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gaykarstaagforever · 1 year

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My YouTube Rewind Top 10 for 2022, based generally on time "viewed" (Starting 7 months ago, I drive for a living now, so "Can I just listen to it?" is weighted very heavily here).

(Also I am 40 so this is a very Dad Content list. Which is weird because I am not a dad and do not follow the sportsball. But Dadness still infiltrated things a bit. There are no golf or sportstalk channels, don't worry. Not yet, anyway.)

1. The Weekly Planet -- Generalist nerd media podcast out of Melbourne, Australia. Hands down the only good podcast on the entire Internet. Their Best Of compilations from years past are required listening and relistening. Also they do a short weekly show about movies and TV shows called Caravan of Garbage that is the bar by which all others are judged, and always come up short.

2. DankPods -- Sydney, Australian, retro mp3 player channel that has now expanded into general audio hardware reviews. But oh, so much more is going on here. This guy is one of the funniest, most energetic creators on the platform. Even if you don't care about anything he is interested in, you will love watching him talk (and scream) about it. Co-starring Frank the Snake. He also has two side channels about fixing up trashed Australian cars and drumming (he is a drummer by trade) that are just as good.

3. That Chapter -- True crime with a sense of humor, that is only occasionally mean-spirited. But even in those cases it is usually in the service of bad Dad Jokes so that's okay. He always tries to include actual 911 calls and trial footage, 20+ minutes, here is what happened, in a straightforward way that respects your intelligence. None of that "creating a narrative" horseshit that make true crime podcasts by actual journalists un-fucking-bearable 10 hour slogs that pretend they are saying something profound about the universe by the end. They're not. Stop paying 8 people to produce these; maybe then you wouldn't have to shill for whatever criminally-overpriced nonsense Peloton just invented. True crime podcasts suck, That Chapter is why.

4. Morbid Midnight -- He covers what I can only call "disasters," some true crime, others extreme sports accidents, also plenty of generally horrendous historical events. Lots of stories about people being blown off of mountain sides or getting trapped in caves. His subdued delivery of dark content is like what Chills pulled off, back before it became a meme and a parody of itself. I don't know why I like hearing about adventurous people dying horribly. Probably because I can then feel smug about how I wasn't so stupid as to dive into a cave like a big stupid idiot, you idiots. You shouldn't have been doing that. You should just get drunk and watch YouTube like me. See? They're the losers, not me.

5. Professor of Rock -- Oh god, the Dad. This is a daily upload channel in which Adam Reader, the Professor of Rock, talks about Dad Rock, and how great Dad Rock is, and how modern not-Dad Rock sucks. Tons of classic rock trivia, and also snippets of long-form interviews with the artists who made this stuff. This is the channel you are forced to admit is good and you like while simultaneously being embarrassed about how old that makes you look. But that's not Adam's fault. Seriously, a good channel for music nerds.

6. Cathode Ray Dude [CRD] -- He started doing short-form videos about the old camcorders he collected. He now does long videos about fascinating and obscure cul de sacs in tech history, routinely with live demonstrations of said tech. And yes, he almost always ends up explaining how this wonky failed media format can actually be a metaphor for our sad, short little lives. Which would be forced journo bullshit. Except it always ends up forcing me to respect the legions of unsung engineers and desperate marketing executives who had a hand in creating our modern technocratic world, even if only by failing spectacularly. These goofy creations really are artifacts of entire little worlds, many of them long-dead and forgotten. It is as sad and funny as it is fascinating.

7. Snipe and Wib -- A Warhammer 40,000 channel, but HOLD ON, this is one of the good ones! They do a show called Codex Compliant that goes through the published history of Warhammer lore from Rogue Trader in the mid-1980s to now. They love 'grimdark' and Space Marines as much as they understand that all of it was created as a cheeky English parody of melodramatic, misogynistic total-war fantasy worlds. I always thought Warhammer 40K was a boring expensive thing for the grossest WASP nerd boys before I watched Snipe and Wib. Now I know that Warhammer 40K is a boring expensive thing for EVERYONE. I'm not buying and painting miniatures or arguing over protractors yet, but I kind of want to because of Snipe and Wib. I at least get it now. It is a lot to manage, but a lot of it is pretty cool.

8. Imbrandonfarris -- Like I have to explain who Brandon Farris is. He is a charismatic guy who hurts himself and destroys his own apartment to entertain the world's children. And he doesn't say swears so they're allowed to watch it. And BOY, do they watch it! This is content for 8 year olds. But goddamn it if it isn't really, really GOOD content for 8 year olds, the kind the rest of the family can enjoy, too. Brandon is charming as hell, his story is heartwarming, his family is adorable, and you don't even resent him for recently buying a palatial estate in which he can spray foam on everything. This is a guy who exists to do the stupid shit the rest of us wish we could do, and he kills himself doing it, and the world has rightly responded by rewarding him for it. Good on you, Brandon. Also it is just really funny to watch a man destroy a bedroom with an exploding pumpkin filled with glitter and then fall down.

9. Warlockracy -- Russian-based gaming channel that mostly posts long-form analyses of PC RPGs, especially those in the isometric family of the original Fallout games. These games maintain a huge cultural influence on gamers in Russia and Eastern Europe, and being one of those, Warlockracy uses his platform to give the rest of us an insider's perspective of that world. Seriously, if you want to understand modern Russia, and even the war in Ukraine, Warlockracy casually explains complex aspects of both of these, via the easily-grasped context of games like STALKER and Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. I believe he is still in Russia, so I don't know how he pulls off this kind of commentary at this point and hasn't gotten in trouble yet. But he keeps doing it, and with an easy sense of humor that I cannot comprehend, having to live under those circumstances. I wish him the best, and hope to enjoy his content as long as it lasts.

10. Thew Adams -- Thew reviews Transformers. But that...that doesn't begin to cover it. Threw Adams is a ray of sunshine on YouTube, and everyone needs to watch his videos. Don't care about Transformers? Doesn't matter. Seriously. It DOESN'T MATTER. You will like Threw. You will never see a more delightful person. And no matter your gender or sexuality, if you don't want to kinda kiss him on the mouth, you're not human. Thew makes everything fun, especially when he doesn't like something. Thew Adams is the bit of chocolate you let yourself have every day because no, you don't NEED IT, but it makes you happy, goddammit. Watch Thew. Thew is good.

Honorable Mentions (in that, these are consistently good channels I have liked for years, even if their specific content every year might not be perpetually notable):

Jenny Nicholson

Ashens

LGR

Techmoan

PeanutButterGamer / Peebs

Scott the Woz

Your Dinosaurs are Wrong

Secret Galaxy (formerly Toy Galaxy)

Drew Gooden

Pyrocynical

#personal #youtube #youtube rewind #2022

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insaneasgardian · 2 years

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I posted 2,763 times in 2021

530 posts created (19%)

2233 posts reblogged (81%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 4.2 posts.

I added 825 tags in 2021

#tfatws - 139 posts

#loki - 131 posts

#loki spoilers - 101 posts

#fatws - 85 posts

#tfaws - 79 posts

#marvel - 72 posts

#sambucky - 63 posts

#faws - 55 posts

#bucky barnes - 53 posts

#sam wilson - 47 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

My Top Posts in 2021

Just thinking about how Bucky never told his therapist about his nightmares but instantly told Sam when he asked about them in this episode. Love it.

435 notes • Posted 2021-04-16 18:14:50 GMT

Stalker Issues

Y/N: Will you help me file a restraining order against a stalker?

Natasha: Of course! Who's been stalking you?

Y/N: I don't know... I just know they're there.

Natasha: That's fine, how long has this been going on?

Y/N: 4 months now I believe.

Loki: No, love it's been 5 months, 1 week, 2 days, and 6 hours.

491 notes • Posted 2021-03-06 11:26:43 GMT

Avengers as random stuff my teachers have said before

Tony: I used to be the best at everything when I was still at school. Except for sleep of course!

Steve: Back in my day, we didn't have all these fancy schmancy little gizmos. No sir, no iphones, no ipads, if we wanted to communicate, we'd send letters!

Thor: Does anyone have a hammer? I need to bonk Stefano on the head with it. Natasha: Now guys, spiders aren't so bad! They eat pests like rude, stupid little annoying children for instance. Clint: I wish they'd permit us to teach archery at this school, but "noooo, too dangerous, you'll put an arrow through someone's head". Bruce: Art is actually very nice. It calms the soul down in a way science can't. I think I'll just steal Mr Keay's job and be the new art teacher, eh? Loki: There's nothing wrong with stealing, as long as you don’t get caught. Admit it, you’ve all pinched a pencil or two when you thought nobody was looking.

Bucky: Oh how it must feel being you, with regular arms.

Sam: Humans may be at the top of the food chain, but in my opinion, falcons, eagles, vultures and such are the best predators, so skilled, and when they hunt their prey they swoop down... so majestic.

Peter: You can do amazing things with chemistry. Just have a look at this super sticky silly string I made yesterday as an example! You too, can one day be like me.

T’Challa: I’m worried that I’m turning into a cat, I was just talking to my sister at break time and she said that I sounded like I have one of those hairballs that felines cough up in my mouth.

Stephen: I was supposed to be a magician you know? The best one ever, but my parents said “Do something science related”. My life sucks now.

Pietro: At your age I could run the circumference of the whole city without taking even a breath of air, meanwhile you kids start panting after a single lap of the school.

Wanda: I’ve always wanted red contact lenses, you know the halloween ones people use to be a vampire? Yeah, I want to just go around wearing those and watch people back away in fear.

Vision: I am not good with human children so I will just go ahead and give you a pat on the head... *pats head* I can’t really feel your hair but I can tell it feels very soft.

538 notes • Posted 2021-02-17 08:54:27 GMT

LOKI IS BI EVERYBODY

2101 notes • Posted 2021-06-24 05:40:12 GMT

Loki isnt bisexual! why do you all hate straight people, we've done nothing to you

What part of 'a bit of both' sounds straight to you? Loki just admitted to having engaged in relationships with men, women and perhaps those in between.

We don't hate straight people. The only straight people we hate are the ones like you.

12060 notes • Posted 2021-06-24 06:08:40 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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djemsostylist · 3 years

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The Great Dizi List, Part 3b (The Alperen Dizis)

Okay, so allow me to start by saying that I've finished Son Yaz, and as as result I may have fallen the tiniest bit in love with Alperen Duymaz and thus have embarked on the journey of watching all his dizis. He has this sad, earnest puppy vibe combined with an incredible amount of BDE in all his roles, plus he's just so damn pretty. Anyway. And by all I mean just two others bc I like him beardy and his teen one is a little young for me.

Son Yaz

This one will actually get its own post, because it deserves its own post. Tbqh it deserves sonnets written to its beauty, bc this is one of those shows that I watched all the way through in like, 3 days, and then immediately wanted to go back and watch again. It was that good. The main quartet are a delight, and honestly I haven't loved a ship like AkMur in far too long. (okay technically Edser but that ended in disaster and in retrospect I kind of think they were awful and I'm not even really sure what I loved about them tbh they kind of sucked.) They are one of those ships you can believe in, where you know they are going to work out no matter what and you want them to. The way they are together--they make my heart happy.

Zemheri

This show I actually started to watch back in September of last year, when I had just started watching Turkish dizis. Back then I was entirely on my own and I got about 40 min in and then freaked out. I read some reviews, freaked out some more and bailed. But I'm a dizi pro now, and with this being a combined Alperen AND Ayça dizi I basically couldn't resist. It helped that it was only 10 episodes and that meant it couldn't get too crazy. Both Alperen and Ayça were amazing, of course, and they are just so damn beautiful together. Their chemistry was electric and since they spent about 90% of this dizi crying at each other (and let me tell you that these two may be the best dizi criers I've seen) it was incredibly well done. They are so pretty when they cry. There is one story line which didn't make a whole ton of sense and kind of pissed me off, but honestly it gets so little screen time as to render it easy to dismiss or headcanon. (Hint: It should have been a hysterical pregnancy). But the acting was great, the ending was intensely satisfying, and honestly if you want to watch Alperen with curls and turtlenecks and peacoats (his curls, btw, may or may not have caused a few minor breakdownsif they give Akgun curls I won't make it) cry at Ayça beautifully while she cries beautifully back for 20 hours or so, then I highly recommend.

Çarpişma

Okay, so I've watched several mafia/crime dizis. They're probably my favorite kind tbh. Usually they feature super smart main characters who are always a step ahead (you think they are in trouble but they always had a plan) and a bad guy with infuriating but understandable motives who usually lives too long, and at least one minor henchman guy who gets what he deserves. And usually our mains live happily ever after. Usually.

This show was not that. I should preface this by saying that my brand of humor is what you might call "dark"--I laughed more at the Americans than I ever have a comedy, lets put it that way. Anyway, this show featured 4 of the stupidest people ever to exist in a tv show, and I do mean that, and was also technically I guess kind of horrible what with the death and killing but tbh I laughed a lot. Now, I should say that the cast was excellent, and the acting was excellent and I loved every single one of those stupid idiots. But they were, in fact, extraordinarily stupid. These people got kidnapped like, and I'm not joking, at least once an episode. Sometimes twice. There actually came a point where they were getting kidnapped from their kidnappers by other kidnappers. And then literally every episode they'd get saved (and by they I mean the women, the two dudes never got kidnapped really) and then literally like, go right back to life as normal. Neither dude ever made sure their respective girlfriend got back in the house at night, neither girl ever believed in calling their respective boyfriend to, idk, buddy walk anywhere, they never checked before opening doors, they drove away without looking, got in cars without looking. It may sound like I'm exaggerating but I swear I'm not. And mind you, this dizi started with the main characters family getting blown up, and the other one being kidnapped and forced to shoot her husband in the face to save her kidnapped daughter. Spoilers I guess. So you'd think they'd be a little cautious but nope. Not even a little. Just out there, living their lives. The main villain of the first half of the dizi actually got redeemed and tbh by the final episode I was rooting for him to live his best life an co-parent with Kadir. At least he had a reasonable motivation, and he also did try and make up for the atrocities he committed. And really, what's a little murder now and again. The other bad guy's motivation was, and I swear this is true, "my son hates me for blowing up his family bc I didn't know it was his family, so bc he hates me I'm going to kill the rest of his family." That was literally it. The thing is, while the constant dying and torture would make you say "Djem, wtf is wrong with you, how did you get glee out of this show?" let me tell you that by the 945th kidnapping, you too will be like "can't even feel sorry for you really" and the just settle into this state of low level amusement and glee. Like, literally 90% of these kidnappings and deaths could have been prevented by like, idk, actually having police protection, or staying inside the house, or not opening the door for strangers, or watching to make sure the love of your life got inside safely, or not walking alone at night, or not GOING TO THE PARK TWO DAYS AFTER YOUR BESTIE WAS KIDNAPPED AND HAD A BOMB STRAPPED TO HER. So like, I mean, not to victim blame. But. Let's say by the end, while I loved the fuck outta the mains, I honestly was more emotional over Veli. Bc they were just so fucking stupid. Like, kidnapped, from a kidnapper. You really can't make it up. They make Akgun and Soner look like geniuses. And that's saying something. Anyway it was great and if you ff through most of the boring shit, I highly recommend. The acting is superb, the foursome is hilarious, and tbh Veli is a great villain that I loved. It was the stupidest dizi I've seen (that's a lie I watched parts of two Ayşe dizis) but tbh it was enjoyable as hell, so that's saying something I guess.

And that is BITTI for the Alperen dizis. For now. Son Yaz will be back soon and I can't wait!

Next up is Kuzey Guney, bc I made promises.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

#djem watches dizis #dizis #son yaz #zemheri #Çarpişma

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edward18 · 2 years

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I posted 113 times in 2021

113 posts created (100%)

0 posts reblogged (0%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 0.0 posts.

I added 341 tags in 2021

#classic - 41 posts

#fan art - 41 posts

#lol - 40 posts

#edward18 - 38 posts

#warahi - 35 posts

#funny - 35 posts

#edward18517 - 33 posts

#fanart - 27 posts

#cute - 26 posts

#video game - 25 posts

Longest Tag: 77 characters

#queen pulsating bloated festering sweaty pus-filled malformed slug for a butt

My Top Posts in 2021

Every now and then I get some ideas for a story of Zim that'd take place after Enter the Florpus, so I ended up scribbling some of those concepts here. It’d have Tak finally come back into the picture with her having returned to Irk after finding out about the "death" of The Tallest as the Navigator of The Massive it'd turn out would have evacuated the ship as it was getting sucked into The Florpus and would end up bumping into her on some planet. What's left of The Irken Armada would end up coming together under a new leadership that has begun to target Zim for his part in the whole ordeal. Dib would end up becoming one of the new Tallest eventually. These were all just ideas I had for it ^_^

34 notes • Posted 2021-07-17 22:06:42 GMT

Spent the last few days making this =) first part of the final battle of Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow fighting his “older brother”, The Biolizard.

36 notes • Posted 2021-03-11 17:57:32 GMT

Started putting this together the other day. Good ol’ Link fighting Ganon =)

39 notes • Posted 2021-05-04 15:20:46 GMT

Just some Zim scribbles I decided to color the past hour or so =P

40 notes • Posted 2021-05-06 20:53:20 GMT

Did this one about a year and a few months ago. Always have wanted to animate the fight between Takanuva and Makuta myself, but with how much work that’ll take, if I ever do it, I just decided to make a colored picture of it instead back then =)

48 notes • Posted 2021-04-03 19:41:41 GMT

I generally don't care about all the "popularity" and "top ten" whatever-garbage that the internet focuses on these days, but out of curiosity of how this works I decided to take a look at what all this "recap" of the year entailed. Was kind of surprised that the oldest piece of mine they selected came out as number 1. Do love that one though =)

For the sake of it, since it is Bionicle, if people like that stuff I did also do a video on Bionicle if anyone wants to see that over here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slpHB4OLWTA

DeviantArt gallery's over here: https://warahi.deviantart.com/gallery

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

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faerociousbeast · 2 years

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I posted 6,887 times in 2021

2743 posts created (40%)

4144 posts reblogged (60%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 1.5 posts.

I added 2,710 tags in 2021

#belly of the beast ✧ faerociousbeast - 1567 posts

#anoninopinopinono - 262 posts

#fae plays stuff - 221 posts

#faecore - 134 posts

#prepcatto - 113 posts

#ginger (derogatory) (affectionate) - 102 posts

#mothie from stem (stabbing torture evildoing murder) - 100 posts

#faevourite - 91 posts

#one shot wonder - 75 posts

#fae watches stuff - 45 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#cryign dying sobbing all of the ings i dont even post content hardly i am just i am the most vibing person ever please i dont thjrbfkdjgfjkd

My Top Posts in 2021

uncropped screenshots are fun bc you can focus on everything except for what they were trying to show you. why are you at 2% charge? check your damn discord notifs. wtf is that tab you have open

77 notes • Posted 2021-11-15 14:05:44 GMT

HE ASKED FOR NO PICKLES!!!!!!

77 notes • Posted 2021-11-26 23:13:41 GMT

i think we should all be able to wear whatever we want and afford it while also not getting looked down in society upon like why the fuck are you getting mad that someone walked in during your shift dressed in wizard robes jessica you should be grateful youre getting to witness this

93 notes • Posted 2021-11-04 00:43:39 GMT

most fucked up found family to date has got to be the tumblr mutuals

236 notes • Posted 2021-11-26 01:43:08 GMT

made one of these :DD id under cut for accessibility, and also bc my handwriting kinda sucks i prolly shouldve typed this out instead

[ID: An ask game featuring 9 different coloured circles. In order, there is a lime green circle, navy blue, magenta, in the next row there is light blue, yellow, purple, and in the final row there is red, pink, and green.

Energy:

- very upbeat! uses a lot of caps and exclamation marks!!! - SO MANY MUTUALS - has a favourite animal and rbs posts of them

zzz...

- PLEASE SLEEP - always online - incomprehensible posts - what??? timezone??? - intimidating cryptid

Disco:

- YEAAHH FUNKY - great taste in music - doesn’t really stick to one aesthetic

Lofi:

- chill vibes doesn’t really post much - might have different fandoms/mutual groups

Lemn:

- FUN FUN FUN - greatest ideas ever - bestie material - really awesome to talk with

Sweater:

- famous artist/writer pal - cool! nice! how are we even mutuals - GENDER.

Vampire:

- soo cool. what is up with that - also weird hours - famous for weird reasons, had at least ONE post blow up

Cherry:

- AESTHETIC! - so talented but doesn’t realize it - really sweet but seems to be afraid of interacting :( (sad emoticon)

Cactus:

- parent friend - actually has some sort of schedule - mature, makes self help or drink water reminder posts

/End ID]

253 notes • Posted 2021-10-24 01:54:15 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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nintendroid · 3 years

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Everdrive X5 for Nintendo 64 - A Month Later

A month and some change ago, I bought an Everdrive for my Nintendo 64 and never looked back. With 50 hours invested, what do I think of it? Should you get one?

About a year ago I heard about these awesome things that allowed you to load any N64 game you wanted on a single cartridge (with the aid of a mini-SD) and play them on your actual N64. The issue at that time was these things are not cheap - as of this blog entry, the newest model is almost 200 bucks.

I mentally debated on it, watched videos, read reviews and just couldn't justify spending that kind of money on myself. I even considered a Chinese knock-off at one point for 50 bucks, until I heard that they could fry your console.

Stone Age Gamer was offering official versions for a few bucks cheaper with some pack-in games included so I took the plunge and bought one - I can safely say it was everything I wanted. Want to Play Clay Fighter: Sculptor's Cut on your own console without shelling out a cool 1K? This is for you.

The Everdrive is an N64 lover's dream come true. A way to play the entire N64 library on your original console - no questionable and glitchy emulators, just the authentic, original experience.

Every game I tested with the Everdrive worked 100% how I remembered and for all it's faults, low framerate and slowdowns in some cases. Keep in mind, this isn't an enhancement device, so all the original hiccups and blemishes of the old days of N64 gaming are still here.

If the original library isn't enough, you can also play mods on this sucker. I tested out the Goldfinger 64 mod, Smash Remix and Virtual Pro Wrestling 2 - Freem Edition and all of them worked fantastically. Since I mentioned the Japan-exclusive Virtual Pro Wrestling, I'll mention that you can play games from other regions too! For example, I like the game Quest 64 but the American version butchered the ending. The European version (called Holy Magic Century) has a much better ending so I can just play that one instead. For whatever reason though, it changes my TV's aspect ratio and doesn't change it back unless I restart my console.

The Everdrive also has a built-in GameShark cheat engine so you can cheat your little heart out if these old games prove to be too much. As mentioned in an earlier entry, I used an infinite ammo cheat to knock the hell out of the first boss in Earthworm Jim 3D and I don't regret it one bit. That guy sucked. That whole game sucks but whatever.

The only game I couldn't get to work was the Japanese-exclusive Animal Crossing/Animal Forest and that's because this version of the Everdrive doesn't have a battery back-up the game requires to run. It sucks but if I really wanted to play Animal Crossing 64 that bad, I'll just buy a reproduction cartridge.

Any problems? The only one that kind of sucks is that to save natively in-game, you have to be sure to reset the game before turning it off. Say you save in Super Mario 64 after earning a star, if you just turn your console off after your done, the save won't save. instead before you turn your console off, you have to reset after your session. I've not had any problems with it, but it's a minor annoyance.

The emulator also supports NES roms, but I haven't tested it. It's a nice feature if you want to play NES games on your N64 for some reason.

My overall thoughts...the Everdrive 64 has made me a hardcore N64 gamer. Even at the steep price, I don't regret the purchase and for the quality and functionality, I recommend it to anyone on the fence about it. The creator - Krikzz changed the game with these devices and the guy definitely deserves his praise.

Stone Age Gamer has the hook-up if you're interested. They also offer a game bundle including Glover and the recently-released 40 Winks port. For 115 bucks, with 5 free games included that's a heck of a deal.

#stone age game #blog entry #everdrive #nintendo 64 #n64 #nintendroid

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thisbibliomaniac · 3 years

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( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) all of them except the too personal ones

1. What is you middle name? Classified ☜(ﾟヮﾟ☜)

2. How old are you? 80

3. What is your birthday? Boring as heck

4. What is your zodiac sign? Whichever one means you hate LOTR fans

5. What is your favorite color? PINK

6. What’s your lucky number? 2

7. Do you have any pets? Not technically mine, but I live with some

8. Where are you from? Slightly west

9. How tall are you? Exactly average

10. What shoe size are you? Not average

11. How many pairs of shoes do you own? Like 10? I wear maybe 3 regularly

12. What was your last dream about? I'll definitely tell you when I remember....

13. What talents do you have? Pinterest fails

14. Are you psychic in any way? I almost always grab the correct number of earring backs from the box, no matter how many orders I'm filling. Does that count?

15. Favorite song? We Could Run Away by Needtobreathe

16. Favorite movie? Sabrina

17. Who would be your ideal partner? I'm in love with Henry Cavill rn, so

18. Do you want children? Yes

19. Do you want a church wedding? I don't really care

20. Are you religious? Very

21. Have you ever been to the hospital? Yes

22. Have you ever got in trouble with the law? I don't think so?

23. Have you ever met any celebrities? Yesterday I would've said no, but a picture of me and Mark Schultz showed up in my facebook memories today

24. Baths or showers? Shower

25. What color socks are you wearing? I JUST put on brand new knitted green and purple wool socks and I love them

26. Have you ever been famous? Does my post with 300,000 notes telling me to kill myself count?

27. Would you like to be a big celebrity? Nooooo

28. What type of music do you like? Bits of all of it I think

29. Have you ever been skinny dipping? Lol no

30. How many pillows do you sleep with? At least 3

31. What position do you usually sleep in? Side

32. How big is your house? Small

33. What do you typically have for breakfast? Nothing

34. Have you ever fired a gun? Yes!

35. Have you ever tried archery? Yes!

36. Favorite clean word? Nonetheless

37. Favorite swear word? Heckalump.

38. What’s the longest you’ve ever gone without sleep? Probably 24 hours

39. Do you have any scars? Oh yes

40. Have you ever had a secret admirer? Do anons count?

41. Are you a good liar? Yes

42. Are you a good judge of character? Usually

43. Can you do any other accents other than your own? Lol yes

44. Do you have a strong accent? I have no accent. I speak correct English

45. What is your favorite accent? Correct English like we speak in Ohio

46. What is your personality type? Annoying as heck

47. What is your most expensive piece of clothing? I just paid $15 for a shirt that says Schrute Farms. It was on sale

48. Can you curl your tongue? Yes

49. Are you an innie or an outie? 👀

50. Left or right handed? Right

51. Are you scared of spiders? No

52. Favorite food? FETA CHICKEN

53. Favorite foreign food? Shish tawook

54. Are you a clean or messy person? Both

55. Most used phrased? Oh good heavens

56. Most used word? Bruh

57. How long does it take for you to get ready? Five to ten minutes

58. Do you have much of an ego? I don't think so

59. Do you suck or bite lollipops? Neither

60. Do you talk to yourself? Oh yes

61. Do you sing to yourself? Definitely

62. Are you a good singer? I've been told so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

63. Biggest Fear? 👀👀👀

64. Are you a gossip? 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

65. Best dramatic movie you’ve seen? Idk about best, but I just watched Warrior Queen of Jhansi on Sunday and it was fantastic

66. Do you like long or short hair? Oh?

67. Can you name all 50 states of America? Sure can

68. Favorite school subject? History

69. Extrovert or Introvert? Intro

70. Have you ever been scuba diving? No?

71. What makes you nervous? Getting reviews 👀

72. Are you scared of the dark? No

73. Do you correct people when they make mistakes? Depends on the person and the mistake

74. Are you ticklish? Nah

75. Have you ever started a rumor? I don't think so

76. Have you ever been in a position of authority? I have had one (1) employee

77. Have you ever drank underage? Lol no

78. Have you ever done drugs? I have some CBD?

79. Who was your first real crush? Probably Errol Flynn

80. How many piercings do you have? Currently? 2

81. Can you roll your Rs?“ yis

82. How fast can you type? Fast. Correctly? Slightly less fast

83. How fast can you run? Not fast

84. What color is your hair? Red

85. What color is your eyes? Brown

86. What are you allergic to? Furries

87. Do you keep a journal? Only when I was reading the book of mormon

88. What do your parents do? Work

89. Do you like your age? Sure

90. What makes you angry? When sitcoms end with all the characters going their separate ways

91. Do you like your own name? Noooo

92. Have you already thought of baby names, and if so what are they? Yes, but I don't remember what they are

93. Do you want a boy a girl for a child? Yes

94. What are you strengths? Putting fear into my printer

95. What are your weaknesses? Hitting my printer

96. How did you get your name? Nobody else had it (and then it was the most popular baby name for like fifteen years)

97. Were your ancestors royalty? No

98. Do you have any scars? I thought we asked this already

99. Color of your bedspread? Pink

100. Color of your room? Purple

Just for u tur 😘

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everydisneymovie · 3 years

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Review #66: Miracle of the White Stallions

Post #71

12/8/2020

Next up is 1963′s Miracle of the White Stallions

Just a warning, this movie fucking sucks.

Enjoyment : [2]

This movie is one of the worst experiences I have had so far. It is 2 hours of some of the most boring shit you will ever see. You know that phrase ‘Polishing the silverware on the Titanic’? A phrase meant to mock people who prioritize the wrong things during an emergency? Imagine two whole hours of a dude polishing silverware while the Titanic sinks in the background. My god this movie is dull. Every single character without a doubt is a despicable piece of flaming garbage who don’t deserve our attention. There is almost nothing to enjoy about this movie and about 75% of it could be cut without any loss to the main plot. I mean that, the main conflict is resolved about 40 minutes into this 2 hour movie. There is so little conflict that they actually switch to an entirely new cast of characters who have almost nothing to do with the main plot for the final half hour. I hate this movie with every fiber of my being.

Quality : [3]

I will give the movie this, the actors are trying their hardest and the locations are very pretty. The writing is absolutely atrocious. Every line of dialogue sounds like a rich brat whining about ‘daddy only let me have TWO gold plated dune buggies this christmas!’ and I hate it. The pacing is also pathetic. Like I mentioned, the movie gives up trying to have a plot and throws in a pointless fight scene with brand new characters we care even less about in the final half hour.

Hold up : [2]

This movie has a single easily identifiable flaw. It is pathetically spineless at the core of it’s being. This movie takes place during WW2, and somehow decides to go with the moral ‘There were good and bad guys on both sides’ While also totally ignoring the holocaust happening literally just off screen. There is even a line where one character says “Oh yeah my husband got taken to a concentration camp” “Aw jeez that sucks” and then they move on like it is no big deal. This movie is about a bunch of rich assholes using money and supplies that could have been used to help refugees to instead transport their expensive horses to safety. Excuse me if this is a controversial opinion but, JEWISH LIVES WILL ALWAYS BE MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR FUCKING FANCY HORSES. This movie is utterly pathetic, since it thinks anyone will care about the safety of some vanity project for the 1% over actual victims of war and genocide.

Risk : [1]

This is without a doubt the least risky movie Disney has ever made. The stakes are literally “we might not have our super expensive dressage horses after the war! We can’t have that! Rich people like watching horses prance around! This must be our top priority right now!” Which I have to say bud, are stakes I do not care about. What is worse is how much it humanizes the Nazis in this movie. The main characters are for all intents and purposes Nazis. They aren’t actually Nazis, but they hang out with Nazis, obey the orders of Nazis, and get permission from Nazis. We keep getting these extended monologues about how war is the real enemy and Nazis are just caught in the middle. How dare you Disney, how dare you act like Nazis were some misunderstood tragedy. We even get an extended scene where all the Nazi characters we met throughout the movie get happy endings where they conveniently leave out ANY JEWISH VOICES. This movie is pathetic because it refuses to take a side... on the holocaust. Why the hell did they think this would be ok?

Extra Credit : [0]

This movie deserve no extra credit. I cannot think of a single moment I enjoyed or thought had creative effort put into.

Final thoughts:

This is the second worst movie I have seen so far. The simple fact is that there is no way to get even slightly invested in the plot unless you are a complete psychopath. Horse dressage is a pointless leisure activity for the ultra rich, and as hard as this movie tries to convince me it’s part of some great ‘cultural heritage’ I just can’t give a damn. If there was a fire in an art museum, I would be sad at the loss of such important cultural artifacts, but I wouldn’t try to save the paintings before I tried to save the people still inside. Human life will ALWAYS matter to me more than some stupid fucking horses. The characters come across as fucking insane, since they value these horses above everything else. At one point they threaten a mob of starving refugees with guns because ‘these horses bring hope to people!” (bring hope to who? the fucking rich elite?) At one point a train conductor is like “No dude we can’t put your horses on this train we have civilians to evacuate” and they like, passionately argue about how important these horses are to the country... AND THEY GET LET ON THE TRAIN! Innocent people probably straight up died because of their selfishness! I cannot express how awful this movie is to watch. The only reason it isn’t ranked lower than A Light In the Forest is because that movie just seemed to ooze hatred towards minorities, while this movie just seems indifferent to the suffering of others. Call me crazy but I don’t care about Nazi horses even a little.

Total Score: 8/50

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talesofafangirlwithadvr · 4 years

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What to Binge Watch While in Quarantine

Do you feel yourself running out of things to watch on DVR or you don’t know which streaming platform to explore for your next watch? Or do you just find yourself with more time on your hands and don’t know what to do? If you answered yes to any of these questions I hope this thread helps you out. A lot of these picks are some of my top choices no matter what the case (which means I might have spoken about them before-possibly A LOT. Or they may be upcoming March picks, which just shows how great they really are). So without further a do here are some things you should consider bingeing as you maintain your social distancing and seek a form of escape...

Need a laugh?

Check out DERRY GIRLS

This half hour comedy (which honestly should be longer because the episodes go by too fast and there are not enough of them in the seasons) follows Erin Quinn as she navigates high school during the 1990s in Northern Ireland. She attends an all girl Catholic school along with her cousin Orla, and friends Michelle, Clare and James. (That’s right James also attends the all girls school. He’s a Brit and it would be too dangerous for him to attend the boys school during this time of civil unrest.) As the girls experience trivial problems like how to get to a concert or how to avoid people eating pot brownies at a funeral, the historic problems play out in the background. During the pandemic we’re experiencing we can take away living in the moment like these girls from Derry and not overly stressing on big world problems.

Streaming on Netflix

Wanting more of a ROM COM kind of escapism?

Then look no further than the Netflix original Set it Up.

Two assistants, Harper and Charlie, work in the same building and are experiencing a very “Devil wears Prada” relationship with each of their bosses. They meet one night at work after hours and believe they have the worse boss. A plan gets set in motion to set up their terrible bosses with each other. Then when they’re happy, the two assistants can have their lives back. You already see where this is probably going and who this love story is actually following: Harper and Charlie. I’ve been raving about this movie since 2018 when it first came out and it is still just as great as the first time I watched it. It honestly still gives hope for a great romantic comedy.

Streaming on Netflix.

Up for a good mystery?

Give Cw’s Nancy Drew a try.

One of the Cw’s latest new shows this season, Nancy Drew, re-invents the classic stories we all know and love with a more darker and supernatural spin. If you like Riverdale and the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina then this might be right up your alley. However, as someone who doesn’t watch Riverdale and didn’t fall in love with Sabrina, I am still a big fan of this new adaptation of Nancy Drew. I feel like I’ve experienced a roller coaster of reviews with this one, from really liking it to not so much (because there was too much of the supernatural involved and I just wanted a good mystery) to now really liking it again. I think I just needed some time to understand the vibe of it all and now that I really know the characters I’m liking it a lot. I’m also excited it has been renewed for a second season.

You can catch up with all 16 episodes now on the CW app or online cwtv.com. New episodes return in April.

Want more of a magical kind of mystery?

Then you gotta watch Locke and Key.

Thanks to Netflix’s new trending list I decided to check out Locke and Key and I am so happy I did. It was fantastic and I can’t wait for season two. Based on the graphic novel by the same name, the series follows the Locke siblings who have just witnessed their father’s murder before traveling cross-country with their mother to his ancestral home, Key house. The house is filled with these magical keys that all have different properties from getting into your mind and looking at your deepest thoughts and desires, a key that opens any door and can take you anywhere, or one that opens a music box that lets you control people. The kids get drawn to the keys and unlock a deeper mystery of the keys and how their dad was involved in it all. Plus, there’s a sinister presence that is after the keys and will stop at nothing to get what they want. Definitely worth checking out!

Streaming on Netflix.

Need some music in your life?

You must watch Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist

This show gets better and better each episode. After a freak accident, Zoey gets the ability to hear people’s innermost feelings through song and dance. She’s the only who can hear it, which means she needs to help the person get through the problem in their life. Each episode has a good amount of musical numbers from popular songs to classics and even musicals. Great cast. There is not one character I don’t like. If you are a fan of Glee I would highly suggest checking it out. It’s the show that often gets compared to it, but you don’t have to be a fan of Glee to enjoy it. I wasn’t a die-heart fan and I’m loving Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. It’s a feel good watch that is just what we need at a difficult time like this.

Watch it on NBC on demand.

Did you love High School Musical?

Then why haven’t you watched High School Musical the Musical the Series?

This show has been promoted since Disney Plus was released back in November. There was a lot of hype over it, which made me unsure if it would be worth it, but I gotta say that I really enjoyed it overall. A cross between Glee and the Office, HSMTMTS follows students who attend the school the Disney Original Movie Series was filmed. When the new drama teacher comes to “East High” she is shocked that the drama department has never put on the musical for themselves. There’s a love triangle(s), a large cast of talented singers, drama and mystery. Great new songs that will get stuck in your head and the promise for a second season with a brand new musical to perform. (I’m just bummed it’s Beauty and the Beast and not HSM 2). The episodes are only about 25 minutes and you’ll find yourself finished with the 10 episode season in a matter of hours.

Now streaming on Disney+.

Feeling a telenovela musical?

Then Violetta is for you!

Drama, laughs, love, and music (with more catchy songs you won’t be able to get out of your head), this Disney original from Buenos Aires has it all. You will get sucked into the episodes just like I did and be shocked how far into the series you are in such a short amount of time. I watched all 80 episodes (that are about 40 minutes a piece) in a matter of 2 months. (And now I’m upset that Disney Plus hasn’t released season 2!!) The show follows Violetta Castillo who has just returned home after traveling the globe with her father for years. She wants to be like a regular kid and attend school rather than having a tutor, but her father forbids it. He’s over protective because her mother was a famous singer who then tragically died. He ties it back to the music and forbids Violetta from performing as well. Throughout the first season, she is exposed to a music school where she makes new friends, enemies, and becomes a part of a love triangle (naturally). In the process she rises to be one of the most talented performers, but constantly is worried her dad will find out the truth and make them move again.

Streaming now on Disney+.

Needing a Sci-Fi fix?

Tune into the Cw’s Pandora.

The show aired on the Cw this summer and needs more love and recognition. I was surprised over how much I enjoyed it. When each episode aired I wanted to watch it right away, which then made me upset because I had to wait a week, but you won’t have that problem! The show takes place in the future in the year 2199. Our main character Jax witnesses her family getting tragically killed and is forced back to Earth to live with her uncle who runs a training academy. Jax enrolls in the school and makes several friends a long the way (there are so many ships on this show that I often had trouble deciding who I liked with who). While at the academy she starts to piece together that her family’s death might not have been an accident and that more lies behind it as well as her own past. There were times when I was confused by how much time had passed from the last episode because characters would be very close or references would get made and I’d be like: Did I miss something? But despite all of that I really enjoyed it and am happy there will be a season 2. It feels very Cw in the best way possible, so if you already watch a lot of shows on the network then you should give this one a try.

Watch the entire first season on the CW app or online @ cwtv.com

Wanting an ironic watch in this difficult time?

Then add Daybreak to your queue.

This Netflix original had been on my list for a while and once the Corona virus was getting more and more serious I felt I needed something to take my mind off of it and also to have a good laugh. Daybreak is doing just that. (I am currently still watching the series so I don’t have a full review just yet.) This show takes place during the aftermath of a nuclear attack. In this apocalypse adults have turned into “zombie-like figures” who are muttering the last thought they had (often a very funny one). The kids are now in charge and each clique in high school has a territory. We follow social-outcast/new kid at school. Josh who is on the search for the love of his life, Sam, that he lost during the night of the explosion. Along the way he finds allies and they form their own tribe. This show is constantly breaking the fourth wall, having characters directly talk and look at us. I thought I would hate it, but I actually really like that feature and am kind of upset now that Josh has not narrated an episode in a while.

Now streaming on Netflix.

Still looking for more laughs?

Add Kelsey’s 100 Baby Challenge to your Watch Later

Throughout last year, Buzzfeed multiplayer’s Kelsey Immpicciche took up the 100 baby challenge in the Sims 4. What she thought would be a fun challenge and a couple videos blew up into a full series spanning 50 episodes, multiple spin-off series and even a line of clothing (which I am happy to say I own a sweatshirt). Who would have thought watching someone play the Sims and try to have 100 babies with all different parents would be so much fun? Kelsey has made me want to play the Sims and have my very own 100 baby challenge. This challenge is hilarious and fun. I loved all of Kelsey’s commentary as she plays as well as reading the comment section where everyone tries to give her tips. It’s so exciting to see how so many people got involved in this challenge. I hope she continues for season 2 soon!

You can watch all of season 1 on YouTube.

Need a change in location?

Venture back in time and to Prince Edward Island with Anne with an E.

L.M. Montgomery’s beloved series is adapted with a fresh new take on her classic characters and setting. Across Anne with an E’s three seasons we watch Anne Shirley come to Green Gables and form a family with Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert. We watch her shake up school and form life long friends. Something that I love about this series is that it is able to incorporate so many of the issues our society is facing today. While not always 100% accurate to the original novels, the show takes liberties with the source material and expands upon it to create something audiences can see as an echo of our conflicts. While this has been a problem for some, I think, once you realize this, you can enjoy the series even more. I know of so many people who have turned to the book after watching and falling in love with this series. Now, during this time, it is the perfect form of escapism. With each season spanning about 10 episodes you will be done and wanting more just like I am. I’m still upset the series has not been renewed.

Streaming now on Netflix.

Early Releases:

LITTLE WOMEN is now available on digital copy.

FROZEN 2 has been released early to Disney Plus.

Rumor is that EMMA will be released on digital copy as early as March 20th.

With so much to watch I hope that you can endure this quarantine happily. If there’s a show you’d like to add to the list make sure to attach it below in a comment or by sharing this post!

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madonna-la-cardinalessa · 4 years

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The Borgias Review 02.01 “The Borgia Bull”

And it’s time again for “2 historians judging watching The Borgias”. As said in the post which contains the complete review of The Borgias season 1: This is for entertainment only! We do not intent to hurt any fans with this. Since we both are pretty aware about this time period and study history in our bachelor and master rn we can see what works and what doesn’t in this show and for some people this might not only be funny but also interesting to read (even though this is by far no analysis!). For the time references I apologize again because it might differ from player to player.

And because of the current situation it is not possible for us to do a The Borgias marathon again since meeting physically is…problematic. So we decided to watch the episodes while doing a WhatsApp call every Tuesday evening. This is why each episode of season two will get it’s own post this time yay! :D We hope you enjoy!

Review of the first episode under the cut:

Since I suck in html I won’t colour Sandy’s and mine parts this time and simply write like: Sandy: or Leni:

4:50 [fake!Giuliano holding a mess or something wearing a ..weird coloured ourfit]

Leni: lmao, fake!Giuliano, why are you wearing a green gown? You’re a cardinal and you know, the term “cardinal-red” actually has a meaning xD

7:00 [Cesare enters the room, the audience knows it’s of course thanks to him that fake!Giuliano is poisend]

Sandy: Oh look, Super Brain Cesare enters the stage. Wait, no it was Mastermind Cesare, sorry.

Leni: omg wtf is with his hair? Cesare got a permanent wave???

(Also as if the real Giuliano della Rovere would have been so dump to get poisend)

18:50 [Juan and Cesare bitching at each other and starting a fight]

Sandy: Ehhm, did they hate each other already in the last season? Or is this kinda rushed? xD

Leni: I think they had like one scene in s1 in which they showed how the fame made Juan evil...but yeah this feels rushed.

21:40 [Rodrigo and Giulia discovering some old ruins while hunting]

Sandy: *annoyed* OH NO, do not tell me, they discover some fkn roman ruins now and initiate the Renaissance because of this now.

Leni: Yeah, maybe Neil&Co did not know, that the Renaissance was a thing before the Borgia already. But since all characters (except Juan lol) are so good and lovely and whitewashed in this show, it makes sense that they alone bring Italy the light of the Renaissance ofc.

29:00 [Rodrigo can’t sleep and gets up to walk around in the apostlic palace at night]

Leni: Where is he going?

Sandy: Probably looking for his golden calf to worship it.

35:00 [Giulia noticing how much influence she is loosing towards Rodrigo]

Sandy: You know what? This Giulia is the personification of the cheerleader bitch in american movies.

46:40 [At the mask ball, Giulia gets advice from Vanozza how to keep Rodrigo under her influence]

Leni: As if a Giulia Farnese would have taken advice from a Vanozza Cattanei and if a Vanozza Cattanei would have helped a Giulia Farnese with giving her advice jjkdfjdsjfll.

50:00 [..GAY! xD Giulia making out with Victoria (was that her name?) because it’s sexy and Rodrigo pays attention and therefore f*cks them both that night]

Sandy: *annoyed* Now, the americans are so prudish and censore every f*ck in a show but they are always okay with girls kissing girls because it’s hot?

Leni: I think that’s a man's thing. You really see who scripted this show

In general in this episode: Micheletto’s appearance

Leni: Why is Micheletto always dirty? And like sweating? Like ALWAYS??

Sandy: Maybe because he knows, that he is the worst assasine in the world and so he always sweats xD

Sandy’s general thoughts: I kinda got the feeling that a lot happened while nothing happened actually. What really made me upset was that the episode made it look like the Borgia initiated the Renaissance like: So yeah, here is the Renaissance, have fun! And then they start to celebrate roman feasts which some people would call ehm idk maybe... HERESY?????

Leni’s general thoughts: My PoOr BaBy AlPhOnSo of NaPeLs T_____T how can they torture my precious psycho kid Alphonso in that way??? Fake!Charles, I hate youuuuuu *cries for 10 hours straight*. And yeah, I think this episode’s plot was pretty boring. I enjoyed the few scenes with Lucrezia but kinda got the feeling that Giulia played a more important role than her now. And of course some things just did not work (like almost everything).

#the borgias #the borgias review #lotte verbeek #francois arnaud #lucrezia borgia #holliday grainger #okay that was already 5 tags

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mannatea · 4 years

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Pokémon Shield: A Review

DISCLAIMER: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS HERE!

First, my credentials/gaming history, so you can see if my opinion is valuable to you or not. I would like to make it clear from the start that I do not consider myself a ‘gamer’ by any stretch of the imagination. I’m a filthy casual at best.

I’ve been playing video games since I was maybe eight or nine years old. I’ve always enjoyed dabbling in a variety of genres, and have a great appreciation for the work that goes into creating each and every game, no matter the intended audience. Some of my all-time favorite titles include Tales of Symphonia, Fire Emblem (7), Final Fantasy IX, Legend of Dragoon, Chrono Cross, Tetris, Bust-a-Move, Project Gotham Racing, Ecco the Dolphin (PC,DC), Roller Coaster Tycoon, Harvest Moon (N64/PS1), World of Warcraft, and of course our beloved Pokemon!

I started with Pokemon Red, and enjoyed it immensely, but Silver stole my heart and my imagination. My brother and I used to sit at the kitchen table with guide books open and notebooks at the ready to craft and create new, extremely cool teams. I sank an unbelievable amount of hours into that game, and into Pokemon Stadium (1 & 2), Hey You! Pikachu, Pokemon Puzzle League, and even Pokemon Pinball. Unfortunately after Silver, my interest waned. I was an adult by the time Emerald debuted, and while I was initially charmed by it, found my interest waning quickly. I bought and played Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, SoulSilver, and Black & White, but didn’t beat any of them. I felt like the magic had…disappeared somehow.

But when X and Y released in 2013, I binged on Pokemon X, beat it, and for the first time since childhood started breeding a competitive team just for the heck of it. I also found myself really enjoying Pokemon Sun a couple of years later (though the post-game of breeding didn’t really do it for me this time).

They lost me with Ultra Sun/Moon. I wanted to like them, really, but it was too much of a rehash, and too much handholding (like the originals were, and I could only stand going through that once).

Now here we are with Pokemon Sword and Shield. They released just a few days ago (15 November, 2019) and the controversy has been wild. It seems to me that everyone has some kind of very strong opinion, and a lot of people are very angry.

Pokemon has always been one of my favorite franchises, but my history with the games is far from spotless so I like to think I can manage a mostly unbiased review, though of course everything in this post is my personal opinion.

Here’s what I’ve done in the game:

40 hours played.

200 pokemon in the pokedex.

Main story and post-game story completed.

I played with no specific self-imposed rules and was not spoiled for hardly anything before I started playing.

The Game’s Introductory Sequence [8/10]

As is standard for the franchise these days, the game flings you into the world with little fanfare regarding customization. Rather than the intro being a dialogue of sorts between your character and a professor, you are now instructed to choose what you look like (from a sparse few options) after typing in your name.

The first ‘cinematic’ is pretty boring, but I think the attempt at immersion is genuine enough (the idea being that your character is watching Leon’s broadcasted fight on your new smart phone). My character has a better house in-game than I do in real life. I’d kill for all that storage in the kitchen!

My biggest gripe with the introduction is that it reminded me too much of Sun & Moon’s introduction—in the worst of ways. I wouldn’t say it’s slow-paced, but the constant interruption by other characters is about enough to make a person rage-quit. Luckily I’ve been blessed with a lot of patience; it makes tedious content easy to bear (so long as it’s not difficult), but even I was feeling antsy before the first hour of the game was up, just because Hop and Leon never shut up and I was chomping at the bit to Explore.

Considering this is the first thing a player experiences…I really feel it could have been improved, especially the dialogue, but there were a few really positive things about it, too. The outdoor BBQ was a nice touch (considering everyone knew we’d be going off on Adventures in the morning and all), the game does let you avoid having to learn how to catch a pokemon (your mom slips a few pokeballs into your bag at one point without telling you and if you use them to catch pokemon, Leon will not teach you how to do it later), and I feel like as far as introductions go, this one was fairly short when compared to Sun and Moon’s introductory period.

While I’m being positive, the game plops you down into an idyllic little English countryside and not only do you get to enjoy that aesthetic, but the Slumbering Weald is probably one of the prettiest/most charming places in the game, and you get a peek at it early on!

The Starter Pokemon [5/10]

I’ve experienced worse? I wasn’t spoiled for any of the starter pokemon’s evolutions starting out, and while I didn’t exactly hate any of them, I sure didn’t love ‘em, either. I named my Scorbunny “Chad” on the assumption that he was likely to turn into a chad, though I’m not sure that accurately describes the pokemon I ended up with. Clearly modeled after soccer players, my Chad is a cocky all-star jock. They went all out on his Pyroball animation but Double Kick can see itself out of my house. No love in this club.

I just really wish I found any of these starters or their evolved forms to be charming, but they’re not. Rillaboom is basically George of the Jungle but 3% less of a himbo, and Inteleon is Greninja’s younger brother in accounting.

Gyms, Gym Challenges, & Game Balance [6/10]

This is probably one of, if not the, most debated topic over at Reddit. Is the game balanced? Are the gyms too easy? Are they making this game for 5-year-olds suddenly?

Eh. I do think the game is, perhaps, Too Easy, but a game being easy isn’t a shortcoming in and of itself. Check out my section on the story and characters for more on this topic, but I’ll post the short of it here, because it’s relevant: if the gameplay is going to be easy, we either need an option to make it more difficult, or the characters, story, and world have to carry the game in such a way that the easy gameplay still feels fun.

Shield had, uh, none of that going for it, unfortunately. The plot is lackluster (more about this later), and the gameplay wasn’t able to pick up the slack. In other words, the gameplay didn’t make the game feel Substantial in any way.

Which is kind of bad, considering Dynamaxing is a new feature!

The biggest issue for most people was the Experience Share. It’s turned on by default and there seems to be no way to turn it off. You get insane amounts of XP for defeating and catching pokemon, and your whole team seems to level pretty evenly even if you only occasionally use some pokemon in the party.

I personally played the game with the default battle option (where it asks if you want to switch out to a new pokemon when the enemy is going to send out a new one) because I barely remember half the pokemon in the game’s typing. Knowing the name of what’s coming next doesn’t always help me. (How’s that for an embarrassing truth?)

I personally liked the experience share, though I feel having the ability to toggle it on/off (or even on for certain pokemon and off for others) would have been ideal. The idea with having it on all the time is that your team will level fairly evenly so you’ll be able to switch in any of your six pokemon to battle without having to struggle through leveling some of the weaker ‘mons up individually. Additionally, it enables you to easily replace a pokemon on your team mid-game if you so desire. And I did (I replaced my shiny Orbeetle with regular cotton candy Rapidash).

My team at end-game was as follows:

Cinderace (Chad)

Greedent (Moriah)

Thievul (Penelope)

Liepard (My)

Corviknight (Octavia)

Rapidash (Calliope)

As you can see, I have no grass pokemon, no water pokemon, and no electric pokemon. I have two dark types. My move coverage mostly sucked throughout the game, because Thievul had 3 dark moves, and My had 3 normal moves. I’m an official idiot, thanks for coming to my TED talk. Usually I can struggle through no matter how garbage-tier my team is, and this game was…no exception.

I steamrolled the first few gyms and their challenges even though I wasn’t vastly overleveled for any of the content. After the ghost gym (which was easy for me with my dark types) I’d say the difficulty level went up slightly, mostly because my brain has refused to hold type advantages/weaknesses that came after Gen1. I feel like most original type weaknesses made some kind of sense to me and I was never able to incorporate dark and steel into that mix, let alone fairy.

At any rate, once you fight a pokemon once, the game will tell you if your moves are super effective against them or not. I remember people complaining about this feature when it was added (in Sun/Moon I think), but I like it. It doesn’t actually help a lot if you don’t know what the moves do/aren’t looking at move power/effects, but it’s useful for my sieve of a brain in a pinch.

Hop as a rival was almost never challenging. He always starts with the same pokemon, and his team is fairly easy to sweep. That might be kind of the point, but I wish you could have encouraged him to take the starter that’s strong against yours for a bit more of a challenge. Yeah, it’s not much, but it would have been something. Marnie is a better rival than Hop in the sense that she’s actually a better battler, but I swept her team pretty easily too, every single time we fought.

The only real challenges in the game were fighting Raihan (I only had one very weak fairy move and no ice to counter his dragons) and Leon (he definitely outleveled me). On Leon I had to use revives and potions!

The gym challenges started off as pretty cute (herding Wooloo, pipe puzzle maze) but quickly grew into lazy boring doldrums (basically gauntlet fighting of one kind or another). I guess I’d say ‘nice try’ for these and say I don’t really care if I see them again or not unless they’re going to actually give it a real go.

Overall, the story part of the game felt balanced enough for me personally but if I’m being completely unbiased: it was too easy to get levels. I could have wandered around less/caught fewer pokemon as I journeyed and enjoyed more of a challenge, but I just…gotta catch ‘em all, y’know? Most people do! GameFreak should have known this and designed accordingly.

The big issue with game balance feels like it comes…after the game, and I don’t mean the post-game so much as the Max Raid Battles that require other people, but the NPC trainers you can battle with are legit trash at what they do, which kind of forces you to find other trainers, but…

Online Compatibility & Features [3/10]

So I think the rating speaks for itself, here. The interface is confusing, the stamps are annoying, and the ability to see other players but not interact with them in any meaningful way is rage-inducing (and not just because of the FPS drops).

X/Y had a better online system!

Sun and Moon was better!

I don’t know why we regressed. I’m glad they kept the “wonder trade” (renamed to random trade, I think), because I always did enjoy doing that, but the GTS was the best idea they ever had and they abandoned it for random trading? I don’t want to trade with randoms? If I wanted to do that, I’d just do a random trade in the first place!!! The inability to put what you’re looking for into the stamp that people see? Oversight. Or just bad design. Probably both!

I’ve never hated a pokemon online experience more than this. I’m just astounded by how bad it is. I tried to join max raid battles last night and kept being told the event was over, but the stamps just…didn’t refresh? For HOW LONG? I can’t even tell you because I don’t know, and I couldn’t find a way to manually force them to refresh. It’s like they update every 15 minutes instead of every 15-30 seconds (which they should if I’m browsing for trades to make or battles to join). There are ways around this (according to Reddit) but the interface should be intuitive and easy to use by default.

C’mon, guys, you can do better. This is legitimately embarrassing in the year 2019.

Music [5/10]

There are some really magical tracks in this game, and there are some really terrible tracks. It doesn’t feel at all cohesive or thematic. I absolutely hated the gym battle remix; it was worse than the regular gym battle music. I feel like the gym battle theme would have really caught on if they didn’t have any other synth sounding tracks in the game, but they kind of do, so it blends in instead of sticking out as a bop.

Notable nice tracks were Hulbury, Glimwood Tangle, Slumbering Weald, and the desert route (which I can’t remember offhand). Some of the better music reminded me of the soundtrack for Tales of Symphonia, which is high praise coming from me. Unfortunately for every good track there were probably 3 forgettable ones.

There wasn’t anything particularly engaging when it comes to the music here, but it’s at least passable.

Graphics, Design, and Animation [6/10]

I should clarify that this is 6/10 for a pokemon game, not in general. I don’t expect flashy realism in a pokemon game and neither should you. The graphics are adequate most of the time, but the animation leaves a lot to desire when you look away from the pokemon that feel like they were Chosen Ones (and received a lot more attention).

Rapidash, for example, is using the same base model and animations it’s been using since it’s been in 3D. I’m not going to claim since Stadium, but holy cow the animations are for sure the same as they’ve been since at least X/Y for all the older moves. I’m not impressed.

The characters all have dopey expressions on their faces always. The models just use one talking animation loop and it almost never changes. The main character still looks on like a smiley face emoji when turmoil occurs, and though this isn’t as bad as it was in Sun/Moon, it’s still…kind of jarring?

The Wild Area looks kind of bad sometimes, and some areas in the actual game were lackluster compared to what they should have been. Ballonlea is the town you step into after walking through the (honestly) magical Glimwood Tangle, and it’s this charming fairy wonderland…with two houses and a stadium the size of two billion football fields. Uh. Okay? You’re telling me they destroyed how much natural habitat to make this gym? It just doesn’t jive with the scenery/theme out there, especially considering Opal’s theatre is tiny. And it’s not just that I think the game is lacking thematically (though it clearly is), but there’s this…laziness to the design when it comes to places like Ballonlea. It could have been SUCH an enchanting town to explore, but it was two houses with nothing important in them and a sports arena that feels completely at odds with its surroundings. (In this town you do learn that an NPC you spoke to earlier was a ghost, but it’s not as if this is very important information/goes anywhere, really.)

Spikemuth, for all its flaws, was at least memorable. I can’t say the same for most of the towns in this game. I really enjoyed the music in Hulbury but you best bet I had to look it up to remember the name of the town! Time is partly to blame. We don’t spend a lot of time in each town, and we have no real reason to go back to them aside from visiting the nearest Pokemon Center to heal and rest up. But I would argue that, beyond that, the individual designs just…don’t feel memorable because they’re not memorable. The names are mostly meh (every time I see Ballonlea I think of Bologna for some reason), but without anything else to connect to the place as more than just a place…there’s no reason to remember any of it.

Like the music, these are all passable, graphics more than animation, animation more than design, but that’s all there is to it.

Camping and Cooking, Feathers and Fetch! [4/10]

I don’t actually have a lot to say about this. It’s a cute idea, and it’s fun maybe the first ten times that you do it, but then it’s just really boring. The game is terrible at explaining how to create different curry dishes, but it’s almost idiot-proof. I’ve yet to fail at it.

But I’m not sure I care about it, either?

You get like 1/100th of the amount of berries you need to cook while you journey along, so it feels disproportionate. I dunno. Just not a fan.

Playing with your pokemon is the only real joy that comes from camping, but its fun is limited. When you’ve tossed the ball a few times, or watched Liepard smack the feather toy a while, it has that, “Okay, I’ve seen it!” kind of feeling to it. That doing well at cooking can heal your party/cure status conditions is incentive to do it, but it’s faster to just fly to a pokemon center and run back on your bike most of the time than to pitch a tent with your ‘mons.

I feel like there should just be…more you can do when you’re camping together. I’m glad Pokemon Amie is dead (it was cringey), but it felt more personal than this.

I wish I had more to say about this feature, but it felt tacked on and lackluster after I camped a few times.

Dynamaxing, Gigantamaxing, and Max Raid Battles [4/10]

The urge to give this a zero was high, but I am making an effort to be balanced.

That said, I hate dynamaxing. Gigantamaxing is almost the same thing, it’s just Worse Somehow. Until yesterday I thought they were basically the same thing (and that some pokemon just got extra cool dynamax forms). As it turns out, they’re not the same thing at all! Or rather, they are, but they’re also not?

Dynamaxing makes your pokemon grow large and gives it these generic MAX moves that it can use in combat (Max Knuckle, Max Flare, Max Strike). It lasts for three turns and then your pokemon reverts back to its regular ‘ol self.

Gigantamaxing is when your pokemon grows a little larger than large, gets a special Look, and gets the same generic MAX moves (but with special effects added to them). Oh, and better stats.

At least, that’s how I understand it.

Both are great for Max Raid Battles, where you team up with NPCs or other players and take down huge dynamaxed pokemon that are out in the wild.

Neither is a fun feature as part of the actual gameplay. I guess as a gimmick it works all right, but just like Z-moves it has a long annoying animation sequence, and like Mega Evolutions only some pokemon get to gigantamax (everyone else is just a pleb, I guess). I dunno. I just didn’t find the concept very engaging…maybe because it seems evil and wasteful in-universe, and this is more or less stated in the game itself, but what-the-hell-ever, we’re just going to keep doing it ‘cause it looks cool!

It’s just too goofy a concept for me. Maybe if Dynamaxing doubled or tripled their size, I’d find it more understandable and more aesthetically pleasing? I hate seeing my pokemon, or the opposing pokemon, grow 50+ feet tall and scream at three billion decibels.

(For the record I never liked Mega Evolutions or Z-moves as a concept, so it’s not like I’m nostalgic for a different gimmick. That said, at least I’d accepted Megas as a thing, and Z-moves were overall not too groundbreaking or gamebreaking.)

The design of dyna/gigamaxing is to connect it with specific places so that you can’t just max your pokemon in every battle and sweep every team you fight against, but it still feels like it gets used too much. I’m currently at a point where I find having to dynamax feels like a chore.

Considering this is what the game tried to sell itself on in the initial trailer…? Yikes? I don’t know. I think some people are more ‘okay’ with the concept of dyna/gigantimaxing than others, and I think I’d be fine with it if we only had dynamaxing. Introducing both just feels like overcomplicating things for no real reason, and maybe also poking a little hard at the hornets’ nest that is the competitive community.

Because now you have to go out and grind gigantamax pokemon to catch one, so it forces you to do the thing you might not like to get a pokemon that can do the thing you don’t like, because it’s objectively better in combat? But really, who knows? Maybe these overpowered phenomena will end up banned, anyway.

Despite my disdain for this release’s gimmick, I do think Max Raid Battles are pretty fun, at least…when I’m not getting my ass completely kicked while some NPC trainer’s Eevee is using Helping Hand… It’s actually pretty enjoyable when you can somehow find other people using the y-comm and take on a gigantamaxed pokemon with the help of actual human players. But y’know…good luck using that…lol.

Overall I think the biggest downfall of Dynamaxing/Gigantamaxing is that it doesn’t really add anything of substance to the game. I don’t think it makes it more fun. It’s also not necessary for max raid battles (this could be a phenomena we don’t understand yet that randomly seems to affect wild pokemon, just like with the UBs—hell, Anabel and Looker could return and claim this is all related to that stuff and I’d probably find that believable enough). So what does it add? Flavor? Culture? Nah. It’s just kind of there.

Post-Game: Is That All? [3/10]

Post-game in Sun and Moon was the Alola version of the Battle Maison, breeding, and a somewhat lengthy (for a post-game) story where you assist Interpol agents Anabel and Looker in hunting down and capturing Ultra Beasts. The plot was somewhat woven into not only Sun and Moon’s storyline (Lusamine’s shenanigans), but also borrowed from the Sapphire/Ruby reboots and X/Y. If you didn’t already know Looker from Ruby/Sapphire/X/Y, or Anabel from Pokemon Emerald, you’ll still probably find them somewhat compelling/interesting as characters. Also, they did a really good job in Sun of making circumstances seem dire—of showing instead of telling you how dangerous the UBs were and how important it was to protect the people of the towns and villages you’d visited throughout your adventure.

Shield has… Max raid battles, a battle tower, and…breeding. Oh, and a storyline about the legendary dogs that barely makes any sense and is plagued by really irritating new characters.

The terrible truth is that the post-game of Sword/Shield is embarrassingly bad. You’d think they’d want to outdo themselves with every release. Sun and Moon hit it out of the park with their post-game content. Most people enjoyed the hunt for UBs, or at least the characters of Anabel and Looker. Sword and Shield have…. Sordward and Shielbert. DID I STUTTER?

They’re terribly designed characters, and so insulting as to not really be any fun at all. The Pokeball Guy mascot is Actually Fun; these dudes aren’t. They’re barely even villains? It was an excuse to try and pull what Sun and Moon pulled, but it didn’t work. I never felt like anyone was in danger at any point, probably because magically everyone was evacuated before I even arrived on the scene to stop Sordward and Shielbert’s vile schemes. :U Oh, and because I felt little or no connection to any of the towns I visited along the way, let alone the gym leaders. Maybe if these guys had showed up partway through the game and we sort of knew who they were already, this wouldn’t seem so out-of-nowhere, but it was, and that made it even worse than it had to be.

When it’s all over, you get your legendary dog (I named mine Goodest Boy), but it wasn’t a fun storyline at all. Who are these guys? Why should I care about them? I cared about Looker and Anabel because they came onto the scene and showed that they cared about each other as people (and showed it, multiple times). These guys? They wreaked havoc and didn’t even go to jail. At least Rose went to jail!

I don’t think the post-game is terrible so much as I think it’s underwhelming, especially considering what it came on the heels of. I don’t expect More More More from every game, but I do expect improvements to be made. A decent post-game storyline is all I was asking for, and I didn’t even get that.

But there’s the tower and you can breed pokemon and train EVs and all that stuff more easily now, so…

Characters, Story, and Worldbuilding [4/10]

Let me put this as delicately as I can: I’m not a fan.

I could easily rant about bad character writing, bad stories, and weak worldbuilding for hours, but I’ll limit myself because 1) this is a pokemon game, and 2) nobody really looks for exceptional characters here.

As I said earlier, I feel like Sun and Moon did it Better. Most of the main characters in Su/Mo were likable, interesting, had a fun design, or were amusing. Not so in Shield.

Hop has a terrible name (literally a million names to choose from and they picked this?), but the biggest crime he commits is that he doesn’t get a satisfying story arc at all. When he got down about himself I had hope there would be some cool development, but there wasn’t. He ended up getting his crap together and making a Team and Picked a Strategy (which still involves sending the sheep out first I guess). And then randomly in the post-game decided he was going to be a professor…lol.

I felt like 20 different people wrote that plot, because it was terribly cobbled together and didn’t flow at all. Natural progression would have been nice.

Marnie barely has a story and barely develops. Piers seems to kind of have more ‘meat’ to his character but not a lot is done with it.

The gym leaders are otherwise really meh. Okay, so Nessa and Sonia are pals. Gal pals. Pals that are gals. Gals that are pals. Great. I don’t think we ever see them talk so it doesn’t matter. Melony has a son…and it’s just a nod to the other game where her son is the gym leader instead? Boring.

Bede is an asshole with a sob story who doesn’t really get redeemed but gets the redemption option anyway. They could have REALLY done something amazing with this guy but chose not to. His backstory is actually pretty interesting! But they didn’t utilize it worth a damn. And also he was right about the mural soooo…

Sonia was maybe the best character in the game, and that’s just from a technical standpoint. She had development, she developed, she grew as a character. Emotionally, though, I felt detached from her. Maybe it was being called a child all the time that did that? I’m not sure. I get that the protag is a child but I’m living independently and doing well for myself so maybe have a little respect idk… Especially when the first 2/3 of the game you’re told the adults will handle things, and then randomly you’re interrupted every fifty seconds to take care of other people’s nonsense. :|

In fact, I felt emotionally disconnected from pretty much every character. I didn’t really like or feel for anyone. Hop came the closest (feeling guilty about losing a battle cause it might make his brother look bad), but the bad dialogue options and inability to actually cheer him up was frustrating more than anything.

There are zones that are breathtakingly lovely (Slumbering Weald! Ballonlea! Glimwood Tangle!) but all the rest are more or less forgettable. The characters are connected to the world…sorta, but there are times it feels like they force-connected them through dynamaxing and dialogue accents instead of trying to make characters who naturally fit into the world. Like I talked about before, Opal’s gym felt completely disconnected from the reality of her environment. She lives there for a reason. Doesn’t the stadium’s presence jar her? How many fairy pokemon lost their homes when that thing took away tens of acres of forest? What’s the story here? Or anywhere for that matter?

Spikemuth was a waste of space but at least it felt like an attempt to show us a poverty-stricken area… Unfortunately it all fell flat the second they used two models for Team Yell! Team Yell could have been really cool, especially if they’d had different models with their names (challenged by Team Yell Grunt Sierra/Troy/Nellie/whatever), and the same team yell outfit/clothes/paint on. Then we could see these are just regular guys and gals from this poor area who want to cheer on their hometown girl!!!

But that was a weakness throughout the game, because Team Yell were all gym trainers, and all shared models…just like all the other gyms. It felt lazy to me. The outfits can be the same, but way to go making all the models literal clones. That’s just laziness.

The villains are all meh. Rose? Of course he was a villain. The problem is that he’s not a villain for being a capitalist pig or anything. He’s a villain for wanting to fix a power issue that’s 1,000 years from happening. Meh motivation. If it was 50 years away then we have a compelling villain! But no, not 50. A thousand years from happening. And he can’t wait five fucking minutes.

Oleana was boring.

Leon was exactly the person he was the entire game…

The taxi service is a cute idea, and a nice gameplay addition, but it doesn’t really add anything to the world because they didn’t make the effort to integrate it.

Anyway, I’ve rambled enough.

The short of it is this: I walked away from this game not really caring about the world or any of the characters. I don’t even have a favorite character. I can’t remember the last time that happened to me. YIKES.

The Wild Area [8/10]

I don’t want to cover this for too long, because I feel it’s been done to death, but the Wild Area is what the whole game should have been. Or at least, more of the game. I don’t expect we’ll ever get a fully open-world pokemon game EVER, but this foray into the true 3D tells me that it could be a lot of fun, actually, even in somewhat constrained environments. (Oh, and with a good map.)

I enjoy the idea of the Wild Area, but I think its usefulness is limited without the appeal of having more pokemon patched into the game later. Until I get sick of it, though, it’s a pretty neat concept, and it makes hunting for new pokemon to catch a little more fun than it usually is. I like that they kept the overworld pokemon in this area as well as on the routes you have to travel; it feels like more of an adventure to dodge a huge Steelix and scoot closer to see what that yellow thing is in the grass you can’t quite make out. :)

Basically: fun concept that is enjoyable for now but has limited enjoyment. As far as negativity goes, I don’t have much to complain about here that I didn’t complain about in the Online Compatibility section above.

The Pokemon Themselves [6/10]

I was challenged by @hijauindah to list my top five favorite new pokemon from the game, so here we go!

Nickit (cute design!)

Boltund (smooth, well designed—not too cluttered)

Ponyta/Rapidash (MY LITTLE PONY… I think Rapidash could look better, but I’m just glad they cared enough to try something new with them…)

Frosmoth (Super pretty pokemon design.)

Dragapult (Nifty design.)

Most of the new designs are just…okay. There are a lot I don’t actually care for. But I’m biased; I just want more creature-based pokemon that look like they could exist and function in the world they live in. Some of these designs they come up with look like they’d have died out ten thousand years ago due to being Poorly Evolved lol.

Final Thoughts [6/10]

The worst part of the game for me personally was probably feeling like I was getting interrupted constantly by other characters. JUST LET ME PLAY. But the best part was definitely exploring the new areas, catching a shiny 2 hours into the game, and getting to the end more or less with the team I started with.

The individual scores don’t add up to a 6/10 (they actually add up to a 5.16/10) but I think it’s worth noting that I did have a fun time playing through the game, I intend to hop into the breeding stuff, and even though I don’t have to keep max raid battling and stuff, I probably will.

It’s far from the 9s that it was getting by certain people from certain places that won’t be named here, but it’s not as if it’s a dumpster fire game. I don’t regret the money I spent on it, and I hope to keep enjoying the game for a few more months (albeit more casually than I did over the weekend), but I hope GameFreak has learned from its follies and puts its best foot forward with the next game, because I will not manage to be this forgiving again.

#pokemon sword and shield #pokemon #pokemon spoilers #pokemon review #long post #really long post #pokemon swsh #i didn't really edit this so sorry if there are any typos

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youremyonlyhope · 4 years

Text

The Last Jedi

Here we go. The most controversial Star Wars movie ever (unless Rise of Skywalker has reviews that are just as mixed. I haven’t read any so I don’t know how it’s been received yet.) I actually really really enjoyed the Last Jedi, but I haven’t rewatched it since I saw it in theaters.

Also, unrelated, but literally just a few hours ago I met Oscar Isaac. I was doing a caroling event where I work, and he came by with his son to watch. During one of our breaks, he asked if his son could try the microphone and he held him up so he could whisper and sing stuff into the mic. It was adorable.

I seemed to be the only person who recognized who he was, though one of my co-workers said he had thought so too but he wasn’t sure until I confirmed it. So I went up to Oscar and said hi, asked if he was Oscar Isaac, shook his hand, and thanked him for coming. He says that it was great and that his son loves to sing.

I always joked that I’d bump into Oscar one day since he lives in Brooklyn, but I didn’t think it’d actually happen. And not while I’m wearing a Star Wars shirt and Star Wars socks (which he obviously couldn’t see since I was bundled up in a coat and a scarf and boots but whatever). And definitely not the day before I’m supposed to see the Rise of Skywalker.

I’m still freaking out oh my god. Ok. Time to rewatch the Last Jedi.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... This was the first Star Wars movie I’d seen in theaters in like 12 years at this point. Seeing those words on a giant screen again was amazing. “Certain that Jedi Master Luke Skywalker will return and restore a spark of hope to the fight.” I love that line. I love any and all comparisons of Luke to hope. Yes I am biased. But also, restoring the spark is exactly he does in the end so yes, I love it. It’s just now hitting me that we’re picking up exactly where we left off. Having 1 night between the two movies is every different than having 2 years. ...Was that whatsherface from Game of Thrones, Catelyn’s creepy sister? (IMDB says yes) *BB8 beeps* “Happy beats here buddy, come on.” BB8 sort of said the thing! Also, OH MY GOD I JUST MET OSCAR ISAAC AND NOW HERE HE IS ON MY SCREEN WHAT THE HELL. Was today even real? Oh General Hugs. “Skinny guy. Kinda pasty.” Knowing Oscar and Domnhall are friends makes this better. Oh BB8. Very honorable of Billie Lourd’s Lieutenant Connix to make sure she’s in the last ship leaving the base so everyone else leaves before her. I forgot about the chain reaction of bombs destroying their own Resistance ships... You know, Paige dying while dropping the last of the bombs was already emotional. Rewatching it after you know she’s Rose’s sister makes it worse. First Binary Sunset of the movie. General Hugs has a very good upset face that makes me not feel bad for him at all. More like I want to punch him. Snoke can use the Force across the galaxy... forgot about that. I realized I didn’t mention this in the last one, but I remember the crew complaining that when they filmed the end of Force Awakens it was a cloudy day, but then when they went back to the island for TLJ it was super sunny. And now that it’s been pointed out, I noticed it immediately. Luke throwing the lightsaber. I can’t remember if I was spoiled for this but I feel like when I watched it, I wasn’t that thrown off by it. Something else I didn’t mention at the end of Force Awakens is that I LOVE this set. The stone houses are amazing. Oh porgs. Also, that porg looking into the lightsaber always gives me anxiety. The first words we hear Luke say in 40 years are an annoyed “Go away.” which at least is less whiney than the Tosche Station. Oh Chewie’s like “DUDE. WE NEED YOU.” “Wait... where’s Han?” Awww. Throwing in a little Vader’s theme in there. More temper tantrums. People getting mad at Luke calling a lightsaber a laser sword (in a purposefully mocking way) even though George Lucas himself called them that in some interviews. Yes, it’s not a laser sword, but Luke is trying to show how ridiculous he thinks the idea of him taking down everything is by calling a lightsaber that. I remember being like “Luke... no let’s not just milk that thing... oh ew” I do love the shot of Luke using the giant stick to cross to the other cliff and kill the fish. God that’s a steep hill. “No one’s from nowhere.” “Jakku.” “Alright that is pretty much nowhere.” That’s funny. “It’s time for the Jedi to end.” Remember when that line in the trailer made the fandom literally break down? I love knowing that behind the scenes, Carrie had to slap Oscar a billion times. Also, I do not blame Leia at all. So many people were mad about Leia and Holdo demoting Poe, but Poe was too fearless in that moment. Yes, he destroyed the ship and it worked out, but they lost so many people and they already didn’t have many to begin with. It was worth it, but at a very high cost. So I don’t blame her. Heyyyyyy it’s that girl from that Black Mirror episode and what was that other show? Chewing Gum or something? (IMDB says yes it’s Michaela Coel) See and Poe’s already learning a little by asking permission. Of course... later on he doesn’t ask permission... but whatever. Leia’s Theme... causing me pain. Oh, Kylo didn’t kill his mom. We’re supposed to be happy about that? The bar is on the ground. The utter horror I felt the first time the control room was destroyed and Leia was pulled into space. Oh I love the moment when Leia flies in. Because I’d heard that in the books and comics, we get to explore Leia’s Force abilities and stuff but we don’t get it in the movies besides “I feel that Luke’s in trouble.” Which sucks, because she is the “other” if Luke didn’t work out, so she’s just as strong as Luke if she got trained. They should have just trained both kids honestly, why did they pick the boy? Not saying Obi-Wan and Yoda are sexist... but they’re probably sexist. Also, foreshadowing. I actually noticed the hologram of the ship and Leia flying through this time. Oh Chewie. I like the porg that literally has his jaw dropped in horror. Knowing now that the dice were kind of a symbol of Kira (was that Emilia Clarke’s character?) and Han’s relationship makes me not like them as much. Still, cute throwback that they’re still on the Falcon. We can just ignore they weren’t there in Force Awakens (I kept an eye out and didn’t see them) The way Luke laughed when he said “R2!” I just... my heart. “Nothing can make me change my mind” *R2 plays the Leia hologram* I literally just went “AWWWW” out loud because I forgot that that’s why R2 started playing it. Oh my heart. That hurt the first time. Luke standing over Rey, but offering to help her. Parallels. Oh Admiral Ackbar. I love Holdo’s dress. I love the draping. Someone teach me how to make it. “Thank you for making me aware.” Yeah Poe, she already knows. Stop mansplaining. This is literally a case of mansplaining, why would Poe think he’d have to explain to a commander that there’s no fuel? Yeah it’s a little harsh, but is Holdo wrong? All of these fanboys complain about Canto Bight, but forget that it was Poe’s idea. Then they go and say Holdo was too mean should have put Poe in charge. Guys. Poe’s impulsive. We love him, but he’s the ultimate Gryffindor with no fear and will just do anything without considering consequences. I do wish Holdo had been more open like “I have a plan. You don’t need to know all the parts of it. Just let me do what I need to, ok?” instead of “Just follow my orders.” but still. Oh poor Rose. “Doing talking....” Oh she’s so cute. “I’ve had to stun 3 people trying to use this escape pod.” We love a girl who can fight. Yeah. Once again. Not mad at Rose. Finn does have some selfish tendencies, he’s well meaning but ultimately selfish (or at least, only thinking of Rey). So I do not blame Rose for stunning him.

And now I will take a nap since I have to go to a show tonight. And then I will finish the last 3/4-ish of the movie when I get home later.

Annnnd I’m back!

See. Rose has good reason to be mad at deserters. Ok so it wasn’t Poe’s idea to go to the Star Destroyer it was Finn’s. I will give him that. But still Poe went along with it. “That... wasn’t exactly my...” Oh 3PO. I wish Maz had had a bigger scene. More Lupita please. I have one question: from what angle is this hologram filmed? And how does the camera follow her? I guess it’s multiple hologram cameras, but still, it followed her as she rolled and ran around. Also, did Finn call Maz or did Poe call her? Because as far as we know, only Finn knows her. It seemed like they both had the idea to call her, but that Poe had it first. Did Finn tell Poe about Maz? I’m glad they showed Finn handing Poe the binary tracker thing, since for a second I was like “What if Rey had popped up next to Finn on the Star Destroyer?” I’m glad Rey’s first instinct is to shoot Kylo. “Can you see my surroundings?” “You’re gonna pay for what you did.” “I can’t see yours.” Why do I remember that line so vividly? Why does it make me feel so unsettled? Rey, my sweet Rey, I wish you had just told Luke that you saw Kylo. I love Luke’s explanation of the Force. And him messing with Rey was funny. I love when Rey’s reaching out and feeling life, death, peace, violence, etc. And I love Luke saying the Force doesn’t belong to the Jedi, because it doesn’t. The Jedi failed years ago. “You didn’t even try to stop yourself.” Luke’s horrified. But also, Rey’s just like an extreme version of Luke. Yoda knew that Luke’s emotions could make him vulnerable to the dark side, Rey’s already vulnerable. Yeah, I don’t blame Luke for being scared of Rey after he feels like this is Ben all over again. Oh my god. I love the porg that has a metal piece over its head. That actually made me laugh out loud. Poor Chewie.

I just had to refresh tumblr because my draft wasn’t saving. It brought me back to my dashboard. Where there was a spoiler for the new movie and it wasn’t tagged. PLEASE tag your spoilers people.

The water hitting Kylo still confuses me. Say what you will about the Canto Bight plot... the costumes are AMAZING. The costumes literally make the whole side plot worth it to me. Literally I was just in awe by all the costumes during every single scene. And the set! The set’s fantastic too! I literally just paused every single second to take in all of the costumes. Do I care if the Canto Bight trip ended up pointless? Nope! Because it gave me some of Star Wars’ best costumes. Oh... to be an extra in the Canto Bight scene... Just show up... And put on a beautiful outfit... And do nothing else but pretend to drink, talk, and gamble... That’s the dream. Oh hi Mark Hamill! That was cute that they let him voice that little thing. I remember noticing the thing and being like “...is he important?” and nope, it’s just Mark doing an extra voice. Oh I love the Fathiers. Aww and it’s the little Force sensitive boy. I have thoughts about that kid that I can get into later. The way BB8 jingles with the coins. I love it.

Rey: *Does a move with her stick* Rey: *Does the same exact move with the lightsaber* Fanboys: She’s too good too fast! Mary Sue!

As I said throughout all of the Force Awakens, she’s just applying the skills she already had. If anything, a lightsaber’s easier since it’s half the length and she doesn’t have to worry about the back of it hitting her. LOL, remember when we thought this shot was an epic shot of Luke training her? Good times. Oh that poor fish nun. Everything Luke says about the Jedi is true (also did I not say they failed earlier in the post? Luke agrees with me). Rey’s right that a Jedi got Ani to come back from the dark side, but the Jedi’s system enabled him to turn in the first place. Soooooo yeah. Oh Luke. Don’t blame yourself. Kylo was already basically gone. Sure, seeing his uncle standing over him with a lightsaber definitely didn’t help... but it’s not the only thing that made him turn. Who is this captain of the medical ship? He looks familiar. (IMDB says he’s Danny Sapani. I probably recognized him from the Crown) Oh BB8. Finn, did you learn nothing from Rey? Put the cover back on the vent! Awww the Fathiers have such sad eyes... I love the Resistance ring. Can I buy one? Ok. The shot of the bubble egg lady singing felt like it was much longer the first time, but it’s really only a split second. I. LOVE. THE. CANTO. BIGHT. SET. I know it’s a real town in like Italy or somewhere near the Mediterranean. I want to go. I love it. I love that the first thing Luke does when he decides to use the Force again is to seek out Leia. Oh poor Adam became a meme after this. He just has a very wide and bulky body, ok? God Luke looks so scary in Kylo’s flashback. “Let the past die. Kill it if you have to.” That reflection scene is so visually stunning. So in a way, it’s like Luke is failing Rey like he failed Ben. He’s not helping her in the way she needs, so she’s being lured by the dark side instead. I love the walls falling around Luke. “Did you do it? Did you create Kylo Ren?” Rey, he already told you earlier that he believes it’s his fault, so the answer from him is yes. I can’t remember if we hear this story of Luke and Kylo one more time after this or not. “Then he’s our last hope.” Ok ew. No. Kylo is not allowed to be compared to hope. Only Luke, Leia, or Obi-Wan can be. Oh for a second I thought that torch was a lightsaber. YODA!!!!! I think I had been spoiled for Yoda showing up. It was definitely still exciting though. “The sacred Jedi texts!” Oh Luke. Oh memes. Not as whiney as I remembered. “But that library contained nothing that the girl Rey does not already possess.” Because Yoda knows she stole the books. Oh Yoda. I love Yoda. Oh Rose. Ok, so I will give it to Poe that at this moment it doesn’t seem like Holdo has a good plan. Abandoning ship isn’t necessarily cowardly, but on the surface it does seem like it puts them in more danger. Literally earlier today I watched a video about the layout of the Millennium Falcon, and the escape pods were mentioned. And I thought to myself, wow that must be something from the novels since we’ve definitely never seen that in the movies. Welp... I was wrong... Rey’s in one now. I was about to be like “Do they not care that an escape pod just docked?” before I saw Kylo. LOL the iron coming down like a ship. I feel like I remember being completely terrified when Rey stepped in front of Snoke. Oh BB8. Bumping into stuff. I remember being super relieved that DJ (has he told us this is his name yet? I can’t remember) gave back the medallion. Captain Phasma! Hey girl hey! Leia shooting Poe is still funny to me. Also Lieutenant Billie Connix is smart. I love the scene of Holdo and Leia saying goodbye. Also, Holdo’s purple hair with her bright blue eyes is super striking. Good choice. Snoke puts down the lightsaber. Unknowingly sealing his fate. Literally when Snoke reveals he connected their minds, I was like OF COURSE. Because the whole time I’m like neither of them are strong enough to do this. “She was more interested in protecting the light than she was seeming like a hero.” See. And that’s the flaw in both Poe and Finn. And Rey to an extent. They’re thinking about the big picture, but in context of smaller things like seeming like a hero, saving Rey, saving Kylo, etc. But Holdo’s thinking of only the big picture. I knew DJ betrayed them, I just forgot how badly.

And here’s another annoyance (which I was sorta trying to touch on earlier). Everyone hates the Canto Bight plot, yet they complain about Holdo trying to take charge. If Poe just let Holdo take charge and ignored Finn and Rose’s idea, then her plan would have been a complete success. No Canto Bight, no DJ to betray them, all the transports make it to Crait unnoticed, and the First Order eventually destroys a ship that’s empty except for Holdo. They complain about Holdo, but don’t think about the fact that Holdo could have prevented another plot they hated if the main characters had just listened to her.

And then Snoke hits Rey and literally puts the lightsaber back to where it will kill him. Ok literally I just misread a caption that said “Lord Vader” as “Lord Voldemort” and I was very confused. Taking a second to say that I love this set of Snoke’s throne room. Been thinking it forever, but Kylo picking up the lightsaber off the ground and seeing the reflection in the smooth red floor is amazing. Kylo igniting the lightsaber through Snoke is amazing. Also, I typed “Ben igniting” before literally freezing for a second and being like “...ok that’s a lot to unpack” I guess when he does something good my brain thinks of him as Ben instead of Kylo. ALSO, arm #16 and #17, I love that Snoke’s arms were cut off too in true Star Wars fashion. And I am VERY excited to see this fight scene again. I told myself not to pause at all during the Kylo and Rey team up fight, but I paused literally a second into it because Binary Sunset yes.

And my idiot brother and my mom are texting in the family group chat so it’s popping up on my screen throughout this scene. Ugh.

All of these red knight weapons are so cool. And I forgot about the one that gets chopped up... Oh my god one is a sword that transforms into a whip. LOVE. IT. And I love the quick lightsaber ignite through the head. Love it. Woah how is there still 44 minutes? I remember this battle being much closer to the end. I was wondering when the red walls went away, but I rewinded and saw that they had been slowly burning away after Rey made something hit them. Nice touch.

Ugh my brother and mom will not stop texting.

“You have no place in this story.” Wow Kylo, harsh. Oh shoot I forgot about the lightsaber breaking until they started their Force tug of war with it. I’d always wondered what would happen if someone lightsped through something... I want to say that I realized what she was doing before they told us, but now I realize that they basically told us what she would do when the First Order guy said “they’re preparing to hyperspeed.” so I guess I just caught on to the obvious hints.

God that moment still gives me chills. The silence. The way it sort of goes black and white. The multiple angles. So good.

I know for a fact that I spent the rest of the movie from this point on with my hands over my mouth in a constant stake of shock/fear/anxiety. Oh BB8. Some people thought this was ridiculous. But I had just spent the last few months rewatching the prequels before seeing this, and compared to the stuff R2 does, BB8 clumsily controlling a walker is nothing. Oh how I love Gwendoline Christie. I FORGOT THAT WE SAW HER EYE IN THE MASK. I hope Phasma survived. She’s so awesome. Ok my quality is like horrendous right now so I’m gonna refresh. LOL I FORGOT ABOUT GENERAL HUGS NEARLY ATTEMPTING TO KILL KYLO. Oh I forgot how much I love Crait as a set location. OH AND THE ICE DOG THINGS! LOVE THEM! Poe petting BB8 when he comes back kills me. I like those space age two person laptops. “People believe in Leia.” *Binary Sunset plays* My heart. Ok for a second I was like “This first person camera is like a war movie” and then it turns and we see the trench and I’m like “...ok... ok fine but that was very literal.” The red footsteps. Just... guys this set is so AMAZING. Ugh, these red streaks of dust behind them are so amazing. And when Finn passes in front of the camera, it gets covered in the dust and blurs part of the lens. Just like the Rathtar goo in the Force Awakens. I wonder if that’s going to be like... the thing of the sequels. One shot that has the camera lens partially covered by something. Also, I just wasted time trying to figure out if there’s an official name for that or not... oh well. The winding stripes left behind as they weave around... just... amazing. YEAH! GO CHEWIE! GO REY! Oh my god I forgot about the porg roaring. “Oh, they HATE that ship!” I’M DEAD. Look at the salt and how it forms the crystals in the trench. I love it. I FORGOT ABOUT THIS SHOT OF THE CAVE FULL OF THE RED SALT. I LOVE THIS SO MUCH. I remember when the trailer had the first shot of the gorilla walkers, and I didn’t notice at first that there were normal AT-ATs next to them, and then I realized these things were twice as big as AT-ATs and I was horrified. See, and now Poe has learned that you can’t always be a hero and is making a good decision. I forgot about Finn’s speeder literally melting as he gets closer. I don’t understand the people who were mad that Rose stopped Finn. I for one was HORRIFIED at just the thought of Finn dying this way and thankful she stopped him. “That’s how we’re gonna win. Not fighting what we hate, saving what we love.” The kiss is pointless but I love the line and sentiment behind it. Oh god. Ok. Here come the emotions. Binary Sunset is playing. I was a wreck. And a little of Han and Leia’s Love Theme as she sees the dice. I remember actually noticing that in the theaters and half-sobbing. Oh god the forehead kiss. Oh and he winks at 3PO as he walks by. My heart. This is the specific shot of the gorilla walkers and the AT-ATs in a line that freaked me out. That shot of Luke standing up against all the First Order walkers and ships. Amazing. That shoulder brush though. Kylo’s so dumb, he literally just watched that lightsaber get destroyed, he HELPED destroy it. He should have known something was up, it couldn’t have been repaired that quickly. Purposeful shot of Luke’s feet not moving the salt. That Matrix back bend though. “I will have killed the last Jedi.” He said the title. Also, is that the only time it’s said? Because they say it a lot in Force Awakens but I don’t think so yet in this movie.. “And I will not be the last Jedi.” Ok so now it’s said again by Luke. Purposeful shot of Kylo’s shoe leaving a footprint as he runs to Luke. I’m pretty sure I probably shrieked when he tried to slice Luke in half.

I just now remembered that I’d actually kind of wondered if he’d be a Force projection or something when he first showed up. Because I’d just watched Return of the Jedi like a week earlier and saw Obi-Wan do it, so I wondered if Luke was doing it too. Especially when Poe said Luke was distracting the First Order. It passed my mind and was confirmed when Kylo couldn’t hit him. And here’s where I started to feel like my world was crumbling...

Oh god. My eyes are wet. It hurts. But when I watched it the first time, I really felt like my world was absolutely falling a part and ending forever while I watched Luke die. With the stupid binary sunset in front of him just like when he was a teenager and when he was a baby. One of the first things he ever saw was the binary sunset. I was like “This is beautiful, but that doesn’t mean I’m not completely in pain and dying.” That shot from above of Kylo with the stormtroopers, mirroring a shot from the prequels of Ani. Nice. So do they still have that connection even if Snoke’s dead?

HEY! Hey. Those dice were still visible to Kylo even after Luke was dead... was Leia Force projecting them to Kylo? It wouldn’t take as much work as doing it to everyone else at once from lightyears away. One person, your son, would be easier. So maybe... maybe Leia’s the one continuing the projection of the dice. I’m gonna stick with that theory thanks.

Awww BB8 asked Rey about his antenna, just like when they first met. Remember when people were like “Are Poe and Rey gonna be a thing?!?!?” and of course I’d much prefer that over Reylo thanks. The books! Somehow, that obvious shot of the books goes over so many people’s heads. So many complaints about the books getting burned, when they literally show us that Rey saved them. I had never noticed the bunks in the Millennium Falcon either until I saw that video earlier, and I’m glad I got to actually see one in use since Rose is sleeping in one.

Oh GOD the entirety of the Resistance can fit on the Millennium Falcon... that is NOT good.

I LOVE the scene of the kids retelling the story of Luke. I must have already gone in depth about this 2 years ago, but I love it. Luke became a legend in the end. He didn’t necessarily want to be one, but he’s become one. It was exactly what was in the opening scroll, he restored the spark of hope. That subtle use of the Force by that little boy. With Binary Sunset playing. And I love that last shot of him holding the broom up like a lightsaber.

I nearly forgot that they put in “In loving memory of our princess, Carrie Fisher” at the end. That’s what got me to finally cry. 40 straight minutes of covering my mouth in anxiety, then feeling like my world was crashing down around me as Luke died. Having it dedicated to Carrie made me just start sobbing so hard. Watch that happen again tomorrow.

I remember when I left the theater, at first I was like “What if the boys is Rey’s brother?!” but then... I realized that a huge point of the movie went over my head for a second there.

The fandom got so caught up in figuring out who Rey’s parents are, whether it’s Obi-Wan or Luke or Leia or even Palpatine, that they were mad when Kylo said they were no one. But like... guys... not every single Force user is related to the Skywalkers or anyone else we already know. There were hundreds of Jedi in the prequels, because anyone can be Force sensitive. Obi-Wan’s parents were nobody, Qui-Gon’s parents were nobody, Mace’s parents were nobody. They didn’t come from long lines of Force users (at least in movie lore), BECAUSE THE JEDI WEREN’T SUPPOSED TO HAVE KIDS. The Skywalkers aren’t even a long line, it’s just 3 generations at this point. So literally none of the Jedi of the past came from powerful Force users (or at least from ones who got the chance to become Jedi) since that literally goes against the code.

Luke found at least 11 other Force sensitive kids to train alongside Ben, their parents were all definitely nobodies since he’s the last Jedi. Ben is an anomaly, Luke and Leia are anomalies, the Jedi don’t have kids! The fandom got so caught up in figuring out who Rey could be related to, that they forgot that for millennia the individual Jedi were not related to anyone.

Anyone can be Force sensitive. Anyone can be a Jedi. Rey is an example of that. That little boy is an example of that. That’s why I love that the little Force sensitive boy was the final shot of the movie. He was meant to reassure and remind us after the Rey parentage reveal that anyone can end up Force sensitive. They don’t need a famous/powerful parent. They can come from anywhere and be anyone. And I love that that’s the final note of this movie.

Some people were not reassured. Some people couldn’t handle the idea that Rey’s powerful just because she’s Rey, not because she’s someone’s daughter. She HAS to be related to someone to be that powerful, right? But every Jedi before her who was just as powerful wasn’t related to anyone, so why does she have to be?

ANYWAY! I was actually worried over the last 2 years that I’d rewatch The Last Jedi and not like it as much as I did in theaters. I still like it a lot. Even the Canto Bight scenes get redeemed by the costumes and the set being so amazing. But I love the message of don’t be a hero, this is bigger than just you. And I love the message that even if you’re “nobody” from “nowhere” you could still be Force Sensitive and you could still be a Jedi. I love Luke’s send off, I love that he does end up reigniting the spark and being a beam of hope again. I love it.

And I’m excited to see the Rise of Skywalker tomorrow.

#hope rewatches star wars #ignore me if you want

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faboover · 5 years

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Making Critical and Analytical Content

2 years ago I started making critical content on my YouTube channel for RWBY. Since then, I’ve wanted to take the time to go over how I started, what I have learned and how I have changed my approach to make these types of videos.

(If you choose to read this, know that it is long and the videos I link to accumulate to around 2 hours)

Let’s start with the why. I’ve been wanting to make a series of videos expressing my thoughts and opinions on various topics for a good while before I actually started. I did have some videos talking about Titanfall (before it released) and how I wanted a change of pace with the games I played. But, these videos weren’t fully what I wanted, and were really not all that good. I wanted to officially start my “Thoughts” series by making a video called, “Why am I Here?” I still want to make that video. Then, I wanted to make a video talking about Destiny, which would’ve ended up as a Rant. I think I still have the footage I recorded to make that video. *Checks saved video files* NOPE, it’s gone now… WAIT! I actually do still have the 3 hour video recording. Anyway, I never actually went through with making those videos. Said I would through an Update video, never did.

Then, RWBY Volume 4 happened, and there was heated discussion. This was when I first noticed the RWDE tag. Reading and watching other’s posts and videos about the show, I decided that I would make my own videos talking about RWBY Vol. 4, but it would be in a much different format compared to how I handled videos like this before. No more rambling about a topic just trying to get through my points while on camera! (I would later break that streak) With a new goal set, RWBY Vol. 4 became the first official topic of my new “Thoughts” video series.

I also went out in search of other opinions by reading and watching other people’s videos and posts once more. This is to see what people are talking about and what it is they are saying. I don’t really trust myself, so by going to see what other’s are saying helped me feel more confident about what I would end up writing. That’s not because I was looking for validation in the things I was going to say. It was so I could find new things to bring up that others weren’t, and find things I could either add onto or explain why I don’t agree in an indirect way. This is why I added the “Other reviewers I watched” at the bottom of the description for my videos. These were people I looked into and felt that they made good points and good videos that I either agreed or disagreed with. I don’t think I’m going to be including that going forward. (I’m still going to watch and get informed. I’m just not going to say who I watched anymore)

I then went to write my video with the intent to have it look like I hadn’t seen or read any outside material about RWBY. No commentary, interviews, tweets, etc. Write it so I had just finished watching the Volume and am giving my critique and analysis as though it is based just on that.

The rest of my initial approach to this was, also, SO NAÏVE. I planned to talk about the Volume and all its parts in ONE VIDEO. Oh, how foolish I was. I seriously thought I could do this in 30 to 40 minutes (The Story video ended up being 40 minutes long). Wrote almost the entire script of the video before I actually timed how long it could take (Story, Animation, Design, and parts of Final Thoughts). I then realized my mistake when the Story section, in testing, was around 30 minutes.

With that, I realized that I ABSOLUTELY had to split this video into parts. I also went straight into recording my Story video (https://youtu.be/GHQpfMdGAE0). And dumb me also had to include a live recorded portion of me talking for another 5 minutes after I had finished recording and was in the middle of editing it. Making the video EVEN longer than before!

The lesson I learned after making that video is to CUT. This doesn’t just apply to making a shorter video. This also applies to making a more concise and stronger video. In order to make good, strong arguments, you got to cut the fat. Not only that, but you also have to rework your ideas/points if you really want to keep and present them. This new approach is what I applied to the next video, which would go on to become the most viewed and well liked video that I have put out to this day. If I hadn’t learned that lesson, my “Animation & Editing” video for RWBY Vol. 4 would’ve become the most hated thing I ever put out. I’m not exaggerating. You think my approach to these videos overall was bad at first? Keep reading.

For my Animation video, I planned to make it in the style of Digibro’s “Your Anime Sucks”. I wrote it like I was live-tweeting about it. WHAT A FUCKING STUPID IDEA!!

Here are my problems:

1. I’m not funny (shocker).

2. I don’t have the respect and clout to make this and not get destroyed for it.

3. It was such a change in tone compared to how I did the Story video.

4. I DON’T KNOW WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT.

I still have the original script that I wrote for that video. Here are some excerpts from that:

“Thank you, Captain Obvious.”

“More like activate the heavy cannon because it doesn’t need anyone operating or loading it.”

“You seriously need to follow the biggest thing you’ve ever seen with a telescope?”

“Jaune stating something really stupid, because it doesn’t matter if you’re not when he is. At least Ren asks a decent question.”

“I’m shocked that this projectile we can see didn’t curve around Tyrian in order to hit Nora.”

“You guys had to throw in pointless movement, didn’t you?”

“That was easy. How are they going to help Qrow and make it to Mistral now?

Oh, what the fuck?!”

Not really well thought out and put together now are they? Not even on topic!

So, I had every action scene of Volume 4 written out like this. It was already clear I had to cut and rework EVERY. SINGLE. THING. What I ended up doing is take the points I felt strongly about and re-adjust them into a new script, which became the “Animation & Editing” video I put out (https://youtu.be/Dxvu8QaV60g). That video now sits at 2,913 views and 106 likes. Just imagine the reception it would’ve got if I hadn’t changed my approach and stuck with my original plan.

The lesson I learned from making that is to keep cutting and don’t write based off of one’s own memory. I still cut things from the video, even after recording and editing it. I learned that I don’t have to talk about everything. I just need to focus on what I know and what I feel the strongest about. I also had to completely rewrite one section of the video and get a new example. That was the part of the video where I talked about the Line of Action. The original example was Blake and Sun clipping the wings of the Sea Dragon Grimm. What I originally wrote was incorrect for how the scene actually went and was shot, and it ended up as a poor example for what I was talking about.

With this new mindset, I continued to rewrite my script and make my last two videos, “The New Look” and “Final Thoughts”. (The New Look: https://youtu.be/PVNObGIzCSI) The new look video went great, but my Final Thoughts video got really long, so I had to cut that into two more parts, “Miscellaneous” and “Final Thoughts”. (Miscellaneous: https://youtu.be/8do0dT86IWY ) Miscellaneous still went ok, but I made two more mistakes with the Final Thoughts video.

In the Final Thoughts video (https://youtu.be/78UeP6BkRxI), I decided to include some of the stuff I cut from the original Animation and Editing video, among others. I also came to realize that I didn’t actually accomplish my goal of writing the scripts for these videos as though I hadn’t seen or read any outside sources or drama. I responded to one of the people who commented, who felt I was being unfair in my judgment, by admitting that Shane Newville’s Open Letter may have had an influence on me. That was an immediate sign of failure and regret on my part. Going forward, I had to do better.

And do better I did.

I continued on by talking about the RWBY Character Shorts, which I split into two parts. One for the Ruby, Weiss, and Yang Shorts (https://youtu.be/rXjujR6p8Rs), and another for the Blake Short (https://youtu.be/x9TvfssSmxI). The Blake short was the big one because it was the most negative video I had created up to that point. The reason for this is due to the fact that I just didn’t like the Blake Character Short.

After that came RWBY Volume 5. I absolutely had to do better this time; especially, because I was going to say Volume 5 is worse than Volume 4. I had to be sure to write and show how Volume 4 did things better than Volume 5. I did this by showing and detailing specific scenes, stories, and moments of action.

Thoughts - RWBY Vol. 5

Story: https://youtu.be/KTptl7o9hVw

Animation & Editing: https://youtu.be/ndjxOBrBvQU

Design: https://youtu.be/FdSTf2iHHXU

Final Thoughts: https://youtu.be/09Rp88xEovo

I think my Volume 5 videos are the best of the series so far. I continued to apply the lessons I learned. I even added little skits to the videos. I did have a really hard time writing the Final Thoughts video for Volume 5. The big one I spent the most time on was the issues with the last 4 episodes of the Volume. Almost every point I wrote had a caveat.

“So, it’s like this”, I would write.

“Wait, this here goes against that and thus makes my argument weak”, I would think soon after.

It wasn’t going well for me due to also having to deal with school at the same time. I got really behind because of things like that. I ended up settling on just getting the basic fundamentals of the episodes and what I wanted to be sure I brought up as a way of talking about the episodes’ issues in general. I think it turned out fine, but I ended up skipping on the stuff with Blake and the White Fang as a result. I really wish I could’ve included talking about the action and editing for two of those scenes.

With that, I have detailed the journey I have taken in making Critical RWBY content. The thing I think matters the most when creating critical content is to make sure that where you are coming from and what you value is made clear or evident by your criticisms and analysis. This gives your audience a basis to judge whether your arguments and point of view are sound and understandable. I did this with my “Design” video for Volume 5 by making it clear right from the get go that I don’t have a lot of knowledge on the subjects I talk about for the video and that what I say is based on that limited knowledge and understanding.

I think that is why I don’t get much or any negative feedback about my videos. I have had people say my videos are a breath of fresh air compared to other “critics” (Their words not mine). Another was just astounded at how little attention I get. Wondering why my video they watched doesn’t get more views. Not a big deal. I’m recent, small, and don’t upload frequently.

The thing with my “Thoughts” videos is that I don’t want to be definitive. I want to be a jumping off point. A place where there can be further discussion, even off my platform. I was worried at first cause I didn’t know how well my videos would be received and how I would handle any form of negative feedback, both minor and major. I think I have handled things well, but that’s probably cause of how little attention I have gotten so far. Either way, I remain motivated to keep making more videos.

Going forward, I want to talk about more than just RWBY. I still have a lot to say in regards to the series. I just have other things I am passionate about that I want to express my thoughts on. I have already made a video on Avengers Infinity War to get started.

Before I end this, I want to list out my main influences when making these videos.

Mother’s Basement (The one I try to emulate the most)

Kaptainkristian (editing and presentation)

Every Frame a Painting (editing, writing and much more. Seriously, read this: https://medium.com/@tonyszhou/postmortem-1b338537fabc)

Chris Stuckmann (how to construct criticism)

Jeremy Jahns (how to focus and be concise)

Mauler (The amount of detail this guy gets into for what he talks about is insane)

Glass Reflection (Just good, plain, honest criticism)

Digibro (Harsh and unapologetic criticism)

Game Maker’s Toolkit (Design)

Extra Credits (Design and intent)

New Frame Plus (Animation techniques)

The Cartoon Cipher (What they do with music and their editing fascinates and amazes me)

Movies with Mikey (Fun and amazingly presented)

Each of these teaches me how to construct my videos, and what to look for when I analyze and critique media. This is also why I seek out other opinions by other reviewers and people who discuss what I plan on talking about. It’s all about getting that extra perspective that can help build, expand and construct my own.

As I continue to make these videos, I will continue to learn and grow.

#Faboover #youtube #blog #critique #analysis #video essay #RWBY #Infinity War #thoughts #video #CRTQ #crticism #writing

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backroombuzz · 5 years

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Scientists Discover Sea Of Fresh Water Under The Ocean, But The Debate On Climate Change Is Over?

For years we've been hearing "Climate Change Is Real... Man Is The Cause... DEBATE OVER!" Now They're saying "Hey Look What We Found!"

Let me say this at the start. I'm not a denier, Climate Change is real and I want to clean up the Earth as much as anyone, but do it responsibly where millions won't die and I'm not riding a horse to work. But when I see islands today that climate change scientist told me 40 years ago would be gone, then, YES, call me a denier because before we sign off on fundamentally changing our way of life. I don't want to pick up a paper and read "Hey look what we found" just miles from where morons are telling us we only have 12-years-left, and if we don't change now... WE'RE DOOMED! While the man-made climate change debate is supposedly over (as if it ever started), they just keep giving people like me ammunition to say 'Wait. What?" Despite, the fact that they claim to be "Experts" not one of their vaunted "We're Doomed" predictions has ever come true: It's been 19-years since climate scientist Dr. David Viner predicted “ Children just aren’t going to know what snow is,” It's been 49-years since Stanford’s academic Paul Ehrlich said in 1970 Between 1980 and 1989, some 4 billion people, including 65 million Americans, would perish in the “Great Die-Off.” The same Paul Ehrlich said in 1971 "By the year 2000 the United Kingdom will be simply a small group of impoverished islands, inhabited by some 70 million hungry people." Oh, and lookie here, just a few weeks ago CNN hilariously used the same Paul Ehrlich As Their Climate Change EXPERT in one of their "Climate Change Doom-n-Gloom Specials" where they spent and an hour telling us a million species will die in the next decade. Just one more from Paul Ehrlich just to prove exactly the type of "Expert" CNN used to prove how Humans suck. Ehrlich stated as fact:“By 1980, all important animal life in the sea will be extinct.” Umm, that'll be a NO! The AOC of climate change scientists. One of my favorite predictions,only because it's more recent and whenever one of their Doom-n-Gloom predications utterly falls flat on its face. Climate Change Scientists always use the excuse: "Our climate models are far better than they were back then because we know so much more, so 'NOW you can absolutely trust us because NOW we 100% know what is going to happen in the next 10, 20, 50 and 100 years.' Except... “More heat waves, no snow in the winter… Climate models… over 20 times more precise than the UN IPCC global models. In no other country do we have more precise calculations of climate consequences? They should form the basis for political planning… Temperatures in the wintertime will rise the most… there will be less cold air coming to Central Europe from the east…In the Alps winters will be 2°C warmer already between 2021 and 2050.” Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg, September 2, 2008. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); A little over a week ago these same scientists announced

Scientists have discovered a sea of fresh water under the ocean

As told in the latest issue of the peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports: Scientists from Columbia University and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (an organization considered to be the leading expert on Climate Change) spent 10 days on a research ship towing electromagnetic sensors from New Jersey to Massachusetts. By measuring the way electromagnetic waves traveled through fresh and saline water, researchers mapped out fresh-water reservoirs for the first time. It turns out the subterranean pools stretch for at least 50 miles off the US Atlantic coast, containing vast stores of low-salinity groundwater, about twice the volume of Lake Ontario. The deposits begin about 600 ft (183 m) below the seafloor and stretch for hundreds of miles. That rivals the size of even the largest terrestrial aquifers. The size and extent of the freshwater deposits suggest they are also being fed by modern-day runoff from land—and may exist elsewhere with similar topography.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); Wait. What? NOW are saying "Look what we found!" After 50 years of climate science running amok telling us they know EVERYTHING about Climate Change and that man is evil, and their Doom-n-Gloom predictions are indisputable. NOW they're saying "Hey, Look what we found!" Since like FOREVER these same scientists have been saying "We are running out of fresh water... And it's all your fault so you better get used to drinking "AOC brand Toilet Water" But they already told us they have all the date and KNOW EXACTLY what will take place to the point where morons such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are proposing a "Green New Deal" bill which will absolutely 100% KILL millions of Americans. I'll assume because the 'Ends Justifies The Means,' and since the climate change, experts have ALL THE DATA everyone is just peachy with those millions of deaths, because, after all, 97% of Climate Change scientist agree billions will die because the "experts" have all the answers. All except missing the biggest freshwater aquifer on the planet! Oops! (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); The Gulf Stream... The Gulf Stream... My Hairs On Fire... Then we have all those scientists who claimed that man-made climate change is changing the gulf stream that runs up the east coast of the United States, causing the world to heat up, which will result in all ocean life dying. Gulf Stream current at its weakest in 1,600 years, studies show Warm current that has historically caused dramatic changes in climate is experiencing an unprecedented slowdown and may be less stable than thought - with potentially severe consequences Now, these same scientists discover a freshwater aquifer that covers hundreds of miles that's sitting right next to the very same gulf stream? I guess they will tell us putting a body of fresh water hundreds of miles long that next to the gulf stream doesn't change a thing in their 100% accurate, you can't deny it, we're doomed, climate change models? I'll give you a scenario so people will have a clearer picture of what a game changer this discovery is. Google Earth has pretty much rendered a nearly complete 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. If Google Earth had been saying: "We know exactly what the Earth looks like. We have exactly this much land available and in 50-years there will be no more land for man to occupy." "We're running out of the land, we must fundamentally change our way of life. We much conserve every inch of open space in order for our children to have a future" But if you happened to say "Oh, but what if in the future we discover more land?" you would be labeled a "land denier," and more than a few would suggest you be jailed for your blasphemy. Google, Twitter, and Facebook would delete your account because your a fake news "Fox News watching, Land Denier." They will scream Google Earth are the EXPERTS, and while they may have claimed in the past that "we will run out of land in 1998," they weren't wrong they just didn't have as complete a picture as they do today. Then they will pull out their soapbox and scream: NOW WE DO! IF WE DON'T CHANGE NOW! BY 2100 THERE WILL NOT BE ANY LAND LEFT. Period. End of story. Then Google Earth happens to announced today: We discovered the long lost continent of Atlantis. It was sitting right there, in plain sight, just floating in the middle of the Atlantic... Who Knew! I think many people would immediately ask "How in the hell do you miss a whole continent? And of course, they will also ask "So what else haven't you discovered, or DON'T KNOW? But today they're proposing to throw my ass in jail because I'm a supposed "Climate Change Denier" for asking "How can you be sure you have all the data?" How about we start by demanding these scientists explain how after the American taxpayer gave them BILLIONS OF DOLLARS in grant money, and they missed the biggest fresh water aquifer on the planet just miles from where they were telling us we're doomed, and millions must die to 'Save The Planet"? (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); Read the full article

#AtlanticOcean #ClimateChange #ClimateDenier #DoomandGloom #GreenNewDeal #GulfStream #SaveThePlanet #Seaoffreshwater

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