjusting one of her lopsided bows, “Y’mind if I jump in?” 

Harry’s trying to be patient, you know he is. He absolutely adores angel baby and under any other circumstance, he’d be happy to be just another side character in her show. A puppet on strings, you call it, but he’s never minded until now. You can tell he’s a little edgier than usual; this album is different than others. It’s special. It’s transparent. It’s vulnerable; He’s vulnerable. 

She recoils, hands falling back into her lap as Zane and Harry traipse on in conversation. He’s become much more comfortable, his body relaxing into the chair and his words free-flowing. But now you’re edgy, because that silent baby in his lap is revealing just how bored she’s becoming now that the attention has shifted off her. A little more fidgety now, she is; swinging her legs, paddling her hands up and down on Harry’s thigh, even pulling a few faces and mimicking Harry when he talks. He’s so caught up in conversation that he doesn’t catch on to how restless she’s growing. But you do, and you’re eyeing her as she lets out a small huff. 

She’s gonna open her mouth. 

“No matter what it is, kind of.. you know, the dust or-”

“Actually I'm 3 years old,” she cuts Harry off again, sitting up right with a matter of fact expression etched on her face, “so I’m not a baby. Oh ‘n I have two dolls.” 

Zane’s laughter is boisterous, and he nods to make sure she knows that he was definitely not under the impression that she was a baby. And now that she’s managed to weasel her way back into being the center of attention, she’s divulging Zane in a very descriptive recounting of last weeks dance class when she almost threw up. 

Harry’s oggling you from the seat, eyes wide as though he is loudly telling you to intervene without causing a scene or rubbing her the wrong way. But he’s also quickly realizing that he’s second best under his own roof, especially as he notices the guy behind the camera adjust the focus and angle a little bit closer on Angel Baby as she drawls on about how hard it is to tie her Gucci sneakers. 

“Wait,” she stops mid sentence, putting her hand up to tell everyone to stop before she tugs on the sleeve of Harry’s sweater, “I want a snack.” 

He whispers something in her ear, well aware that everyones eyes are firmly planted on him while he mouths something unreadable to the squirming toddler on his knee. Whatever it is he said seemed to do the trick, because he lets his shoulders de-tense a bit as Angel Baby wiggles off his lap before nodding to you to head towards the kitchen. 

“Don't worry Mister,” she calls to Zane, “m’just havin’ a snack.” 

She scurries off, her head down and arms pacing exasperatedly as she embarks on a light jog out of camera shot and scurries past you to b line it towards the patio doors. What follows is an eruption of laughter from the gaggle of folks in your yard, a soft chuckle and shake of the head from Harry.

“She is such a ham, (Y/N)” one of the film crew compliments, “is she always like this when there’s people around?”

“Absolutely,” your laugh is breathy because despite how irritated Harry’s getting, it’s like someone packed his personality into a tinier body “she’s her father’s daughter.”

[fuckyeahbaldursgate]

Viconia - Plot Support extraordinaire

Just to preface this as I don't want this to seem like I am hating on BG3 as a diehard fan of the original series because I really do love BG3. I've completed it twice now and think it will absolutely be joining my annual rotation of BG1/SOD/BG2 playthroughs but it has its problems, much in the same way that the originals themselves have problems as well.

So after my Sarevok post I wanted to treat Viconia to the same critical analysis as unfortunately I think she also gets the short end of the evil plot stick. I get it, evil characters can be hard to get right but again similar to Sarevok, in my opinion, her character regresses to evil Shar mook number one rather than actually being Viconia. Worse still she's entirely at the mercy of being wrapped up in ShadowHeart's backstory.

Anyway this is a bit of a deep dive into Viconia's issues in BG3. Spoiler warning for both BG3 and BG2.

1. No Grey DeLise.

Again, similar to Sarevok, another prolific voice actor that has done recent video game work seemingly not approached for the role. I can't help but think that some of this is down to the rushed nature of act three generally and Larian just having to get whoever they could for the job in the time that they needed it. Unlike Jaheria and Minsc there's no attempt to mimic her original VA or get someone who sounded like her so she ends up sounding completely and utterly different.

This version of Viconia sounds haughty and stuck up which while the original Viconia VA has a degree of arrogance, she is also pretty sultry. Haer'dalis even comments that she has 'the throaty voice of the most expensive courtesan' and Viconia deliberately plays on the stereotype of the sensual female drow with certain male party members for her own benefit e.g the male Bhaalspawn, Edwin, Sarevok and even Anomen (I cover this a bit here and here).

2. Her in game design...just isn't great.

Let's be honest, combined with the voice, Viconia's design basically makes her unrecognisable. She looks like a generic old drow lady to the point that I did have 'Is that meant to be Viconia?' moment when I first met her.

Now I appreciate there is minor controversy with Viconia's original BG2 portrait (which is probably the most recognisable image of her) because the artist actually used a famous porn star as the base for it.

For info, this was a common practice at Bioware at the time as they used to use lots of different images as bases for portraits. They finally got into legal trouble for it in NWN where due to various copyright claims they had to change quite a few portraits.

More recently, I think that Beamdog actually did quite a good job of recreating a faithful adaption of her original portrait in Siege of Dragonspear while presumbably navigating the original copyright issue.

In comparison to her BG3 portrayal, my first impression was she looks incredibly old. Now as far as I'm aware we've never been given a canon age for Viconia but we do know she was around for House DeVir being defeated by the Do'Urden house so she has to be at least 100 years old by the time of BG1... but her character level is between 2 and 6 (depending on the party's XP) so a relatively inexperienced cleric. With that in mind I definitely assumed she was on the younger side (maybe 200-300?). Either way 5e elves can live between 750 to 1000 years although there are instances in the Forgotten Realms books of drow living to over 2000. Now tack on the additional 120 years for BG3 in my mind it would definitely put her in the middle aged category but not necessarily anywhere near the end of her life. Critically she would be aging much slower than Jaheria but with those wrinkles she looks WAY older than her. I honestly feel cheated of an interaction between the two about how hagged and old Jaheria looks in comparison to herself.

In terms of her outfit, although initially she wears the Sharite mask and hooded outfit, which is good for concealing her identity, we eventually end up with Viconia in a spider adorned dress. This seems like a strange choice given the spider motif when she literally stopped worshipping Lloth for Shar - maybe she's being ironic? The lack of armour,when she's a cleric that knows there's a good chance she's about to have a fight seems kind of stupid. If you do choose to fight her, she then looks entirely comical in her light dress accompanied by an enormous oversized shield and mace.

For me though this really identifies her design problem: her leather armour was a critical part of her original design. Given that we only see portrait style headshots of BG characters, the decision not to include her leather corset with the three straps and the head band is really what makes her unrecognisable. It would be like removing Minsc's head tattoo or Jaheria's braids or Sarevok's armour (which even with all the problems I talked about in my post, at least he got to keep that).

My hope is that some enterprising modder out there makes a more BG2 accurate version of her in future. Larian, please give my lady her leather armour back or maybe even a justicar outfit!

3. Ignores her BG1/2 alignment, motivations and twists her original epilogue.

Now I do appreciate BG3 deliberately assumes that the events of BG1/BG2 are a little bit fluid, which Jaheria confirms this when she talks about the bards that tell stories of her slaying gods or bedding them depending on which one you listen to. But the game goes onto confirm certain events in Viconia's history that don't really make sense:

A.) The game confirms that Viconia did travel with the Bhaalspawn but not for the entirety of the game. Minsc informs you that after trying to dissect Boo she was expelled from the group. I have to admit this story didn't gel with me at all because it implies Viconia is some sort of chaotic evil idiot (reminder: Viconia is neutral evil with a 16 INT score and 18 WIS score in BG2) who would deliberately provoke a giant raging berserker man by murdering his beloved pet. Like that's the sort of thing I could see Xzar (who is completely and utterly mad) doing but not Viconia. What benefit would she get out of it? Maybe it would be a good tribute for Shar but that would be a pretty short term benefit. In fact in BG2 Viconia offers begrudging respect to Minsc for his effectiveness in battle, she knows he's powerful and she wants to be on the right side of that. Minsc for his part does what he does with many of the female characters, particularly in BG2 and makes her a proxy substitute for Dynaheir offering to protect her. That's not to say she won't insult people (Aerie and Jaheria or characters who she perceives as weak often get the brunt of it) but she's generally smart enough to stay out of an actual fight. Important to note that in any of NPC conflicts that end in a fight in BG1/2 (e.g. Kivan, Ajantis, Keldorn) it's never Viconia that's starts the fight.

B.) The Waterdeep cult.

In Viconia's epilogue, which you only get if you kept her for the end of Throne of Bhaal and you didn't romance her, Viconia goes on to do a few things which you can see below (obviously massive spoilers for BG2) :

So it feels like Larian has taken the first part of this ending but nothing else, which really leaves a lot of questions. We know Shar isn't entirely happy with Viconia based on her diary entries so why is Shar still giving powers to a woman that basically killed a whole bunch of her followers? Why is Viconia still working for a goddess that hates her? Why is she so accepting of Shar's plot to groom Shadowheart as her replacement? Why on earth hasn't Viconia got the fuck out of dodge, which is pretty much what she has been shown to do in the past? And this comes neatly onto my next point.

4. Viconia is just a plot device for Shadowheart.

I love Shadowheart and I love her arc but honestly Viconia being the Mother Superior just felt like a way of inserting her into the game in a way that didn't really fit especially when Viconia's diaries in BG3 show that she knows that Shar intends for Shadowheart to essentially replace her as one of her prominent followers/chosen. The whole plot ignores two critical points about Viconia and her backstory:

Firstly the reason Viconia left the Underdark in the first place was because she refused to sacrifice a child to Lloth and Lloth turning her brother into a drider after he saved her from being sacrificed. Now Viconia is many things, she's self serving, cruel and dedicated to her own survival at the expense of anything and anyone else (quintessential neutral evil through and through) but at the same time she threw away her position, caused the downfall of her house and got most of her family murdered to save a child. You're telling me she would then willingly go along with Shar's plan to deliberate plan to kidnap and repeatedly torture a child for YEARS whilst also training said child to replace her? My girl doesn't have many lines in the sand but harming children definitely seems like one of them. I actually wandered whether Shadowheart not liking to harm children / prefers saving them is not just about her being a secret Selunite but also a potential a hint of Viconia's influence.

Secondly, that plot seems to ignores Viconia's other primary driver, which is to survive: it's why she leaves the Underdark, it's why she travels with the Bhaalspawn, it's why she worships Shar and it's why she murders an entire cabal of Shar's followers after one person betrayed her. Now if we ignore that she has qualms about children, you're telling me that she would instead essentially train her replacement to be an amazing cleric who is 99% likely to murder her? I'm pretty sure Viconia would have tried to kill Shadowheart way before her becoming a justicar or simply skipped town as she has done before.

The alternative?

Personally I would have liked to have seen Viconia ultimately involved in a plot to overthrow the Mother Superior or maybe doing something even crazier like going after Shar herself out of revenge following her fall from grace after the events of the Waterdeep cult. Maybe she works with the Absolute to get her revenge and keep her divine powers - hell who better to help Ketheric with the Nightsong in Shar's temple then an ex priestess of Shar?

If not the Absolute then Shar's got plenty of enemies and Viconia has converted before. Maybe she could have joined the team to achieve a particular goal while giving fans of the original series the opportunity to have one of the original evil characters to join the crew. I would have loved to see the contrast with Minthara who is still fairly fresh from leaving drow society and a complete blunt instrument compared to Viconia's more subtle ways. Maybe Viconia would take the paladin under her wing, maybe introduce her to a new patron god (something I don't think is ever explained is how Minthara still retains her divine powers given neither Lloth or the Absolute are fueling them anymore). Shevarash the elven god of revenge, would be a fantastic fit for both of their back stories (which would also be a nice little throw back to Viconia's heated / sometimes fatal arguments with Kivan in BG1) presuming that Viconia could get over her disdain for the elven pantheon by that point in the timeline. The fireworks with Jaheria of course would be grand while Minsc I feel would be very conflicted given his mind's tendancy, as noted above, to sub in any female magic user as Dynaheir.

[hanaleeappreciationweek]

The start of this week has been nothing short of incredible!! We've recieved such amazing work so far - loads of art, fanfic, edits and even a playlist!! Can't wait to see what else you all have up your sleeve 😍

Happy World Book Day to everyone!! Tomorrow, we will be celebrating Hana's love for books and exploring her tastes in reading! Becoming "well-read" was a skill her mother Lorelai insisted she cultivate, but it soon grew into a passion and in some ways a source of comfort for a lonely young Hana! It allowed her to give free rein to her imagination and conceive new worlds for herself!! So tomorrow we will celebrating Hana and her passion for reading!!

Our other theme this time is AU! The sky is the limit for this one. Imagine any alternative universe (whether just for herself or her with whoever you pair her with) and how Hana will respond to this environment!! Surprise us!

Any content is welcome!! Fanfic, fanart, edits, moodboards, interactive, media, headcanons, screenshots, playlists, meta...even screenshots of your favourite scenes would be great!! Our only requirement is that the content is centered on Hana, and that the depiction of her is positive. You can also send in WIPs in case you don't complete a work!

You can also send in a work on the days following a particular theme - this is no pressure for it to be put up exactly that day! We will also have an extra week for anyone who still needs time 💕 May 4th will be our final official date for entries (to incorporate into our video!) but HLAW will still be open for entries for the rest of the year until the next event!

You can find this year's full list of prompts here!

Be sure to do the following when you make your posts:

1. Use the tags #hanaleeappreciationweek and #HLAW in the tags (along with the day you made the post for - #HLAW Day 1, #HLAW Day 2 etc)

2. Tag @hanaleeappreciationweek, and hosts @lizzybeth1986 and @sazanes in your work!

FAN CONTENT BLOGS are instrumental in keeping the fandom alive - with events and fun activities that encourage us all to contribute and create. They have also been amazing in their support towards our character events. Do check them out to see all the new incredible events and prompts coming up!

@choicesficwriterscreations - Primarily fanfic and fanart (no AI allowed). Check out their rules and roster of events!

@choicesmonthlychallenge & @choicesaprilchallenge24 - Any and all content welcome (No AI content)! They have a collection of prompts you can use for the month of April!

@choicespride - Any and all content is welcome, as long as it is centered around queer characters and/or themes.

@choicesflashfics - Primarily fanfic under a 2500 word count. Every week they use new dialogue prompts. The prompts for the coming week will be out soon but the current week's are here.

@choicesholidays - Any and all content welcome, as long as it is centered around one of the holidays listed! Currently, they are hosting Spring Fling!

@choicesprompts - Mostly fanfic preferred! You can check out their current Round Robin event here!

Happy Hana Lee Appreciation Week, everyone!!

[sarcasticsra]

I cannot stress enough how much everyone should watch Starkid’s A VHS Christmas Carol if you haven’t seen it yet. It’s pretty short, only about 45 minutes, and it’s truly one of the best adaptations of A Christmas Carol that I’ve ever seen.

No, seriously. I think it has even surpassed The Muppets Christmas Carol for me. That has been my favorite Christmas movie since I was a child. My mom and sister and I used to watch it every Christmas Eve. I still love it dearly and it is an amazing adaptation that I’ll defend to my death, but you guys. You guys. A VHS Christmas Carol is just THAT GOOD.

It’s done in the style of 80s music/videos, which is delightful. It’s an opera, so it’s all sung through, which I love. And it’s so good!

Let me enumerate the ways. Spoilers to follow. (Can you spoil A Christmas Carol? Once a story becomes public domain does that exempt it from spoiling? Idk, lol. Spoilers for the show, anyway. Also for Avatar: The Last Airbender. …I promise there’s a path.)

1) Bah Humbug! - Song number one and it goes hard right from the start. It is everything an opening number should be. Dynamic, sets the tone, and an incredible fucking bop. The interactions between Scrooge and Fred and Scrooge and Bob are done so well, too. You so quickly get a sense of their characters. Obviously we know their characters because this is a story that has been told many a time before, but it does it so well that you would immediately get them even if you were an alien who had never in your existence been exposed to A Christmas Carol in any capacity. That’s impressive to me. It’s not relying on the familiarity of the story to do its character work.

2) 3 Spirits - I love the tone of this song. This is a Marley with true regret and pain who is absolutely pleading with Scrooge to take the chance he’s being given. It’s less “scared straight” and more, “I need you to understand this like you’ve never understood anything before.” Marley becomes a character in his own right as opposed to merely a backdrop for Scrooge to react to. That’s a theme with this adaptation. Characters who are pretty flat in a lot of adaptations seem so much more like real people in this one. Also, whoever decided to cast Meredith as Marley here is a fucking genius. She’s so goddamn talented and she really shines here. The emotion, the weight. Gah. Beautiful. The interplay between Marley and Scrooge is incredible as well; these are two insanely talented performers breathing a new life into tried and true characters, and you really feel the relationship between them.

3) I’m The Ghost - Christmas Past is so pointed and snarky and incredible, making Scrooge come to certain realizations. “Huh, little boy left all alone. Oh, your sister died so young. Didn’t she have a son though? Why are the employees so happy, this party didn’t cost much? Thinking of something? Okay, last stop, buckle up, it’s all your own doing.” I love it so much.

4) That Scrooge - You guys. You guys. They’ve done what I assumed was impossible. They’ve done what even the Muppets couldn’t. It’s a Scrooge-Belle breakup song that isn’t the most unbelievably boring and bland thing you’ve ever heard in your life. Belle is a fucking person! She has a personality! She’s very clearly stating her case, that he’s changed and she doesn’t like it and does he have anything to say? No? Okay, bye! THE EMOTION IN THIS SONG. Scrooge starts singing not just with her but to her! All the things he didn’t say before! And then he starts singing angrily about/at his past!self for being an idiot! You actually FEEL THINGS about this relationship. It was a deep love and losing it super fucked him up! I have never before seen Belle/Scrooge done as well as this one (1) song handles it.

5) Christmas Electricity - Get ready to have this song stuck in your head for ten thousand years. This song is, I believe, the standard classical definition of “a fuckin’ bop.” It’s so high energy and exciting, you really can understand how Scrooge gets so caught up in it himself. You also see more of Fred in this song and, again, he’s a person! He has specific motivations for why he keeps reaching out to Scrooge. Corey’s Fred is hands down one of the best performances of this character full stop. He took what is usually a bit, side character and made him a full human with understandable thoughts and feelings. They gave the Fred-Scrooge relationship such incredible emotional weight because of it. I think that’s one of my favorite aspects of this adaptation.

6) Priceless - Here we see the Cratchits enjoying their Christmas with an incredibly sweet song about having little but feeling like they have a lot. I really like the way this song feels a bit cheesy (goes with the whole 80s vibe) but they also feel like a real family with some silliness and some sweetness and Bob’s wife having very strong opinions about Scrooge that he’s too polite for. Also “listen to this key change out of the bridge” goddamn just show off constantly how freaking talented this entire cast is, why don’t you.

7) The Final Ghost - I probably have too much to say about this song. It’s my favorite, which considering this entire show is pitch fucking perfect, is really saying a lot. Dylan Saunders is truly one of the most talented performers I’ve ever seen, and his Scrooge is so, so good. It really shines through here. His interactions with Christmas Future show him mirroring Bob from earlier (he has a line that’s almost an exact quote of a line from Bob in Bah Humbug!), correcting himself, and trying to be respectful/humble. Subtle displays of emotional growth even before he gets to the truly scary parts. The song is of course a darker tone, as is correct for this part of the narrative, perfectly setting up the finale song. We get Scrooge overhearing about a funeral no one cares about, the same man being robbed after death, and this death bringing actual happiness to people. Throughout it all so far Christmas Future only speaks in a wordless melody, as is apt. Scrooge asks for tenderness connected to death and is shown the Cratchits mourning Tiny Tim, which breaks him, and he asks who the dead man was from earlier. Still wordless, Christmas Future leads him to a cemetery, and that wordless melody perfectly transforms into an eerie, ethereal, “Ebenezer Scrooge.” The fucking amount of sheer EMOTION Dylan packs into Scrooge pleading for his soul, that he is changed, and the final bit of narration… fuck, you guys, it’s so good. I love all of the “scene” parts of this song so much. It all builds so perfectly.

7a) The narrator. - This isn’t a specific song, I just want to call out how excellent the narrator is through the whole show and how perfectly the narration ties the whole show together. It’s one of those things where it goes unnoticed because it’s so perfect, but if it were bad you would definitely notice. You need it to be there and understated or a lot a falls apart, but it can be such hard balance to strike. This show nails it.

8) Christmas Day - The finale! And what a finale it is! The energy is a perfect contrast to the song before it as Scrooge delights in being alive and having time to make things right. His joy is palpable as he goes about his day, buying Bob a huge turkey, making an incredible donation to the charity he blew off the day before, and showing up at Fred’s. Guys. This scene. Especially when I watch the live, but even sometimes just via the soundtrack, this scene just fucking perfectly, beautifully guts me. You know how in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Zuko has to go on his whole narrative arc to eventually join the right side, and along the way sort of betrays his Uncle Iroh, aka the only good father figure he’s ever had, because he’s a traumatized teenager, and eventually he meets back up with him and starts stumbling out an apology and Iroh just sweeps him up in a hug without a word, and you sob because it’s perfect? That is the energy present in this, what, 15-second scene, just this incredible emotional buildup and payoff accomplished in a scant 45-minute runtime. It’s truly wondrous. The finale, as all true finales should, calls back musically to previous character beats, and ends on the perfect bookend to the opening number. It’s just so, so immensely satisfying.

Tl;dr - this musical has made me feel more Christmas-y than I have in a long, long time, and I have listened to little else in terms of music since I watched it two weeks ago. (It was literally the only music I had listened to since then until right now, and that’s only because I’m in a van on a road trip to my sister-in-law’s for Christmas. While I would have been perfectly content to listen to this soundtrack on repeat for the entire 8-hour drive, I also recognize that the four other people in this van do not have my particular flavor of hyperfixated ADHD brain and probably would not appreciate that, heh. Thus I played it once and then other music. Compromise!)

But yes. Seriously. It’s so good. Gah. Go watch it!

[mdhwrites]

Jumbled Thoughts: Romantic Rivals With Spy x Family

"What do you mean you love him!? You may be best girl, the tsundere and the one who spends 90% of your screentime with him but I'm in love... With..." "You want to go get a drink as a consolation prize?" "Yes please." And then I'm going to poison her drink so he can be all mine!

A lot of good, long term romance works have what can easily be identified as the romantic rival, regardless of how actually effective those rivals are. A character essentially designed to be an obstacle between the main couple and true love. There's a lot of forms this can take and luckily, anime has given us two great examples recently with Spy x Family's Yuri and Nightfall... But first let's get a few things out of the way.

Despite my bit at the beginning, a romantic rival actually doesn't need to be a direct competitor. Quintessential Quintuplets' romantic rival is the 5 girls' father and it'd be real creepy if he was actually trying to bang him.

"SIS!"

We'll... We'll get to that. No, instead the point of a romantic rival is simply to be someone who has to lose if the main couple ends up getting together. Their happiness and desires are essentially impossible if the main couple's happiness is achieved. That's why they're a rival since there can only be one winner. The most direct way to do this is with someone else who loves one of the two MCs but it can take on a lot of forms.

Secondly: For them to be a rival, they do actually need and investment in the potential of the two MCs being together. The best rivals are likely going to relish in destroying what might have been just as much as they'll enjoy either capturing the one they love or dooming them to misery. For their role to function though, they can't be unaware of what they're doing. Otherwise, they fall more into cruel twists of fate or comedic interventions depending on the severity of the moment and the tone it's portrayed with. Like Joe from Big Time Rush moving for her work isn't because her agent is a romantic rival, whoever they are doesn't care about the romance going on, it's just business. One that tragically breaks up the head of the band and her.

We did get one hell of a song out of it though. (Yes, I loved this show as a teenager and still think their music slaps incredibly hard. Also, I'm linking this video because it portrays more what happened but I do think the 2020 acoustic version done during lockdown is better.)

Another thing necessary for the character to be a rival though is that they are inherently a bad option. While one could call all the girls in your typical harem romance rivals to each other, it's better to call them contestants. They all have a real, viable case for taking that spot of best girl/boy, both in the hearts of our MC and of the audience. You are supposed to be okay with any of them getting with the main character. They are simply a competing ensemble.

A romantic rival is a villain. Even when not explicitly portrayed as one, you're supposed to want them to lose. They VERY rarely are real people besides maybe a sob story but that's not really the point of them. Romantic rivals are meant to elevate something into soap opera levels of drama, not for a nuanced discussion of love. A way to heighten the stakes and force the cutesy, potentially eternal lovey dovey elements of a work into what will be an even more satisfying conclusion.

Or for some EXTREMELY funny jokes. Speaking of, let's get into Spy x Family.

Nightfall versus Yor.

Yuri versus Loid.

Or, er... Well, see, why these two are so useful is that we actually have an incredible romantic rival and one that mostly entirely falls flat on his face in the role and is arguably the worst element of the show to me. As such, let's start with him: Yuri. Yor's baby brother.

He is a member of the secret police, the best at what he does despite such a young age and has a sister complex. Like... 80% of his character is sister complex. 19% more of that is screaming about his sister and then 1% of him makes you remember "RIGHT! This guy actually claims to be a functional human being!" Yuri's inability to actually function as a person is one of his biggest flaws because that single minded obsession makes it hard for him to really have more than a handful of jokes, all of which just increasingly become more stale (at least for me) as the show went on. That's a real shame too because as a rival to Loid, he's actually about as good as you could ask for.

See, while I have problems with Yuri, his failure in this role actually has a lot more to do with Loid than himself. A rival is meant to push the couple out of their comfort zone, potentially make them fuck up and do something that will upset the other, or challenge some aspect of a person's love for their partner. Loid... Doesn't have any of these traits. His whole gimmick is being the man with a thousand faces. To have so many layers, you'll have cried an ocean by the time you get to the core of this onion. That also means he has no comfort zone to push him out of, only fuck ups because of himself and...

Well actually, this is the one way I think Yuri does screw up as a potential rival to Loid. He makes big declarations about whether or not Yor and Loid's love is real but his love isn't real either. He doesn't actually know his sister. He doesn't engage with her genuinely, just like Loid doesn't. He has this nostalgic, permanent image that would take literally seeing his sister kill a loyal citizen to the country in order to even crack. That's not actually more genuine than Loid using her like he does. The only difference is that one will never ask Yor of anything and want to stay by her side while the other will only stay until the job is done. It'd be much more effective, in this role, for Yuri to genuinely know his sister and be able to call things out because of the genuine care versus Loid's artificial care.

Otherwise, what Yuri really does is be a reminder of the world these characters exist in. Someone who genuinely can NEVER find out the secret between the main couple, that they're not married nor actually in love, or else Loid is a dead man and Operation Strix is over. That's because Loid is an enemy of the state so while Yuri would lock him up for the wrong reasons, he is still one of the few people who could actually cause trouble if only he knew the truth. Too bad Yuri has been a spy for like an entire decade less than Loid and so Loid can run circles around him also making this tension somewhat tenuous at best.

He is only a threat in essentially the same way anyone is. In that he cannot know the secret. That is the exact opposite of Nightfall, Yor's rival.

Nightfall is a fellow spy from Loid's agency. She actually was a pupil of Loid's and mistook being told you can't have emotions on a mission to mean she must deaden all emotions. She is also a super spy on a similar level to Loid, making her the idea working partner for him.

But that lack of emotions is also why she can never be Loid's romantic partner. Yor is a bundle of energy and a precious cinnamon roll who wears her heart on her sleeve and couldn't help but be earnest even if she tried not to be. She is exactly the sort of warm, open person that Loid needs to ever make him consider retirement. To peel back the layers so that he can one day be himself instead of one of the many faces that he has. She will only ever love Loid... Not Loid's job or codename: Twilight.

Immediately we have the reason why these two contrast and why you will never root for Nightfall. Nightfall loves Twilight. Loves the image and ideal of Loid as this unstoppable super spy who she could essentially conquer the world with. Who she could help alleviate the woes of before they both get back to work. She'd be devoted but to all the wrong needs of Twilight. We even know she has the skills with which to do it, something Yor very clearly lacks as putting her in the kitchen is a surefire way to attempt mass genocide.

Not to say Yor is incapable of challenging Nightfall in a more practical way like how Loid entirely destroys Yuri. Yor is still superhuman in her physical capabilities which is why despite how clumsy and dumb she can be, she's still a very capable assassin. It's just that being an assassin is essentially all she's good at, besides empathy that is. Yor's care runs deep, just like how deep the tennis ball she sent into God only knows where is or the ball she played with Anya with when she did her own signature shot. Since Nightfall can't convince Loid to drop Yor due to her wifely duties, she does only have this and one other tactic to use against Yor and here she fails ENTIRELY.

The other one she's a lot better at. See, in her eyes, Yor is a bad wife. Yuri thinks the same about Loid but as a bad husband. Unfortunately for our cinnamon roll, she does not have Loid's confidence or the homely skills to back that up and so questions about her capabilities, especially with a smooth motherfucker like Twilight, shake her to her core. Luckily, she has the empathy and care that helps with Anya and makes her not just a good wife but what is even more important here: A good mom.

Here is where we get Yuri's last failing. See, a good romantic rival should be like any good villain. They oppose not only the couple but the whole premise and theme of the show. Yuri and Nightfall both do actually attack the themes to some extent by asking for stagnation and pulling the two back to their past where they will be trapped in the violence they have known all their lives. This is attacking the Spy part of the title. Only one of them actually says anything about the Family part of it though.

The most disappointing moment of the entire series for me was when Yuri finally interacted with Anya, Loid and Yor's adopted daughter, and hated her. Now, admittedly, his goal of arresting and killing Loid would pretty much certainly mean Anya's death too since she was adopted by Loid. Best case scenario for Anya if Yuri wins is going back to the orphanage but... That's the same case for if the operation that brought these three together fails in anyway. He adds nothing new with this that the base premise of this being a sham family doesn't already add.

Meanwhile, Nightfall knows from go about the operation and her opposition to Yor is specifically so that she can take the place of Loid's wife for the operation. This introduces two new elements that very, VERY few other characters can so directly. The first is that if Nightfall wins, it dooms Anya. Her desire to keep Loid as Twilight, rather than as himself, means that the warmth that Yor and Anya are forcing out of him will likely shrivel back up and die so that when the operation fails, Anya will go back to an orphanage and the family will end.

You also might have noticed that I said WHEN the operation fails, not if. While we haven't gotten it in the anime directly, we know a lot of Loid's methods for getting Anya to succeed fail and Anya at least likes Loid enough to try. Yor has made monumentally better strides in getting Anya to listen, be better and try harder than Loid ever has because, well... Anya is six. She doesn't need a cold, calculating spy, she needs parents and Yor's earnest and honesty makes her a great parent who is constantly trying to do the best for her child. From the brief glimpses we get of what Nightfall would try to employ as a parent, we have good reason to assume she'd fail just as hard as Loid has and so either Anya would run away, happy to be away from a family that no longer has Yor's warmth and has a slowly deadening Loid, or she'd be sent away once the stress and pain of that environment crushed her.

It is a unique threat that quite only someone from Loid's agency can present and it's a much more interesting reason to hate Nightfall and want to see her fail than Yuri just hating Anya regardless because he sees her as an extension of the sister stealer. It makes her a genuine villain that the regular populace can't replicate. It also allows her more dynamism as she'll do whatever she has to to gain the place of Loid's wife, even act kind to Anya, until finally she no longer needs to. She's a spy after all and this is her mission.

There's one other element here though I want to give a shout out for that is actually easy to overlook for romantic rivals: I want Yor, Twilight and Nightfall to be in a polycule. For Loid and Nightfall to finally have a real conversation and fix the lesson that has poisoned Nightfall so thoroughly. For Yor's kindness to help Nightfall see herself as a real person and not a slave to her image of Twilight. Hell, I even do want to see Nightfall be able to help shore up Yor's skill weaknesses and give Loid someone who can 100% understand his worldview, even as they both fight against keeping up those barriers. Nightfall is mostly a joke, mostly played for comedy but her genuine care for Loid, and how much it devastates her to fail, makes her into a more complex, sympathetic villain who you don't want to see be splattered on the pavement.

I... Well, I won't say Yuri is such a bad character that I want him literally dead but if he got shipped over to this world's version of America for the rest of his life, I would not miss his presence. He is a creep, a man child and quite frankly the best ending for him is probably to literally never be able to see his sister again so as to grow up as a person. Even that implies I even care enough to want to see him grow though as two seasons in, I don't really care. He has ONE truly great sequence that shows his potential and even it shows his critical flaw as a romantic rival: It has literally nothing to do with Loid or Yor. He is only an interesting character outside of the context of those two.

And for a narrative role who's whole job is to complicate and add excitement to the context of the main couple, that makes him a complete failure. So for as great as yuri is in most contexts, make sure you don't write the character Yuri if you're trying to make a good romantic rival. Not unless you wish for night to fall on your story and leave it in the dark.

======+++++======

It's kind of fun how much romance anime I've watched in the like past six months. It's still only three series, Kaguya, Quintessential Quintuplets, and Spy x Family (the last of which is SO many genres) but it did help me have some actual examples when I finally sat down and wrote this. Also, I'm currently poking at theoretically going back to my roots and writing a harem story, though also keeping it PG-13 like my current stylings so honestly, have any anime recommendations for me?

Also, this is probably another Jumbled Thoughts post that goes too much into the example, even if highlighting how Nightfall is a good contrast to Yor is so important to understanding what a good romantic rival looks like.

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[that-ari-blogger]

AJR's Camera (Maybe) Man

So, The Maybe Man (written by @ajrbrothers) came out fairly recently and I genuinely love this song and the music video that accompanies it. So, I'm going to do some analysis.

This is a song about being unsure of oneself, and the camera work and visual symbolism really play into that.

Let me explain.

WARNING, The lyrics of this song include some mild cursing. If you don't like that, you are under no obligation to keep reading.

Let's start with the two most obvious things here. The art style and the camera work.

This video has an incredibly roughly painted style. It's incredible, but its reminiscent, at least to me, of a layered acrylic style. This is exactly as it sounds; paint is added on top of itself to form this incredibly rough style that is both refined and unrefined at the same time. There is a cognitive dissonance when looking at this style, and that dissonance carries over to the images. This is someone looking at their life and what it could have been. The song keeps going "I wish I was... but if I was..." It's an unrefined idea that gets more complex as the protagonist looks closer.

Next there is the camera work, and I can't really show you this in a still image. The camera is shaky, as if the cameraman is a novice. But because this is animated, it cycles back to being intentional, its a choice that links back to the novice thing. Once again, this is a song about being unsure of yourself, so the camera work is unstable too.

Ok. I love this opening shot. Immediately you notice two things. One, the protagonist is tiny, but centralised. You know this is a song about them, but you can't make out any detail. You need to look closer to find out who your main character is. The second thing to point out is the houses in the sky. They are out of reach, unobtainable. And if the protagonist ever actually gets there, they won't fit in, because the houses are upside down. Who is the right side up here, is it the protagonist? Or is it the houses?

This (in case you missed it) is an homage to another AJR album cover. That being OC ORCHESTRA

The point here is two fold again. Obviously its the protagonist looking back on his life, but its also looking back on the duality that this image represents. The light and the dark of life. The happiness and sadness. What is a person but a collection of memories walking around grasping for meaning. This is a protagonist looking at themself before they start looking elsewhere.

The shot then reverses, now its whoever at the end of the street looking back, accompanied by the line:

I don't want to know what my friends think

My reading of this is that while the protagonist looks back at their life up to this point, they are wondering what their past self would think of them now.

Wish I were my dog out on the lawn

I'd be so glad when I hear you come home

But if I were my dog, I wouldn't live long

I'm sure gonna miss her when she's gone

Guys. Really? Out of the gate? AJR songs always make me tear up, but this is one just looks me in the eye and watches me while I cry. Come on guys. Why are you so good at this?

I think that this moment and verse are about the innocence and simplicity of youth. The protagonist wishes for that simplicity, and watches it fade before him. Innocence doesn't live long, you become more world wise, and you lose that comfort.

Here we have a dream being immediately darkened by fear of loneliness. Its someone acting, and being dynamic with their posing, but the second the camera pans out and the lights and other effects become visible, the fakeness in other words, the protagonist assumes this quiet demeanor. Arms by the sides. Reserved.

Once again, we get this close up of the face, and you see tears. You get told they are fake, then you get told they are real. And you can't visually notice the difference, because that is the penalty of putting up a mask. Nobody can tell when its the real you.

I don't have much to say about these shots. They are simple, and they work.

It's a song about being weighed down by your thoughts, so that's what happens. Its a song about feeling like you're drowning, and there's a visual of someone drowning. Visual metaphors don't have to be subtle to get their point across.

The protagonist is trapped here, that's what this image is trying to get across. They are in the dark, lit only by this tiny window that shows the sky. Even when he is literally above it, he still longs for the outside world.

Once again, the protagonist is in the centre of the camera, so you know this shot is about them, and they are framed by this staircase and the light coming from inside, a place where they are not. And you could say to this: "You know this is about the protagonist because they are the only one in the shot" and that leads into my next point.

There is no-one in this entire music video except the protagonist. Usually, AJR music videos have at least Adam and Ryan to join Jack in the visuals, to bounce off his energy. But here, they are conspicuously absent. You don't have anyone to foil off the protagonist, nobody to show their character. You are left with a character who you don't fully understand, just like they don't understand themself.

Suddenly, an eye appears. This is spooky, and to be fair, my first reaction to seeing this would be to drop the bottle as well. But the symbolism here is pretty neat, in my most humble of opinions. It's another person looking at the protagonist. Or is it.

If I was cocaine or a bottle of Jack

I'd get invited to every frat

But when you get old and your good days have passed

You'll only want me when you're sad

The protagonist is saying "what if I was this bottle?" And they are looking at themself.

These are three images of the protagonist watching their life go past. And remember what I said earlier about people. Once again, this is just the protagonist. In situations where there should be people, or animals, there is nothing.

These two verses are brutal, and I love them. The protagonist wishes for power, and skill, and all of their dreams, but when they get what they want, they would still not have any of the people. They'd be too big for that. Hence how big they are in this image. But...

I don't need to explain why this shot is cool. I am but a simple fool, I see stars, I like. But take a look at what the protagonist is seeing. Even though this protagonist is the size of a planet, they are still tiny and alone. Every speck of light in that sky is tens of hundreds of times bigger than the protagonist. There's a whole nebula just sitting there. It doesn't matter how big you get, there will always be something bigger that you can't have.

I wish I was me, whoever that is

I could just be and not give a shit

Hey, I'll be whatever makes you a fan

'Cause I don't know who the hell I am

If you spend enough time trying to please people, regardless of whether you are a musician, or an actor, or a student, or anything else. You stop being you and start being what you think people want. You lose track of yourself.

This shot returns to the beginning, as the song reaches its pre-chorus. There is a lull, a time for self-reflection, even more than the rest of the song. It's a return to square one, reminding you of the song's opening question, who is this character?

That transitions into a blank void with just the protagonist in it. It is empty, there's nothing there except them. He is alone with his thoughts.

But first, you go through this transition, as the light fades, everything merges into one, like a mouth, that abruptly closes, as all of the protagonist's thoughts swallow them.

Then you get this, a sequence of the protagonist running through the locations already shown in the song, all of their memories, all of their life. And there's something interesting there. When you run, you're either going towards something, or away from something. What is happening here? Is the protagonist running towards the end? Or are they trying to escape the present? What is happening here?

The lyrics here are also fascinating. It's the song slows, and grows quiet, and then:

One, two, pandemonium!

Its the sudden existentialism, the sudden crisis, the sudden fear. Because that's how that feels. You are sitting there and then all of a sudden, your brain decides to start thinking and you can't make it stop.

This is what happens when you run too fast through life. You lose control. You stop running, you start falling. You become unable to change your trajectory and the only way you can gain any semblance of agency is to slow down and think, but that is painful. That means you have to hit the ground. That's the thing about falling. The fall is never the painful bit, its the sudden stop at the end that scares people.

So, what is this song about?

I think this is a song about imposter syndrome. Not specifically the details and the nitty gritty, but the feeling that it gives a lot of people. This isn't a genetic disorder or a disease you can catch, this is something that can strike anyone, and make them question who they are. It's the existentialism that is part of being an adult.

I leave you with this Peanuts comic:

Being a kid is about not having to worry, its about the innocence there. But when you become an adult, you don't get that anymore. You don't get to sleep in the comfort, you have to stress, you have to work out who you are, and why.

[embodies]

10 RANDOM HEADCANONS.

(randomly generated and then allocated to whoever suited each one the most!)

i. richie tozier knows fnaf lore. canon timeline aside, he's 100% the one to do a deep dive and watch those hours long videos, and then proceed to spiel that information to the rest of the gang. . .

ii. amélie lacroix (widowmaker) has an incredible short-term memory but an awful long-term memory. as a result of her neural programming there are massive gaps in her time before such, but she can document interactions in the short-term as accurately as if she had been recording them. for intel gathering, of course.

iii. genji shimada is a cat person. not much to say on this one, it just works! maybe in some verses he ends up snagging one later in life.

iv. mike munroe believes in santa. not literally but i can see him having some hare-brained argument of 'the myth has to come from somewhere, right?'

v. dean winchester screams like an anime girl. we've all seen it, this is canon! drama queen from birth.

vi. jesse pinkman is unemployed. again, obvious one. love my lil neek <3

vii. geralt of rivia has an incredible spice tolerance. not sure if it's down to some witcher genes or if he just severely fucks with all cuisines though. get him on hot ones now!

viii. dutch van der linde is awful with technology and doesn't know how to use a smart phone. obviously, but even in a modern verse he would struggle. his whole theme and persona is surrounding not being able to get with the times.

ix. deacon st. john has an intense fear of dolls. i can just see him not liking the uncanny. child freakers? fine, but chucky ruined him back in the day.

x. all jam's muses hate being alone. except for widowmaker, i think i've got a bit of a theme. :]

[sukimas]

thought wrong! 7, 12, 32?

7. That's a really hard ask. Most of my favorite stuff about FE isn't per se the characters, rather how the story applies to them (for example, Ishtar would be the most boring character in the world were it not for the situation she finds herself in.) But probably Naga? I mean, we don't really get to see her much at all (outside of heroes which doesn't count) but she's eccentric, has very different morals to human beings while still being unquestionably and even self-sacrificingly on their side, and makes a lot of mistakes/questionable decisions. The Tiki thing, non-interventionism in human affairs except when she personally is cool with it, giving people dragonslaying weapons just in case (the valentian falchion was given long before degeneration began at the very least), absolutely NO compromises we are taking human form NOW, "have you considered suicide, fell vessel?"... all while she ended up exhausting her power and eating shit to save the continent of Jugdral, created the Binding Shield to protect humanity for generations, will literally come back from the dead for 5 minutes to save you if you have unutterably fucked up your shadow dragon save file (and just for fun in new mystery)... She's really neat and I like her. Also her dragon form is cool and I will never never never forgive yusuke kozaki for awakening's divine dragon designs.

12. Thracia deserved to be released earlier than SEVERAL YEARS INTO THE N64'S LIFESPAN. And it deserved better than being treated as esoteric and unplayable thanks to a bugged translation patch for twenty years. TF?rururu. But it's one of the best games in the series, not particularly difficult and a fun challenge with a guide, and has really interesting mechanics and an excellent story. Yet it is continually overlooked even by people who play Genealogy (the second most popular game in the series in Japan, by the way). Very sad.

32. I'm pretty positive about the current direction the series is taking. Engage was developed mostly before 3H released and IS saw how positively people reacted to the tone in that one- the story is still more serviceable than many in the series, and the gameplay is some of the most fun I've had outside of Thracia or RD. I personally hope that future games have more varied map objectives, go further into giving the Avatar agency (since at this point, the avatar is just a normal lord again rather than the weird shit the 3DS did) and perhaps even allow them to have their memories, put an increased emphasis on worldbuilding and villain character development and keep comedy strictly to supports (the latter of which this game mostly does well but there are moments. timerra meat song). Of things that I think probably won't happen: I don't think that the games will ever have some of the really good bits of the kaga sagas, like esoteric character interactions for insane PRF weapons. Of things that could happen: I'd really like conversations on maps to make a comeback; 3H had them to some extent, but nothing like Genealogy, and I think they often do better work at character development than an entire support chain thanks to their relevance to the current story beats. I'd also like more unique boss conversations a la POR/RD. Basically, I think IS's writing chops are solid, but they need to be a little bit more ambitious with how they deliver their ideas without thinking "being more ambitious" means putting too many routes that you can't finish in your video game. Also please keep whoever directed Engage around solely to tell all the other potential directors if the way they're writing women is weird. This is the most normally women have been written in any FE game besides Tellius and it's incredibly refreshing. I don't know if Tei or Nakanishi is the one responsible for this, but by god. Women are written like people, in story and in supports. Revolutionary.

Overall: Keep what was good about Engage (which was a lot) but be more ambitious in terms of how you deliver the story. I think broadly "you're a young lord on the defensive against a greater foe and you fight an evil dragon at the end" is a perfectly fine FE story (Kaga certainly seems to think so, as it's the only story he's ever written); the difference is in how you tell that story. You can be more experimental with the types of stories you tell if you want, but it isn't as necessary as simply delivering that story well.

[alanshee-keeper-of-realms]

There's a home video of young Diane Disney climbing on a door frame and then falling over, whoever is recording immediately drops the camera to go check on her. So your headcanon about Walt running around to look after his kids has some ground to it! The video is 'MY DAD WALT - Diane Disney Miller' and it was posted by A.G ARTIVISION, the timestamp is 2:37

I sat down and watched the whole entire documentary sorry I haven't been answering questions lately health decided to take a plunge,

But it is incredible how similar my writing was to how it actually was. According to Diane, that I have it with him and Mickey, Mickey constantly following his Dad around and always being near Walt the duo inseparable.

And the way Diane describes it being a playground that's how Mickey remembers it and that his own kids treat Disney and Disneyland, even animators kids into modern day are still allowed to run around the animation division it's why there's locks on the doors if they're working on a project they need to keep Secret.

In the 50s especially though good Lord you can hardly find a photo of Walt that doesn't have Mickey in it in their world, along with Oswald because it's not well known but in 1951 even in our world, was the closest Walt got to reacquiring Ozzie's rights and their world of off the animation table Oswald being alive and wanting to go home with his dad especially with his loss of Fame was enough for Universals CEO to finally give in,

The way Diane explains her dad is awfully similar and that house on Woking Way is actually the house that Mickey lives in with Off the Animation Table when Walt Lillian and the girls moved Mickey and Minnie took over Storybook on Woking Way making it their home,

So the house seen in those videos is the house they still live in to this day in Off the Animation Table,

And Mickey and Minnie have even raised their own family there 10 children only one did pass which was their Eldest Anne Marie of SIDS but the nine others starting with Eleanor they all grew up in that house as well in their world

It goes Anne(1973 died 3 months) Eleanor(1975) Olwyn(1985) Yuki(1990) Marian(2024) Walter(2027) the triplets Xandra Dara and Arthur (2031) and then little Primrose(2042)

[celeste-hiro]

Big Celestia/Chihiro/Celeshiro headcanon post:

Wanted to compile a bunch of my headcanons here:

Celeste:

Starts off cold towards the class as in canon, but warms up to them. Becomes fiercly protective of them since they'rw her only friends

If she catches people bullying Toko, Chihiro, Taka, Hifumi, Makoto, etc she will retaliate

Is trying to come off super cool but is actually incredibly awkward. Most of the class still think she is cool after bedriending her

Extremely eager to show off her knowledge about her interests. Will just infodump on whoever is willing to listen.

Cries a lot in secret

Very insecure about her body and appearance

Also insecure about her interests that aren't gambling and European culture. Only Chihiro, Hifumi, Makoto, and Kyoko know she's into things like manga and video games. The rest suspect she's secretly a nerd.

Speaking of also prone to gamer rage and she's very thankful the dorms are sound proof

Secretly a My Little Pony fan. Only Chihiro knows because they made a joke while they were hanging out once about her name and noticed her panic. She took her first name from Princess Celestia. Also why she calls the others darling after befriending them.

If Byakuya's not around she'll be one of the first to offer to pay. She is bad at showing how much she values the others so she compensates with paying for meals or tickets to places

Basically kind of a bitchy Rarity once she has gotten over herself and connected with everyone.

Sews her own clothes, and eventually starts making clothes for the others with a discount on comissions

Gets roped into the obligatory D&D episode by Hifumi

Comes from a family that lived in poverty, got bullied as a kid as a result

Part of the bullying was being called a loser over and over again

Why she ends up being one of the first to stick up for the others

Has learned some self-defense to protect herself since she spends a lot of time illegally gambling

While she does drop more and more of her persona as time goes on, and is more authentic with everyone she still prefers the Celestia name and fancy clothing. They help her feel comfortable in her own skin.

She's only really comfortable using Taeko with the rest of Class 78, and even then not when they're out in public

Absolutely unable to cook well

Will start arguments with Byakuya, Leon, and/or Mondo for the fun of it.

Her and Makoto kinda confide in each other about how they feel like fakes next to everyone else.

She has read every single one of Toko"s books multiple times.

Ocassionally she will correct Hifumi when he gets something wrong about an anime and whistle innocently when people are stunned she knew that.

Makes the time to go to events the others are doing like Sayaka's concerts or Hina's swim meets.

Once she went with Hifumi to help sell his doujins. Ended up with Hifumi punching a guy in the face for creeping on her.

Sakura and Mondo also worry about her going to seedy parts of town to gamble and have discreetly followed her to make sure she's safe

She enjoys challenging Kyoko to various cars games

She also ends up enjoying discussing history with Taka

While at first she really hated Yasuhiro she did end up finding he could have surprisingly good advice from time to time.

Chihiro:

Trans girl. I accept any hcs on their gender. For me personally I just see them as a trans girl who compensated by trying to fit into a mold of manliness before realizing and accepting her identity.

She still likes to work out and try to get stronger.

Into making mods for video games

Has been into just about every embarassing fandom at one point or another. Superwholock, Homestuck, Undeetale, MLP, Steven Universe. She was overjoyed when she found out Celeste was too.

She will also haplily offer to pay for the others when Byakuya's not around. Her programming skills have made her a good amount of money, placing her just behind Celeste's wealth and 3rd highest overall

Also can not cook at all

Has a terrible sleep schedule, will need coffee as soon as she wakes up

While she identifies she/her she still doesn't have many feminine typical interests beyond the clothing.

Bottles up frustrations and anger, lets it out online in arguments.

Genuinely admires all of her classmates

Besides Makoto she is the most popular person in her class

Cries a lot too, but openly

She has written a program for each classmate that helps with their talent in some way

Celeshiro:

They kept it a secret for a long time

While keeping it a secret everyone thought they were just crushing on each other and kept trying to get them together

They kept playing it off pretending not to get it

Kyoko knew from the start

When they finally let the others know it was after they had an argument that was their first big argument.

They like spending a lot of time together in their dorms watching movies/tv, playing games together, being affectionate, and talking a lot

Because they both have a lot of hang ups they end up comforting one another a lot.

Said this before but Celeste ended up trauma dumping on the first date.

Celeste also had a panic attack prior to the date

In general even though it seems like Celeste is the cool mature one, Chihiro is the one that's more mature

Chihiro is drawn to Celeste because she thinks she is cool, that she is protective, and admires her willpower

Celeste is drawn to Chihiro because she loves her optimisim and friendliness. That she is not judgmental, and is always willing to listen to her ramblings

After they reveal their relationship they get a lot more affectionate in public

Chihiro also basically moves into Celeste's room.

Because Celeste forgets to lock her door a lot, they have been walked in on by every single one of their classmates at least once

They get married pretty quickly after graduating

While they don't really want to have kids the old fashioned way, they do get very adoption happy and they tend to spoil the kids. They might even run a foster home

Among them is Kokichi who Celeste likes to playfully have compete against Kyoko's protege Shuichi

Kyoko nor Chihiro even realize there's supposed to be a rivalry going on

Chihiro and Celeste are very cuddly. They find it difficult to get to sleep without touching the other in some way

Celeste makes Chihiro clothes for free

Because neither of them can cook they order take out a lot.

[19thperson]

19th's June 2024 Steam Next Fest Impressions - Day 4

Day 0/Day 1/Day 2/Day 3

Leximan

You are a wizard with word magic in a shitty wizard school.

In the overworld, that translates to typing out random words to get various effects. In battle, word fragments bounce around the screen, and you have to form a word with whatever you get to handle the situation.

As per it being a comedy game, my experience was making the wrong choices on purpose to see what happens. There doesn't seem to be any actual damage system, so it's just do whatever until you progress.

At it's height it is the best of early homestuck or problem slueth, laughing at the absurd consequences of an obtuse system. At its worst, the jokes feel incredibly forced. It's a land of contrast.

Biggest complaint is that I wish you could redo fights. I often found myself ending one early and wanting to see the other outcomes.

Mind Over Magnet

After years of telling people how making videos game works, youtubesman Game Makers Toolkit made a video game. A puzzle platformer about being a robbit and throwing your magnet friend around.

From the demo alone, it is... entirely cromulent.

It has puzzles that are puzzles. It's movement is smoothment. Nothing surprising, nothing disappointing.

It is a video game equivalent of a bowl of really good cereal or oatmeal with some effort put into it, with fruit chunks and everything. It's perfectly filling and enjoyable, and then you go about the rest of your day.

49 Keys

Apparently, this is an adaptation of a well received italian puzzle book.

It plays like an attempt to mix the classic text adventure style and the modern adventure game style. Most everything is text description with sparse illustrations, but interaction is done by dragging inventory items onto relevant paragraphs.

The plot is that you are a dominican priest or some other church official. Your teacher had not only been into church stuff but also astrology and occult stuff and would teach whoever had an ear. Church didn't like that, but he came from a wealthy family, so the best they could do is exile him to an island to continue his studies in peace and not corrupt the other clergymen.

On his deathbed, he sends the player a letter saying "hey I'm about to kick the bucket, I got a project I need finished, and I only trust you to do that." Which judging from the art and descriptions is some Lovecraft shit.

Unfortunately, the demo never gets to the lovecraft shit, ending right when you find a way to enter his house. While it didn't clock as "Scary" yet, they've got the historical fiction voice down, nailing the balance of antiquated sounding speech while still being easily legible. And they've got a good UI to add to that atmosphere.

Of course, the hot demon lady color spreads on the steam page kinda clash with that.

Curiosity piqued but expectations reserved.

Raining City: Millions Recollection

Gotta admit, I recognize it's sort of an unfair expectation, but after being burned by multiple chinese VN demos in previous next fests, it's nice to see one that's been translated to competent english. Not perfect, still has some pronoun switching, name inconsistencies, and some weird phrasing sprinkled throughout, but it was a naturalistic reading experience. I could consistently follow what was meant without much effort.

This is a supernatural mystery thriller. Lu Xuan is a member of a secretive group called "The Agency." She returns from a mission, expecting to relax, only for a mysterious lapse in memory to occur. When she wakes up, she's covered in blood, and there's a pure black hole in her hand. thin black lines wriggle out, spelling "100,000,000."

Before she can figure out what's going on, she's attacked by a creature that seems half dessicated corpse and half withering tree. After it rips off her arm, it regrows, with a few million dropping from her hand number. Thus starts her descent into the supernatural, as the new supposed "wealthiest woman in the world."

From the first two chapters the game has given, it's set up a lot of threads at once. The hand hole, the agency, a mysterious pawn shop, an unusual beached whale incident, the implication of a cult/religious group, multiple characters having simultaneous gaps in memory.

The cast feels well varied in both design and character voice, and I really like what the character designer is doing. I am guessing the backgrounds are based on photos because there's a nice sense of lived-in detail for a lot of them.

Definitely going on my wishlist.

[dead6ite]

GUYS !! omg my last post got kinda popular…. some new followers HELLO !!!

i’m glad everyone liked my (correct) opinions

i’ve been thinking of a few random hcs that i will be sharing here

fade and omen LOVE cats. they spend hours watching cat videos together and their messages are full of cat videos, barely any actual conversation. of course, they’re still very good friends and talk a lot, just mostly in person

so i saw someone say that cypher knows when ppl are dating bc he will make their room codes work on each others door…kj going to see raze and putting in her own by muscle memory, not realizing till late that night like. WAIT A MINUTE.

fade and yoru RARELY interact. but despite everything they exchange a nod and a fist bump every once in a while. trans solidarity

gekko is just such a sweetheart. he loves cooking for everyone and whenever someone’s down he’ll bring them their favorite dish

i think all the agents love sharing their culture, and sometimes get into lighthearted banter about how certain things should be prepared. they also teach each other dishes, and viper has learned a lot. viper has always been a good cook, but shes really broadened her horizons

brim reminds me of those white dudes who genuinely love spicy food and claim they can handle anything. agents try to make him tap out by giving him increasingly spicy dishes. it’s a thursday night activity. they all wait around intently for him to tap out, but he just happily eats it all and thanks whoever cooked it. everyone sighs and disbelief, and ponders what to make next week

ok now i’m rambling about food because i love food

do you ever see those videos of weird ass white people concoctions like “what the fuck is that” or like the most yeehaw ass food you’ve ever seen? yea, that’s brimstone. he makes venison (deer sausage) cheesy potato salad, casseroles. everyone has actually come to love his white people cooking

they have karaoke nights and drink till they’re silly!!! cypher sings careless whisper with harbor and it’s INCREDIBLE

fade djs. that’s all

phoenix makes music too, and sometimes he and fade have talked about DAW preferences, and things of the like

astra holds weekly meditation classes every tuesday and skye is the FIRST in line every week. bright and early!

i’ll wrap it up for now,,,

[crytidsprinkles]

I was unaware Aquaman 2 was releasing last month. I found out or probably was reminded because I forgot by my mom mentioning it to be (she enjoyed the first and LOVES Jason Momoa).

The bizarre behavior towards Amber Heard and Depp frankly continues to permeate public discussion, conscience and culture. To the point there are still people bemoaning, shredding and ridiculing her. And frankly it's quite tired.

Cases of abuse requires understanding and education, not knee jerk reactions, parasocial clamoring and armchair commentaries (including body language experts to pseudo pop psychologists).

This isn't Crime and Punishment, holding people accountable for abuse in the way people are currently going about it would mean Depp and Heard getting the same treatment, they aren't.

This acknowledged, I would love to have a chance to view the film with Meera having a much more active role. I've already heard much of Amber's screentime has been cut and it does impact the film. I was so excited for the fight scenes and based on the hinting at other versions being shot, I think one with Meera's role and arc not being minimized is the stronger movie.

And at minimum if not in theaters, give people the alternate cuts on dvd/blu ray. Let there be a choice. The situation shouldn't mean the project suffers or is taken out on Heard (especially when it's not being taken out on Johnny).

Whoever was involved with the decision to whittle Heard's role down only made matters even more magnified and a focal point, when it could have been handled much better, with care and sensitivity. The lack of support or understanding at least also speaks poorly of the studio and any team members this applies to.

Especially given so many other instances in entertainment of people openly committing, accused of and even charged with abuse who Hollywood has no problem continuing to work with. It's quite hypocritical, and simplistic.

The trial happened, some of us witnessed it, some made skits, commentary and some steered clear. I chose not to watch the trial while it was happening or a majority of the posts/videos people created. I found nothing about it amusing and thought people choosing "teams" and going so far as to call it that incredibly strange behavior.

I paid attention to the impact to victims/survivors and what those with expertise or careers in the field of domestic violence or any related to. I listened when people spoke of the power imbalance, PR team, prior charges in UK and much more.

Some people were and still are so invested in this team sport like, and misogynistic nonsense they'd never admit now they were deeply in the wrong and caused a lot of harm. This isn't a game or fable, there's no winners, losers, good guys, bad guys.

It's the nuance and complexity of human beings and awful situations. I'm saying any of this because I know it will come up or someone will want to open their mouth about it.

Here's some great videos to compliment my comments:

TW: Ableism (unhinged and idiots are terms used) barring this, it is an very salvageable video.

In closing I'll say it should but didn't concern everyone that so many incels, reactionaries, garden variety misogynyist of all sorts (and not just men) as well as abusers standing right alongside them while the general public dog piled.

It reveals greater issues within societies as far as talking about abuse, abuse cases, survivors and we have a long way to go.

The public needs to learn and progress, so one day our world addresses trauma, harm and violence with thoughtfulness, knowledge, RESTORATIVE JUSTICE, radical love and critical thinking.

[bubblebbunch]

Muse List

❃ LUCA // PINWHEEL

tag | art | hcs | musings | aes | fashion

Demiboy [afab] // he/they // 29 // Drug Dealer & Celebrity Lookalike/Performance Artist

Luca, or "Pinwheel" as most call him, lives in a ratty little apartment in New York City, Queens, and makes most of his money off of selling drugs. During the day though, he'll go to Loo Loo Amusement Park [Remake of Luna Park on Coney Island] where he plays the role of a celebrity performance artist which he is a lookalike of.

He fucking hates the gig, but he looks so similar to him, he has the energy and dexterity to pull it off, and well... the owner blackmailed him, threatening to report him to the authorities for his drug dealing, and Luca needs to Not end up in jail.

So he finds himself doing it despite not getting paid. He's rarely sober, often on some kind of pills, and barely keeps enough cash on him to pay rent. It's honestly a bit of a miracle that he still lives at the apartment complex. He reeks of booze and nicotine and whatever else he's been smoking, and doesn’t have a single friend.

✒ FUMIHIRO

tag | art | hcs | musings | aes | fashion

Cis Male // he/him // 29 yrs // Therapist

Fumihiro works as a therapist in NYC and is not doing... that great money wise. College absolutely ruined him, his family often wants him to help them fund their own projects, and he's terrible at saying no. He takes on more work than he's capable of, and he often works for free. He complains, but he just needs to grow a spine. Life IS pretty ridiculously unfair, though... and it doesn't help that his roommate Corwin is incredibly overbearing and suffocating either.

✚ CORWIN

tag | art | hcs | musings | aes | fashion

Demiboy [amab] // he/they // 28 yrs // Dentist

Corwin is Fumihiro's childhood friend and has always been an outcast. With a morbid interest in teeth, he was also struggling with depression and unhealthy coping behaviour. He's obnoxious, is unabashedly himself, and he's got crazy ADHD... but also RSD. And he's so lonely... he craves intimacy something fierce, and he Clings to Fumihiro as the only person who ever gave him a genuine chance. He occasionally performs in drag, and he gets his fix at the bar several times a week where he hooks up with whoever wants to give him a try, but nothing ever goes anywhere... Why won't anybody just love him already?

დ MINNIE

tag | art | hcs | musings | aes | fashion

Trans Woman // she/her // 26 yrs // Online Personality

Minnie is a weeb and an amazing cosplayer, YouTuber, and she spends a lot of her time online making silly videos for people who simp for her. She doesn't mind, it pays the bills, and her OnlyFans is doing good, thank you guys!! During the day she works as a server at a local cafe that does dress ups at times (the maid outfits are her favourite). Minnie is a sweetheart, but a bit of a doormat... having came out of a physically and emotionally abusive relationship not too long ago, she's still working on loving herself. She's still recovering, doing her very best...

☽ SABRINA

tag | art | hcs | musings | aes | fashion

Genderfluid [amab] // any pronouns // 25 yrs // Babysitter

Younger sister to Luca, who can't stand him. She felt abandoned by her only remaining family member when he was becoming a chore to look after, when his substance abuse and illegal activities only increased and escalated while she was left alone at home, fending for herself... So she ended up moving out. He now works as a babysitter, it's rough and the family takes advantage of their charity, but it's nice to feel... needed. To be a part of a family. She has a lot of spice, but below the sour exterior, he's got a big heart.

♠︎ MORDECAI BARNES

tag | art | hcs | musings | aes | fashion

Cis Male // he/him // 51 yrs // Funeral Director & Mortician & Coffin Maker [hobby]

Mordecai has been pretty rooted in place for the last 51 years... Growing up in Oklahoma, he eventually moved to eastern California where he set up a funeral home and a stable. Death wasn't really fascinating to him... but rather, he had seen it happen many times in his life, and found that the end of a life... had to have meant something, for those left behind. He wanted to lift the spirits of those who remained, and celebrate the life that had burned so bright, and either suddenly been snuffed out, or slowly dimmed down. He wanted to make the funeral peaceful. The passing natural. The communication between the dying, the dead, and the living, easier. So he started his business.

Moving to New York, he did so to keep a family member company during her final years before sickness takes her life, setting up a new business in the city to keep on doing what he was always doing... but city life is quite different from the mountain ranges of Oklahoma or endless deserts of California.

Mordecai doesn't say more than he has to, the quiet sort who notices everything but says nothing. When he does speak up, his southern drawl is almost distracting, but his words always carry wisdom.

$ NOEL CAMPBELL, second name GURUMARRA

tag | art | hcs | musings | aes | fashion

Trans Man // he/him // 36 yrs // Business Tycoon, owner of several clubs across NYC, Manager of Loo Loo Park. Also deals with money laundering, espionage and is a loan shark of course

Noel is an entrepenur and a visionary. Starting off at the bottom of the barrel like so many of us, he figured out how to work the system from a young age, always having a nose for business, and a feeling for when to strike. What opportunities were lucrative and which ones were a waste. Quickly, he went from a simple office rat to team leader, boss, CEO, and now he manages more businesses than you can count on one hand.

His current "project" is the Loo Loo Park (alternate version of Luna Park on Coney Island) in NYC, and while he sits comfortably in Manhattan, he makes bank without much effort anymore. Noel is smug, careful in his wording, and will come across as quite lighthearted if you don't know any better. He's always five steps ahead, but his confidence in his own ability can also become his biggest weakness. Oh yeah also he's Luca's boss/blackmailer.

⚙ Nergüi

tag | art | hcs | musings | aes | fashion

Agender [intersex] // they/them // 21 yrs // College Student

A young student at one of the many colleges across New York, currently studying robotics in hopes of becoming... something. They feel so in tune with these machines, at times it feels like they're also running on a program, that they don't actually know what they're actually Meant to do except for making these things work... like life has no meaning. Are they only doing this because their parents wants them to? Because they think robotics are the future? Because they know better and this is what's best for them? Do they even have a mind of their own..? Or are they exaggerating? Should they just settle... they don't know. Time to dissociate.

¿ Loo Loo Bot

tag | art | hcs | musings | aes | fashion

No gender // it/they // A few years old // Clown Mascot/Spy/Bodyguard Android

An android Noel has placed in "Loo Loo park" to play the role of a pierrot-themed mascot named Loo Loo. It has some other dubious functions as well, such as the ability to switch its face, voice and build around, hide weapons on its person, and of course, record conversations. It is rather uncanny to look at, its voice a bit off and its behaviour a bit too inhuman... at least when it is at the park. When it's working undercover by Noel's side, it is near indistinguishable from a real person.

The android is generally soft spoken and gentle in its mannerisms, supposedly it'd make it approachable, but is just seems to creep kids out.

[ranger-rai]

Bonjour Ranger Rai. I have a weekly battle with my friend Gym Leader Valerie every Friday and whoever loses has to has to buy brunch. Do you have much of a relationship with any of the Gym Leaders in Sinnoh? I would assume you’d know most of them as you travel much more frequently than I.

Oh yeah I know a good few of them well.

I have met them all at one time or another, only a few of them am I actually close with.

Let me list them out for you:

-Roark: We need to work with him a lot, but he's kind of annoying. He sends proxy gym leaders to meetings and to battles so often that went we need to find him we check the mines first.

He is so fixated on digging, finding fossils, and reviving them that we have needed to put regulations on how many Fossils can be revived a year.

He also introduced the underground secret base system, but it was such a hazard at first and took so long to get him to have more safety measures, it was a whole thing. Really don't like getting involved.

-Gardenia: She is an old friend, I knew her before becoming a ranger and we still work and hang together.

Her grass type passion is incredible and she's been a big help with restoration projects around Sinnoh, she's super involved and usually the first gym to help when the rangers need assistance.

Also they have a family business of growing fresh produce, and we have a trade off with the cafe so we have fresh produce all of the time.

-Maylene: She's a little more reclusive, for official work, but when she's not training she's actually pretty nice to be around.

Gardenia has brought her and a couple gym leaders out before, and when she cuts loose a bit more she's a lot more fun.

She also likes to challenge people to wrestling matches, something about "people's true selves come out in combat". I've had to be a part of one but I'm not too good at them, however she actually gets along with Minne pretty well.

-Crasher Wake: He's. The. Best! He is one of the nicest guys, he helps with our volunteer efforts a lot and he's always got fun stories. Even if you aren't taking the gym challenge, you should go see one of his exhibition matches.

Wake will go above and beyond if he can help it.

-Fantina: She's alright. She's pretty busy when not at the gym or judging contests, and she does support the community in her own way, but not so much with us.

She does aspire confidence in young trainers and coordinators, but she's also a lady of the stage so unless it's official gym business, our paths don't cross often.

-Byron: He's cool. He's like if Roark was more chill and wore a cloak. He's much slower in his endeavors and will have a good convo, also He's apparently a good drinking partner according to Jo.

We get quite a lot of support from him, probably our 3rd most involved gym.

He was also a huge help when first learning how to care for Sylvester.

-Candice: She's pretty great. The 2nd most involved gym in any community out reach and probably the most supportive with education, we talk with her a lot.

Also Her, Gardenia and Maylene make a sort of trio, so if at least 2 of them are involved you actually have all 3.

Candice is well respected but she also is the first Gym leader who will cut loose when given a chance, and she usually needs to meet outside of her town because most of the other gym leaders don't do well with cold like she does.

We are on a first name basis, and she promotes my videos in her classes.

-Volkner: He was actually a lot worse when I first started but he has gotten much better in recent years.

We are pretty sure he was suffering from a form of depression or at least creative burnout, but his spark came back.

I started spending more time around Sunnyshore when I found "The Duke" and I was pretty impressed by the work out there. I decided to introduce myself and he wasn't too responsive but I kept coming back while checking on The Duke.

After a while it just sort of became a thing.

Later when I found Skip he was tagging along on my routine visits and Volkner took notice of his corrupted speech, he wiped up a little voice box for him in no time.

He's a pretty chill guy, and I just go to him directly with ideas for improving things around sinnoh.

I proposed the "Safe Canopy" and bathrooms for the rest stop areas, and he didn't realize that there wasn't something like this already.

His world is a little small and he doesn't always seem to get out or look beyond his area, so me and a couple of others are sort of his peek into the bigger world.

He's actually a nice guy.

----

There is a pretty consistent communication but I'd only really call a couple of them close friends.

You meet a lot of people when you're a Ranger, but it's pretty nice.