Let's Talk About My Hyperfixations

If your 13 or older and still sleep with a stuffed animal please rb this im tryna prove a point to my friend.

Did some crossover from games on DeviantArt long ago (give me a headache though)

Tell me your favorite Digimon!!

Mine is Bearmon! Also, Tailmon/B/M and Lopmon!

I'll be queuing up cards of your faves, so feel free to share more!

One more time for all the new followers!!

I'll share cards of your faves under the tag #fan favorites

Last year I finally got around to watching Kamen Rider Ryuki (after meaning to watch it for like over the past ten years…), and randomly came across how it premiered about a month before Digimon Tamers ended (Tamers having premiered the year previous).

I remember thinking Ryuki’s card mechanic was similar to Tamers—you swipe/input a card, an it creates an attack/weapon—but then I started thinking about it more. (The card element is also probably older than both.) Tamers has an element about how Digimon need to fight, and that a defeated Digimon has its data uploaded/eaten by the winner. Ryuki, meanwhile, also has a point about how monsters eat other monsters for strength. And if the monster isn’t fed enough, it’ll go and eat the Rider. Much like how Takato at first freaks out when meeting Guilmon because he thinks the latter will eat him.

Chiaki Konaka’s notes for Tamers also mention how early on the plot wasn’t meant to be a team story. Instead the kids just fought monsters with their Digimon, and sometimes each other. I remember reading that Ryuki was fairly revolutionary at the time, because of how there were multiple Riders fighting each other (and it’s likely responsible for popularizing the plot point of “different people fight for a single reward/wish”).

There’s also a common plot about a monster being brought to life by a drawing, though Konaka is an Ultraman fan and probably got that from Gavadon in the original Ultraman series.

I haven’t seen anything mentioning if any influence occurred, but it’s fun seeing how one work of fiction you like may be inspired by something else.

So.... I bolted to the finish line of Dream Drop as I had nothing else to do today.

I am still collecting many thoughts, sentiments, attempts at analysis, etc, as I always do, but this game just had a lot to offer so I'm still weeding through the freshly tilled flowerbed that is my brain at the moment. Holy mother of run-on sentences (you're gonna see a lot of those).

First off, I wanna thank this game for doing so much for Sora and Riku's characters. The inverse development they had through the course of the plot was really interesting to follow, actually, and none of it's out of nowhere!

Since KH1, Sora's had the repression subplot and embracing the strength of others as his own. Here, he tried to do the same, but with everything that's happened to him since, all of which he doesn't even necessarily remember, and all of the emotions and memories he's been touched with and made more and more aware of- he's on shaky ground and the same ol' methods don't fit like they used to! Understandable! And Xehanort/13 Darkness gang just feeds into that. He expands on Sora's questioning of his identity, suggests the lack of validity of his emotions. Everything that could be used to describe Sora in a positive light in wake of what's happened to him, he finds a negative spin on it to really dig at Sora's core:

'You're confused about the direction your life has taken? Hm, wonder how much of you is even real. Your emotions? Memories? Could be fabrications. Or someone else's. Who knows...'

'Your heart is a refuge for lost souls, hoping to find a new future? Nah, screw that. Your heart's a prison. Your very existence binds people, Sora. And of course, you just love holding people back.'

'Aw, you follow where your heart leads? Cute. People's feelings have never led them astray before, huh? Why don't you just keep being a precious little idiot though, it works great for us.'

Xigbar particularly, was brutal as always. Loved the scenes with him and Sora in The World that Never Was. So well crafted. He towers over him, gets all up in Sora's business and you can see how uncomfortable Sora is. He pokes directly at Sora's two biggest insecurities:

He goes on his whole spiel where he specifically highlights how Sora's pretty much leftovers. He acts like he's a good for nothing- "As if the Keyblade would choose a wimp like you." And childish for simply feeling the pain of others: "Oh... thank you, Sora's heart, for pushing him right into our clutches. Aren't hearts great? Steer us wrong every time." (Love that line) And Sora figures out that Nobodies have the capability of essentially learning to gain their own heart (CALLED IT, YES- BUT ALSO 😭 you poor guys. I think every party that could have benefitted either didn't care or didn't figure it out.), only to be further disparaged by Xemnas essentially being like 'Yeah, and then they got manipulated anyway, hah. Just like you.' Just two grown ass men bullying and gaslighting a teenage boy to heighten his insecurities. Because "possession" just seems to be a symbol for one losing themselves.

Xehanort as a character just gives those vibes of an individual who takes, takes, and breaks someone down until they don't feel like themselves anymore, becoming an extension of their manipulator. He preys upon vulnerability and lack of self assurance and it's so good, hah. So, that's the reading I find most appropriate for his thematic relevance, in relation to KH's continuous crisis of what makes up an identity. I mean, just look at how Xehanort describes the others they were considering as a dark vessel- Riku's "immune to the darkness," in other words, immune to obfuscation/has more solid connections. Roxas was considered as too driven, assured in his place in Sora's heart when he forged his own trial-by-fire path. Both people that came to peace with themselves and what they wanted through hardship, one way or another. Now, I'm not saying Sora hasn't felt hardship, but when your theme is "repression," he's up against amnesia, feelings of others encroaching on his own, and a lack of self evaluation. He has more of himself in others, at the moment, and that's leaving him vulnerable.

So, you can only imagine how Sora feels at the game's conclusion, denied a rank of Keyblade Master, those words lingering in his mind as one of the most recent things he's heard, near death(?) experience, and Sora had been filled in I'm sure on how Riku was endangering himself for Sora's sake. I'm sure he feels super great about all that.

(His "What do you want me to see?!" line after Roxas disappeared... haha... I'm well.)

Meanwhile, Riku. His whole arc was the polar opposite! By the end of this game, he was the most self assured than we've seen him the whole series! 🎉 Hooray! At least someone gets to be happy! :'D

But for real, *wow.* Personal quip, I doubt I need to go heavily into the queer connotations of Riku's journey to easier vulnerability and self acceptance, especially in this game, because I'm sure anyone who takes time to read this can probably see it, but wow. The way he learned to change his reflexes and actions throughout the course of the story in a number of small, meaningful ways was so sweet. It was cheesy, sure, but him openly laughing with the other teens in Traverse Town. Him admitting to the nature of his insecurities to help another, and then getting comforted by Esmeralda in return, who assured him it was understandable to have walls around his heart/keep parts of himself separate from the world when he was still unsure and figuring out his feelings (lines that drive me crazy, 2023). Him rolling his eyes at the "All for one and one for all," motto before reflecting on Sora's openness and inclusion, and deciding to give it a try, himself. So many little things where he learned to laugh and reminisce freely and it reminded me of the snippet of how he was when he was younger in BBS, which, speaking of- all those steps towards healthiness made it so that throughout the entire game, unlike CoM, where he fought in darkness with self hate, and Days, where he lost himself completely, he never battled with notable levels of internal darkness to try to win anything. He found his strength to protect the things that matter, like he always wanted, by being himself, unapologetically.

...I wish I played this game in middle school or something. Alas.

(Also Riku Dream Eater theory was a go, boys! Also like how there was no explanation other than *X. Heartless voice* "Yes adopted son of darkness, you were down so bad you changed species to protect Sora from bad dreams as soon as you subconsciously felt suspicious vibes." And that's all we're gonna fucking get, so deal with it *mic drop*. 😂 Was pleasantly surprised Sora's clothes were also plot relevant, and I feel better about disliking them now. They branded him, eugh.)

Speaking of being yourself, but perhaps being too many of yourselves, in this case, here's my obligatory "cries at the endgame" sentiments. This one was less hype than the others, but punched me directly in the heart instead. Oh. My. GOD? That whole sequence of Riku diving into Sora's heart (with all of his memories floating past? Lord I'd be so embarrassed if I was ever in such a situation- it's so personal, y'know?), entering its innermost reaches, answering the questions... holy guacamole guys I think I left a part of me on those sunset beaches, there. That whole scene was a KH1 reference with the questions (I answered in terms of how I best thought Riku would answer), Riku and Xion's sitting placements on the Paopu tree (also Riku saw Xion as Sora *fist pumps in sad success*), and I'm almost *certain,* especially since it was right before "What are you most afraid of" that my theory of Riku overhearing the Sora&Kairi dock convo in the first game was valid. I mean, just look at the dude's face after staring out at the sunset. M'boy Riku looked downright melancholy and I trust KH microexpressions with my life. (And speaking of microexpressions, Sora's smile looked suspiciously forced when congratulating Riku on becoming a Master, poor fella. He was trying so hard to be a good sport about everything with that messy situation.)

Dream Drop Distance did so much with how we're finally having all of the separate plot points converge and it was so surprisingly satisfying. Sora seems to be picking up more about Naminé, he's aware of Xion and is trying to figure out who she is. Roxas seems to be losing himself or doubting who he is outside Sora and aaaahh?? No?! My beautiful boy, don't do this, we'll get you out! I miss Axel, but we've got Lea, who keeps getting deadnamed (he got chosen as a Wielder by the universe for his troubles). I want to see more of Ienzo, he endears me, especially when he's told "shut up nerd" by Lea. Foreshadowing about Ventus (when he smiled upon feeling Sora's happiness with the Dream Eaters post-credits, something got me in my core about imagining Ventus experiencing all of Sora's joys and hurts while he grew up. I wonder if he'll feel any affection for Sora's friends as if they were his own, as well.). We finally got Ansem's data he implanted within Sora. Kairi is being brought back into the plot since KH2!! HYPE! *On my hands and knees*

Anyway this game was good. I probably have more to say because there was just so much but yeah.

Edit: Almost forgot the thing I groaned at my TV for earlier! ^_^

*ahem*

They composed a Heartsong and each of their hearts play a piece of a Duet version of Dearly Beloved, which is the Title Theme for the Entire Franchise, and Definitely Doesn't have any romantic connotations as a phrase or anything. Also they Definitely do not have a Two-Part-One-Whole Keyblade that isn't (so far, I'll catch up) explained, and is a phenomena not previously noted throughout the games, that has a Paopu Fruit hanging off the end.

Man, all this stuff tuckers an epic gamer out. Think I'll go replay Hades, Stardew Valley, Undertale/Deltarune as a break. 😂

masks and helmets that hides someone's face in such a way that they become the face themselves my beloved

these are all creatures to me

Angel of War, angular and strange, gleaming silver and gold, Angel of Wonder, pure and one-eyed, looking to stars new and old, Angel of Harvest, simple and hidden, bring nature's sweetness to all, Angel of Health, mysterious and fine, beacon when life starts to fall, Angel of the Deep, crooked and cage-like, guide us across the sea, Angel of Solace, protect us from evil, lead us to where we are free.

Growing up with your starters

Artist:  esasi8794 / Twitter

The captions are also really cute, although they mostly describe what’s in each photo:

Bulbasaur: Somehow, nomming on my clothes… has become a weird habit of theirs.

Venusaur: That hasn’t changed now that they’ve grown, but they’re very gentle.

Charmander: It’s my first attempt, but I made a plushie so that he wouldn’t get lonely.

Charizard: That plushie seems to be his favorite even now.

Squirtle: Squirtle’s a bit timid and hides behind me at the smallest things.

Blastoise: Looks like they’re scared of the first Pichu they’ve seen. You’re not really hiding!

@noelle217

This is adorable

They just posted some more!

[source]

And some more!

You forgot these!!!

I’m disappointed that these were left out

SO MANY GOOD ONES AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

If I ever don’t reblog this, kill me

Pokemon Heritage Post

sesame street tarot

@cryptotheism

I love this dude. This is a masterful demonstration of cartomancy, even from an anti-theist standpoint. This person is able to understand and apply esoteric meanings to the sesame street cards on the fly, and assemble their oddball symbology into a coherent method of magic that produces reasonable advice.

Rewamp of my old Michael in Wonderland AU, I haven’t touched it in months so I’m glad I finally decided to design the main characters (I only had few) :D

It’s mix of Mcgee’s Alice, animated movie and the book 

trying to recreate a space alien character I saw in my dream last night.

They were invading earth with a massive fleet but ended up just chilling halfway through to play video games and build like weird theme park resorts or something. Idk it was a weird dream.

This was literally the plot of the dream

The answer to “could [video game character A] beat [video game character B] in a fight?” is obviously that it depends on which one of them is the player character, but that doesn’t mean the question is without interest – like, you still have to figure out how that would work. And it’s not always symmetrical; I can pretty easily picture what Solid Snake would look like as a Super Mario boss fight, but Mario as a Metal Gear Solid boss fight? That’s where it gets interesting.

Mario is defined by his jump. It’s been the most important tool of his from the beginning in Mario Bros and, combined with the stomp, has been the core of his competency forever. Solid Snake (and every other playable MGS character) have a pretty weak command of verticality, so Mario would have a distinct movement advantage. That’s suggestive of a particular MGS boss style of enemies that like to hide, strike from ambush, and then retreat. If we take this and add in Mario’s command of unarmed combat (which mirror’s Snake’s own), then we have an excellent prototype for a theoretical Mario fight: The battle against The Boss at the end of Metal Gear Solid 3.

So, the boss arena should have plenty of verticality for Mario to take advantage of, and also a largely red color scheme for Mario’s outfit to be well-camouflaged in. A red brick pump station, full of machinery and piping, would be appropriately thematic for our plumber friend. Pepper it with some power-up blocks (maybe cardboard boxes with big question mark blocks stenciled on the side?).

The combat loop looks like this: Mario attempts to get into a good position to pounce on and brutalize Snake from above, occasionally grabbing weapons (‘fire flower’ grenades, hammers, mushrooms for healing, or a Big Goddamn Sledgehammer) from the boxes in order to skirmish from range and add variety to the fight. Snake, of course, has the option to shoot the boxes in order to make them spill their weapons and therefore lead Mario into an ambush. Also the ambushes and unarmed attacks are also an opportunity to do damage as well.

Obviously, this should be the big memorable third act fight, not necessarily the final boss but the fight everyone remembers. So we need a nice big juicy theme for the emotional side of the fight. I suggest that whereas Snake (since MGS1) has abandoned the idea of serving a state, Mario is the ever-faithful servant of Princess Toadstool and the Kingdom, a autocratic state that doesn’t deserve his loyalty.

what charaxter archetypes do you keep writing into your characters that surely say nothing about your mental state. i keep making little guys who have trouble viewing themselves as a full person and instead just fixate on the role they expect others to expect them to play.

Characters with a complicated relationship to how they perceive who they were in the past and Characters who have a deep seated fear of being useless or even actively harmful to their loved ones.

who up mad ratting theur monday

Art credit: ap1os@ap1os Twitter.

Read some actual comics, Kyle.

Superman is an incredibly kind and tender character. (If he’s not being written that way, then he’s not being written well.) He inspires hope not just through his heroics, but also through his kindness toward other people. That’s his thing. Don’t you DARE call tenderness a “weakness.” Get your toxic masculinity the hell away from me and go read a badly written Batman comic if you want a “tough” male character.

Why on EARTH would someone think Superman being tough and Superman being kind are contradictory?

Is that a Snyder fan telling someone that “you’re wrecking the character, create something new instead of making an interpretation that’s so off-base”?

Because Snyder is the guy who wanted the Greek Gods to all be Kryptonians and the Amazons to be descended from them.

Where's that comic where Superman comforts Billy?

I saw that tweet by Gunn and thought “So, like regular Superman?”

Kyle sounds like Lex Luthor who believed that Superman doesn’t have a Civilian identity because such a godlike being would see it as beneath him. Also here you go @simon-newman​

These few pages legit make me cry

That's not just for acting, that's life advice. Seriously deep wisdom right there.

Only the strong can be gentle, because the weak don’t have the option of causing harm. Gentleness is the virtue that Superman can best exemplify, by being so strong that the only thing stopping him is himself.

I am so glad that someone who actually likes Superman is writing Superman now

What's your best Star Trek episode mine is In The Pale Moonlight from Deep Space Nine

I haven't watched much trek at all, just the occasional episode with family. But I personally love The Measure of a Man from TNG

the japanese “-ne?” particle and the british slang term “innit” serve the same function

Standard English: It’s cold, isn’t it?

Japanese: Samui desu ne?

British: It’s fuckin’ freezin’, innit?

i have to do everything around here

i hate this cause i did japanese for like a year and this explains the use of the -ne particle WAYYYY better than my teachers ever did. it took me ages to comprehend what this post makes abundantly clear.

my teachers: its like a, a little rise at the end of a sentence, to show that you are seeking a response, while not warranting the -ka particle which would make it a proper question.

me: ok. i guess i get that??

this post: its like saying “innit?” 

me: oh. oh no.

fun fact: afaik, “-ne” was inherited from the Portuguese settlers/priests that stayed in Japan in the 16th century. It comes from “né?”, which the contraction of “não é?”, “isn’t it?”.

It’s LITERALLY “innit”.

oh so like “eh” in canadian

*un-Babels your Tower*

yup, never had a problem understanding that particle. It’s the same way we use “eh”

American English does the thing with [statement], yes?/yeah?

Fun fact, in Piemontese we do say “né?” with this same acception (which is like asking “non credi?/vero?/non è vero?” which I read in another reblog was similarly used in Portuguese too). Using the same examples from above: al fa frecc, né?

theres too many pokemon games where you play as a kid whos full of life and full of potential. there needs to be a pokemon game where you play as a college dropout who lives in a shitty apartment

your starter pokemon are trubbish, rattata and glameow. which symbolise the trash you keep forgetting to take out, the rats living in your walls and the stray cat you keep trying to befriend but it keeps hissing at you.

you guys dont get it its not supposed to be dark and edgy its supposed to be living in a mundane setting and slowly rediscovering the wonder in the world by going on a journey with a magical trash bag that is your friend, its about love and recovery and coping with the stress of your adult life with your friend who is made of sentient garbage

I’ve never been so attached to literal trash before

I am similarly attached to the sentient trash. Can't wait to take him on little adventures