#4. the plot is just. incredibly silly and not in a good way like you're telling me once the riddler stops using riddles he | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cloud-somersault · 2 months

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Hey, how are you doing? I hope you’re alright. 💕 I’ve been reading your status updates on Constellations and the Epilogue, and I just wanted to let you know that I think you’re amazing. Your writing is incredible and I love it. Your stories are so well thought out and the characters are ✨on point✨, and the plot is complex and detailed and aaahhh! It has me hooked! 🤩

And I understand how it hurts when you put so much effort and love into a story, only to post it and not see others be anywhere near as excited or invested as you are. I know how discouraging it can be. And it may be a little silly, but I do want to apologize for not commenting lately—life took some difficult turns for me healthwise around the end of last year and I haven’t been able to catch up! I’m still on Chapter 4 of Constellations! 😭 BUT Chapter 5 is open on my phone, and I am READY to read it as soon as I have the time (and mental energy, but that’s a whole ‘nother issue 😩). Don’t worry that your writing isn’t enough, or be discouraged if some readers don’t catch hints while others are figuring it all out seemingly too easily. Everybody reads and comprehends stuff differently, and it’s not a sign that your writing is bad if they don’t catch it! Honestly, I’m pretty bad at catching hints the first time I read a story unless they’re pretty darn obvious. I don’t usually notice subtle hints until the second, or third, or even seventh read-through, haha! (on the bright side, rereading stories and rewatching TV shows is always fun!) 😅

I guess what I really wanted to say is… don’t give up hope. Don’t lose your love and enthusiasm for your works, or feel like they aren’t worth writing because others don’t seem interested in them. At the heart of it all… at the end of the day… write because you love to. Because it makes you happy. And know that it doesn’t have to be “perfect”—the main goal should be that you enjoy it. That’s something I’m trying to teach myself, too. 💕

Thank you for taking the time to write this message and send it. I appreciate you're very kind words 💕I'm doing okay, I just had to take a step back for a bit from socials and stuff. I'm gonna keep that up for a while.

Please don't apologize for not commenting or taking your time reading. Your health always comes first, and I'm sorry if I came off as childish or needy, that wasn't my intention. Two things just happened that set me off and the timing of it was incredibly poor 😓

Please take your time reading; none of it is going anywhere, and don't feel obligated to leave comments either. i'm realizing that, even if chapters are short or long, finding the time to finish things is difficult, and everyone lives different lives. And I'm sorry about all the spoilers on this blog, I'll tag that better from now on.

But I really do think I got confused or disjointed in my perceptions; everyone here knows so much because i've been asked questions and given answers and people have interacted, so people following me here have more context than the average ao3 user. But I've kinda been expecting everyone to be on the same page, which will never be true.

I'm also the same way where it takes me a while to pick up on hints. I actually changed my writing style to prevent this. I got tired of reading books in college where you had to dive into every little thing. the hints and clues weren't obvious to me. I decided then that, when I wrote, I wanted things to be bold, obvious, but beautiful. I didn't want to make readers feel like they're missing something. I wanted them to trust that every answer, every clue would be answered in time. I made that promise to myself a decade ago, and being reminded of how different people interpret things just...made me remember.

I take writing really seriously, probably too seriously, but I've been doing it for so long and I love doing it. I want to be good at it. When it feels like I've gone back on that promise to myself, I get frustrated. I think of ways I could've fixed things. But I also remember that those books and those writing styles just weren't for me. I wasn't the target audience.

Sorry to go off on a tangent, but I wanted to explain why I got upset. I still love Constellations and I'm posting it on ao3 out of convenience, really. It's easier to reference and search there in one "Entire Work" than to have 5 documents open. The fact that others can see and read and have fun is a bonus. But I'm committed to telling this story, and I'm gonna finish with a bang.

Thank you, I won't forget why I'm doing this and that my thoughts/feelings come first! 😤I hope your health concerns are taken care of soon. Take it easy, and thanks again! 💕

#ask #this is very kind i'm sorry i worried people i was just REAL upset/mad #but i'm better now. i just needed to take a minute and refocus and remind myself of a few things #we're still chugging along #but seriously thank you for sending this. i'm really glad you like constellations! that means a lot to me #but seriously--health comes first. and DON'T FEEL PRESSURED TO COMMENT!!! 😤#okay love you bye~ 💕

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anarchic-miscellany · 3 months

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"Armageddon" has, rightfully, been remembered as a very, very silly film, but I will defend the characterisation in the script: Each of the oil crew gets one or two lines to define them, and thus we actually kind of like them super early on, and have a ragtag bunch of guys whom you want to see live. It helps that they are played by some of the best, most reliable actors working today: 1. You have Colonel Sharpe, douchebag uptight military man. Who better to play him than William Fichtner? In the most William Fichtner part! I like that he has that little moment of "you guys aren't bad" where he backs down and doesn't shoot them on the moon. What a line to write... 2. "Chick", the loyal, reliable, supportive right hand man, just an all round good dude they give a wife and son to, you're like "Oh man, this motherfucker is DEAD" especially because he's played by Will Patton. But oddly? No! 3. Rockhound: "because I'm a genius, that's why!" acts like he's going to die on the mission, loses a bunch of money to a stripper named Molly Mounds (amazing name) and ends up going insane on the rock. Again survives. Love him, no notes, joint best character. Thank you, Steve Buscemi, as usual. 4. Speaking of the best character, Peter God-Damned Stormare plays "Lev Andropov", the late addition Russian cosmonaut, who is grouchy and Russian and kind of lovable. Will he betray them? No! He is accepted into this group of weirdo rednecks, no questions asked, after his ship explodes, and just sort of sticks around. He gets all of the best non-Rockhound lines ("Russian components? American components? ALL MADE IN TAIWAN!") and did I mention he's Peter Stormare? Love him. 5. Bruce Willis plays a grouchy old dad/leader/roughneck guy, you know, a Bruce Willis character. You know what you're getting with him, and the casting carries it all the way, he could do this part in his sleep. 6. Ben Affleck, oft unfairly maligned, here a solid pick, and has that funny story about being told to "shut the fuck up" by Michale Bay by questioning the stupidity of the plot. 7. Michael Clarke Duncan, always great, plays token black guy "Bear", and once again you're like: "Hmm, a 90s movie? With the big lovable guy who's an absolute sweetheart? Guess he'd better write a will!" But again: nope! Then we get to our "expendable" guys, and even there, they get one or two characteristics so that we know, when they die, a bit about them: There's the fat guy who loves his mother, the cowboy guy played by Owen Wilson, and the rough and tumble roughneck guy. I mean, a few rewrites and you could have these guys having a bit more banter and silliness in space (even if we get the alread incredible, 10/10, no notes line "Why does he have a gun in space?" from a despairing Chick) but yeah - as basic, quick, rapid fire introductions and archetypical characters go? Not bad.

#movies #Armageddon #Peter Stormare #Steve Buscemi #character focus #character writing #characterisation #Ben Affleck #William Fichtner #Bruce Willis #Michael Clarke Duncan #Will Patton #Michael Bay #Rockhound #Lev Andropov

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glassvines · 4 months

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Thoughts On 2023 Favorites

TV Shows 1. Good Omens season 2: Oops, I'm obsessed again. You can make the argument that a second (and PHEW eventual third) season was unnecessary, but I disagree. It was nice to get a season that wasn't so breakneck in it's pacing. Everything slowed down a bit and focused in on Aziraphale and Crowley's shenanigans. Which, let's be honest, is what the audience wants. That being said, I liked everything else about it too. A cute/silly plot, fun new characters, and a devastatingly sad finale that left me distraught. I could not have asked for more really. (Except more kissing. Please tell me there will be more kissing.) 2. Lockwood and Co: A spooky premise that probably took a lot of effort to appear even semi-believable [as a tv show]. Yet, it was pulled off with flying colors. It was also perfectly atmospheric and charming, so of course netflix canceled it. I plan on reading the books.

Animation (TV & Films) 1. Murder Drones: 2023 was a good year for indie animation overall, and out of all of them Murder Drones was the show to win my entire heart. Perfect setup for horror and YA spoofing, but also well written enough that I enjoyed the character focus and progression as well. I'm psyched for the final two episodes set to release in the spring. 2. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: If any movie of recent memory deserved a decent sequel it was this one, so I'm very happy it turned out as great as it did. One of the few comic-book films I bothered with in 2023. 3. Hilda season 3: Easily one of my all-time favorites from Netflix, so I'm beyond happy it has a great ending now. Gorgeous animation, a lovable main and support cast, and perfect chill vibes. Deserves a bluray release. 4. Elemental: Listen. Pixar's still got it this was so cute. You're forgiven for The Good Dinosaur Peter Sohn. 5. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem: So much fun tho. Love the current creative trend in cg films happening thanks to Into the Spider-verse. Also, the No Diggity scene was incredible. The movie has an A+ soundtrack. Anime (TV & Films) 1. Trigun Stampede: So relieved this turned out to be great, considering the original is a favorite of mine. Not a easy feat in the age awful, cash-grab reboots. 2. The Boy And The Heron: Honestly? My favorite Miyazaki film since Howl's Moving Castle. Genuinely moving and left me misty-eyed. 3. Demon Slayer: Swordsmith Village Arc: This show is so pretty. Still surprised how well the series portrays it’s simple, compelling cast. Like it’s an effortless sort of thing (it’s not). 4. Suzume: Makoto Shinkai's last three movies just make me happy okay. Happy and hopeful. The best comfort movies ever. Video Games I have a steam deck now so you'd think I played a bunch of video games last year but, no. I didn't get heavily into much last year. Played some Hades though? Live Films || Note: I watched so many great classic horror movies this year that I had never given a proper watch. I would like to continue that this year!! 1. Talk to Me: Please make more horror movies Danny and Michael Philippou. This one was wild. 2. Dark City: The fact that The Matrix got four movies and this didn't get any sequels is a fucking tragedy. 3. Coherence: Love me a simple, creepy sci-fi movie with an interesting premise. Apparently, quite a lot of the film is improvised as well? That blew my mind. 4. Greener Grass: More films that just feel like one big Adult Swim skit please. This style of script is hysterical to me. 5. Caveat: This goes on my fave list simply for scaring the shit out of me lmao. Movies walk a fine line, when the intention is to make you uncomfortable for long periods of time. They risk being irritating instead of entertaining. Caveat had me shrieking at my tv (in a delighted sort of way).

Honorable Mentions 1. Lore Olympus 2. Nier Automata anime 3. Asteroid City + Wes Anderson's new short films 4. OPLA

Things I'm Looking Forward to in 2024 1. Dune 2 2. Second season of Severance hopefully! 3. Madoka Magica Movie 4: Walpurgisnacht: Rising?? Is it finally happening or what? 4. New Magnus Archives

Some Creative & General Goals for 2024 I feel like I was drawing a lot more in 2023! Still nothing worth posting online, but I'm making some progress I think (slowly but surely). Goals: make more art for my siblings when they request it, finish some digital art that I started, and finish the diorama piece I planned out. On the general goals I'd like to travel more! Particularly, I'd like to visit some national parks.

#new year #new year's #some comments #glassvines gets irl

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multifandomfreak · 5 months

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Spoilers for TheInvisibleDavis's SCP Series

As someone who is about 3/4 through season one ish, its pretty good so far. With it being a minecraft rp, things are very aprofessional and the editor just doesnt give a flying fuck. Sometimes the bg music is way to loud, sometimes the plot is interrupted by someone needing to leave. They can take it out, but they just don't, and its incredibly frustrating. I don't love it, but like, its investing, the drama is solid, and scps are really cool.

Onto the characters themselves:

Davis- He's cold and bitter, seems to deny any sort of positivity, and is all around a bitch. He complains about pretty much anything, and I understand where he's coming from in his situation, but g o d it can get annoying. But he also has his reasons. His ability causing him to remember how he dies every time he comes back, there is an insane amount of horror this man has seen. Hes died from both scps and people over and over again. He's taken advantage of his ability and will try time and time again under the idea he can get what he wants in the end. He's become pretty messed up and depressed in this state. He's either used or waiting to be used and he will do anything to get out. A total badass, but like I get tired of him complianing. Like dude you have a bed. remember being D-class? Yeah fuckin' appreciate it before its gone and you're back at square one. You don't have to pretend to be happy, just value what you got.

And with his trust issues, he can never see the good in the people he's working with (Kat SHE DESERVES BETTER) and its both his and the foundation's fault for this. Kat had to treat him like an experiment. She had to treat d-class like that, but Davis didn't get that. He still doesn't because he REFUSES to believe any of the researchers no matter how much integrity they show. Kind of silly and annoying of him, but thats kinda how trauma works.

I also forgot to mention I really liked him early on. He was like this angry lil guy who was pissed in his circumstance. His ability was rediscovered after those anesthetics messed with his brain. The atmosphere was great. These solitary rooms as Davis sees just how large this place is in his attempts to break free. The endless staircase and the meat room were probably my favorite parts of pre-scp Davis. I liked the mystery of that a lot.

After that its just been moments where there isn't much horror to it, but the angst is really good sometimes.

Once he found out he was a father, that frustration I had with him has lessened, given that kid is the one thing that makes him happy in this personal hell of his. And he only got to see the kid once and since hes been transparent about that. The thing is the foundation doesn give a fuck, so Harkmann and Kat had to put in work just to get it to happen. Again, Davis just doesn't think they care. I think I just want him to be a better person... and like maybe his son will do that. That'd be very sweet.

I also find it funny that Davis's self insert is a jacked badass who cannot die.

Kat- I like her. I didn't have much to say about her for a good chunk of the series, but she's the embodiment of "trying her best :'(" Shes new to her job, she just wants to help people, and shes gone through some awful stuff. For one, shes had to live through some horrific events. Containment breaches, held at gunpoint, stalked to the point where she couldn't stay in her own home, and kidnapped by that Cain cult. She lies that her kindness is for the complicity of Davis. That's just... tragic. At least she has a good relationship with Dr. Harkmann.

SPEAKING OF:

Dr. Harkmann- He's complicated for me. On one hand he came off as pretty kind and thoughtful of his fellow researchers, but if you get on his bad side, he can be brutal. That's sounds cool, but it hurts from the fact Davis had to go through some more torture after he blackmailed the foundation and Kat's life. He got pretty protective of her and goes pretty easy on her compared to the other colleages. It's not out of sexism so I respect that greatly. But kinda like Davis he can be a bitch. He feel like he has to put on this mask to be a cold and collected scientest and see any SCP as an experiement, no matter the sentience. He was also kind of taught to be that way. Idk his story is cool, I'm just not a big fan of who he is.

Reggie- Not enough screentime or standout scenes to form an opinion. He developed a hatred for Davis after... something went wrong. 99% sure it was the gunpoint situation, but it could have also been the time he knew he was killed. The time where- idk he was pretty chill but I just kind of stopped caring about him after some time I was watching.

Uh anyways. Good series. Lotta bad pacing (imo) so I get bored easily. 3/4 of them need therapy. Kat just got to see a therapist from where I'm at.

And otso, almost forgot him. Ill talk about him when im more awake im stupid tired.

#theinvisibledavis #rambling #scp

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some-pers0n · 8 months

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For the ask game: 1, 8, 10, 14, 23

Oh boy quite a lot. Let's do it.

1 - The Character Everyone Gets Wrong

For Wof no joke it's gotta be Qibli. So many people write him off as a goofy silly guy who thinks a lot and is really smart when honestly he's a massive overthinker with horrible social anxiety and uses a cocky and confident persona to a) cope and b) try to make friends. He's not a joke-spewing machine that can't read the room and stop when somebody is in distress.

For TF2 it's probably Saxton Hale. Yeah he's funny and cool, but he's not really a good boss like. at all. Not even a good person before the comics. He was characterized as a guy who liked hunting endangered animals and selling terrible and cheap weapons to keep the Gravel War going. It's 500% more funny when he's got jokes about how unions and workers rights are a nasty thorn in his side.

8 - Common Fandom Opinion Everyone is Wrong About

[Insert character] being a Mary Sue. Typically it's Glory or Moon. Glory is a victim of poor character writing and favouritism on Tui's part and Moon's entre character is reduced to a plot device. Those aren't Mary Sues but just poorly written characters in ways different than a Sue. Plus I also just Hate the term and would rather people like...elaborate more on what they say as opposed to using vague buzzwords.

For TF2 it's probably that Engie is boring, both in gameplay and lore. For starters, put on the Gunslinger and Rescue Ranger and stop turtling in the same spots every round. Secondly, Engie's personality is one of the most fascinating due to it kinda being a little cover up. Not even to mention his whole family. So cool and interesting....

10 - Worst Part of Fanon

Hmmmm,,,flanderization is always terrible. I hate it especially with Qinter stuff since a good chunk of it horribly misses the mark of who Qibli and Winter (and even by extension Moon) are and what makes them click. Their whole this is that they have a persona and I feel Qinter as a whole should be based on them putting aside their exaggerated personalities and finding solidarity and comfort within being around each other as their pure selves. This and also the infantalization of characters like Whiteout. All my homes hate that.

Same thing can be said for TF2. Me and my homies hate Nazi Medic. Medic likes his coworkers, he just is a bit silly like that.

14 - One Thing you See in Fics all the Time

For WoF, it's gotta be swearing. I literally don't know why it kinda irks me, but it feels weird when you're writing something serious and straight-forward while the dragon characters say the fuck word. Nothing against it, I just...I dunno.

For TF2 it's always the goddamn shoe-horned in racism/queerphobia. Please man I don't need you to get up on your soap box and tell me that the 60s wasn't good for queers and people of colour I'm trying to read Old Man Yaoi. It's especially annoying when certain characters (ex: Soldier) only exist to really fulfill the role of being the person who make it "period accurate" by including 12 extremely harmful and horrible slurs in every sentence they speak.

23 - Ship You've Unwillingly Come Around To

For WoF: Cleril somehow. The "Cleril is good :)" -> "Peril is toxic and this relationship will never work" -> "Cleril is good :)" pipeline is real. Peril HAS been getting help and is vastly improving. She is doing so incredibly well. She uses Clay as a moral compass, but she's aware of that and trying to change. It's not that bad of a ship ngl.

For TF2: Jagerbombs (Demo/Medic). I'm God's strongest aro/ace Medic enjoyer so I like them best as friends, but honestly they're just great together. Literally written up like 19k words of these morons. Never would've thought in a million years I'd do it (especially considering how I'm the No. 4 Science Party person ever) but they're just wonderful. Honestly like them better than HeavyMed– *gets shot*

#ask

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transmutationisms · 2 years

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your theory about hippocrate's 4 humours being shown throughout succession is so interesting!!! do you think the 4 roy siblings fit the personality types? like i would think kendall is melancholic, connor is phlegmatic, roman is choleric and shiv is sanguine.

i also think the way its shown throughout the show (the use of elements, like kendall crying in the dirt, ALL THE PISS MOTIFS, etc) is incredibly interesting and i was wondering if you have further thoughts on it

anon after my own heart. sticking this under a readmore to spare the dash.

so first of all, In My Head connor and roman are actually flipped from what you said. connor i think is much more volatile than his sibs give him credit for ("i'm gonna go apeshit") and roman is ultimately more passive than active, though he does posture as a choleric. plus i think logan's phlegmatic (though he was choleric in his youth) and i see roman as a failson version of him in certain ways.

i did actually make a silly chart of this here but i could be argued with about almost any of these placements. i will stand by my assertion that the roys are all very unbalanced though. like they'll careen from extreme to extreme, very diseased in a classical sense. you gotta have all four humours mixed in there properly.

in terms of further thoughts. yes. so i have two favourite events to constantly obsess about from this show and one of them is kendall shitting the bed. just to recap, we have a character who's been deeply melancholic (in both a classical and more modern sense) for the first half of the season, who meets someone new over a bowl of soup (which in renaissance theory could treat melancholia), bonds with her, and then shits himself: literally a purgation of black bile.

the next episode is argestes where kendall finds a new purpose to hitch his wagon to: the cruises scandal, which he seizes on as a moral crusade (i'm not arbitrating the sincerity of his beliefs here—that's complicated). then the episode after that is when we really start to see him trying to grapple with the death of the waiter (attempts to confess to caroline) and enjoying his relationship with naomi. and by the episode after THAT, we get the jennifer thing and yadda yadda. tern haven is a turning point for kendall, and i do think shitting himself is the bodily manifestation/representation of that

so, in general, i do see succession's use of bodily fluids/humours as being more or less in line with medieval/classical medicine in that it usually signifies some kind of catharsis or release. this does depend on the character's circumstances though. like obviously if you're already lacking in phlegm, then losing more of it is not going to be good for you, it's just going to be draining. but usually these characters' problem is their excessive temperament, rather than lack thereof.

piss motif. yes i do have so many thoughts about this. logan is the only character who's really allowed to be, like, expressive of his emotions and have actual outbursts and so forth... not coincidental that he's also the pisser. plus, the sheer number of bathroom scenes, and the bathroom as a site of secret negotiations and intimate conversations and so forth. gotta get those humours flowing in order to find any kind of emotional release.

but there's always danger here too: logan pisses as a power move in 'sad sack wasp trap', but by 'retired janitors of idaho' he's lost the plot and goes piss-mad. the body in this show is so often constructed as a kind of external threat to rationality. it's the ugly human thing that the roys are so desperately trying to repress and control, and they just can't, and everyone knows they're disgusting for it. see also: greg yerfing out of doderick's eyeholes, logan yerfing at argestes. an explosion of yellow bile.

in terms of the elemental symbolism, empedocles is usually the one mostly credited with linking humours and elements, rather than hippocrates/galen. but i think that succession's humourism comes thru the influence of renaissance drama (particularly shakespeare) and by that point there often was an association between the two, so yeah i do very much see these things as being related. for empedocles, sanguine goes with air, phlegmatic with water, melancholic with earth, and choleric with fire.

so like, let's go back to kendall because he's very Body. kendall crying in the dirt... that's a melancholia moment (again, in both a classical and more modern sense). it's only after his siblings finally hear his confession that he's able to get up out of the dirt, and again, it's an emotional turning point for him represented physically. i also love that he's the one with the water motif: water is both freeing and distressing for him, in part because i think he does see it as being alien in some sense. like, his passive suicide attempt in the pool: water as literally a gateway to the great beyond, or whatever. the ultimate release/purgation/rebalancing. a foreign element for someone generally so melancholic.

also i've mentioned this especially in the context of 'this is not for tears,' but: this show frequently plays with sunlight (fire) not as enlightenment or purity or transcendence, but as overexposure or rage or danger. think of logan almost being killed by the sun in 'lion in the meadow' (because he needed water... lol). the shot of the sun backlighting the chapel at austerlitz, the roys minimised into the bottom of the frame. the dazzling blinding light in the s2 and s3 finales. sunlight on the rooftop at the end of 'shit show at the fuck factory' as kendall finds out the company's fucked. (&, related, it's raining when stewy offers to buy him out the first time...)

literally i Have to stop because i would be more than happy to turn this into an entire dissertation. like if i were in media studies or whatever. i would do that. but instead of subjecting you to that, i'll just stick this post into my humours tag where i rambled some more about things and also my bathrooms tag because there's overlap here lmao

#thank you for this question. giggling twirling my hair etc #it's a closed loop system #if i get the shits we're fucked

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the-clockwork-three · 1 year

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Swan Lake is a classic for a reason. Beautiful story. Amazing music. Incredible choreography. I do wish Ireland had... Literally any other ballet playing. Our cultural scene is incredibly stagnant. Just Swan Lake and the Nutcracker. Anyways this is musing from the production I saw today (technically yesterday)

The set for this production was very Greek (???) to me, especially in Act 1. (Not in the sense of the phrase but actually like Greece). There was a lot of pillars, and marblesque seats and fancy pots full of flowers. The lake was a lake in the even acts and the Act 3 ballroom is very plain. However the costume design was normal, which is to say they could be from anywhere in western Europe. But they were all sparkly so that's a plus

Act one. That's a pas de trois. You cannot convince me that that dance with the bestie and the two girls is not a valid Grand Pas de Trois. A dance together, everyone gets a solo, then they are together again. Swan Lake says polyamoruos rights. And this polyamory really want a fourth, but Seigfried keeps being like "nah it's alright, you go ahead I'm going to stay here". He is NOT interested in their advances.

Random half-joking headcannons aside, the crossbow was like really pathetic. It was pure white with what looked like delicate carvings and gems and I genuinely thought it was a pickaxe for a second before I remembered the plot. It's just.... My dude that's not going to hurt a fly it looks like your mum bought you a nice decoration. Also, if your mum gives you a crossbow in the first scene I expect you to have shot it at the evil wizard by the last one. Chekhov's gun,,,, or what I like to call it, Seigfried's stupid little crossbow

Anyway MIME STRIKES BACK. We all know that ballet is incredibly tied to mime as an artform and so the only way I'll my communicating the concept of marriage from now on is by laying one hand over the other and giving loaded looks. Anyways ballet is so silly and I love it

Act 2. Cygnets. I love cygnets. Give me more cygnets. I've also performed a lot of act 2 so the music is a little burned into my brain. Watching it made my feet hurt from remembering standing still for 3 solos

Anyways, here we meet Seigfried's first, but certainly not last, cringfail moment. He is the lands worst marksman. God help us all.

Also he proves himself to be an absolute wife guy. Odette has this lovely solo and he's just on the sidelines giving her heart eyes.

Act 3 <3 I've said it before and I'll say it again. I LOVE WHEN BALLET IS CLOSER TO ITS FOLK DANCE ROOTS. Character dance? Yummy. 3/5 of the folk dances were character. AND TARANTELLA. I LOVE SPAINISH DANCES. Rad grade 4 dance f (maybe. Possibly) is my favorite dance I have ever done for a ballet exam. If you take nothing of this watch RAD grade 4 dance f. The tamberines in the fourth dance were clearly missing their cymbals though. You can hear the dancers pointe shoes clunking against the stage, you would be able to hear the tamberines. And when they smack the thing there was the merest clink. Again as I have done the tarantella in rad grade 4, I can tell you that dancing with tamberines is LOUD

And then we have Odile. My boy you're so fucking stupid. I love you, but you are good of heart, dumb of ass. But the dance was breath taking. Of course. Fouttetes<3 and then Seigfried's pirouettes à second<3 I do think the ballerina fell out of the last fouette so she might not have done the full 32, or if she did she needs to work on her technique of stopping. Show stopping though. And? Then? At the end of the grand pas de deux????? The way Seigfried gripped Odile's hand and pressed it to his cheek. Raw devotion. It made my heart wrench. My boy is just so fucking stupid.

It's also really interesting to me that the Grand Pas de Deux goes to Odile. Odette does not get the dignity other tragic heroines get. The main dance in her story doesn't even go to her. She doesn't get the fouettes. Her love, her spotlight, her story was stolen from her. I think that's what made this veiwing of swan lake different from my earlier ones, as I understand the structure of ballets now. Also this one I'm seeing live

Act 4. May have laughed when Wizard Man crawled off stage. He was so wet and pathetic. Can neither confirm or deny.

Alright back to the idea of devotion. Seigfried to his last breath looks to the sky for Odette. He tries to give her what he gave Odile by mistake, his declaration of undying love. He presses he head to her hands with a desperation. He would try a thousand times over if they had the time. Odette for her part forgives him. She raises him from the ground when he feels the weight of his sins pressing down on him. She does not hold a grudge, but that doesn't change that she is scared. She knows Rothbart is coming, and the other swans are anxious with her. But they stay together, because that's what love is, right? Staying by someone's side, through good and bad, and forgiveness.

I'll be honest, I was not expecting a kiss. Not every romance needs one yanno. Sometimes pressing one's cheek to their loved ones hands communicates just as well as a smackeroonie. And if someone never kissed me but did the hand thing, I'd believe they liked me (note to self, possible solution to icks the idea of kissing gives you.). But then they did kiss and :D tbf it's implied that they are both super dead and on the way to heaven but that's a happy end in my books

Anyways watch swan lake. It good.

#is mise an crann #egg skreev #<<< definitely less closely tied to my writing than the last one but i make the rules her mkay?

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futuresconnected · 4 months

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Like A Dragon Quest Continues: Yakuza 3, Path of Exile, Escape From Tarkov

Hello gamers, I'm back with another weekly wrap up! Busy couple weeks for me, messing around with a few different things.

The big one is that Like A Dragon Quest continues apace. This is how im gonna refer to my plans to play through the Yakuza series, since that is how the series is named in Japan and going forward outside Japan as well, and I think its a good pun on the title and Dragon Quest, the games that the recent RPG forays of the series are taking direct inspiration from.

To that end, this week I played through pretty much all of Yakuza 3. This game sees Kiryu leaving Kamurocho behind to start and run an orphanage in Okinawa where he hopes to live a peaceful life away from trouble. As you may expect, this does not go well. He gets a good two years of being a dad to Haruka and the others before some mess with the Tojo clan forces him back into action. Overall I really liked the game, I think that the story is really good, a ton of great characters to bounce around and some good side stories, plus the combat was pretty enjoyable for being the oldest one of these games that I am going to play. I think where the game really shines is in the surprisingly large amount of time the game spends on Kiryu just doing dad stuff: helping make dinner, going shopping, helping the orphans settle disputes and doing a lot of parenting along the way. It's bittersweet to see all of this in the game however, knowing that the series continues for long after this and Kiryu doesn't quite get the peace he deserves. Definitely one of the better games in this series that I've played.

I also played through Yakuza 4 in the time since my last blog post, and my thoughts on that one are a bit less positive. This game sees the player take control of four different characters (including Kiryu) over the course of the game, and while I generally like all the characters well enough and enjoyed how they played, I felt like giving each character a whole bunch of ways to spend time and upgrade their abilities was a bit annoying once I realized I was only going to be playing as them for 6 or so hours a piece. I also didn't care as much for the overarching plot in this one, it was nice to see how the ripples of the previous games' events impacted other people, but I felt that over time the conspiracy plot and who was backstabbing who got more silly than anything else, especially coming off the heels of the third game, which had a stronger emotional core and more interesting plot twists overall. Probably the worst one of these that I've yet played, but it was only about 30 hours and was still prettty decent.

I dabbled a little with Escape from Tarkov, a big new patch for the shooter came out recently and I wanted to dip my toe in and see how I felt. The game is very fun, but is definitely the kind of game you would want to play seriously for a few weeks, and right now I've got other things distracting my attention, mainly a rekindled love affair with Path of Exile.

Path of Exile is, simply put, a game for freaks. And I have been a freak for over 1000 hours in that game easily. But its not often you get to witness someone else turn into that kind of freak as well! A few weeks ago my friend Wes told me that he had been tasked by another friend (due to them winning a fantasy football league) that he had to play through at least act 5 of PoE (halfway through the base game, maybe a 10th of the whole experience) and I took it upon myself to be his guide through the crazy experience that is path of exile.

If you're not familiar, this is a game in the genre of Diablo Style Action RPGs, and over the ten years that I have been playing PoE it has developed (devolved?) into a game where your player characters zip across the screen at incredible speeds mowing down hundreds of monsters and producing enough calculations and particle effects to humble even the strongest of computers. Again, this is a game for freaks. From the start, I taught Wes how to play the game like I play it, with an eye towards the end and no time to think too hard about the first half of the game. Hour by hour, I taught him about gem links, movement skills, third-party build planning tools, currency, trading, the whole 9 yards. And the most gratifying experience has been hearing him slowly turn into a true-blooded PoE sicko, cackling as he jumps around the screen blowing up everything in his path. Being on this journey with him all the way to the endgame maps has been so much fun, and honestly reminded me of my own love for the game. I am so excited to be able to play more of this game in the future, I've got the bug for it again.

That's all for this update, thanks for sticking with me, and I'll see you next week as Like A Dragon Quest continues with Yakuza 5!

#jan 2024 #futuresconnected

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vinxwatches · 8 months

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(re)watching Famous 5: on the case

now this is, i believe, a show i saw as a kid when it was on tv. if it is the correct one then i saw it dubbed. this is a show that i have memories from. 4 kids and their dog investigating stuff. if that sounds like scooby doo then you're probably correct. both are stupid old, don't know which on is older though i'm guessing the famous 5 books.

ep 1 The Case Of The Fudgie Fry Pirates

oh fuck yea this is the show i remember. fuck that intro hit like crazy. in part because the audio was too loud. mostly because i remember this song, even if i didn't understand it back in those days. pre good English apparently.

ok, that is NOT the voice i expected. finding some of the dutch dub quickly is harder then i can be bothered to, but i'm guessing the dark haired lady had a lower voice in the dutch dub. this'll take some getting used to. in part also weird as i'm pretty sure i had a massive crush on her. (because cool sporty girl and i've apparently always been an incredibly stereotypical lesbian)

so we have down to earth Jo, rich(?) Eli(?), video and probably tech guy and sports conspiracy guy.

it's the weirdest things that really trigger memories, like the jingle at a scene change. also the aunt is really and i completely forgot her.

vague memories of the enemy, but man do i think it's way better in the origional dub with a strong bri'ish accent (:

"they're pirating movies!!!!" yea... whatever villain would do such a thing?.. me, the answer is me, or at least i watch all this stuff without paying because i don't have an income and the who would be getting my money wouldn't need any more on top of their millions.

little pinset to break out. i was afraid they were going to lock pick the door, but no, it's to take the lock of the door. it would take more time then that, but depending on the door and lock style way more reasonable.

ep2 The Case Of The Plant That Could Eat Your House

rich girl knows how to pick a lock? ...i mean ok i'm trying to learn how to pick a lock but that's not for trying to break out of/into anything. that's just to fuck around with locks... yea no one will believe that will they.

ominous bamboo. i mean yea it can grow stupid quick, but ominous isn't quite what i'd call it. extremely fast growing plant to quickly regrow damaged area... sounds neat, but unless it's easy to overtake for other plants it would just take over.

oh yea the police lady was fun. the fun combo of awesome and delightful.

oh long lost memories: these two snobby kids managed to stick in somewhere. our memory truly is a weird thing. my memory is shit, but i remember so much from this show that wasn't on tv for very long and while i wasn't that big into tv.

only now truly picking up on that they made Jo interracial. as kid you don't notice such things, just that people look different. but it makes people looking different normal which is obviously a really good thing.

the show also has a big part of ladies can be ladies but they can also be badass at the same time. my example will be really showing but think mlp Rarity. yea, girls can love makeup and stuff like that, doesn't stop them from standing up for themselves or being good at sports.

well, that ending made no sense, but about what i'd expect. too many plots do to them all well. also i clearly hear the gesundheit, but i swear i hear something else as well. are they using different versions of bless you after sneezing? if so, neat, if not... why go with the german version? i mean i prefer it as it's just "good health" and means "i wish you good health while acknowledging that you made a loud noise that could even indicate sickness" (just like in dutch) over the english "i speak a magic spell of christianity over you because in the origins of the religion when you sneeze your soul leaves your body and it has to be warded from evil spirits that would take it's place". it's silly when you believe the religion, it's even weirder if you don't. yea, i may start using gesundheit instead in english. less silly that way.

also the dude talking between shows on the English channel this was (i assume) taken from is always so weird. like i know it from the BBC, but i only really know it from after watching gardeners world with my mother which it's linked to in my mind, so having it after a kid show just feels weird.

ep6 The Case Of The Thief Who Drinks From The Toilet

i do appreciate the verities of hobbies they partake in.

"do you have furniture misses X?" "of course." "then i'm afraid you've been robbed." the show has some fun lines like these.

making the vet the villain is a choice. i mean it's not exactly a person a child has to directly deal with. but making the person that chips your pet the villain definitely won't help with the "vaccines are just evil doctors putting microchips in you", though i don't know if morons like them were as vocally around back then. ok, they didn't make the chip bad, which i think was a smart choice, and with that also kept things way more realistic (other then the range trough)

ep7 The Case Of The Hot-Air Ba-Boom!

the weird discomfort of hearing fabric tear and knowing it'll never be repaired. truly yet weirdly sad in my mind. i fear it's just a very me thing trough with a deep fear of permanent damage. if it's not just me please let me know.

damn, the biggest villain discovered trough myriad knowledge.

don't try to hide from a tiger in a tree, they are better climbers then you are.

"i'll send you the bill" "and i will tear it up." still many good lines.

less a fan of the subplot. you can be yourself plots often end up with character becoming a characature of themselves. sure, she's into makeup and stuff, but in other episodes it didn't stop her from being badass, while here they're set opposing one another.

ep8 The Case Of The Stinky Smell

guy asks for hairband. girl does not make comment on how that's not very manly, does make comment on that she doesn't have a good colour for him. you see this i appreciate.

a not very (at all) subtle empower women message while not delving into it as it's not interesting for kids. just "i learn a lot of stuff from you, like being empowered, whatever that is.". just adding it to the things that are normal and good. this show honestly has more too it then i'd expect. guess that's parts of why it stuck so much that i wanted to revisit it compared to many other shows from my childhood.

ok, i think first time the show got me laughing out loud. "remember last year when we painted the barn?" "i was so full of red spots i looked like a spotted leopard" "which is odd as we painted the barn green". just such a beautiful nonsensical conclusion.

ep3 The Case Of The Impolite, Snarly Thing

the show really has the nonsensical humour down. "it's 2 hours by train. or, and i don't know why you'd want to do this, 18 hours by pogo stick." i don't know if it's British humour or just this show but it keeps just cracking me up. "it's been around longer then prince Philip"

seems like the show is going a true scooby doo story with someone pretending to be a monster for selfish gain.

ok, i seriously can't stop laughing. 4 minutes 20 in, if you're good enough at English give it a watch, you won't be disappointed.

bringing up how companies paid with fake money for a second... why? "sweat deal for the company" i mean to me that sounds like something as evil as is appropriate for a town paying you with fake money so you can never leave their town, but i don't know if most kids would be able to get that.

oh gods this is from the time when cell phones were primarily and really just phones. not the (to me at least) weaker computer you always have with you. sometimes it takes media from a bit but not too long ago to remember how fast tech has moved.

"i bet your cellphone can't do that", that being point north. give is a couple years and you don't just have a compass but your position on the worlds map at all time... not sure if it would work underground though.

athletic old lady... neat!

ep4 The Case Of The Sticks And Their Tricks

oh, recurring villain? maybe not and they just look similar with a somewhat similar voice. also poisoning a tree would take long. like lets say it kills it in a day... then it's a dead tree, wood, the stuff we make houses out of. a tree dying means leaves will fall of, but the rest will stay up right for quite some time. ok, actually addressed in the show. it keeps being more realistic then i'm anticipating.

ep5 The Case Of The Plot To Pull The Plug

"on second though i'll be throwing up first" honestly fair

British person threatening more British person for sounding daft, so fun as an outsider... how the fuck did they do this one in the dutch dub? just have the twat speak oldtimy?

pretty good plot too, probably one of the best episodes so far.

ep9 The Case Of The Defective Detective

is it bad when i hear person that goes on adventures then turns those into books that my first reference is daring do from mlpfim?

"if you're going to cross this field you better be able to do it in 7 second, because our bull can do it in 8".

fuck i do still want to try a corset. anyone happen to know where you can buy a nice one?

pretty neat twist, and i do appreciate the diversity. also pretty neat bluff at the end.

ep10 The Case Of Allies Really Very Bad Singing

these episodes really are more "how do they catch them" instead of "who done it", who did it is generally revealed to the viewer a couple minutes in, while the crew tends to figure it out half or 3/4 of the way trough. it's pretty neat. kind of collumbo but always ending with a chase of some sort in which they get pretty inventive.

ah, those times when saying "i stored is all in my usb drive" wasn't insane yet... maybe it isn't insane still if you don't save hours of videos, many video games and thousands of images, i wouldn't know, those are my baseline.

really clever conclusions.

ep11 The Case Of The Medieval Meathead

oh i remember this episode bigtime. i think the mystery wasn't the set up mystery but that it was being solved along the way. i think the person that fake gets murdered did it. really i just remember the dark skinned king. it really is the diversity that truly stuck with me over the years.

medieval-ly talk on a strong British accent with some serious compression. damn now we're getting to the edge of what i can understand.

also Jo stays such a fucking mood. i think she really just was gender envy personified to me.

also got to love the coplady who's very much a woman, but makes sure to also be buff af.

pretty brutal. i mean the villains have been pretty brutal before, but this is drowning. a painful death.

mostly a good episode, really big fan of the diversity especially in this one. also i really need to get myself a witchy outfit one day too. fuck that's the second clothing wish list reminder this show gave.

ep13 The Case Of The Guy Who Makes You Act Like A Chicken

the circus are the badguys? that has some... unfortunate roots.

first time we see Jo's dad's face. i didn't remember the running joke, i didn't remember it ended. also the scheme is pretty fun, but damn does this episode feel the most aged. like the theme has often been that the new person is the culprit, other wise you get cabbot cove where somehow everyone is an eccentric killer yet no one seems to notice the trend, but that it's the circus makes it feel worse.

at least the villain was the most regular white dude out of the lot of them, but still, not the best feeling episode. at least not the one they ended on, that one is

ep12 The Case Of The Messy Mucked Up Masterpiece

oh, brittish show does an american. fun :D

oh, a man pretending to be a woman. this will either be a meh joke or extremely transphobic. it was meh, thank the gods. nevermind. sigh.

ending on a pretty standard good episode with but one not great moment, but it could be a lot worse.

overall rather good show that definitely left quite an impression. maybe give it a watch as the jokes do still really work and are rather outlandish in a very fun way to probably most people.

found this piece of critsism on wikipedia: "and my concern is that modern kids who watch this will think that the Famous Five is all about gadgets and multi-culturalism.", gadgets are not a real thing in the show at all, and the multi-culturalism and Jo are the reasons i at least remember it. them missing from the one famous 5 book i read after this show got me interested is why i never read another one of those books.

also oh shit that wasn't the final episode, i'll have to scour the internet for the other 13. the site i was watching on didn't have the rest. that's also why the order of episodes is fucked a bit.

#famous 5 #famous 5: on the case #rewatch

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albatris · 2 years

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Logan Logan it is Fakkin half 3 in the morning but I woke up with a stomach pain and also news that I had an honest to god? Dream? About rental car??? It was really good. I don’t think it was accurate but it was really good. I remember there being a longboat. I remember there being allomancy like in Mistborn. Someone died in my schools old main hall. I think most of the cast weren’t aware that the Garble existed until about 3/4 of the way in. They were trying very hard to get into my same old schools swimming pool. I think at the end they weren’t vampires anymore??? Good twisty turny mind games with the Garble. There’s a chance one of my characters showed up. It was a time. Anyway I am so tired goodnight

TRADE I hope you got back to sleep okay!!! usually I'm the one who's up at 3am when I should be sleeping!! my condolences for your stomach pain and early awakening D:

but also HELLO??? rental car dream???? excuse me??? this is incredibly unexpected but delightful news??? I had a dream about another writeblr's WIP a while back which I messaged them about, and now you have a dream about mine and message me, this is being passed around I think, so maybe stay tuned for someone to inform you they had a TSS dream very soon :O

anyway your dream sounds like it kicked ass tbh. hell yeah. I'm so here for this. allomancy! longboats! deaths! swimming pool break ins! throwbacks to your old high school?? odd, but consistent with Dream Energy, I've taken many dream trips back to mine too

also some of your dream's plot is.... actually kind of accurate to rental car's actual plot?? wildly enough??

lots of the cast is not aware that the Garble exists for a lot of the story! the greeb is a bit of a vampire urban legend, everyone knows someone who knows someone who's had a Garble Experience, but most people just think it's a just an old story that caught on because it was an explanation for the unexplainable

some vampires are like "yeah this thing exists I've spoken to it!!!!" and others are like "it's spooky and fun to think about I guess haha" and others are like "nah you're all full of shit". n lots of them haven't even HEARD of the possibility of a greeble

I can also......... neither confirm nor deny "they aren't vampires anymore" and I will also..... provide no comment on, should this be the case, the extent and the time frame it's working with..... no comment at all. shh

CAN confirm endless twisty turny garbley mind games!!! lots and lots >:3

if you perchance recall which of your characters (possibly) showed up I would be VERY excited to hear ahahaha

thank you for informing me of your dream, I am very confused but delighted that this silly story somehow weaseled its way into your sleeping brain, that is legitimately completely wild to me lmao

hey! hey though! I hope you have a nice day! and that you're not too tired!

#actually tbf i think i have confirmed somewhere on this blog a while back that #epilogue alex IS in fact human again #''is nat still a vampire?'' is a loaded fuckin question like. nat sure is Something!#i did describe him in my powerpoint as ''vampire-adjacent''#it just takes everyone a while to catch on that this idiot boy is like. not even in the same ball park as other vampires #he made his own little category #he's absolutely something closer to a vampire than a regular human so he can be referred to as such though c:#as for other vamps after the story's end.... well you will simply have to wait and see :)#a rental car takes a left down rake street and disappears

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chaosstar290 · 4 years

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Reasons try out Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore.

Nintendo's been pretty casual with porting Wii U games over to the Switch, and for good reasons. Normally, I'm not all into porting games that I've already played, but my personal favorite games on the system that lack good marketing and advertising are now getting the attention and love they deserve.

Take Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze for example, one of my favorite 2D platfomers. The game originally sold 1.72 million copies worldwide on the Wii U. Not very good numbers, huh? However, the Switch port managed to beat those sales numbers with 2.25 million units sold worldwide by the end of March 2019.

So while this could be seen as a way for Big N to earn more $$$, this is also a way for those who never owned a Wii U and missed out on some of the system's best titles to give these games a shot. Now we just need a port of Xenoblade Chronicles X and The Wonderful 101...and Star Fox Zero, I guess.

But that's a topic for another time. This post is specifically for my favorite JRPG on the Wii U only to be tied with Xenoblade Chronicles X....Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE.

This'll be a long one, so here's hoping you'll stick with it until the end.

Development

Before I get into the reasons, lemme educate you guys a bit. Back in January 2013, both Atlus and Intelligent Systems made a teaser trailer for a potential Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem crossover for the Wii U.

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The trailer was mostly just a slideshow with various character artwork. Despite this, there was a decent amount of hype surrounding it. But development around the game was pretty silent. That is, until we fast forward to the Nintendo Direct in April 1, 2015. We got a trailer of the ambitious SMT x FE crossover that fans were waiting for...but this was the final product.

youtube

Needless to say...neither SMT nor FE fans were happy about this. The fandoms were incredibly salty and foaming at the mouths, basically calling it a Person 4 Lite with a hint of FE. Heck, they're probably still posts on this site from 5 years ago that'll show that.

Fast forward to the games initial release, and you'll see quite a few positive reviews and thoughts about TMS. Unfortunately, the sale numbers were not all that great for the game. Obvious reasons being that it was a Wii U game, and many fans of both SMT x FE were not happy with how it turned out.

And to be honest, I wasn't feeling the game myself at first. It seemed too lighthearted and upbeat, and the J-Pop, anime-ish aesthetics were very off-putting. However, the more I saw about the game, the more I was drawn into it. Somehow all that disappointment I had about TMS originally just washed away. And considering it was a new IP, I decided to give it a chance. And hoo boy...I was generally pleased.

With that outta the way, let's get into why I'm excited for the Switch port of game, and hoping people will give it a fairer chance.

The Setting

The plot of Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE is mostly simple. You start out as high schooler Itsuki Aoi, the main character of the game encountering his childhood friend Tsubasa Oribe at an audition event to become a idol. It isn't until moments later in the game that the area gets overruned by shadowy creatures known as Mirages that suck out the creative energy known as Perso-- ah I mean Performa from the other idols and audience.

Poor girl doesn't know what's gonna happen next.

Despite our main characters seeming unharmed by the effect, the Mirages drag Tsubasa into their world known as the Idolsphere. And of course, courageous Itsuki takes action to follow and rescue her.

After trying to make a daring rescue, Itsuki gets bombarded by a Mirage, but somehow manages to awaken it. Taking the form of Fire Emblem Awakening's protagonist Chrom. Itsuki does the same with the Mirage that captured Tsubasa that takes the form of Cedea from Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon. The two awakaned Mirages, however, suffer from a bit of amnesia and can't quite remember who and what they are.

From there on, Itsuki and Tsubasa form a partnership with Chrom and Cedea, encountering various characters trying to reach their way to stardom while trying to draw back the opposing forces from taking over Tokyo and the world. Typical RPG stuff, am I right?

It's a fairly standard and slightly cliche plot with some common anime tropes, but for this game...it works. It's a plot that's incredibly silly, upbeat, and over-the-top, but again...it works for this game. And I love it. It may not be original, deep, or complex, but the story does its best to not take itself too seriously, and it doesn't fail to keep a smile in my face.

Aside from the vanilla cookie-cutter MC Itsuki, the various casts that you meet are incredibly charming, and go through their own personal growth as celebrities. Though you mileage may vary on this.

The Gameplay

The combat is the real star of Tokyo Mirage Sessions. Basically, it's your standard turn-based combat system...but with a few twists. If you've ever played a SMT or Persona game, then don't be surprised that elemental weaknesses make an appearance here. Along with that, the Triangle Weapon system from Fire Emblem also makes an appearance in the game.

But if you're not familiar with either franchise then give you a basic example how this works. Say that you've encountered an armored Mirage wielding an axe. The weaknesses on that enemy are both lightning and swords, and Itsuki just so happens to have both the necessary element and weapon equipped.

In case you're wondering...how the Triangle Weapon mechanic works in FE is that Swords beat Axes, Axes beat Lances, and Lances beat Swords.

The interesting thing about this is that once you exploit an enemy's weakness, other characters will jump in and combo extra attacks. These are called Sessions, and their not only powerful...but also flashy as all hell and it's glorious. Not only that, but there's also Duo Arts where two certain characters will sometimes perform a song that unleashes a powerful attack...which also strings up more Sessions. As broken as this sounds, it actually is pretty strategic for taking down harder enemies, and they can also form Sessions...so be careful.

There's more to the gameplay like roaming Tokyo, exploring dungeons, and upgrading your characters and Mirages by Tiki from Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon as well.

There's mixed opinions on the dungeon aspects of Tokyo Mirage Sessions, but...I personally enjoyed them. Aside from the first one. Once you get past the first dungeon, they get better as the game progresses. From exploring a darker version of Shibuya where you have to avoid giant cameras from sending you back to the entrance of the of the room you currently entered, to venturing through a maze-like TV studio.

There's also side-missions that you can do with your main cast that'll help them grow and develop even further. You'll be rewarded with either a special cutscene or a special attack. Or maybe both.

The Visuals

Go go...Persona Rangers?

If it wasn't obvious from the amount of images I'm posting, Tokyo Mirage Sessions is a very colorful game. Fitting with it's lighthearted theme, the amount of colors the game throws at you makes visuals aesthetically pleasing. Heck, you could make these your personal wallpaper on your phone or something.

Sure, Tokyo Mirage Sessions isn't nearly as strong as Persona 5 graphically or even artistically, but like most Nintendo games...what their games lack in terms of detailed ultra-hyper graphics, they make up for it with giving their games gorgeous artstyles.

Also, this game has some reeeeeally good artwork.

The Music

J-Pop plays a pretty big role in Tokyo Mirage Sessions, so expect a lot of vocal tracks. If you're not into this kind of genre of music, then you might wanna stray away from this game. If you are (or if it doesn't bother you), then you're in for a treat. As someone who really isn't into J-Pop myself, the songs in this game are incredible and catchy followed by some beautiful cutscenes. Reincarnation from Kiria Kurono and Feel from Tsubasa Oribe are some of my personal favorites.

The music from outside the vocal tracks are pretty good too. The normal battle theme and the Illusion Shibuya dungeon theme are just to name a couple.

What's New?

Like I said before, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore is a port of the Wii U version, but with added content. Any DLC that was added in the original game will part of the base game in the Switch version. But let's talk about the new stuff.

EX Story and Songs

The EX Story is basically a dungeon that you explore in short bursts. Here you'll find new costumes such as a Joker outfit from Persona 5 for Itsuki, or an Annette outfit from Fire Emblem Three Houses for Mamori Minamoto. Or you can have a much easier time grinding for EXP. Also, much like the side-stories, this dungeon will also explore the main casts' issues and help them grow.

New songs will also be added in this port. A duo song called "She is..." sung by Tsubasa and Kiria is one of them.

Sessions

By making Sessions even more powerful and ridiculous, unplayable characters like Tiki, Maiko Shimazaki, and Barry Goodman will also join in Sessions.

In addition, a Quick Session option will be added. Which is a major upgrade in my book. One of the big issues the Wii U version had was while the Sessions were fun to watch, they took forever to get through with the more characters that joined your party. There are also smaller improvements like the Switch version having faster loading times.

Conclusion

Hopefully, this long as hell post will spark some interest into those who'll give the game a shot. I know there's small nitpicks like the lack of English voice acting and censorship, but the latter is a topic I'd rather not delve deep into.

Regardless, these small cons are greatly outweighed by the large pros this charming game has. If you're an Atlus fan, a lover of JRPGs, or wanting to play something that'll ease the wait for Persona 5 Royal, I highly recommend you give Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE encore a shot.

If you're also waiting for Persona 5 to actually come to the Switch like me, this game is next best thing we've got for the time being.

This is one of the most stylish menu screens ever.

#tokyo mirage sessions fe #tokyo mirage sessions fe encore #atlus #intelligent systems #nintendo switch #wii u #persona #persona 5 #fire emblem #shin megami tensei

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fly-pow-bye · 5 years

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Powerpuff Girls 2016 - “The Oct-Father”

Written by: Jake Goldman, Haley Mancini

Written & Storyboarded by: Alicia Chan

Directed by: Nick Jennings, Bob Boyle

Leave the reboot, take the cannoli.

Our story begins with Pepe, not the Muppet or that other guy, but a kid with an Italian accent. He's going to make an offer that will probably be refused. Specifically, he's offering his diorama of The Tortoise and the Hare to Princess, in exchanged for Pockets, his pilfered snuggle toy.

This episode is sort of a pastiche on the Godfather. It doesn't entirely reference the plot of the movie, at least not the plot points that are normally parodied, but the style is mostly here. It's a little more subtle than most, mostly sticking to using low-lighting, some psychological elements in the plot, and Princess acting like a Donna. The female equivalent of a Don, that is.

Princess has gained a new habit of stealing these snuggle toys from the poor kids that dared to be away from them for more than five seconds. According to her, these toys don't deserve to be snuggled by these neglectful children, and only by people. By that, she means that they need to give Princess what she wants, including homework assignments.

Unfortunately for Pepe, Princess has standards. Muscle Girl, that's her name as far as anyone knows, deems this diorama B+ worthy at best. Princess doesn't settle for anything less than perfection, and she decides Pockets should stay with her.

Pepe: But I used-a 4-a glue-a sticks on it!

Princess: Should have used 5.

He probably never had a chance anyway.

Muscle Girl then kicks poor Pepe out like a football, kicking off his mouth and nose, too. Joking aside, there's a good use of comedic timing here that got a chuckle out of me. Surprisingly, not the only one in this episode, believe it or not!

Along with being a Godfather-esque episode, this is another episode that seems to entirely focus on Princess's point of view, along with Witch's Crew and Can't Buy Love. They really seem to like this particular character, and yet they couldn't be bothered to give her episodes a unique background for its title card. If anything, it should be blue, because Blossom and Buttercup barely appear in this anyway. At least, I thought that was what the multi-colored backgrounds were for.

Even more fitting to the Godfather, it is Italian Week at Townsville Elementary, and one of the big events is a giant sculpture contest. Princess knows she can win that contest if she gets to bring that. Princess should know, she was the star of the episode where Bubbles actually lifted a building. This one doesn't have any people in it!

Princess does get some doubt from Dancer Guy, yes, that's his name as far as anyone is concerned. Come to think it, it is pretty fitting that Princess refuses to refer to her rap posse's members with their actual names, even if they had them. The Answer Guy knows that Bubbles never lets Octi out of her sight, and Princess takes this doubt quite well...

...by ordering Tiger to tear into Dancing Guy. This becomes a running gag, and I laughed every time it came up. Part of it is just how over the top it is; we even hear some rather violent ripping noises in following shots. There is a lot of violence in this episode, and none of it involved the Powerpuff Girls...yet?

We get a montage that doesn't come with a self-aware song about montages, where Princess tries in vain to steal Octi. She even has an Octi Stunt Double! I can see Bubbles doing that sort of thing.

Princess ends up echoing the Dancing Guy that couldn't dance around the tiger, saying that Bubbles never lets Octi out of her sight. This plot can't go any further until she can steal it, so what could happen? A sleeping potion, courtesy Discount? Princess just pointing somewhere and saying "look, it's Tara Strong"?

No, Bubbles just gets distracted by a butterfly, and then walks in the air in a way that makes her look incredibly silly. I am putting that very mildly, the only grace I can see is that they did not give her a ridiculous facial expression beyond her pupils shrinking. Gotta force that snuggle toy kidnapping somehow, I guess.

She looks around the playground. She looks around the lockers. She looks under the desks, throwing them aside whether they had kids on them or not in another case of random violence in this episode. She even checks the garbage can, continuing a rather interesting to me trend of this reboot putting the Powerpuff Girls in the garbage. In the end, she can't find Octi, and she reacts in a way one might expect.

The next morning, as Blossom and Buttercup are working on their entry in the giant sculpture contest, what looks like a regular-sized spaghetti and meatballs made out of paper mache, they notice that Bubbles is down in the dumps. Not Bubbles The Blue down in the dumps, but "I cried all night" down in the dumps. At least, that's what Blossom and Buttercup was saying; we don't get to see it beyond that "Octi" scream from a scene ago.

As she's holding her coffee cup, she tells the other two not to worry about it, because...

Bubbles: (in an entirely different voice) I'm taking care of it.

Yeah, this joke is a little out of place, even if I could commend them for not even shrinking her pupils here. It's just pure, serious rage, which is what you would expect. That's it, really, there's nothing here that isn't done a lot better in the next scene.

The only other aspect of this particular scene is that it starts a meatball-related gag. It barely comes up and isn't nearly as funny as the tiger mauling scenes, so why bring it up here?

At the school, Princess offers Bubbles a little help with her lost and found situation, but Bubbles decides to refuse that offer. She speaks, in monotone, that she will not play with her, because she only plays with Octi. It's not the kind of monotone where I can question if her voice actress got enough sleep the day before they recorded it, it's an intentional one. It's not really anyone from the Godfather as much as it is Liam Neeson's character from Taken. In fact, it kind of becomes more Taken than Godfather beyond this point.

I was a little taken aback by this character change at first; after that scene and with Bubbles' usual character, you'd think Bubbles would be childishly angry, or keeping a smile on her face while indicating to Princess that she will not like it when she's angry. In a way, that's sort of the point, as even Princess is freaked out by this change of character.

But Princess won't be intimidated by her anti-criminal threats, though she seemingly stops short of telling Bubbles "good luck". She opens her vault, the password being $$$$ because she's a rich girl, and takes out Octi. She then attempts to saw one of Octi's feet off with a sawed knife that she happened to be carrying. I don't think schools would allow that sort of thing, but I'm sure "affluenza" played a part in it.

Dancer Guy interrupts her before she can do that, because, unlike Bubbles and Donny, he can get the mail! He gets punished in the same way; with a tiger mauling by Tiger. She ends up reading the message anyway, and it turns out it's from Bubbles, with one clear message:

"Don't even think about it." Bubbles apparently correctly assumed that Princess would harm Octi...or did she know? Even Princess couldn't answer that.

While Bubbles is out of character, this note is sort of fitting for her. This threatening letter is written in cursive, has crude drawings that need descriptive text, and has little hearts all over it. None of the words are misspelled, and we all know how they love giving the coder the trait of something that causes syntax errors, but I am okay with that. Once again, Princess won't stand down by the threat, but she might need a little help.

She decides to get all the school bullies together, including Big Joey. Not to be confused with Joey the Camp Director or the late Joey the Milkshake That Was Sucked By The Devil. Don't ask. The Big Joey that ended up in Unicorn School in one episode raises the question on why they need to answer to Princess. It's because Princess stole their snuggle toys, too. There is a bit of humor in that these kids look way too old for them.

They manage to find her in the library, and they rush right in...only to come out with utter terror in their eyes. I would joke about how Bubbles probably made one of those horrifying faces, but it does make a lot of sense. Sure, Big Joey is practically the size of the door, but these are just regular children against someone who can fire lasers out of her eyes and lift towers with no problem whatsoever. Even Princess should know this, since the whole point was to get her to lift a tower.

That "steal the Tower of Pisa like Carmen Sandiego" plot gets forgotten, but it's easy to see why it would be forgotten. Princess is in a nervous wreck at this point, not getting a wink of sleep as she desperately clutches onto her stolen toy. Suddenly, a text message comes in, with another rather fitting way for a certain blue octopus seeker.

Princess: Knock knock? Who's there? Me? Uhh...me who?

Bubbles: Me...at your window.

Wow, Bubbles is so serious, she can't even do a proper knock-knock joke. Granted, she probably couldn't even with Octi. Bubbles just suddenly shows up at Princess's home. If the villains seem to know where the Powerpuff Girls live to crash their home, the Powerpuff Girls could know where the villains live, too. Princess adds another question to this.

Princess: But what about my 14 levels of security?

Bubbles: Should have used 15.

That's a good callback, though one might wonder how Bubbles would be able to reference a line she wasn't around for. A coincidence of coincidences? Actually, there's an answer for almost everything here, and one might not like it at first. Princess turns her bed into a giant golden robot suit, and at first, it seems like it works.

And then she gets knocked into the ceiling, and eventually, the robot is punched so hard that Princess falls off of her mansion. Presumably, to her death. Okay, sure, she's falling in what seems to be a grey void, but that is certainly the implication. I was joking about waiting for the Powerpuff Girls to do some violence in this episode; I was not expecting anything like this! Then again, murder might be a bit too much of a punishment for stealing a toy.

It is, as it turns out that it was all a dream. At least, up to the Princess's mansion getting invaded part. On one hand, what a cop out; Princess finally getting a beating for doing some villainous, and it had to be undone with the king of bad plot twists. On the other hand, considering this episode is about Princess psychologically tormented by Bubbles and her threatening stares and letters, it still works! Way to go, making me give a thumbs up to an "it's all a dream" scene.

As Princess eventually realizes said psychological torment will only stop if she gives Octi back, Dancer Guy comes in once again to offer Princess some delicious flapjacks. Noticing Princess is not exactly pleased by his interruption, he decides to snap his own fingers to get Tiger to gnaw on his bones again. I wasn't even expecting a payoff to that running gag, because this is PPG 2016, but color me surprised.

Princess decides to tell Bubbles that she won, giving back her precious toy. However, she wants Princess to give back all of the toys. We're left to question if Bubbles knew about this because of that one confrontation earlier in the episode. She normally doesn't seem that attentive to what's going on around her.

All the kids, at least, they're supposed to be kids, get back those toys, much to their delight. Princess asks if everyone's happy now, proving that she didn't really learn anything, and she gets her own punishment for it. Mauling by a tiger? No, silly, we can't have Princess get hurt outside of a dream!

She just gets crushed by a giant paper mache meatball. Oh yeah, that's what the Blossom and Buttercup plot was building up to. At least the Italian Week Sculpture Contest was not completely forgotten. The episode ends with Bubbles monotonously saying to Princess that if she ever wants to play with Octi again...

Bubbles: (suddenly happy again) Just ask!

(touches Princess with Octi)

Boop!

Again, I was taken aback at first, but after her monotonous and threatening voice in the last few scenes, it's good to see Bubbles happy after she got Octi back. It's a better ending than most endings in this show. When this was a See It First episode, I had a feeling this would be a shoo-in for at least an intended season finale. That feeling turned out to be incorrect, unfortunately.

Does the title fit?

They definitely tried to parody the Godfather, though there's no actual father in this entire episode. Oct-Mother would be more accurate, but it would obscure the reference.

How does it stack up?

Funny running gags, and an actually good attempt at a psychological horror story by kid's show standards. I enjoyed this episode, and not in a "guilty pleasure" sort of way. That's pretty rare.

Next, Sideline Dad? Sitcom Dad? May be more alike than you think!

← Man Up 4: The Donnyest Game ☆ Sideline Dad →

#fpb ppg 2016 #fpb reviews #ppg 2016 #powerpuff girls #cartoon network

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randomboo256 · 2 years

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Balls (with a chance of 2 meat clouds)

I decided to rewatch Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (god that just rolls of the tongue doesn't it?). I watched both balls. I'm sure you're thinking: "MAY!! I don't wanna hear about your stupid balls! I'm a GAMER!" Well Mr. Gamerpants, I'll have YOU know that this film had a video game tie in released on PS3, 360, Wii, DS, PSP, and PC. So like.. I win. So shut the fuck up you fake gamer.

Oh am I gonna talk about the game? Hell no. I'm no loser. I spend all my free time bitching on the internet.

Ball 1:

The original was released in 2009. I remember when I was a kid my elementary school class took a field trip to watch it. I wasn't allowed to go. Sometimes I suddenly wake up at night with my chest convulsing and I start violently spitting out blood with the only thought on my mind being "GOD WHY DIDN'T I GO ON THAT FIELD TRIP!"

Anyway, as for the film. It was pretty good. It was very creative and it had some nice messages and story moments, although it felt a little rushed. It's one of those films that feels a little too fast paced. Some of the emotional beats felt a little too unearned, even though I definitely appreciate what they were trying to do though. Apparently the emotional moments were added retroactively not long before release, and yeah it kinda feels that way.

The film was funny, but generally not "laugh out loud" funny. Most jokes were decent, some were great hits, and a couple jokes were sore misses. So basically, it's a typical comedy.

The music was quite memorable and unique. I think background music is a very undervalued aspect of the storytelling process. A simple change in score can change a moment from being instantly forgettable to incredibly memorable. This goes for all genres, not just musicals.

The mayor was a pretty lame villain. Like I get it he's fat and selfish. He's not a fun character nor does he feel like a necessary plot element. Does this movie even need an explicit villain? The villain should just be the general feeling of "the weight of everyone's expectations of you". I understand the mayor supposed to symbolize that, but honestly he feels like he just exists as a scapegoat so that the audience doesn't blame Flint for what he did.

I'm just going to quickly cover two random things:

I like how Flint's failed inventions wrapped back around into being useful.

I've always hated that one scene where everyone is slowly gasping. It's like "omg I get it move on".

And that's all I have to say. It was an enjoyable creative film with nice music. The villain was lame and unneeded, meanwhile some emotional bits felt a little undeserved. Overall, good film.

Ball 2:

This Ball came out a whopping 4 years after the first Ball. Kinda ballsy to release a sequel that late, but I suppose animation takes time. Unlike the first Ball, this film didn't get a console video game tie in. So in other words, WHAT'S THE FUCKING POINT OF ANY OF THIS!

screech of gamer agony

Well I would stop now, but we're already a Ball deep into this so we might as well finish.

The sequel was significantly worse than the original, if the lack of a tie in game didn't already give that away. The plot was considerably less creative and far more predictable. Even the core idea, living food, was already done in the original and they didn't make a big deal of it there. Also, they had this strawberry that's obviously there just to sell plushies to little girls. (Just checked, they did make a plushie lmao)

Even worse, this film has a pretty bad villain. He's this weird scientist dude who moves like a Norm of the North character. At least the mayor didn't have this much focus. This new villain is like a silly comic book bad guy who's solely responsible for all the evil in his plot. He's not entertaining and he's also not very interesting. He's obviously a villain from the start and yet they still act like it's a twist.

They also have this ape girl voiced by Kristen Schaal. You may not know her name, but you know her voice. She plays Mabel Pines (Gravity Falls) and Louise Belcher (Bob's Burgers) and she uses the same voice for all three of these roles. From the second you hear the ape's voice, you're like "Ok so she's gonna turn good at the end" and yep she does. She's not a likable character and her reason for turning is that.. she hates being called a monkey and the bad guy keeps calling her that. She's barely developed and she doesn't even tell jokes or anything. She might as well not be here.

The film's humor is purely decent. I don't think any joke made me laugh.

Finally, the emotional stuff is even worse than before. The love story has basically become forgotten about. The film is just about fwiendship now. The father/son stuff is in here a bit but now it just feels redundant. I feel like the characters began and ended the film in the same mental place they were at the start, which is a sign of a failed film in my book.

It's not all bad. It's not an offensive watch or anything. It's just lame. The plot is unengaging, the humor is serviceable I suppose, and the creativity is much lower. There's just no reason to watch it unless you already like the first. It's a super mediocre flick. Even as a child, I did not care for this movie.

Conclusion:

So what can we learn from this? Nothing. You wasted your time by reading this. Fuck you.

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itoshit · 3 years

Note

Pushing the paper into my pocket I knocked twice.

'Sano'

The big doors opening, I saw the numerous armed men around the red sofa, where a tanned man was sat, smoking a cigar. The room was full of thick smoke.

'Sano my man! Come here come here. Anything to drink ? Bourbon perhaps?'

'Dante I assume?'

'You assumed good! Dante is my name. You don't mind my men right? Security measures.'

That was where the difference laid between an international mafia like La Costra Nostra and small gangs that I've met before.

They had an army of men, and it made me think of Bonten. We weren't that different at the end.

'Concerning the drink, I won't take anything. And for your men, I would have done the same.'

Quickly counting them, 25. We were on the first floor and a huge window was behind them.

'Scared of poison? I got you. Then sit, we won't lose more time'

Now facing him and his men I could feel the tension. I could even cut the atmosphere with a knife. Chin resting on my hands, I was waiting for him to talk.

'So Sano. You're Bonten's leader. My boss and I have checked your history and it's quite incredible. Bonten is Japan's worst criminal organization, we like that. I'm afraid I need to be honest with you. We have already contacts with the Yamaguchi-gumi. They're the top Yakuza family, it was normal for us to be with them. However, some things... are not of our taste. They're a bit sneaky and we don't like people who get their noses in other's business. The issue here is this one.'

Checking the time on my watch. 7 minutes have passed.

'They heard about our meeting today. Their boss asked us to take care of you and-'

Ready to take my gun out, Dante only chuckled while rising his hands.

'Don't be on your guards already Sano! Wait for the rest. Put that gun back where it belongs, come on'

'Keep talking'

Exhaling the smoke he took his time to resume his speech.

'As I was saying, the Yamaguchi-gumi wants you dead. But you haven't done anything to us yet. La Costra Nostra doesn't like hurting their future associates but we have principles. We help our current contacts.'

11 minutes. 4 minutes left.

'Which means that I've to try something. I want to see if you're a worthy opponent. We wanted to break the contract with Yamaguchi-gumi. That would be the perfect opportunity for us, Bonten and La Costra Nostra, to associate don't you think?'

13 minutes. 2 minutes left.

'But first... I need to check something. I've heard a lot about you. How you were called the Invincible Mikey back then. A ruthless leader. I like that! But I need proof. So...'

14 minutes. 1 minute left.

'Don't hold a grudge alright?'

Multiple things happened at the same time. Dante pulled out his gun aiming at me but I rolled on my left, avoiding the bullet.

Shooting two of his subordinates in the process I heard the door opening in a loud thud.

'Sano!! Fight!'

'And here you are!! I knew a mouse was among us tonight !!'

Gunshots could be heard, blood splashing my face, my clothes. Bodies falling on the ground, I guessed that the girl from before had arrived.

She told me to fight. But that was what I was doing already.

Throwing the empty gun away I punched the nearest man with a loud crack and took his pistol. Using his body as a shield I kept shooting and soon enough I found myself bumping her shoulder.

'Fuck ! I don't have anymore bullets!'

Scanning the room- 10 men still standing and among them, Dante.

'Come on Sano. You're trapped. I don't think-'

I wouldn't have that. Pulling her close by her waist I shoved the body away and ran to the window.

'Wait Manjiro that's not how you-'

'We don't have a choice!'

And I jumped. Bullets hissing around me I felt one piercing my belly and others brushing my skin, opening it slightly.

The landing wouldn't be perfect but we would make it out alive, at least.

Swapping our positions to have her on top of me, my back absorbed the fall. My shoulder was probably dislocated but I stood up directly after with her in my arms.

' We have to leave, come on!!'

Supporting me with her arms we left the sidewalk, stains of blood tainting the concrete.

'SANO! YOU'LL HEARD ABOUT US AGAIN'

The loud voice reaching my ears I stumbled, gripping my belly.

'Shit you're losing too much blood! I need to treat your-'

Pinning her against the nearest wall after making sure they didn't follow us, I pressed my arm against her throat, choking her.

'Who the fuck are you?'

'I'm here to help-'

'Who. Are. You.'

'Senju Akashi. But now is not the right time to discuss. We have to- wait. You were shot twice?? We have-'

Darkness. I felt something colliding with my skull. I probably fainted.

And here I told Vee that everything would be fine.

-Mikey

Anyway here is the second part it's bloody long lmao sometimes the scenes got a bit overboard but yeah, we're not finished with this.

Also!! In the plot, Senju isn't Brahman leader

it’s like the moment i tell these mfs be safe they go ‘how can i do the exact opposite?’ 🙄

I couldn’t sit still. A few hours had passed without a single hint or sign Mikey was okay, or that he was even alive. I tried to pass the time any way I could.

I showered. I tried on some clothes, modeling them in the mirror. I watched TV. I played games on my phone. None of them kept my attention too long, the thought of Mikey’s safety or lack thereof looming over me like a storm cloud. And when all avenues of distraction ceased having their effectiveness, I started to pace.

I nearly walked a hole in the floor, and kept walking even though my legs screamed in protest. There was temptation to start biting at my nails, a wicked one, but I persevered. I’d gone too long without the bad habit. Didn’t wanna start it up again.

There was no way to tell how much time passed since he left now. I stopped checking the clock after the third hour. It only made me more nervous.

I all but sob in relief when my phone rings shrill on the table, but my heart falls at the contact name. Sanzu. Clicking the green button, I don’t care to notice that I’m holding my breath.

Wasting no time, Sanzu interrogates me. Is Mikey with you?

Huh? Surely wasn’t the question I was expecting, but it makes me feel no better.

Is. Mikey. With you. He was supposed to check in with us an hour ago but we haven’t got shit.

My heart pounds, the orders Mikey left me with the day previous doing nothing to ease the unsteady beat. If I’m not home by then, call Sanzu. I’ll most likely be dead. And then, as overkill, memories of us in the car, shopping and us being lazy in bed the entire morning come right after.

Could it be..? Was Mikey really dead?

I look around the suite, the one he bought, surrounded by bags of things he purchased, the bed with his scent on it and struggle to swallow the sob down. If Mikey was dead, these would be our last memories together. That just couldn’t be.

Venus? Venus, can you hear me?

I answer steadily which surprises me. Y-yeah, I’m here.

Where the fuck did you ev— Look, just tell me the truth. Is Mikey back at the suite?

What I’m about to do is dangerous, inane, and ridiculously silly, but I do it anyway. He’s here.

Put him on the phone.

I bite my lip, ignore my subconscious screaming at me to tell the fucking truth! consequently digging a larger grave for myself. He’s resting.

Resting? Cut the bullshit. Mikey doesn’t sleep.

Well he is now, I snap, irritated that he doesn’t immediately believe the lie. It makes me have to think on the spot. How can I give myself credibility? Then, like a lightbulb went off in my head, I remember Mikey’s bloody knuckles. The bandages I had to wrap around his hand. He’s injured. The meeting went bad. I had to stitch him up.

Fuck, Sanzu curses. I knew we should have went with him! There’s a loud bang accompanied by glass shattering on the other end, inanimate objects subject to the wrath of Bonten’s volatile number 2. Call me when he wakes up, alright?

The line clicks before I can even reply, and I fall to the ground, my legs too shaky to support me.

Please be alive, I whisper to the ceiling, hoping it reaches him wherever he is.

Because if he’s not, I’m pretty sure I’ll be the one following after him.

#🗝; citizen #🗝; mikey #🗝; chronicles of vee: vol. 1 #LMFAOOO dw anon u didn’t accidentally send me ur results #ur in the clear!

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