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gale-gentlepenguin · 2 months

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Gale Reviews: Netflix Avatar: the Last Airbender (Book 1)

(Thanks @knightsweeties for this cute GP)

Now I have AVOIDED looking at spoilers, and opinions of others until After I had made my own conclusions.

A lot of people are mixed on this series. With only one thing being consensus:

The last airbender movie < Netflix Avatar the last Airbender < Avatar the last Airbender

Aside from that, opinions have been all over the places. On how great or how bad the show is.

I will be going over my thoughts on it in the following categories.

The Action (fight scenes)

The Effects (from bending, CGI, and costumes)

The characters

The Plot

The changes

Does it capture the Spirit?

How does it stand on its own?

Conclusions.

(Spoilers below, but let’s get Right into it)

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The Action

So I’m going to say this. The action in this series is great. In my opinion it’s the strongest point in the series.

The battles from invasions, to simple one on one fights are very well done, some aspects even surpassing the original. Like the invasion of the Northern Water Tribe, you really feel the place is under attack.

And the bending battles are pretty gorgeous. It’s impressive to see the fight between Katara and Paku done serviceable well.

Though one flaw is the fact that sometimes showing the fight or attack actually took away from the impact of story beats done in the original. Seeing the attack on the Air Nomads actually took something away from it. Seeing Aang discover that horror is much less impactful.

And seeing Zuko fight in his Agni Kai against his Father also took a lot of bite from the scene. If Zuko never fought back it would have been so much more traumatic.

But they were still good fighting scenes.

Solid 9/10

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The Effects.

The Costumes in this are Gorgeous! Especially Kyoshi warriors. The characters mostly look as if taken straight from the cartoon. The Face stealer himself being ABSOLUTELY HORRIFYING to look at in Live action. He is a sleep paralysis demon.

Appa and Momo both look great. The effects of the cities, and the blending are beautiful.

The bending also looks pretty clean. Though I admit the water bending was a bit lacking but the Fire looked ESPECIALLY fierce.

There is so much detail jam packed in this it’s amazing.

Though, I will say that it’s not flawless, some of the things do come off a touch goofy. But that could be more of uncanny valley with some of the bending.

8/10

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The Characters

And it wouldn’t be Avatar without the Characters in it.

And before we do anything, let me say, ALL of the characters look like the character they are playing. It’s like Netflix genetically modified them to Look like the character.

Dallas James Liu’s Portrayal of Zuko is PERFECT. Matching Season 1 Zuko’s personality to a T.

Zuko actually gets more development and his relationship with Iroh and the Crew are expanded upon more. That Funeral scene with him and Iroh broke my heart.

Maria Zhang’s Suki is also an incredible performance.

DANNY PUDI AS The Mechanist. (They cast Abed!) that was a fun surprise.

But now that we talked about what I loved about the characters… now to get to the negatives.

Aang feels so mopey. Yes Aang has his sad moments. But instead of being a hyper optimist with a penchant for fun, he is more like a depressed kid that has occasional bits of being a kid. I don’t blame the Actor, I just feel it’s more the writing

But if Aang got a downgrade in character, Katara was SHREDDED to practically nothing. The strong yet caring Katara was so… Passive. Even her big moment fighting Paku felt so… lack luster. It pained me to see this girl who was so strong come off so… passive.

Sokka did lose a chunk of character and development, but it wasn’t AS detrimental as one would believe. It’s still cruddy. But there was some stuff added that helped cushion the blow.

Appa and Momo were not as present because expenses (but at least they were fine)

King Bumi is dead. I don’t know WHAT was the plan behind Bumi, but this felt so… twisted and off. This isn’t the Bumi that taught Aang the lesson about how not everything is as it seemed. It hurt me to see such an accurate look be so inaccurate.

Azula and her friends felt like a down grade. I know what they were trying to go for. But I just didn’t feel that EDGE she had. It felt so.. pitiful.

On a positive

Jet and his team were still fun and a bit psychotic.

Ozai actually coming off as more competent.

And Admiral Zhao being incompetent yet super Egotistical was a change I welcome.

The bounty hunter Jun, flirting with Iroh was a change I wasn’t expecting but loved.

The Face Stealer may have looked more terrifying… but his actual action was mid… aside from the nightmares.

The rest of the character acting was a mix.

I gotta put this at… 5/10

When most of the main cast feels so bland it really takes away from the story.

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The Plot

So the season still follows the general plot of Book 1 of ATLA.

Katara and Sokka find the Avatar who got frozen for a long time. They go travel to help Aang find a Waterbending master so he can start learning to bend and save the world.

Now interestingly since it only has 8 episodes it sort of Blends together several plots into one episode. And this causes a lot of changes… and the effects of it are… well… a mixed bag at best and almost completely undefinable at worst.

Episode 4 being especially messy.

Now there are additions and changes from the original because of the constraints of Live Action.

Like not specifying that Aang has been gone 100 years, and actually changing certain story beats to references in order to save on time.

In some cases, it’s understandable. In facts being a one to one retelling would be boring.

The problem is that the story feels more like it’s pushing the characters rather than the characters pushing the story. Aang had agency, but now there is even more forced Agency.

I did like the changes that made the fire nation more competent. (I’ll discuss further in the next section)

But overall, I felt that the story was speed blitzed and super monologue heavy at its worse. It’s nothing incoherently awful. But it’s very lacking.

4/10

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The Changes

There were a Lot of changes done to this in comparison to the original series. So for this. I decided to make a new system.

I will list the change. If you see this Symbol (+) it’s a change I am fine with. If you see (-) it’s a change I didn’t like. And if you see (\) it means I’m indifferent to it.

-Fire Lord Sozin wiped out Air benders in person (/)

- Aang got lost in a storm by accident, not actively running away (-)

- Katara and Sokka lose the feminist development (-)

-No penguin sledding (- -)

-No Haru (-)

-Avatar Kyoshi take over (+)

-Zuko has a journal about the Avatars (+)

- Jet in Omashu (/)

-Teo and his father in Omashu (+)

-Bumi is jaded. (-)

-Secret tunnel early (-) (it’s weird that Sokka and Katara go in there, there is more I don’t like but I will just leave that out for now)

-The Funeral for Iroh’s son. (+++)

-The Agni Kai with Ozai was changed (-)

-The crew of Zuko is revealed to be the division that would have been sacrificed. (+)

-Aang never Water bends (-)

-Azula’s whole character alteration, and earning the blue flames (-)

-Less Serious Roku (-)

-Koh’e whole deal (-)

- Zhao’s death is different. (-)

-Yue having a bigger connection to Sokka (+)

-Fire nation demonstrates far more competence (+)

There are more but most of them I’m more understanding because of Time Constraints.

I will give credit that a lot of the changes I didn’t like but they did try something.

3/10

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Does it capture the Spirit?

This is where I have to say Kind of.

When you see the references, Cameos, and the small details. You can tell there is some love for the original series. The attention to details and the bending choreography is gorgeous and Almost seamless.

It’s where we get to the core of the show that feels different.

For example. The Netflix version of One piece. There are a TON of differences, but the core of the characters felt the same. The spirit of the show was still clear. It was handled with love.

With this series, I can say there is a respect for ATLA, but the core seems to have a different focus.

So I put this at 5/10

As there are some things that you can see have reverence, but other things that don’t.

_________________________________________

Conclusion.

The stark defenders of the show say you shouldn’t compare it to the Original because it will seem worse. While also then comparing how much better it is compare to the live action movie.

Here’s the truth, if you watched ATLA, you are not going to expect this show to be better than the original.

If you didn’t watch the original show, you would probably be entertained, and since this show explains basically everything, you won’t need to know as much as the viewer going in… but there is also a lot going on.

If you were to go in and watch this show with 0 understanding of the show. I’d say 6 maybe 7 out of 10.

But if you are a fan that cares about the show. I have to put it at 5/10

And that’s where I put it.

5/10

It is watchable, but I’m not absolutely smitten with it.

I’m willing to give book 2 a chance… but I’m iffy. On it.

#atla #avatar the last airbender #natla #natla spoilers #avatar the last Airbender live action #atla live action #Gale reviews

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ravennowithtea · 4 months

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Tumblr Top 3 for 2023

Links to original posts:

Three Panel Comic - Breakfast [link]

Happy Longest Night [link]

Gale & Tara [link]

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #gale of waterdeep #gale dekarios #bg3 gale #tara the tressym #year in review #i guess going into the new year its gonna be more wizards & cats ✌️ thanks tumblr :D

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rcbertleckie · 1 month

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I'm no good [at singing] either, but I'm loud. And hell, if you commit with enough enthusiasm, it really don't matter.

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jeeaark · 4 months

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You have no idea how much I really wanted a 'call Orin out on her bullshit' dialogue option

Wishful thinking this comic. I did not know about the initiate-combat-while-talking option until after this campaign, so I have no idea if there are actual consequences to kicking orin's ass mid-trickery or not

Bonus in Regards to Sleepy Gale:

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 spoilers #astarion #....do I tag this as halsin or orin??????#greygold #gale of waterdeep #jaheira #tw:violence #DID I MENTION IT WAS A LONG DAY THAT DAY????#Its okay I let Gale take a break at camp after this ahaha #Look Stelmane's book collection was funny to me because I was having similar questions at that very conveniently same time #needed a quick illithid lore review and Stelmane didn't let me down

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undeadundying · 6 months

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Baldur’s Gate 3 characters as FNAF movie reviews I found

Nobody asked for this. Nobody fucking asked for this. But I made it anyway.

Wyll:

Karlach:

Shadowheart (top)/Karlach (bottom):

Astarion:

Lae’zel:

Minthara:

Gale:

Halsin:

Bonus- Oathbreaker Knight (sounds Scottish I read this in his voice and cackled)

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bookcred · 1 month

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my take on what the bg3 origin characters would be reading for the trans rights readathon!

#books #book #booktok #book review #booklr #books & libraries #books and reading #review #aesthetic #reviews #trans rights readathon #trans books #baldurs gate gale #baldur's gate 3 #baldur's gate iii #baldurs gate astarion #baldurs gate

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an-excellent-choice · 1 month

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obsessed-vampire · 4 months

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I just finished The Hunger Games book. Amazing, spectacular, out of this fucking world. Now time to read catching fire.

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pearl-kite · 11 months

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I was going to also make a ref sheet for Gale for my first art fight, but now that I have that research exception I imagine I'm going to be spending pretty much all of my free time cramming 6 months of capstone into 6 weeks, so

So here, have what I had finished before, because there's currently no reason for me to finish any outfits v_v

#kirehn draws #I love them so much and I neglect them so much #not even technically finished because not enough scars BUT this is as finished as it'll be for the foreseeable future #ain't no way I'm actually drawing those tattoos you get them ONCE and then copy/paste/warped to fit #I have so much to read for this capstone #need four sources for the proposal and then FIFTEEN (15) for the literature review portion #my brain is going to melt #very tempted to print articles out at work to read and annotate in my downtime but I don't think they'll approve of me using the paper #you know it's probably fitting that Gale ended up as my Sidestep because they have the SHITTIEST luck #pk:ocs #pk:gale #fhr #other than tattoo flash designs I'm trying to do for a portfolio this may be the last thing I draw for a while :c

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emdotcom · 1 year

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Really digging some o' the customer-submitted photos offa this kyubey listing.

#gale chatter #pmmm #puella madoka magica #kyubey #the sweater is cuuute btw somebody crocheted it for it #there's several reviews like 'this plush doesn't match listing & is weird but he's cute & just as much a bastard as the real deal 10/10'#also it's >20 bucks #plush #plushblr

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sbbarnes · 6 months

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Hockey Romances. Why?

So I was taken out of work a couple weeks ago due to ~pregnancy stuff~ (mostly just stress, the baby and I are fine) which has left me with a lot of spare time on my hands. And as one does, I have been filling my time reading lgbtq+ romance novels. Because I can.

In this time, I have fallen headfirst into the hockey romance novel subgenre, and I ask myself, as I have done every time I see these books advertised, why? I am not a sports fan. One time, my husband was watching football (European), and a team in red kits was playing against yellow kits, and I started laughing because "it looks like ketchup is playing against mustard". His expression was great, but he hasn't taken me seriously since.

So why is hockey of all things such a draw for the mlm romance subgenre? Especially given the NHL's apparent fear of rainbow tape? Why do I now know what the word "celly" refers to and what an "enforcer" is? Why why why?

Here are my answers:

Extremely organic way to set up some of the most classic romance tropes. Forced proximity? Being on the same team takes care of that. There was only one bed? Shared hotel rooms during away games. Enemies to lovers? Rival teams.

Lots of potential for drama given that players lead very transient lives in terms of the constant possibility of trades. In mlm love stories, even more so given that the NHL is so blatantly homophobic.

Perfect level of fame. Fame and wealth as a draw for a love interest are kind of staples of the genre, and NHL players are famous, sure, but not all of them, and they aren't as famous as football stars (either kind of football). They are still filthy rich, which makes great wish fulfillment. You can have the sexy penthouse and the anonymity.

I would go on to talk about how different roles on the team lend themselves to different tropes (goalie = tightly controlled dude who needs someone to help him cut loose; enforcer = misunderstood fighter with a heart of gold; coach for all your forbidden love/sleeping with the boss desires) but that would very quickly reveal my utter lack of hockey knowledge, so let's not. Instead, here's a quick reclist.

Rachel Reid's Game Changers series. It's a classic in the genre for a reason and it has everything. Forbidden love? Got that, maybe the definitive example. Redemption arc? Got that. Misunderstood bruiser with a heart of gold? Got that. Age difference? Got that. Also really excellent sex scenes, not gonna lie, and satisfying endings throughout - sometimes a happy end will come a little suddenly for me, but these books really delivered, and the nice thing about how romance series are structured is that you get a little peek at what comes after for the couples in the other books.

2. Him, Us and Epic by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy. This one surprised me, I don't generally go for first person POVs, but I did enjoy this! Coming-of-age story turned coming out story featuring a budding hockey star and his best friend. Lots of fun.

3. Scoring Chances series by Avon Gale. This series is fun in that it doesn't focus on the NHL, it actually focuses on the minor leagues in the southeast of the US, a place almost no one associates with ice hockey. As such, there's a chance to tell different stories about professional athletes who aren't super rich and famous, which I appreciate a lot. TBH the first pairing wasn't entirely my cup of tea, but I'm glad I kept going because I especially enjoyed the later books, which tackle tough topics (including eating disorders, abuse etc., so content warning for that). These are still romance novels though, so rest assured that there's a light at the end of the tunnel. What I especially appreciate is that these books don't have relationship drama, in that the main couples communicate and work together instead of a third act break-up-make-up!

4. Hockey Ever After series by Ashlyn Kane and Morgan James. These are just great. Lots of fun to read, lots of cameos from character in later books, just excellent mood all around. Also features my favorite ever trope (secret relationship, sorry, anyone who knows me knows I am a sucker for it I just can't help myself) heavily, which is a win in my book. I especially enjoyed book two, "Scoring Position". Is that because Nico is German and I loved him? Is that because Ryan is my new blorbo? We may never know.

Happy reading and please give me recommendations for more books like these, I'm lowkey obsessed.

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gale-gentlepenguin · 6 months

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Gale Reviews: Miraculous World Paris: Tales of Shadybug and Claw Noir

Spoilers below

-OH S*** NEW THEME SONG AND WHY DOES IT KIND OF SLAP

(The image of Gabriel's life. Damn)

-Gabriel is a good guy and working with his version of the Resistance. DAMN

-NINO! RUN BABY BOY RUN

-Kamiko? so that is the good version of akuma?!

-Ubiquity is the Kamiko's name. Okay neat

-BETTERFLY! THAT GOOD!HAWKMOTH'S NAME. IM DEAD

-And the villains just arrived

-Damn this is going hard.

-Love the Miraculous world intro

-And back to our world

-Okay so this is taking place AFTER destruction, since the miraculous are not rings yet

-Gabriel almost went into his son's room. almost. Adrien processing a long day (likely the fact that he CATACLYSMED SOMEONE) This would make for a good au later

-Could we be getting ADRIEN CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT! -Adrien having legit concerns over his power that actually makes sense? Good to see

-Plagg doing his best to help Adrien cope.

-Alyanette is good as usual

-tikki no!

-Cute little Tom Sabine moment. (LUCKY TOM)

-Alya's in pain (cause of the oh no)

-Seriously this all happened in the span of one night!

-Betterfly arrives,

-Also, seems the Kamiko in this case can impact MULTIPLE version. At least in alya's case

-That costume is dope

-Betterfly not knowing in this world HE'S the asshole

-Also Betterfly's design isnt bad. I accept it. Still weird cause its gabe tho

-THEY KILLED MAX? WAIT IS MAX THE AI. I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS

-OH NO CLAW NOIR AND SHADYBUG SLAY

-Nice to know Alynino is canon in that verse

-Shadyclaw arguements.

-Shadybug hates Adrien in this world

-Clawnoir loves being destructive, a nice contrast to adrien's current dilemma

-Alya covering for marinette like always

-Oh right, her phone is broken

-Smart move

-GASP THE LUCKY CHARMS ARENT ALL WEAPONS!

-Shadybug and Clawnoir should make out (the tension is so thick you can cut it with a knife) they are constantly arguing and its great

-CATACLYSM CAN GET BIG!!! OH F*** THATS SO COOL! (Adrien/Chat noir be holding back by a f*** ton)

-Tikki just sitting on this knowledge. BILLIONS OF UNIVERSE. (welp that is only half the amount of au's and what ifs I made lol)

-Tikki demonstrating what its like being a nigh omnipotent deity. (this is the first time outside of seeing their true forms did I feel this)

-The Supreme? Wait, the logos at the begining. Does that mean? the order of guardians is actually evil? Or is it like an Evil Fu?!

-Wait, so it isnt just an adult thing, if you are evil you can multi-use the miraculous but at a cost. SEE THIS RIGHT HERE WOULD HAVE BEEN A BETTER SYSTEM THAN THE ADULT THING! WTF?!

-So Shadybug and Claw noir ARENT the big bads they are just... lackeys? That is kind of lame, but if they are going to get redeemed it does make sense

-Ladybug out here being funny

-Claw noir got numb-chucks

-SHE SUMMONED A CAR AND KICKED IT AT THEM!

-CHAT NOIR FOR THE SAVE!!!!

-CLAW NOIR JUST TOOK A CATACLYSM...

-(Me with Claw noir right now)

-Chat noir making solid points right now

-Villains really do get all the cool s***

-OH S*** KAMIKO CHAT NOIR

-Damn so akumatization can be like in the blink of an eye. time slows down conveniently.

-Celesticat?!

-OMG ITS AN ANGEL CHAT BLANC (Marinette's ptsd should be kicking in now)

-The puns were great, and by by shadybug

-Claw noir litterally pretended to try and catch her then let her fall. Thats hilarious

-He was going to take her miraculous, that is amazing. They really hate eachother. She broke his finger lol

-Gabriel venting to his dead wife again

-Oh no, he is going to cataclysm the villains

-"As black as my heart?" Dude you are WAY underselling how evil you are

-The Supreme spares? So basically they are forced to do this or they perish. I see

-I love their arguements

-They went back to search the room, Alya really going through it now

-The Supreme, it must be Evil fu.

-Oh this is interesting, Gabriel was evil but turned it around after seeing the consequences of his actions.

-Shadybug found Ladybug's diary. Oh snap, she sees she was friends with Alya!

-Claw noir playing with dolls

-She read the diary and is like "That buffoon? REALLY ALTERNATE ME?!"

-Oh wow, Gabriel that is good is actually a better mentor then su han. (a low bar but still)

-Reminder that Plagg can be that insightful and also just as omnipotent as Tikki

-Adrien figuring it out

-The diary is cheesy for exposition, BUT shadybug's reaction to it is actually sweet. Marinette in any universe wants friends and to care for others. (my headcanon is that this is shadybug summarizing what her alternate self is thinking/writing)

-SHE FOUND OUT ABOUT THE WISH POWERS! OF S***

-shadybug going to double cross her Claw noir

-SHADYBUG GOT HIM!

-and she found out he's adrien.

-Emo!Adrien lol

-PLAGG IS GAGGED! The supreme is really evil

-Alya trying to get sabine's phone

-OHHH, he is wearing make up because of the effects of over using the miraculous! Damn thats a nice touch

-Emo!Adrien recognizes Emo!Mari

-Also Gorilla in white is so weird to me

-WAS EMO!ADRIEN SIMPING FOR EMO GIRL! THIS IS AMAZING

-This IS AMAZING

-Ironic that this is how we get the reveal.

-She can wish to swap places! oh s*** that is a hell of a plot twist!

-Wait something is wrong, that logo... Can they not use the wish?

-"Only The supreme defines reality." DUDE! DUDE!!!!!!!! The supreme is officially the most competent villain in miraculous.

-Marinette realizing she cant be an angsty bitch right now.

-Seems the miraculous is taking their toll on both of them. Damn this is dark and I love it

-Tikki blots on.

-Welp this is probably the best writing I have seen from ML in a while. I legit buy this saddness.

-Even Emo! Adrien is sympathetic and he hardly said anything as adrien

-Plagg Dagger's out

-They are both dying and desperate

-Monarch has shown up and he is up to no good

-And just like that Monarch shows why he is an unrepentant asshole.

-Oh look, Chat noir's nightvision is useful again. (It just took 5 seasons)

-MONARCH MADE THEM GIANTS! HOW DID HE EVEN!?

-I knew they werent akumatized,

-Alya being the MVP today

-Illusions, of course.

-I MISSED LADYNOIR SO F***ING MUCH (devours the ladynoir moment)

-Ladyfly looks really cool

-That is a brilliant plan

-The tactical brilliance

-Ladyfly was planning this

-Chat noir mocking Claw noir's puns is everything i needed in life

-Chat noir lost one of his ears

-AND countered, Nice try monarch. Nice akuma trick

-Took monarch long enough

-"There are no awesome girlfriends to inspire me every day" Rip to Shadybug

-Damn, Shadybug, that is a LOT to unpack there

-No matter the universe Chloé is always a bitch. (Theres the astruc stamp in the writing I expected. But honestly still a valid villain reason)

-This is pretty emotional

-Chat noir is playing Claw noir like a fiddle

-Claw noir is the adrien that never moved on from losing his mother. Yep, Like I have said, adrien has a valid reason to be evil

-A hero feels pain and wants to make sure no one else feels that way, a Villain feels pain and wants to hurt the thing that caused them pain

-"I dont want to be cringe." "Embrace the cringe"

-Adrien out here saving himself.

-Adrien talking about his friends because he DOES know them. THANK YOU. THIS IS WHAT I wanted.

-Shadybug, "I dont want to be cringe." Claw noir "It sounds cringe Im in"

-Shadybug fixed everything AND HER COSTUME CHANGED. I kind of love it

-THE COSTUME CAN BE ALTERED AT WILL.

-Claw noir's new design is officially my favorite. Chat noir iteration

-I think the good versions of shadybug and Claw noir might be my favorite costumes for them

-Okay so they going back now

-Also I just realize that these version actually KNOW the other's identities. yet their canon ones dont

-Monarch discovered the multiverse

-GASP! KAMIKO TIZED LADYBUG!

-My reaction

-Scarabella and Kitty noire universe

-Kitty noire's reaction is so lesbian

-ANIME UNIVERSE (this officially my favorite special)

-Comic book universe

-A Misterbug and Lady noir universe

-Betterfly being the mentor Ladybug and Chat noir really needed

-Omg the day is finally over

-You know one big plot hole is Monarch could have simply deakumatized Ladybug so she couldnt stop him but didnt. Cause he is an idiot

-And cute little alyanette

-LITTLE KISSES. Damn the Alyanette fandom is eating good tonight

______________________________________________________________

I stand by what I said, this is the best Miraculous world special done.

Honestly If I included it in my episode rankings this is easily a top 5 contender.

I now want a sequel in which Shadybug and Claw noir fight the supreme, because the Supreme sounds f***ing epic and evil.

Maybe season 6 plays into it. (That would be one hell of a season)

10/10 in terms of ML specials and episodes

It is a bit cheesy but I loved what I watched

#ml #miraculous ladybug #ml paris spoilers #ml paris #miraculous world #gale reviews

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tolnas-vault · 12 days

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Fic Review: the desperate work of loving

Reviewed: April 17 2024

Fic Data

Rating: G

Status: Complete

Word Count: 3186

Main Ship(s): Gale/Wyll

Side Ship(s): None

Other Side Character(s): None

Summary:

‘Care for some company? Though of course, since you have sequestered yourself here, you probably wish to be alone at present.’

When Wyll turns to face Gale, he notes a slight nervousness in the other man’s expression, in the way he can’t quite hold his gaze, and for a bitter moment Wyll wonders if it’s because of the devil horns atop his head, or perhaps the warped ridges of the planes of his face. Or maybe it’s because his gaze is no longer his own, now that Mizora has claimed both of his eyes. Besides, if he cannot bear to look upon himself in a mirror, how can he begrudge when others feel the same revulsion?

During the tieflings' party, Wyll and Gale take a moment to reflect over the trauma of their pasts, and to find hope for their futures.

Ao3 Stats (As of April 17 2024)

Gale/Wyll on Ao3: 36

Gale works on Ao3: 336

Wyll works on Ao3: 4726

Gale works on Ao3: 8311

Review (Mild Spoilers Only)

Warnings: Wyll post-transformation body dysmorphia.

Favorite Quote:

"Your magic is so different to my own. Mine feels so… destructive. A weapon to be wielded in battle. But yours - it can create, as well as destroy."

Main POV: Wyll

Thoughts:

I too saw Wyll the dancing man himself moping at the party and thought "Oh if only someone could cast disguise-self on him."

This is exactly the sort of chat I've always wanted to see out of Gale and Wyll too. Something philosophical that delves into power, and one's reasoning for pursuing it. They're both so sweet, and wholesome. But both have made dark choices for the sake of "betterment".

Also this is one of the most beautiful descriptions of Wyll coming to terms with his transformation. It really gets to the heart of how he ties it to his own identity.

Who I'd recommend this fic to: Bladeweave fans of course. But also Wyll fans who particularly relate to his struggle with body image and identity.

#baldur's gate 3 #gale dekarios #wyll ravengard #bg3 gale #bg3 wyll #bladeweave #bg3 fic recs #fic rec #rare pair #rare pairs fanfic #tolnas vault #tolna reviews

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los-gatitos-luciran-muy-lindos · 6 months

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ೃ⁀➷ * Character Song Association * ੈ *Character : Gale of Waterdeep* /♡˳ Baldur's Gate 3 ♡˳/

⋅ʚVampire Empireɞ⋅⋅ʚ

༘⋆ɞ⋅ ⋆.·:¨༺

#spotify #song of the day #music #favorite songs #song review #song association #new music #song recs #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #gale bg3 #bg3 #baldurs gate #baldurs gate 3 #baldur's gate 3 #baldur's gate

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vinthetiefling · 6 months

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Baldur’s Gate 3 was worth the wait.

I’ve spent over a decade searching for the next game to inspire what I felt playing Dragon Age Origins. That’s not to say I’m not enamoured with the creative beauty of Legend of Zelda, the epic storytelling of the Witcher, or the existential freedom afforded to you in Disco Elysium. For me, the greatest source of that feeling is the ability to fail and to have those failures fleshed out and made real. To witness those failures having a meaningful impact on your story and where it’s headed. There are countless forks in the road, which might explain why I retained so many save states despite routinely culling them.

Sure, high rolling is nice. High rolling kept some of my favourite characters from turning on me or becoming consumed with power. I even built a sorcerer with high persuasion in anticipation for what lay ahead. But the hidden intricacies—the people you notice or fail to notice in a flooding room, the choice to give into a whispering dark urge, the fate of a prince with no bearing to your backstory—are where we cut our own paths, and where we unwittingly stumble into failure.

Whether you want to come into the game with a preset alignment, decide on a case-by-case basis, or even throw it all out the window and veer from good to evil—that’s on you as the captain of this ship! And make no mistake, you are the captain. Even when the characters have their own bonds, belief systems and priorities outside of your mad dash to remove the tadpoles.

The writing was ingenious. There were characters I never saw myself caring for who demonstrated vulnerability and complexity, making me wade into hell to save them. Other characters I’d pegged under a certain alignment or archetype. They later proved themselves capable of doing a 180 and becoming a problem later. There were those who showed an incomparable ability to adapt and those who held strong to their beliefs. I also loved the touch of recruiting potential enemies into your party where they would prove to be invaluable assets to the team.

That’s not even touching on the choices you’ll be able to make in Acts 1, 2, and 3. Tdlr; It would be one hell of a task to make two runs resemble each other.

Here’s the lowdown on my run:

Character:

Vin the tiefling was a divine soul sorcerer conjured in pencil on the back of my rogue’s player sheet back in 2017. He was a backup in the event that I died. Eventually, I brought him out and his stats made him the face of the party, which was unfortunate for me as a naturally uncharismatic person. His shenanigans later saw him captured, petrified, amputated, crushed beneath the falling tower of a lich and transformed into a weapon of Bhaal. My favourite trait of his was his refusal to die. My sparkly glitter dice kept him going, and in the spirit of that, Vin was reborn in BG3 as the son of Bhaal.

Origin:

The dark urge didn’t pull any punches. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt so uncomfortable playing a character in a game—one who embarks upon his journey by smiling over the bodies of a nautiloid wreckage. So began my fight for control over Vin. There were moments when the game took my autonomy away, which added to my helplessness as I witnessed him kick a squirrel and commence the torturing of a captive under interrogation. I had no idea which scenes the urge was going to leap out in, and that made for a wild time. My best bet was to simply avoid situations where the urge might pull my strings. But that was hard to do when Faerûn was set on falling apart. I was a puppet, and Bhaal was my master. I was so rattled by what Vin did to Alfira, I did nothing but play with Scratch after. It was real, the discord struck between my trauma and head-in-the-sand coping.

Combat:

Wizards might have the ability to consume scrolls over sorcerers, but with Vin’s persuasion, intimidation, deception and performance checks, he was more than happy to leave the thinking to the experts. I built him as best I could to his configuration in the home game. While divine sorcerer didn’t exist as a subclass in BG3, my next pick for him was draconic bloodline, which provided a healthy boost to my AC. In a great stroke of luck, Vin’s detect telepathic and telekinetic feats were largely mirrored in the illithid powers provided by the consumption of tadpoles. My main spells were a combination of fire bolt, shocking grasp, burning hands, fly, haste, fireball, telekinesis, and chain lightning. I hoarded explodable barrels and bottles of flammable grease, and the invisibility afforded to me through Alfira’s sacrifice helped me wipe the board clean. Godspeed, Alfira. You saved many lives by helping me kill efficiently.

Story:

Act 1—We saved the tieflings and druids by destroying Minthara and the goblins. Her armour was great on Wyll for a time. Gale and Vin seemed into each other, until the weave scene happened and I decided to keep it friendly. My closest bond was with Shadowheart, who showed an intelligent and practical approach to whatever Faerûn threw down at us. We helped the myconids and befriended Omeluum. Then, we saved the Grymforge gnomes by eldritch blasting the duergar into lava and honking Nere’s nose with a shocking grasp. It’s a shame he was so terrible and evil. I thought we had a connection.

Act 2—Imagine my surprise when Jaheira joined my party after hunting Vin like an animal in the shadowfell. The urge wanted me to take out Isobel and revel in the horrific fall of the Last Light Inn, and I told it to shut up. We saved as many prisoners as we could in Moonrise, masquerading as an evildoer in front of Z’rell who was super into it. Then we cleared the Gauntlet of Shar, where Shadowheart spared Dame Aylin and became a Selûnite. I’ve never seen a more bloodthirsty Aasimar. Balthazar went down in like two hits. We sweet-talked Mizora into an infernal rapier, apparently missed Zevlor in the illithid pods, and destroyed Ketheric. Vin slow danced with Wyll. Oh. And Halsin glitched out of my party after we saved Thaniel, so I painstakingly went back to the beginning of Moonrise to save him. His name is now a curse in my house.

Act 3—Vin slept with anything horned, tentacled and from the Underdark, along with his beloved fiancé. We defeated Cazador and set the spawn free, got the Orphic Hammer for Lae’zel, rescued Wyll’s father and the Gondians from the Iron Throne, reunited Gale and Mystra, cleansed the house of grief with fireballs and said goodbye to Shadowheart’s parents, usurped Gortash by letting Karlach get in the final hit, saved Matthew Mercer and his lovable space hamster, and put Ansur back down in the dirt. After pulling on Bhaal’s chains for so long, Vin became an unholy assassin then turned and rejected Bhaal himself.

When I crafted the guardian form that the Emperor took on, it was made to resemble Vin’s younger sister in our home game. What occurred lore-wise was a projection of the sister he never had because his real blood-kin was Orin. And what a villain Orin was! What an actor. Tormenting us as a fortune teller, a newspaper interviewer, taking on Lae’zel’s form in a way that almost convinced me if not for the corner she’d turned as a character! In the end, she was no match for my scrolls of hold monster. I might not be a wizard, but I’ve swindled enough gold to buy a mansion and I’m hotter than Elle Woods. That’s the sorcerer class, baby.

Romance:

Wyll fell into place for Vin, and the more thought I gave it, the more sense it made. He was the guiding light for our dark urge rehabilitator. Vin was written to be chaotic good in his mind but chaotic neutral in practice. In truth, his sense of justice is shallow. Sure, he steps in front of oppressors and a specific trigger for him is slavery, being a slave to his dread lord father and all. But he thwarts evil simply because he *can.* What’s funnier than subjugating the weak? Overthrowing those with all the power and stealing their crown. Luckily for the everyday person of Faerûn, Vin is a merciful ruler. I’m not quite sure if Wyll could see what I saw. To him, Vin was a shaker and mover, a trailblazer in a world of horror and cruelty. To me, Vin was a self-indulgent manipulator given a new set of keys. Can he fix me? He can try, one slow dance at a time.

Endings:

After staring at this decision for a good ten minutes, I trusted the Emperor by letting him kill Orpheus and destroyed the Netherbrain at the end of the final battle.

Lae’zel was convinced to stay after I let the comet prince be assimilated. This felt like the more evil outcome of the split in the road, to be honest. I doomed the Gith’yanki so I could live without tentacles. In accepting it, Lae’zel renounced her obligation to the Gith regarding Orpheus or Vlaakith. I stole her hope for change and left her with an ordinary, mercenary life. She seemed happy. But Lae’zel, I’m sorry. You deserved more.

Gale reforged the crown for Mystra and washed his hands clean of its power. I was happy with this outcome for him, but it also reminded me of why Gale and Vin fell flat as a romance. Gale was still utterly consumed by Mystra, and staring at her face before our little date sealed the deal for me. He would always be second to the goddess of the weave.

Shadowheart, Jaheira and Minsc have a fresh start to look forward to. I suppose the latter two will find new work around the city. I especially enjoyed having a harper in the mix after watching D&D Honor Among Thieves. And as for Shadowheart, her parents are gone, but she’s broken from Shar’s clutches and the world is hers. I see her becoming entrenched in her new Selûnite status and rising peerless among their ranks.

I legitimately thought we’d killed Astarion before he ran from the sun. As he never ascended, the tadpole was the only thing protecting him. It was hinted in our discussions that he would go to the Underdark to offer guidance to the spawn once the battle was over. If that isn’t an enormous change from the cutthroat we first met, I don’t know what is. He showed the greatest capacity for change and self-reflection, and for that, he went from one of my least liked to most beloved characters.

At the behest of his father, Wyll became Duke Ravengard. But it was a fairytale ending and a ball and a wedding that came at the cost of someone else. Who better to rebuild Baldur’s Gate when his warlock powers have vanished? With Gortash gone and the power vacuum ripped wide open, who else could wield such empathy and an unwavering sense of justice? While it was a form of drudgery compared to being the Blade of Avernus, Wyll seemed a perfect fit. Without knowing what was at the end of the string, I took it.

I’ve been building up to the hollyphant in the room.

Karlach died, and it felt not only devastating and real, but very dear to me as a person with something malfunctioning in their body. Her happiness for Vin saving himself hit like a dagger in the chest, because there’s hope for him, and none for her. She’s so happy for you while she’s dying. How do you make peace with that? You can’t. In her final moments, I saw how much Vin loved her—the real sister he never had—and that look on his face as she exploded will haunt me forever. I wished we could’ve saved her and given her a life in the city she loves. In hindsight, I know about Wyll and Avernus. I plan on making a run where Vin, Wyll and Karlach venture through hell together as the ultimate poly triad.

To wind down from the hype, there were battles that ruined my day. My heart was beating, my grip on the controller was strong, and the screams and laughter came from a primal place. My partner knew not to come into the room in the middle of Cazador because I was going to punch a hole in the screen. I’ve never been challenged quite like this, with special mentions to the Iron Throne and a final battle in which I did everything possible to avoid bringing out my beloved owlbear. My appreciation for clerics is at an all-time high, and I’d gladly put up with Lae’zel any day for what she brought to table.

It’s all a part of being alive, isn’t it? Life happens, and in that mess of sacrifice, temptation and broken promises, we find ourselves.

#baldur’s gate 3 #bg3 #bg3 spoilers #spoilers #review #a full and comprehensive rundown on the playthrough as best as I could summarise it #lae’zel #shadowheart #gale of waterdeep #astarion #wyll ravengard #karlach #jaheira #halsin #vin the tiefling #the dark urge #a tale of two moralities

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