#maydia thread

[limayde]

40. Murmur

Yeah Murmur is pretty tastyyyy. Toxic and volatile women who had crushes on each other in high school and never worked out their differences? That's just asking for trouble. And I'm the one knocking.

[limayde]

57. Deltarune Chapter 5

This chapter kicks ass, it actually got me to care about Ralsei for once! He has some serious bite in this chapter and I loved every second of it.

When I first played the chapter I was a little whelmed in terms of story content, it was all stuff we either kinda knew already, or could just assume. Like of course the Dark World has always existed, Ralsei knows the whole prophecy and has lived in the Dark World his whole life, girl why are you surprised by that information?

But now that I've sat on it for a while, I think it makes sense that they did it this way. The stuff with Asgore and the Dark World might seem obvious to people like me who are obsessed with uncovering every detail the game has, but there's a large portion of the audience that needs to be caught up on everything. I still think "the Dark Worlds existed before now" revelation is a little silly, but I suppose Castle Town is different from other Dark Worlds in some way?? I'unno, it'll probably be expanded upon at some point.

I do still wish we got a little more than just what Asgore told us, as we only have two chapters left to not only introduce, but wrap up major plot beats. But I think viewing it from the lens of someone not diving into the game's code makes me feel better about where the story is headed, and gives me confidence that Toby knows what he's doing.

Anyway enough about that, I fucking loved the character development we got in this chapter. I said it before but I was not expecting that Deltarune would get me to care about Ralsei, he really comes into his own in this chapter, and we can see that he's developing wants and needs beyond fulfilling the prophecy. And that can't be painted any clearer than with how goddamn trans Ralsei was being. It makes me so fucking happy that we're getting a story of gender identity (presumably) at the forefront of Deltarune. We even see it with Kris! They show several times in the chapter that they are now more comfortable wearing feminine clothes like skirts and dresses, compared to previous chapters where they never did. It's really cool!

Susie isn't left out of the fun either. She's never struggled with her gender expression in any of the other chapters, showing how comfortable she is, but she clearly wasn't all that willing to explore it until now. She actually tries on bows this chapter because she sees how much fun Kris and Ralsei are having with it. Ultimately she decides she doesn't like it but being comfortable enough to try it at all is just so great.

Ralsei of course is the big winner here, with so many egg moments that made me smile. The little dress they wear in castle town, how happy they look wearing it. Flowery calling them "princess", the blue and pink drink, literally being stuffed in a closet, the symbolism with the hat!!! Like come ON, this bitch a woman!! I cannot wait to see how this gets explored in future chapters.

That's not even to mention Pink! That shit is a mirror for not only the dynamic between Kris and the Soul, but an expression of someone finding a body they love and being accepted as who they want to be by people they care about!!! GRAHHHH

Sorry it's just so nice to see actual gender stuff in media I like

I haven't even touched on the gameplay in any way! They literally turned the game into Super Paper Mario. It's even got the flowers from chapter 5. This shit fucks so hard, I can't believe they added a Smash Bros. mode over halfway through the game. It works really well with all the new characters they added too, with each of them having a specific type of bullet pattern unique to them.

All the flowers are lovely, I'm especially fond of Aqua and Pink (big shocker). Aqua's a little twerp who plays by her own rules and might be a reflection of who Kris was as a kid? I mean she loves knives and mischief. Seems pretty cut and dry to me.

And then of course there's Noelle. The festival was absolutely adorable, with plenty of cute interactions with her and Susie, it's just so sickeningly sweet. But. But then there's the interactions she has with Kris. And how much baggage she has tied to them. They care so much about each other, but whatever happened before the game has driven a wedge between them, and they are both longing to have that back. Their relationship is so fucking angsty and I can't get enough of it. Finding the secret Ferris wheel ride between them made me so happy. I dread whatever is going to happen in chapter 6. It scares me but I can't wait to find out. She better be a party member. That's not even getting into the weird route and how badly I want to see where it's going now that we've completely derailed off-course from the prophecy.

[limayde]

41. Fullmetal Alchemist (2003)

Brotherhood has been my favorite show for like five years at this point. Until recently, I hadn't ever really heard good things about 03 before my friend suggested we watched it. He made a very convincing argument, and I'm glad we did watch it! I don't think I can quite say I liked it more than Brotherhood, but it is not without its merits.

This version is a lot slower to get going. The beginning that's all in-line with the manga is great, and I enjoyed all of it. But then it kinda peters out as it diverges more and more from the manga. But then around the last ten episodes or so it starts to find its footing, and manages to make all the differences worth it, turning these new ideas into a really compelling narrative by the end. It provides the viewer with a more philosophical take on this world and its characters, serving as a unique dichotomy to Brotherhood's other half.

I love how they give characters that were relatively minor in Mangahood more screentime. Lust I think is the biggest winner of this. She isn't all that interesting in Brotherhood, and she didn't need to be, but she's just so cool in 03. I already loved her but I love her even more now. Sheska too also benefits heavily. Her and Winry are such a charming duo and I was shipping them pretty hard lmao.

Dante is my favorite character in this version of the show, I think. Her motives are kinda bland and uninteresting, but the way she views the world and how she operates is so compelling, and it more than makes up for meager motivations. Father is of course, a similar idea. His plot is by far the more interesting and nuanced version of the two, but he is not nearly as interesting of a character as Dante is. Father could probably kill Dante without much issue, but Dante would shred him to bits if they were in a courtroom.

I've heard that the twist at the end is contentious, and I can see why. I think I ultimately find the idea fascinating, but they don't really do anything with it. It's more form than substance.

03 clearly has gotten a bad rap as the years go by, but I think it is absolutely worth watching. They are not meant to bicker with each other, they are two sides of the same coin, both worth appreciating in their own right.

[limayde]

32. Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Season 7)

People talked up this season as the best in the whole series, and like, holy fuck they weren't kidding.

The Bad Batch arc wasn't really my favorite but it was entertaining enough. I've heard mixed things about that series but I'unno maybe I'll give it a shot. And then the arc with Ahsoka and her smuggling buddies was kinda fun too.

But both of those pale in comparison to the Siege of Mandalore. If this season was just this arc, I would not have complained. I cannot stress enough just how incredible the final act of this show is. The action is incredible, the tension is palpable, and Ahsoka truly gets to shine as one of the best characters in all of Star Wars.

When people talk up a piece of media as one of the best things ever, I often come out the other end feeling pretty underwhelmed. But not this time.

I'm honestly still reeling from it. The overwhelming pressure leading up to the second half of episode 11, Maul's crazed rambling as he tries to salvage a situation he knows is already falling apart, Ahsoka being stuck on a ship filled with thousands of soldiers trying to kill her, god it's almost like a horror movie.

I'm gonna need to rewatch this again soon.

[limayde]

19. The Wolf Steals the Sun

Short and sweet! I loooove a good womanizing princess archetype, you can't beat it! Who doesn't love a woman who rejects the advances of any man, and then fucks every lady who lives in her castle?

And then the wolf lady shows up disguised as her brother, and then the princess immediately sees through her disguise because of just how often she's around other women's hands. It's peak, I'm afraid.

[limayde]

14. Iron Lung (2026)

This was a really solid movie. Most horror movies don't get me all that bad, but there is something about this movie that invokes a primal fear within me. It's claustrophobic, isolating, helpless, with an entire universe on the lines. In the game it was something I didn't give much thought to, but on the big screen it's given exactly as much development as it needed. And wow does it shine. Well as much as it can inside an ocean of blood. It deviates away from the main game in a way that I think is really satisfying, and has an ending that suits the new medium well.

While I do think Mark does a pretty good job with the acting, when you don't know the character's name for half of the runtime, you kinda forget to separate the character and the actor. And even after I learned his name, my brain was just like "yup, that's Markiplier". I think it stems from the fact that I've known and watched his stuff for years now. And even if I've fallen off from watching him recently, you can't get rid of the influence he's had on me. Kinda like how I can only ever see Ewan McGregor as no one but Obi-Wan Kenobi lmao

Anyway, good movie. After watching it initially, I was kinda like "yeah, that was great, I never wanna watch it again" because of how deeply it affected me in the moment. But then the next day I was like "oh boy I can't wait to watch this again with my fiancé when it comes to streaming services!" Is this what pregnant women experience after they've given birth?

[limayde]

6. Wake Up Dead Man (2025)

I swear, they never miss with these movies.

This one definitely felt a little different from the others. Not only does the movie open with Father Jud, he stays the main character throughout the whole movie, unlike the previous two films where it is unclear who the main character is until the second act.

I really like the overarching theme of the movie. It doesn't turn a blind eye to the cruel and horrible nature of some Christians, but it also shows that there are genuinely good people within its faith, those who put its teachings before all else to help anyone and everyone in need. Hell, even Blanc discovers something about himself over the course of the film. That's not something the other movies did, and I was very pleasantly surprised by it.

I wasn't raised religiously, but some very important people in my life are Christian, and it was very refreshing to see both the good and the bad parts of the faith on full display.

Compared to the other two films, this one has so many "it was there from the start" moments that you're able to catch on rewatch. After watching it with my fiancé, I saw it again with my mom earlier this week. And yeah, they just let you spot things the first time if you've got a good enough eye for it. It's so cool, I love that they did this.

I still think Knives Out is my personal favorite, but I'd put this one comfortably at #2. I cannot wait for the next installment that takes place during the winter.

[limayde]

26. Love Thy Neighbor

This is some gooooooood shit right here

Problematic age gap ✅ Unhealthy boundaries ✅ Toxic relationship ✅ Adultery ✅ Committing sin against the word of god ✅ Really good smut ✅ Milfs ✅

Like, what more could you possibly ask for?