#zeke is such a fun character i hope we get even more lore about him in the future

[goldendoodlerlockerlove]

Geneeeee!! Has anyone done Gene?? Nevermind I have a backup option: Zeke!!

DTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I literally never get tired of seeing you in my ask box 🥹❣️

Unfortunately, you got beaten by Nikki, because she asked about Gene first!! You can find that here:

https://www.tumblr.com/goldendoodlerlockerlove/741996094993661952/character-asks-gene?source=share

So, I suppose this ask will be all about Zeke!! Whose last name remains undisclosed for some reason.

First impression: I actually wasn't too sure about Zeke at first?? I never disliked him. I always enjoyed him as a character. But him being the Mad Pooper in Broadcast Wagstaff School News was just so strange to me, pfffffft. However, I did immediately find it quite sweet that he did it for Tina. I don't ship Zekina that much, but I can definitely see why a lot of other people do (but come on, people, stop using this ship as an excuse to bash Tinimmy, I am still so tired of it--)

Impression now: I love Zeke, he's hilarious. And his interactions with all of the Belchers have been great. Him calling Gene his precious lil' lamb in Stand By Gene?? Adorable (please correct me if I got the episode where he said that wrong)!! He's genuinely such a sweet kid with a newfound love of cooking, which I love to see. He deserves the best. I hope he finds someone nice in the future.

Favorite moment: Probably when he busted out that mascot costume for his grandma, because that was one of the sweetest moments in the entire show, in my opinion. The boy loves his grandma, and that's so adorable. They clearly have a super sweet bond. Also, side note, the story about his grandpa wooing his grandma because of a similar mascot costume is so cute. It kind of gives me Boblin vibes, not gonna lie.

Idea for a story: I would love to see Zeke bond more with Bob when it comes to cooking, the boy is clearly talented, and I would love to see what he can do if that talent is properly nurtured by someone as caring and experienced as Bob. The two would definitely have a great time.

Unpopular opinion: I don't think Zeke treats Tina so much better than Jimmy Jr. like a ton of other people say. He's a thirteen-year-old boy just like J Ju is. He's had his fair share of not being great to Tina, and let's not forget the lore that he actually used to be kind of a troublemaker and bully back in the day. Of course, he's matured a lot since then, and I love him, but he doesn't treat Tina as well as a lot of people say. There are just way too many Tinimmy bashers, and I will not stand for that.

Favorite relationship: I think his relationship with Jimmy Jr. is my favorite. He's always wrestling J Ju, and J Ju is always down to get tackled by him. Those two idiots just have a very special bond, and it's great to see.

Favorite headcanon: I'm honestly not sure!! Maybe the headcanon where he begins working for the Belchers and honing his cooking skills because that is always wonderful to see.

[seasaltmemories]

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Review/Analysis

I have a complicated relationship with the Xenoblade franchise.  While I’ve played each game in the series, I’ve never fully finished one or ever fell in love the way I see others do.  Even its latest entry Xenoblade Chronicles 2, I bounced off so hard, it took a friend all but forcing me to continue playing for me to come back

Yet its the only game I’ve been compelled enough to finish.  I even played the Torna DLC which was another 25 hours on top of a 65 hour long play-through, so I thought I might as well go ahead and share my thoughts on what made it more compelling than anticipated in the end.

Lost in a sea of clouds, entire civilizations rest on the backs of Titans. As the giant beasts march toward death, the last hope is a scavenger named Rex—and Pyra, a living weapon known as a Blade. Can you find the fabled paradise she calls home? Command a group of Blades and lead them to countless strategic victories before the world ends. Each Titan hosts its own distinct cultures, wildlife, and diverse regions to explore. Search the vast open areas and labyrinthine corridors for treasure, secret paths, and creatures to battle and index. During these escapades you’ll get to know a large cast of eclectic characters, including the weaponized life forms known as Blades. Gather these allies, bond with them to increase their power, and utilize their special ARTS to devastate enemies. But to save the world of Alrest, you must first demystify its cloudy past.

One person once described XC2 as having the worst first impression in the world, and honestly, they weren’t entirely wrong.  There are a million little mechanics begging for your attention, yet its hard to tell what they do or their point, the lipsync is so bad, I couldn’t really bear watching characters talk, the character design and aesthetic even when it isn’t confusingly horny, never really comes together, and worst of all you have to stand fully still for the MMO-inspired combat to even work

When we got around to the prolonged anime fight cutscenes, I was ready to throw in the tower, but like I said, a friend wheedled me into sticking with it longer, and so I powered through

It takes until chapter 3/10 for me to feel like I have a grasp on the gameplay, but since apparently others took until endgame to understand that, I was ahead of the curve, the Xenoblade familiarity probably helped, but to explain as quickly as I can, its about building up specials and linking them in the right order for combos, not the most complicated stuff, but there are enough bells and whistles to keep me engaged in any fight and I couldn’t help but feel proud of myself for slowly getting a grip on things

And by the end of the chapter it finally felt there was some meat to the story as well, rather than try and artificially prolong a mystery about Mythra, they explain her existence quickly, and she proved to be the most interesting character yet, it’s not anything revolutionary, but the idea is compelling: an uncontrollable ball of power so dangerous, she willfully sealed herself away and constructed a safer, more palpable version of herself, in general, she brought this melancholy regretful mood to the story, which gave the story some texture

Probably the high-point came with chapter 5, when we not only started to dig into the shared painful past both Mythra and the villains face, but also learned of the tragic existence of Blades themselves, there’s the inherent consent issues of sentient weapons, but as Jin, who so far had been stoic and dull, angrily talks explains how they are actively kept from being able to form any soceity/history of their own, I couldn’t help but agree with him.  

However any grace it had managed to win started to fade with chapter 7, from then on the plot is so railroaded to the endgame, you have to actively fight it to really enjoy the open world mechanics, it has the most infuriating dungeon that takes away your ability to rack up specials, essentially sucking all the fun out of combat, the gatcha system of acquiring new blades, and most importantly Rex’s weakness as a protag

From the start his youthfulness is emphasized, as is his powerlessness in the face of most of his opponents.  The story is set up from the start to be a coming of age of sorts, but any potential that has is squashed by the fact that everything important to the plot basically already happened or is being pushed forward by ppl other than our party, he never really justifies his place in the narrative or why we should be following him besides generic chosen one stuff

Furthermore the party dynamics never really come together, it’s both small and large by JRPG standards (only five members but each of them has at least one blade, essentially doubling the cast) and in heart to heart’s there is good chemistry, but any chance to shine a light on an outside member falls pretty flat, the best we get is Zeke’s bitterness regarding the state of his home, the worst is Morag’s lack of character beyond an admittedly cool design and a her loyalty to an empire that is textually pretty bad news, a lot of ppl love Nia’s character, but I struggle to even call it an arc, it is the same plot twist almost every Torna member has had, that doesn’t really inform much about her as character or even the themes of story, just the there is this problem but oh now it is fixed

By the end it is clear that story is going for themes of existentialism, but all the weaknesses I’ve mentioned before really hold it back, there’s both too much attempts at in-story investment yet not enough strong writing to deliver in comparison to something like Nier Automata

Yet it’s hard to regret my time with it, the concepts it brought up of self-hood and memory, the flashes of brilliance it got when the gameplay all flowed together, the last thing you could call XC2 is unambitious or predictable

I played Torna DLC mostly to see if actually getting to go back to that shared traumatic past might give me the catharsis I wish, but now that the important lore-filled past is present, it once more failed to really deliver the emotional weight of its plot, pushing most hints of it to cutscenes right at the end, and what improvements made to the gameplay kinda canceled out with the oomph it together from combos

Still I can’t help but appreciate it for the inspiration it gave me to think about its themes and messages