#you reconciled that with badass villain vibes

[zee-nith]

GO AWAY. THIS IS SLANDER AND TREACHERY I hope Villain Deku comes for you 💔

it's the first of the month, which means happy villain deku day to @zee-nith and anyone else who celebrates 😝🤞

[royallygray]

fic recs (part 2!)

I now genuinely enjoy writing these little blurbs and giving my opinions on fics. I would still like more fic recs :D

Part 1

Frozen Tales Don't Burn by phantom_star739 -- [38/38, 185k] A superhero crimeboys centric au where Tommy has pretended to kill the famous villain Siren and there are a lot of complicated emotions and it's so good. Tommy and Wilbur learn to tolerate each other, Wilbur learns that Tommy has secrets. My favorite part of it is the representations of the people as themes. I don't know how to phrase it, but (spoilers) Ranboo is innocence and Tubbo is knowledge. I love it.

on temporizing by LuckyMagicBelle — [incomplete, 46/50, 237k words] A weird ass time loop fic with plot where you do not expect it. It's just Tommy and Dream being chaotic fucking shits for most of the time, and then like a lore section that leaves you reeling, and then more chaos. Personally, I read it for the absolute glittery chaos that happens. It's an interesting kind of high, being so fucking confused but just vibing.

Penitent’s Rose by WhiteWolfCub (SilverWolfCub) — [25/25, 116k words] cc!Tommy and cc!Tubbo are thrown into the world of their characters and it dawns on them that oh, people actually live these horrid lives that they wrote. It’s now their mission to fix that. I really enjoy this fic. I absolutely adore Techno, and his voices are just precious too.

that’s just how i feel (always have and i always will) by ellis (ellabellachicketychella) — [1/1, 16k words] A twinsduo modern-ish au where Wilbur comes back to America after an attempt on his own life. He bonds with Techno, his brother, and reconciles with some of his old friends. And he starts to fall in love with his own life again. This fic is like a warm hug by the fire when I feel like shit. It makes me feel more like life is worth living.

honey and tangerines by bonesandthebees (bonesandcacti) — [9/9, 82k] A crimeboys centric fic from Tommy's pov where he and Wilbur are ex-stepbrothers, and Tommy needs someplace to stay after finishing high school. He makes friends and finds what it means to be a family.

The encompass series by lightning_anon — [8/8 works, 250k] This is seriously my favorite fic of all time. Nothing has topped this for me. It's a foster au where identity, neurodivergence, and gender is explored and there's so much healing and it makes my soul feel whole when I read it. Tommy gets fostered and learns how friends and actual family works. Then other fics happen and you get to hear the different stories of people and it's really nice :D I fucking love this.

The Stepping Stones series by AdrianaintheSnow —[7/? works, 259k] Okay okay okay. At first. At first. You think this is your normal superhero AU but NOPE. Well. At first it is. In the first fic, there are a few things that just don't quite add up. Things that do add up: Tubbo is king shit. Tommy is a little gremlin who has somehow befriended his captors. Ranboo is chilling. AND THEN. You get a little crisised about how weird the rest of SBI is, and then you read the second one and your brain goes into orbit. Or at least this was my experience. The plot in this is so deep. I also read most of this series in a day, which was the most amount of words I think I'd read in a day, second only to Goblet of Fire. The plot in this is genuinely stunning and I absolutely adore this. The author is a genius imo. Personally, I like the 2nd and 3rd fics more but the first one has the most content of Tubbo being badass as hell.

Ad Astra by Hellenite — [3/3, 86k] A beeduo space au in which Ranboo is a bitch of an Ender prince and Tubbo is just a mechanic that wants to be respected and enjoys the sheer adrenaline of flying a ship in space. There is bonding. There is space. I'm pretty sure they crash land somewhere. Also there's a Sneeg cameo I think. What more could you ask for?

nothing more deceptive than a simple truth by ellis (ellabellachicketychella) — [1/1, 22k] A detective AU where Techno is the Primary Detective™ and Ranboo is the Assistant™ and they are trying to figure out the murder of one J. Schlatt. Very entertaining and funny, because Ellis' writing is generally entertaining and funny (fucking love them), but also keeps you guessing and I enjoy this so much.

Whatever Remains, However Improbable by 7CxRhye — [15/15, 90k] This is another detective au fic (I love well written detective aus holy shit) where Wilbur is like. a proper insane detective and Tommy is confusedly vibing and then the plot evolves on and you get more and more into it and BAM. Shit goes down. It's so good. Words. Are failing me.

Alrighty. Yeah. I should probably not be a summary writer. Outro time wheeeee

[ms-scarletwings]

Woopsie, I Put Too Much Effort Into A Character Song Playlist (Zib)

Just showing off some contextual brain worms. Feel free to toy with it as hyperfix fuel, art/fic ideas, a discussion starter, or just to know what’s been rattling around in my ears lately. Addition suggestions welcome. No particular order to arrangement.

Breakdown/Preview below:

Outer Science, English Ver. [Kuraiinu]

Song artist: Jin (covered by Kuraiinu, English lyrics by Kuraiinu)

Fact of fun: The story told in the original song is part of a whole rabbit hole of a work, the Kagerou Project. Outer Science is specifically about one very bad ending out of a huge branch of connected timelines and possible “routes”.

Sorter’s note: This badass track is a huge favorite of mine both with and without even considering this character list, but holy shit did I find it appropriate for this purpose- from the action, the vibes, and especially for it to center around another villain as utterly maniacal as the star of the list. In my little headspace I love to imagine it mostly addressed from Zib’s perspective toward our main timeline’s Dib.

Sample lyrics:

[Does it matter when you, will soon awaken anew

That I’m reveling in every suffering just like a demon?

“Ahh why! No! Why!” you howl and cry

“I never wanted this” you lie..!

Look into my own eyes, there lies your fate and demise

And I know there another fated eloquent master awaits]

[Ahh, not enough, I can’t evade the desire

To eat up their darkened hearts upon the pyre

Taking ahold of every one of their lives

I’m buried in their eyes

Ahh, it’s also in you, deep down inside

The power bigger than them all, Combining Eyes..?

Yes, within this sad tragedy

You are the “queen”]

[How pitiful to live and die

Time and again you all defy

Though it will end the same, you keep resetting the game

Remiss and pain all aflame

Crying, howling, ever writhing]

Broadcast Illusion

Song artist: GHOST & Pals

Fact of fun: This is effectively a remake of one of GHOST’s earlier works, “Colorbars” and was the last song released as part of their Communications project before the series cancellation.

Sorter’s note: With the instrumental stylizations and dark themes of this piece outright, I hope my associations with the favored freak become self evident.

Sample lyrics:

[We’ll wake up in a singular reality

The death of a nation

A toxic reaction

So scream and shout, make a whole lotta noise

Don’t be afraid, let the night run out

Well, after all, it’s a television show

A telecast promoting vertigo]

[A moment in time to reconcile

Came a little too late, and now it’s gone

A moment in history

Produced by the broken and thrown away

And I’m already here

For you to see, for you to see, to see you

I’ve always been here]

Goodbye Moonmen

Song artist: Ryan Elder (Cover by Shadyvox)

Fact of fun: It’s generally accepted that this song was composed in a way to parody/tribute the musical style of David Bowie

Sorter’s note: I felt this one fitted Zib to the point of comedy. The original context of the song was literally about a universe-wide genocide with xenophobic motivations. To me this might as well have been going through his head in canon had he gotten his way.

Sample Lyrics:

[The worlds can be one together

Cosmos without hatred

Stars like diamonds in your eyes

The ground can be space, space, space, space, space

With feet marchin' towards a peaceful sky

All the moonmen want things their way

But we make sure they see the sun

Goodbye, moonmen

You say goodbye, moonmen

Goodbye, moonmen

Goodbye, moonmen

Oh, goodbye]

Final Transmission (Remix)

Song artist: Remixed by The Living Tombstone

Fact of fun: The original version was by Temporal Walker & Voodoopony

Sorter’s note: Delicious Title. Pretty darn catchy on its own. Trippy AND sad when you think about it for too long.

Sample Lyrics:

[He feels it in his stomach and in his bones

The weight is lifted now, he's never going home

Drifting in silence, now he's all alone

Difference is that now, there's no need to atone

Spaceman, that's what they said he was

Head up in the clouds, he never put up a fuss…]

[Eyelids getting heavy, sleep it off now kid

Everyone now knows exactly what you did

Go on, finish up the fuse that you lit

It doesn't matter now, cause we'll see you in a bit

Tapestry of nightlights above and below

Sanity coiled tight, the Earth he'll out grow

Amnesty a slight, too late to forego

Vanity benight, all to do now is let go]

Control

Song artist: Halsey (pitch edit presumably by Lunarex)

Sample Lyrics:

[I paced around for hours on empty

I jumped at the slightest of sounds

And I couldn't stand the person inside me

I turned all the mirrors around

I'm bigger than my body

I'm colder than this home

I'm meaner than my demons

I'm bigger than these bones

And all the kids cried out, "Please stop, you're scaring me"

I can't help this awful energy

God damn right, you should be scared of me

Who is in control?

I'm well acquainted with villains that live in my head

They beg me to write them so they'll never die when I'm dead]

Bacterial Contamination [Bookiezz]

Song artist: Kanimiso-P (covered by Bookiezz)

Fact of fun: The original music video with Hatsune Miku is super famous for good reason, and it’s actually a terrifying piece of art. The song by itself carries a really sad story involving themes of alienation, the vicious cycle of bullying, and possibly suicide, depending on how you interpret its ambiguous ending. There’s also a lot of body horror in the fashion of arthropod imagery, and that’s neat. This pick happens to be my favorite version of it, something about the part with the laughter still gives me actual chills.

Sorter’s note: I’m keeping it a secret for now what segment of the song I’m referring to but I actually started working on storyboarding for a brief animation of Zib to an audio snippet earlier this month.

Sample lyrics (approx. translated):

[Bacterial Contamination

You're not worth believing in my mind

Recently my "common sense" has corroded

I can't even hold my purity

The contamination is spreading

You’ll want to become stronger

Even if I barely survive

It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts]

[My contamination has healed

I’ve been starting to feel much better

All because I transmitted it to her

Aha Aha Aha AHAHAHA…

Bacterial Contamination

Everyone's infected wounds keep bleeding

Killing themselves from contamination

They can't even die with grace now

The contamination has spread

None of you are here; you're dead in my mind

I'm eventually alone

It hurts (x13)]

The Distortionist -

Song Artist: GHOST & Pals

Sorter’s note: Oh hey look, a ditty specifically about gaslighty, abusive assholes for the self loathing bug bastard that started his own cult.

Sample Lyrics:

[Surely you can see the problem

I don't wanna lose my own reflection

A deplorable perception of me

Was none other than an image of you

You're making a wreck of broken glass and leaving me a fuckin' mess!

Bending light in a way that shows exactly how the story goes]

[In all this madness, it's madness

Oh-ho, it's sickening, it's sickening

You know it's unfair, it's unfair

How you distorted my reflection

You know it's too late…

You're lost in a world of funhouse mirrors, twisted for eternity

Bending light in a way that shows refraction of hypocrisy

Whimsical, dear, your lies are clear, now, who the hell would've ever guessed?

Play my games and abide my ways, there's no way you can compensate]

CORROSION

Song Artist: R.I.P.

Sorter’s note: I’m just gonna let “I've lived in fear my whole life; I'll give you a taste, you can't change my mind” speak for itself. This is one of the more tragedy flavored ones.

Sample Lyrics:

[Don't you know? I'm truly evil, and

Everybody 'round me's dropping dead!

Overflowing, oddly gleeful, and

You're all blue and cold, yet painted red!

Undergone drastic changes

Oh, it's the only thing that's left for me

All along I've known it's wrong

But I can't fix what I am

It's all I know

Low and behold!

I'm truly evil, and

You're a person standing in my way!

Have I shown I can be lethal

I'll leave them all to rot and to decay

Hold on tight, it will be painful

Oh, it's more than your weak mind can conceive

You're all blind, I'll take what's mine

Oh, I wish I could restrain

It's all I can be]

Wake Up!

Song Artist: Oomph!

Fact of fun: The German version of this song goes really hard too.

Sorter’s note: This one was selected more to reflect the broader nature of the Zimvoid and the hierarchy itself.

Sample Lyrics:

[Got no time for waiting

Got no time to waste

Everywhere machines here

Set a deadly pace

Got no time for questions

You have work to do

Got no time to stand now

If you stop, you lose]

[Your life is seeping through your fingers like sand

And time, it flies like the wind

You run in circles and you're losing your mind

But all you want is to win

Just breathe in

Then breathe out

Wake up! Now you're stuck in this game

And even if you run, the score is the same

Wake up! Now you're stuck in this game

You're just stuck in this game]

Confrontation

Song Artist: Frank Wildhorn, Et al.

Fact of fun: yeah yeah it’s from that Jekyll and Hyde Musical. The one people been making animatics of forever and they had every right to be because it’s still good decades later.

Sorter’s note: A little red meat for some of you who like to toy with the two minds, one body idea/headcanon, or your cute little corruption arc narratives.

Sample Lyrics:

[This is not a dream, my friend

And it will never end!

This one is the nightmare that goes on!

Hyde is here to stay,

No matter what you may pretend,

And He'll flourish, long after you're gone!

Soon you will die, and my memory will hide you!

You cannot choose but to lose control.

You can't control me! I live deep inside you!

Each day you'll feel me devour your soul!]

Amygdala’s Ragdoll -

Song Artist: GHOST & Pals

Fact of fun: For some reason the chorus of this caught on as a little animation trend once. Think they dubbed it the Trypophobia Meme. If I do actually ever do something with it myself, I know I’m not calling it that.

Sample Lyrics:

[Today something changed

I figured it’s true

The frontal lobe placed me behind my own strings

‘Cus I defy the way the game works

I’ll say it again, I’m only getting worse]

[Say we take what had been torn apart

Say we mend any patchwork discord

Turning eyes to the trypo-puppeteer

Waiting for the world to burn

So, One two three, and we’ll tie the tourniquet

Larvae eating away at everything

Word goes ‘round, I’m the trypo-puppeteer

Laugh along, I’m spreading holes

Now I know this has always been my fault

and I can’t inhale anymore]

Honorable Mentions:

• C e n t i p e d e by GHOST & Pals, omitted for personal and practical reasons.

• Honey I’m Home, another GHOST hit, omitted because most of my Zib association with that goes along with my personal “darker harvest” theory/headcannon

[marley-manson]

For the character meme: Potter and Margaret! ✨

Thank you!

send me a character and i’ll list:

favorite thing about them

Potter:

When Potter cries, I cry. Harry Morgan is so good at that holding back tears delivery, like when he said goodbye to Radar... man.

Margaret:

I love how strong she is, literally and personality-wise. She's a hard-ass, she knows what she wants and how she's going to go about getting it, she's assertive and aggressive and competent and protective and can also kick down doors and punch soldiers out.

least favorite thing about them

Potter:

Army. He is basically the Good Army Rep of the show, and it sucks so much. I honestly see why they went with a Potter character type to replace Henry - a Henry clone wouldn't work, and a Real Army antagonist CO would change the vibe of the show way too much, but boy it's unfortunate after seasons 1-3. Potter essentially represents everything I dislike about the show's shifting tone.

Margaret:

Also army lol. She's a conservative who loves the military. It's also a little difficult to reconcile for me because a lot of what I love about her is rooted in her love of the military and her upbringing in it. I gotta do some doublethink when it comes to Margaret sometimes. Like yeah army bad but hell yeah insist on taking command and pulling rank in Carry On Hawkeye, go Margaret! It was easier in the early seasons imo when the show itself was more aware that Margaret’s badass and awesome qualities go hand in hand with some fucked up shit, and she was more of a somewhat loveable antagonist.

favorite line

Potter:

I do really like his advice to Klinger about love in the finale.

Margaret:

"Who was that?" <3333333333

alternately: “Sulfa, so good.”

brOTP

Potter:

Radar. They have a cute fun dynamic. Not as great as Radar and Henry, imo, but still sweet and loveable. I also like his dynamic with Margaret usually, the sort of mentor and pseudo father figure she respects and who usually shows her respect and affection. It's nice.

Wait no sorry, ignore that. I forgot the true answer: Sophie.

Margaret:

Hawkeye! I said a lot about them in my Hawkeye answer, but I also want to add that I love that they're so willing and able to open up to each other. Hawkeye tells her about his claustrophobia, she tells him about her fear of loud noises. She talks about Scully, he talks about Carlye. She talks about taking Donald back, he talks about letting Kyung Soon go. She screams about Donald cheating on her, he screams about the army adding more points, then they hug. I love them. They both really need that relationship in the latter half of the show imo.

OTP

Potter:

lmao I got nothing, he's unshippable. He can stay with Mildred, whatever.

Margaret:

Out of her two female friends, I prefer her with Lorraine a little because they had a fun vibe, but Margaret/Helen is also good.

nOTP

Potter:

I've never even seen him shipped with anyone lol. Potter/Anyone is a notp.

Margaret:

Hawkeye. The thought of them together romantically gives me hives, and I say this as someone who enjoyed Comrades in Arms and actually thinks their flirting before that is often funny and entertaining. But as soon as it crosses into actual interest, I'm out, I can't do it.

random headcanon

Potter:

Ok I’m gonna be evil for a sec: Mildred dies less than a year after he retires and suddenly boom, regret over how he lived his whole life.

Margaret:

Dated women in university, tells herself it was just a phase.

unpopular opinion

Potter:

I can’t separate Potter from the fact that he represents the US army and is essentially the warden who holds all the power in context of the show’s premise. To me, he’s practically an antagonist. Harry Morgan is a great actor, he’s often funny, he’s sweet he’s nice and I often genuinely do enjoy his character for the most part, but despite how much they downplayed the us army as a villain in later seasons, I can’t fully enjoy his friendships with the draftees on any level shallower than ‘oof this is kinda fucked up.’ Every scene where he foils a Klinger escape plan, or gives petty orders, or threatens someone in a funny way, etc, feels a little sinister and disturbing to me lol.

Margaret:

Most of my favourite Margaret episodes and moments are from the first half of the show. I love her development and I think the show did a fantastic job with her as it went on, but the glimpses of potential and depth we see before it’s fully realized are my actual faves, maybe because the contrast makes them shine so much, maybe because it’s easier to love this stuff when she’s an antagonist, maybe a little of both, idk. But like Carry on Hawkeye, Aid Station, Iron Guts Kelly, Alcoholics Unanimous, Hot Lips and Empty Arms, The Nurses, Sticky Wicket, etc etc, all some of my fave Margaret episodes.

song i associate with them

Potter: idk lol. that song from Your Hit Parade.

Margaret: Happy Meal II - The Cardigans

favorite picture of them

Potter:

Dreams man, Dreams gets it.

Margaret:

I’m sorry to be shallow but this fucking outfit in Merchant of Korea was so distracting I kept missing dialogue bc I was busy staring.

[lightdancer1]

To use one example of that realism factor as applied to queer people in my stories

I use three approaches. First, the queer people in these stories are fully rounded people with lives, family histories, interests, histories of doing things, and in all of that they're queer, either lesbian, bi, gay, trans, or what have you. It is a part of their lives and neither all-consuming and a substitute for anything else with the character, nor is it minimized and given only lip service. Meaning, in short, that if two queer characters have sex with each other it gets the same level of attention as straight characters in the story. Short of outright smut stories, it gets treated as a matter of fact part of life, not all of it. Which is how sex and sex lives work in the real world.

Second, there is a diversity of body types, appearances, and multiple types of queer people. Including specific efforts to include people who get left out in real world discussions. Two of my main original characters in one fandom are a butch lesbian and the bi lover of a deceased (or not) canon character. One of them is a survivor of one of the roughest, most brutal units in her society's wars and comes out of it with a wee bit of an Eddie Blake from Watchmen vibe. She works as a foil to the canon character she's usually shipped with and the two embody the gap between ideal societal self perception (canon character) and much more unpleasant reality (original character).

The other is the partner of a deceased character in many stories but not in all of them, who sticks together with the other person in the triad.....and while bi and a man he also has a hypermasculine macho aura that is in its own way a blatant bit of queer performance art that subverts the pretense which is no small part of how he gets away with it under the Sozin laws. He's basically a gender flipped de Maupin for the Sozin era who's basically 'fuck your rules.'

And of course there's Azula, who is neither butch nor femme, but somewhere in between with a clothing choice that's both/and and not either/or.

In the Sailor Moon fandom Kunzite and Zoisite are portrayed as gay in both past lives and the present, and no less badass than their canon selves. They're both very pretty men in one way, but also showcasing that pretty/femme gay men can be every bit as badass as the more conventional 'macho' types.

Haruka and Michiru are written in a specific way that goes for a different approach to standard fandom. The Kaiohs do not like Michiru's gayness, so she gets booted out and lives with everything provided for her but nothing from her family but that. She is 100% gold star lesbian, and a femme hyper-feminine lesbian.

The Tenohs do accept Haruka, who is butch, lesbian, but like lesbians in real life she did date a man and her first relationship was with a boy. Said character sometimes shows up and isn't entirely reconciled to Haruka being gay, in some storylines, and is entirely accepting in others (and not actually the main villain in any case but more of a sitcom arch nemesis for Michiru in the sense that he sees himself as this and she barely deigns to notice his existence at all).

So in this sense it subverts things in standard Sailor Moon style that the more obviously gay character is the one who has full heartwarming familial acceptance and the lipstick lesbian is the one who got kicked out and 'we don't talk about Michiru'ed.

With Adora and Catra, they're both gay as I write them, with Catra being more butch and Adora more in between/not really giving a damn about clothes. Adora is 100% Catra-sexual, Catra spends a lot of time in denial of feelings that drive her actions and which shape their dynamics in the Magicatra AU while giving Catra the Mistress of Mixed Signals moniker in a way that makes, of course, things fun to write. LOL.

There are a variety of different experiences and realities with this in real life, and I aim to capture that in fiction while using it to amplify that sense of realism.

[cosmiciaria]

Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order review! (Spoiler free)

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (SWJFO) appeared out of fricking nowhere and to everyone's surprise, it was a striking success? How? But… EA was so bad at making SW games!! I don't see micro transactions and… is this… actual… plot… with actual… good characters?? I'm shooketh.

So, yes, SWJFO is a good game! It's not perfect, it has its flaws, yes, but considering where we come from… Battlefront II I'm looking at you.

The game takes place between Episode III and Episode IV. I won't say it's a "bridge" between those two Episodes because it isn't, and some may argue that talking about Jedi in the middle of those two pieces of media doesn't take you anywhere, since we all know what happens next, but let me explain to you: the story fits so well. So well.

We follow Cal Kestis, your average ginger Good Boi, who's a padawan in disguise. It's been five years since Order 66 and he's been hiding all this time in Bracca, a junkyard, where he works mostly enslaved by the Empire. His good pal Prauf tells him he should go outside and explore the galaxy, since he's young and cute probably, but Cal is so scared of being found and he's suffering such a huge survivor's guilt that he doesn't take any action to leave that planet.

It all seemed to be like another ordinary day of work, dismembering old ships and searching for useful parts, when the wing that Cal and Prauf were working on suddenly falls from the body of the ship, and Cal, who hasn't been using his Force since the execution of the Jedi, is forced (pun intended) to save his friend from falling to his death. Prauf understands the stakes, and swears to keep the secret.

However, destiny seems to hate him, because the Inquisitors (the Second and Ninth Sisters to be more precise), an order of Jedi-turned-to-dark-side that serves the Empire, arrive at Bracca, looking for a remaining Force-wielder who hides among the workers. Prauf steps up for his comrade, only to be impaled quite literally in front of Cal. Cal loses his composure and snaps at the Second Sister, revealing his nature as Jedi, and so the hunt begins.

Cal faces the Second Sister, who menacingly swings her lightsaber with red emitters, but he's too weak to defeat her. Just when we thought that everything is lost, a new spaceship arrives: the Mantis, and a woman reaches out from the main gate, asking us to jump. Cal doesn't think twice, bids farewell to a very angry Second Sister and jumps into safety.

Inside the Mantis, Cal meets his saviors: Cere, a former jedi who purposely cut her link with the Force, and Greez, a lateros who is the owner and driver of the ship. Cere goes straight to the point: she's been looking for Cal (or any other Force-sensitive to be honest) for years now, because she has a clear plan: to rebuild the Jedi Order.

From here onward, the game opens up. You'll be visiting Bogano first, which is the sanctuary more or less of Cordova, a dead character that will have a great impact on the whole story. Cordova was Cere's master, and he's worked and compiled information about the Zeffo sages and other interesting mythos from around the galaxy. Cordova swears that in the ancestral chamber in Bogano, sealed by ancient technology created by the Zeffo, lies the Holocron: a cubic thingy only readable for Jedi, that holds key information about the names of the kids who are Force-sensitives. With this list of names, Cere plans to bring back the Jedi and strike back at the Empire.

So the main objective is to get this Holocron, but to get there, you'll have to go to many planets and explore many nooks and crannies. I won't spoil it for you, because I try to never spoil in my reviews, and like I said before, it may sound like this goal doesn't make any sense since we know they don't succeed in rebuilding the Order (hell, not even with Rey and it's been a whole generation since then), but hear me out: the story still fits so well! PLEASE TRUST ME IN THIS ONE

So instead of talking about the plot, let's talk about the characters!

Cal will be your main character. I read that some people think he's boring, ok, I can take that. The reality is that there's so much more to him than just his dashing appearance (alright, maybe I am biased, since I love red hairs) and his kindness and good-boy-ness. Cal is deeply regretful by his actions during Order 66 and he can't forget nor forgive what happened to his master. He feels remorseful and blames himself for the outcome of the purge. He has a scar on his face that constantly reminds him of it. He's a clear case of survivor's guilt syndrome, and it doesn't take one much to see it. I won't say when or the context, but there's a moment in which he has to ride a escape pod, and he looks around, nervously, as if he's going to suffocate, because it reminds him of the purge – man, there's a lot not said that really touches you. I don't need a character to tell me that he's sad. He can show it to me and that's exemplarily well done with him.

Another example of a sad character, more in-your-face this time, is Cere. A former master, now devoid of the Force, Cere wanders the galaxy with a clear goal in mind. But in her past, she hides torture and some too-close-for-comfort connection with the dark side. She wants to redeem herself and she trusts that this sacred mission will, not wipe out, but compensate for her mistakes. Cere is a great north in this game and she always supports Cal in everything. Her unconditional trust may seem overwhelming at first, but she's careful and she knows with what they're all dealing with. Besides she's badass af.

Greez is a less warrior character but much funnier than the rest of the cast. As the owner of the Mantis, he takes care of this ship as if it were his daughter. He has a knack for cooking and even though he tries to hide it, he does have a soft spot for Cal. Maybe his past of gambler and addiction makes him come across as the one who doesn't give a damn of what's going on, but if that were truly the case, he wouldn't be here, trying to rebuild the Order as well. He has by far the best lines in the script, and he's so unintentionally funny. There was this scene, out of context, where Cere and Cal were having an argument while eating, and he was sitting in between, in the background, adding peppermint or whatever spice to his dish, but the thing is, he never stopped throwing peppermint to his dish because he was watching them argue. Damn. I love him.

Merrin is introduced later in the game, but she does play a large role in the story. Born and raised in Dathomir, Merrin is a Nightsister, an order of 'witches' let's call them that have twisted the Force and use it in a different way than the Jedi. After General Grievous (as much as we assume, because he's mentioned as "armored man wielding lightsabers") wiped out all the life in Dathomir, Merrin remained as the sole survivor of her planet, roaming around the corpses of her sisters with no goal whatsoever. She resents the Jedi and has sworn to fight them even if it cost her life. This led her to get in with a bad crowd… but she'll find a better purpose after she meets Cal (And if you ask me, this SHIP HAS SAAAAAIIILLLLEEED).

And last but not least, the Second Sister, who, as I said before, was a former Jedi who was forced into the dark side, now hunts the remaining Force-sensitive that have escaped from the purge. She seems your ordinary villain at the start of the story, but slowly the plot will be unfolding a lot of details about her past and how she became an Inquisitor, making her as much, if not more than, important like the rest of the cast.

If there's thread connecting all these characters, is their broken pasts. These are all broken characters who now must face the consequences of their decisions, however much they don't want to look that way. They have to reconcile with their pasts and overcome their fears. They have all suffered, but in this suffering they found strength. And each other.

And I cannot not mention BD-1, your companion droid. He has personality, you can't deny it. Every time Cal went like "How is it going, BD-1?" and the droid threw his "Boops-beeps", please, they're having a profound conversation DON'T INTERRUPT THEM.

As far as gameplay goes, this game borrows from other great creations of the PS4 era: Uncharted (you'll be climbing and doing parkour a lot), Tomb Raider (sliding down and tomb raiding, yes), Dark Souls (meditation/save points where you can level up your skills and also whenever you die you lose your exp gained, but not the ability points. You can recover that exp though), and Sekiro (parry. Parry a lot). This may seem to all of you like the game lacks originality, and while it's debatable, I still think that it has a lot new and original gameplay to offer, specially when it comes to Force wielding and lightsabers. Oh, yes, you're a Jedi (padawan, actually), you'll be using the Force! The game tries really hard to integrate the Force not only in combat, but also while you explore and while you solve puzzles. The more you level up, the more powerful your abilities become, and it comes a point when you feel unstoppable. The Stormtroopers might sound cocky at first, but when you start pushing and pulling, oh, yes, fear the Jedi! So yes, the game may look like a copycat of previous works in the gaming industry, but it does make a good use of all those mechanics, while still throwing something new elements into the mix.

The level design is ASTOUNDING, sometimes I turned around one corner and appeared somewhere I thought it was like miles away from my place, and I was marveled at how well everything interconnects with everything. The level of detail also is so meticulous and well crafted, like there are so many little things that if you stop to stare and pay attention you'll be so mesmerized by them. Some of the places are so eye candy, even Dathomir with their "I AM DEATH" vibes has such a beautiful color palette, that I couldn't help but take a thousand screenshots. This game looks gorgeous, and it shows. You know, when a game has a photo mode, you know the devs are convinced of its beauty.

But, like I said earlier, the game isn't without flaws. While I praised the intricate level design, there's also one thing I hate a lot: backtracking. Yes, in these huge maps, there are no fast travels. You can create shortcuts and such, but, if you want to get to that 2% that was left unexplored in that particular area, you must return to it by foot. This is a huge let down for me. I did the game with a guide, so I grabbed most of the collectibles during my first time in each planet, but still there were some things that I missed, and I had to go all the way there to revisit places with the only purpose of grabbing that stupid chest or filling that small percentage of the map, while trying to survive against the enemies, since everything in this game, everything, wants to actively kill you. Damn, Cal was wanted.

Another huge drawback for me that it normally doesn't bother me much were the low framerates. I played it on normal PS4, not the Pro, and the rendition of the game wasn't good. I wasn't even fighting or doing a lot of stuff on screen, I was just climbing and chilling, and still the framerates would fall like under 20. When there a lot of things going on screen, the game suffers from it and it makes you know that the play station is giving its all to make it function. I believe this isn't a problem for those who have a nice computer and play it with the highest specs, but as I know that there are people out there who really care about the performance, I had to at least mention this.

Also, do not come here thinking that this is an open world game. Yes, granted, you can travel from planet to planet with no real rush and take things with time, but the maps are mostly linear (except for the interconnections between each area), and once you explored or got all chests, that's all there's to it. Now that I have completed the game and platinumed it, the planets feel barren, empty, like there's no real life breathing through the leaves or the rooms. And I think I know what this game could've benefited a lot from: sidequests. There are no NPC's here, except for some Wookies at that moment in the story or your crew members, so there's no one to give you a sidequest. But even without NPC's, they could've thrown sidequests from the different collectibles that you come across in your path, or maybe when on arriving at a certain place. There's like one thing that gets close to a sidequest and it's exploring a crashed Venator in the planet Zeffo, but that's all there's to it: more of the same killing, climbing and cutting ropes. If you're a rookie collector, then yes, this game got you covered, for there are over 200 collectibles (I think over 300 actually, considering echoes and chests and scans), but it's not like there's anything in between these, except for enemies. No banter with your crew members while you walk around, some occasional beep boops from BD-1 only.

I think those are my main complaints, but all in all I believe that the good compensates the bad. The last "mission" is reaaaaally good, and they did something I really like, which I won't spoil. I'm just going to say that I'm so glad with the decisions they took. The relationships between the characters grow vividly before our eyes, and we see Cal develop from a frightened fugitive into a fighter. There are moments in the story and in the gameplay where the game made me go like "whoa", I was truly amazed by what was going on. The acting is flawless, the music gets under your skin and the vistas are just dreamy. There so many easter eggs to appease even the most hardcore SW fan! They could polish all the things I said, but if there's another SW game developed by Respawn and with that writing team, I'll be there to buy it.

It's not perfect, but it's good. Give Cal a chance!

[fuckmaniknowbuthey]

i took 3 grams of magic mushrooms & saw ghost in the shell (rupert sanders, 2017)

ramblyyyyyyy but here we go

- not an adaptation of the oshii film or the manga and a distressing amount of dipshit fans & critics will scorn it for this but fuck 'em - very very aware of the multiple schools of thought on ghost in the shell (in conceptual reverence as much as aesthetic, this was clearly a film made by ppl who had intimately explored the possibilities of ghost in the shell & decided that this would be the most palatable configuration for an american audience in 2017 - the script, as a consequence mostly of the "for an american audience in 2017", is very banal & while it respects franchise legacy & prior characterizations it is also A Superhero Origin Story so that scarjo can have a non-marvel franchise BUT as a standalone film aside from the screenplay's cloying ambitions of franchise-building it is very good & enjoyable - kin very much 2 johnny mnemonic & for more reasons than just being a highly polarizing hollywood attempt at cyberpunk w/ a prominent beat takeshi supporting part, it has that same strange glee abt taking the big studio budget and going "now let's tease out past/present/future of an aesthetic", it's a film built entirely in its tiny little details (costuming, set design, the general dreamlike vibe, the sound editing, physical gestures) - scarjo is amazing in this!! i am generally not a fan but her interpretation of motoko kusanagi is fucking fascinating & weird & very much in the spirit of standalone complex's ver. of motoko (not quite at that level of brashly confident & comfortable yet, but possessing the same intensity & directness); she approaches the idea of "playing a robot" like, not just as "oh i've gotta be clumsy w/ my speech & motions + not emote very much" but instead like, genuinely behaving in a kind of alien impression of what "humanity" is??? like it's not even the usual sort of "robot that wishes it was real" shit, like she's hostile & inscrutable in affect in all moments where she isn't being hostile & there are so many weird little facial twitches + bits of odd body language she uses 2 communicate this is idea of like, struggling w/ being a constructed version of human rather than an authentic person and the arc is that she kinda just makes peace w/ the idea that she was once a person and now she isn't but she still retains like, this faint shred of this prior experience + she'll use it as fuel 2 live her new one fully in the terms afforded her, it's fucking weirdly heavy-lifting in acting terms for what plays out in plot beats as basically just tryna chum up ghost in the shell's whole franchise history into a post-raimi superhero origin story - the scene w/ the prostitute that's been in every trailer since the earliest teasers is a great moment for showcasing this performance's general vibes in a nutshell, she's like...not just doing bog-standard "oh wow this is a real human, how i'd love 2 be her" sorta wistful detachment, she's forceful + very fixated on how tactile & real the other woman is, like she wants 2 touch her not because she doesn't understand touch or the form of a face or the nature of skin but because she has an intense hunger for her original human perceptions of these ideas and she's got 2 find a way 2 reconcile this w/ her new body in a tangible way instead of just intellectualizing it - michael pitt's hideo kuze on the flip feels very much like a gimmick performance, but it's also a fun one: he's working w/ a lot of the same basic themes, but like cast as a villain for the bulk of it he's gotta dumb the shit down 2 shtick + so he's got the prosthetics & CGI freak body + he does a max headroom meets microsoft sam voice and he screams clumsily w/ every mannerism "I WAS HUMAN, I FEEL THAT I MAY STILL BE, BUT THAT I AM UNSURE I AM HUMAN IS AN IRRECONCILABLE TRAUMA" but he's fuckin' michael pitt so he's having a lot of fun w/ it and it's an interesting contrast of scarlett fucking johansson doing this very subtle character work while pitt's ham monologuing w/ scratched CD stutter tics at her from under cover of darkness - like seriously fuck this dumb screenplay it's very trite but unhelpful 2 focus on cuz this is a film that functions on so many more levels in ways that are compelling - the action is cool, riffing a lot on the peppier moments of oshii's films + kazuchika kise's arise OVA series but never just settling for carbon copy, uses 3D well (reminded me a lot of the sense of texture & movement & space in tron: legacy, which is a tragically overlooked film that maybe just doesn't work quite right outside of a theatre unfortunately) - pilou asbaek's batou is surprisingly good, i had him written off as far 2 generic action man but like he clearly did his research, his batou has a heart & a sense of humor & he absolutely has the body + the voice necessary 2 pull this character off (he manages 2 make the inherent goofiness of rendering batou's tiny camera eyes as a real thing on a person totally workable by having batou be proud as fuck of his augments & not remotely uncomfortable at the notion of them as a replacement for his real eyes, which considering they give him a dramatic "he got hurt on the job" moment after introducing him 2 the audience as a dude w/ normal eyes is cool & not corny cuz any other fucking film would've milked this for a subplot where batou could go "MAJOR, I ALSO FEEL YOUR PAIN, FOR I LOST MY EYES AND THEY GAVE ME ROBOT ONES, THAT'S JUST LIKE LOSING YR HUMANITY, RIGHT??" and that would've sucked) - beat takeshi gets way more screentime than you'd expect and as much as his performance is very much just him Doing His Thing that's honestly an ideal vibemarriage for the daisuke aramaki character + this also feels like a corrective 2 how sloppily he was used in johnny mnemonic hahaha like hollywood just karmically owed this dude one and he finally got it - chin han is a very good togusa, like all incarnations of togusa tho he gets fuckin' paltry screentime compared 2 everyone else and he also is just there 2 be like "he's the normal guy who is a pretty good cop" which is a downright shame - the rest of section 9 all feel like characters who are begging for a sequel and/or spinoff 2 rly flesh out proper but that also means they serve in a perfect capacity for fulfilling both the superhero origin shit (give you a hook 2 intice you 2 dig deeper) and also just like the general cool fringe sci-fi genre piece vibes (everyone looks badass, there's some neat little distinct tic or visual quirk on top of said general badassness that makes you think "maaaan i wanna see more of this guy" which fucking like all of these movies have, like again johnny mnemonic, that's an entire film of characters like that) - i love the retrofuturist plastic shell cars, it's extraordinarily "some high school kid's loving blade runner fanart" but it's executed w/ a respectable unwinking nature abt its whole shit, like it doesn't try 2 make this like the slick CGI ver. of a retrofuturist plastic shell car, it's just a shitty old car w/ hyper-stylized plastic shell on it hahaha - most of the spider-tank scene pales in comparison 2 mitsuo iso's beautifully animated take from the oshii flick but the actual exact sequence where motoko breaks 2 pieces prying the tank open is fucking gorgeous & riffs on iso + oshii's original work sublimely w/o just straight-up jacking it (this is a moment where the 3D rly shines, the frantic swaying of the arm as the last tendons shred and it pops off)

overall this was dumb as fuck but very gorgeous & kept compelling by performances that are strong & play well w/ the genre elements

[buffster]

Lie To Me (BTVS 2.07)

This is part of my ongoing Buffy Project, where I write notes/meta for every episode in an attempt to better understand the characters and themes of the show. You can find the full list here. Gifs are not mine.

You might think the Angelus arc begins after Surprise, but you would be wrong. Take a closer look and you will see the foundation at the very beginning of season two. Some Assembly Required, Inca Mummy Girl, Lie To Me, The Dark Ages, and Ted all have Buffy dealing with villains that are complicated. They have a story. They have reasons. Or they have ties to people with them. As Buffy says later, “It’s always different.” This season is teaching her that there are times when the complications don’t matter. She has a job to do.

Buffy: Nothing’s ever simple anymore. I’m constantly trying to work it out. Who to love or hate. Who to trust. 

Buffy must reconcile many complications in this episode. She learns more about Angel’s past. A group of misguided teens get themselves into trouble that they’re kind of asking for. Her friends lie to her and work with Angel behind her back. And her old friend from school tries to have her killed. With each situation Buffy must decide whether people are deserving of her rescue and forgiveness.

When Buffy sees Drusilla and Angel talking intimately she demands to know who she is. First, in a sort of unfair moment, Angel asks if Buffy loves him. She admits that she does but she doesn’t know if she trusts him. Angel says maybe she “shouldn’t do either”. He tells the story of Drusilla: she was an obsession of his. She was pure, sweet, and chaste. He made her insane by killing everyone she loved and doing other unspeakable things. Then, when she took her vows to become a nun, he turned her. I’m so anxious to write this Angel/Angelus essay ugh SO MANY THOUGHTS. 

Drusilla must seriously hate Buffy. If she was a bit more focused she probably would have spent a lot of energy trying to take her down. Then again, maybe she just saw that it wouldn’t work out in her favor. 

The vampire-worshipping teens Buffy deems worthy of saving. They’re misguided and ignorant but not evil. Angel mentions that he’s seen people like them before and that doesn’t surprise me. This is the first time we see the girl later named Anne. Their hangout has “safe space” vibes. “Anne” is extremely distressed when Angel criticizes her beliefs.

When Angel’s gut tells him not to trust Ford (is he jealous? Yes. But I also think part of Angel’s character is his gut instinct) he goes to Willow. Willow agrees to help him and invites him into her bedroom, an act she’ll come to regret later. But for a few moments they’re actually talking in what seems to be the start of a relationship.

Buffy’s old high school friend Billy Fordham comes to Sunnydale (and they were obviously close; see his knowing she used to like Oreos dunked in apple juice) wishing to be turned into a vampire. To do it he’s willing to make a deal with Spike that will have Buffy killed. At first Buffy is all righteous anger, but when she learns Ford is dying of cancer it throws her. She gives him the opportunity to repent but when he doesn’t she leaves him to die. This one she decides she cannot save.

Ford’s storyline reminded me a bit of Ampata’s. Both characters were meant to show us an example of a teenager dealt a crappy hand and handling it all wrong. Buffy chose to rise above her deal. Ampata and Ford chose themselves. Buffy inspires me as a hero because she chooses to look at people with compassion even though she can’t empathize with their bad choices. She says Billy was just scared and lays flowers at his grave even as she prepares to stake him. Trying to be both Buffy and the hardened Slayer is something she struggles with throughout the series. She can’t ignore her duties but she doesn’t want to be dead inside.

Let’s finish up by talking about Spike and Drusilla this episode. Spike agrees to turn Ford despite hating him, a decision I don’t think he ever planned to go through with. In a very Angelus-like move, he forces Buffy to kill her friend by turning him into a vampire rather than just draining him. 

Buffy: Does it ever get easy?

Giles: You mean life?

Buffy: Yeah, does it get easy?

Giles: What do you want me to say?

Buffy: Lie to me.

Giles: Yes, it’s terribly simple. The good guys are always stalwart and true. The bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats. And, uh, we always defeat them and save the day. No one ever dies and everyone lives happily ever after.

Buffy: Liar.

Character Notes:

Willow Rosenberg: After she starts talking about sore thumbs not even sticking out, Xander tells Willow she has too many thoughts. I could relate to her there.

Willow/Angel: These two rarely cross paths. It would have been neat to see their relationship in season six had Angel stuck around.

Buffy Summers: Buffy tells Ford that if he’s turned a demon will set up shop in his body but it won’t be him. This distinction is important for Buffy because it makes it easier for her to kill vampires and it convinces her Angel and Angelus are totally separate beings.

Spike: Spike’s badass demeanor is diminished by his clear subservience to Dru. He listens when she instructs him to let Billy live.

Xander Harris: Though Xander doesn’t have feelings for Willow, he still seems upset Angel was in her bedroom. It’s possible he’s just protective and not jealous when he makes all these comments to Buffy.