#reviewbarking

[mildbarking]

Updated Carrd (As of July 2025)

Just a pinned screenshot of some of the stuff you’ll see on this page

My old pinned was over 3 years old so I felt it’d be nice to update it a little. Nothing major but just adding or removing items.

[mildbarking]

The Bride Test Thoughts

Anyway I have a lot to say that doesn’t fit in the twitter limit so I’ll write down my thoughts over here and just paste the link.

Be warned for spoilers obv as I kinda ramble my thoughts but tldr besides a few moments I really enjoyed this book.

You know Part of me was thinking maybe they were milking tf outta the autism thing at times but after learning the author actually is a woman diagnosed later in her 30s I give some wiggle room since she prob pulled from her own experiences writing the male lead

Overall the story was really good. Once you accept the whole arranged marriage thing it really is fun. It’s romance isn’t the main focus pushing everything back bc you do also get a lot of writing on the themes of culture clash and a few other themes that I feel have just as equal a spotlight.

Like Esmeralda (the female lead)‘s whole plot isn’t just about marriage and love but it certainly is part of it, a bigger deal for her is proving to others and herself that her status as an immigrant should not hold her back from a better life. The whole reason she even agreed was to find a way to stay in the states and provide for her family. I feel her story can be really relatable for ppl. As someone who comes to the states just really lost on the culture and learning to speak the language on the job and studying for a higher education. It feels very “American Dream”-y but like in a good way. It’s realistic too, sometimes you’ll meet people who look down on you for your status or failing to get a scholarship. Things don’t always go in her favor and it adds to the story.

Khai’s story was a bit hit or miss for me at first. His whole deal is accepting that his autism doesn’t mean he’s some emotionless robot, which all started due to his one particularly sour comment made by family at his close cousins death. It’s been years of closing off emotionally and I really do feel a lot of writing is probably something the author pulls from her own life bc at times his thought process can feel a little stereotypical but also I’m sure it can be seen as relatable for others who are in his shoes.

I do think the whole plot at the end just feels annoying towards the end, like yea I get it you’ve been told time and time again you don’t feel like others and you’re weird. But my god hurry up and realize just because you feel differently than others doesn’t mean you don’t at all. Like did it seriously take you crying to realize “oh wait I DO experience love”. Again maybe this is just the author pulling from thier own experiences so I can’t be too mad about it.

One thing I can be mad at is how at times they fall into tired tropes like “oh a misunderstanding caused problems”. I know Esmeralda doesn’t really know what autism is and at most just knows about being sensitive to certain sensations but I feel she HAD to have figured out Khai isn’t the most socially tact person/knows how relationships work given all she’s seen (such as accidentally making said dead cousins sister cry at her wedding, or the fact his mom tells her herself he needs to be told to do something otherwise others might naturally do otherwise he might not realize it). For the next few paragraphs after the first post sex scene I was just like “GIRL PLEASE, talk to him bc he prob doesn’t know how to do relationships”, and just caused drama for the sake of it.

The angst of not being told “I love you” both was interesting and infuriating for different reasons. On one hand it’s nice seeing that even after rejection Esmeralda keeps chugging along. Despite heartbreak she clings on to what she originally set out to do: getting a better life for her daughter. This time it’s Khai who spends days wallowing in (unknown to him) heartbreak while Esmeralda is the one working despite the pain. On the other I already kinda explained my gripes at this bc it lead to the whole “learning you can be autistic AND have feelings” realization. It feels purposely dense having Khai just think he happened to have the flu the same times previous heartbreaks happened to him w his dad’s departure and his cousins death.

Another problem I had w the romance was the whole secret child plot. Like I’m sorry but it just keeps taking me out that Esmeralda literally never speaks word of this to ANYONE until the day of her wedding and to Khai’s brother a few days before when HEs offering to marry her for a green card. Like girl!! I know it’s suspense and to have risk but seriously??

There was a few other nitpicks I have with the story that aren’t huge problems but just things I noticed. Like for example the school subplot. It added to the story showing Esmerelda is driven to do anything for child and show she’s more than a lowly bathroom cleaner, but I feel the characters involved just feel flat. Like the last time this comes before the epilogue, she’s celebrating her GED and we have just 3 random guys introduced for one line before dipping. Did we need that? Just say “and other classmates” or something. We also see the return of Esmeralda’s friend who I don’t even think was introduced until her previous appearance, introduced just to have the couple air out part of Esmerelda’s lie she started at the start of the relationship. After that the next time we see her here she’s engaged to an old man for a green card and then never hear from her again, despite claiming to be Esmeralda’s best/only friend. If she’s supposed to be a parallel for our girl she did a kinda bad job fjdjdjd.

Now listen it sounds like this book is the worst since I ragged on it for so long but a lot of these were nitpicks that caught my eye. There was really only 2 major issues I had and that might just be a me thing. You might read and have no problem with it. So I do think it’s a good book and its pros out weigh the cons by a lot. I’m looking forward to reading more of this author in the future if the other books are just as high quality.

[mildbarking]

My (somewhat scattered) thoughts on Wicked Part 1

Well I’m gonna be honest, this movie was actually pretty good. Now this is the opinion of one guy who’s not exactly a Wicked super fan so I’ll prob be missing out on some subtle differences that were changed or alterpzed so take my thoughts with a grain of salt lol

Characters

Ok I’ll admit, Mx Grande managed to capture a p good Glinda. Like she’s been an actor before and during her job as a singer so there wasn’t doubt she can act, but I was worried she wouldn’t capture the bubbly personality but I forgot like. The fact her first (for many) acting role was as Cat who was THE blueprint for that kinda vibe lowkey. I feel she did a good job in those and the more serious scenes so I’m excited to see her acting in Part 2. Her emotions in the opening song too was just so good, she looked SO ready to jump into that fire too

Cynthia was good here too. She gave a unique spin to the songs that I’ll get into later but it’s good it wasn’t a simple copy and paste of the musical’s stuff. I wish she was a little more expressive at times but like. When it comes to be serious she knocked it out the park and honestly during the dance at the Oz Dust (Ozdust?) I really felt the embarrassment and everything that scene was trying through her eyes.

The others were cool too. I liked Madam Morrible’s performance, really nailed the feeling of something being up but you cant place a finger on what till it’s too late.

Special spotlight to the guy playing Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey). I’m sorry for being a raging homo but I was entranced by how good his ass looked in those right pants during the “Dance Through Life” scenes like. My goodness dude we get it the cake is ready the camera LOVED to show those thangs off every chance it got…not that I was complaining.

The wizard was neat. I liked they played up the snowman angle before the reveal. I forgot how much I hated Boq he will perish by MY hands kudos to the actor. I know it was gonna happen but I’m glad Dr. Dillamond was just like a normal talking goat compared to the musicals (which again, I get given it’s a stage play and you can’t really use real animals)ß

Music

Ok so here’s where I feel a lot of ppl were getting upset; did they mess up the songs in the movie? From my viewing not really. I feel bc en things were pretty good, the only major changes I feel were the “something bad in Oz” song now only having Elphaba singing the ending (which we’ll get to the story changes soon enough) and defying gravity feels way more ínstense. Tho the latter makes sense bc it’s the last song of the movie before the next one next year rather than the cutting off point for the intermission. The songs not only changed but like, the way it’s sung too. Sorry I can’t explain bc I’m not a music wiz but like, comparing the broadway and movie sound, they’re not 1:1. One gripe I did lowkey have tho was the “One Short Day” song. They added in some mini propaganda origin story for the wizard. It had cameos of the original singers for the duo which is a cute concept but I felt it was kinda dragging the song. I felt it wasn’t really h but who knows if it filled in cluesless viewers or if they wanted an original song or SOMETHING but I feel the movie could’ve been done withouter

. Visuals

Ok so I feel this is honestly my biggest issue with the film and it’s been something I’ve had ever since the teaser/previews. At times the movie can look, bad. Like some things like the lighting and colors just feel like something’s missing. I think the “Dance Through Life” dance number is the biggest example of issues. Like the dancers and everything is great, but I feel it’s a bit distracting having so much backlight is blaring through the windows and do rs of the library. Like seriously could they not have found a way to darken the area a bit. Also wasn’t a fan of how much like, how blinded when Glinda and Fyiero were dancing you know? Like Idk if it was their intent but I wasn’t a fan. The colors all can be washed out too. For a prequel to a technicolor marvel, it’s kinda bland in comparison

[mildbarking]

A kinda scatterbrained personal review/thought process of “Bury Your Gays” (With Spoilers)

Ok so first of all I found this on accident. I took a trip to a kinda far away library a few counties away just to see what it’s like (spoiler: it’s so much cooler than either libraries near me). None of the new additions at home felt very interesting so I wanted to see what’s cooking in other places. And this was one of them, found in a bookshelf off to the side w more new entries that didn’t fit in the show off podium near the entrance. The title alone got me interested, I haven’t read the authors previous work but I lowkey feel like I should after reading this one lol.

Anyway don’t expect 10/10 deep analysis and complex stuff. I just wanna gush about some stuff and not be bothered by a character limit of 250

Characters

I love gay people oomfs, I LOVE GAY PEOPLEEEEEEE. Ok but seriously I’m very shallow so anytime the book features some kinda lgbt I think it’s a plus. And baby this main cast is swimming in it, but also obviously being non-hetero isn’t the only thing these guys have. So I kinda wanna go over the main 3 individually: Misha, Zeke, and Tana

Let’s start with Zeke just because he’s somewhat one note compared to the others. Overall I think he’s cool, bi representative I needed and whatever. But on a more serious note, idk why but I was so scared that at any point they were gonna pull the “evil bi” thing and reveal that all this personal info and other stuff that the news has been getting is all bc of Zeke and he was a mole/working for the company or something. But no, he’s just literally the chill supportive boyfriend and that’s about it. I think it’s nice that he’s a positive portrayal and yea I did gush a bit when they got all sappy.

But I like that even with the chill aspect and everything he’s still human. You can tell he was still upset that Misha didn’t invite him for his school reunion. But he was so understanding about it that it actually surprised me that we didn’t have any nail biting relationship drama at any point to add onto the stress of the main character.

Tana was fun! I feel she could’ve used a bit more spotlight or time to shine but she was a great character to lessen the tension as she’s peppy and vibrant, but also I feel the writing knows when it’s time for her to tone it down and lock in. I can’t really speak on her ace stuff so I hope anyone who can shares their thoughts but I think that part was kinda, underdeveloped? Like I’m not saying she should be decked out in the flag colors but I feel like when it eventually becomes the big plot point to defeating the big bad it feels, outta nowhere? Like idk it’s weird. Like I GUESS it makes sense to have that kinda in the background bc the whole point was that she was underestimated/there’s not enough Ace rep, but idk like that’s what your statement is, maybe add some more for her? It comes up like 2 times as throwaway lines until the climax.

Misha I think I can dive deep into, he’s such a fascinating character to me and I really enjoyed his journey. Like the idea of a queer author using his own trauma/experience to fuel his work is a no brainer since it’s often true but still, getting flashback scenes between the main plot where we see him as a child and the inspirations for the various monsters he created, I feel adds depth to both him and the monsters.

They’re not just generic tropes or made up, they represent a deep hurt Misha experienced, and even besides that he’s given them alternative readings to kinda hide that fact/coincide with that (such as the smoker being a product of his uncle’s caretaking, while also being an allegory for cancer or something like that if I remember correctly), something I think many writers do as well. And seeing his personal growth is fantastic bc you just wanna keep rooting for the guy after so much shit happens to him throughout the movie. Between his struggles of being both out and not and everything else. He’s a very compelling guy.

Story

Ok so the story really doesn’t go where you expect. At first I assumed it was a murder mystery, as maybe I’m biased given my usually readings. But it’s quickly proven to be kinda a Sci-fi esque horror mystery. There are murders, but it’s less “who done it” and more “how/what is doing it” if that makes sense? Like we see the monsters attacking but a lot of the book is about finding the reason/source of it all. It kinda feels like a slasher if I’m being honest, which is fitting given a lot of Misha’s work IS slasher/horror based and it’s his creations after him and Tara.

Anyway as I mentioned in Misha’s character section, it’s not all sci-fi horror, it’s got a lot of moments where the suspense/tension is more physiological. Dealing with Misha’s worry of being “LA out but Montana closeted” dealt with in a really realistic way. You can feel the tug of war of wanting to be out to those in your little hometown but knowing that it might be dangerous for you, so the pronouns of your partner are caught in your throat and all that comes out is “she”, “her”, “girlfriend”, etc. as well as the childhood fear of being found out that can still weigh on you well into your adulthood.

Anyway onto like, the ACTUAL plot. It’s so good. Like the various monsters each needing to abide with their own internal rules and seeing it used against YOU is already a cool concept enough, but seeing the way Misha can find loopholes, ways around them, and find a way to escape them (usually) just makes the suspense even thicker as the more things get at him, the narrower these getaways end up.

The big twist that all these monsters are actually nonnomachines controlled by an AI algorithm that’s literally created to find the most efficient way to make money, kinda on the nose but I’m complaining lol. I feel given everything that’s happened this kinda stuff will pop up more and more in stories I feel.

The AI being the real big bad that needs to be dealt with was a great way to end it btw. Like I felt it would’ve been still a fun way to end the story if it ended w the reveal that the algorithm is still alive and kicking and now rather than looking to kill ppl who won’t bury the gays it’ll start harming those who don’t want sanitized corporate allyship, showing some dire cycle of “capitalism will consume everything”. But I kinda like that that got nipped in the bud.

Oh yea, the bury your gay part, this whole story really centered around that trope. From the whole kick off being Misha refusing to turn the leads of his show straight or kill them both off after confirming queerness. To the algorithm soon now longer caring about that and now focusing on trying to make Misha die the most cruel painful dramatic death bc it would rake in the money from ppl wanting to watch his material postmortem, the book also tries it hardest to show that queer horror and tragedy isn’t the only way to end things.

I feel one of the biggest themes of the book (besides being obviously anti-machine learning) is “there is a place for queer grit and edge and sadness, but there’s just as much room for queer joy and happiness and more”. Misha managed to beat the monsters after him by turning his tragedy into triumph, and just like how the book COULD have ended on a dark note, the characters take back control and it ends on a feel good ending for both the characters in Misha’s show, and the people in his life.

Conclusion

Anyway I feel I really just talked in circles and everything but like, I just really loved this book, it has the right amount of satire towards Hollywood but still heartfelt enough in its other topics of trying to be comfortable in your own skin as a queer person, and it’s theme of fighting for a more hopeful ending instead of being swept under the rug or killed off.

I really recommend it.

[mildbarking]

SPLATOON 3: SIDE ORDER THOUGHTS

So, guess who’s done all the major story beats for Side Order? All the Palettes, all the chips, all the lockers and Dev diaries. I have some thoughts and while it’s not wordy, it’s a bit too much for Twitter. So I’ll kinda blab in no order about my thoughts. It’s a shorter DLC story wise but there’s a lot of stuff I wanna think on.

Spoilers below cut

This DLC’s story is a lot more, intimate I guess is the right word. All 3 main stories focus on a big picture, and then Octo Expansion shrunk the scale, even if it’s ending has you saving the world and inkopolis, it’s still mostly about Eight and thier journey to the surface.

Side order shrinks it even further, yea there’s still the world threatening event but it’s kinda, almost an afterthought. Here the focus is almost all Marina and her relationships. Her relationship with Pearl, with Acht, Eight, her guilt and atonement and everything else. I feel Marina is the most fleshed out character in the series because we see so much of her through the story and the Dev Diaries.

And while we learn a lot about her, besides the prologue things get, very light to put it lightly. It makes sense since it’s a rogue like but yea everything between the prologue and the final floor is a lot of random flavor text. It’s cute flavor text however, since it blatantly (even more than before) show Perlina Canon lol. But if that’s not what you’re here for, it’s not much else. We get a bit on Acht and the after effects of Octo Expansion but it’s kinda, there.

Acht being here is great tho, love her. It’s neat how she was kinda an afterthought bc they decided the OE music should get a fictional character to represent it to being so popular as to get a role in the story.

The music and aesthetic was so good too. Like it’s obviously taking order to the most extreme but it also just makes me wonder the “what if” about what 3 would be like if order won. Like would a Chaos DLC have everything in ruins? How would Pearl have fit in since she’s not tech savvy enough to do a VR. It makes you think about the possibilities and stuff.

The gameplay is so slay, like I never thought about a Splatoon Roguelike before but man, it works so well. You got basic stuff like swim/run speed, your weapons fire rate or distance and damage, I didn’t think of how many stats can be modified that can be done with the concept. There’s so many other chips too that are fun to mess with, explosion radius and mobile special charge for triple splashdown my beloved.

I’m SO scared to try the ultimate challenge of Octoshot with no hacks for the badge is so terrifying.

My thoughts are all over but man I love love LOVE this DLC and I’m gonna be playing it so much in the future.

[mildbarking]

Pokemon Violet: The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero: The Indigo Disk (+Mochi Mayhem Epilogue)

Well, after a few months since the first part we finally get the second half of this DLC story. I wanted to wait to give my thoughts on it after they announced the epilogue but (lowkey spoilers) the Epilogue is kinda nothing so I could’ve done this the day I completed the main story lmao

Obviously spoilers in the rest of this review below the cut, I’ll be cutting it up into some categories like before: Story, Music, Gameplay, and Misc (graphics will get a mention in Misc since I have my thoughts in the main game review.)

Story

Onto the biggest thing in this DLC, the story. While the first part, The Teal Mask, has a normal story that’s spread evenly, this DLC kinda has 2 stories combined together. The first arc I’ll dub “The BB Arc”, and it’s all about Blueberry Academy. Basically think of it as a mini ver of the main story progress, needing to travel the map to battle the Elite 4 of the school.

It’s an alright story but obviously pretty light. Most of it is you battling and getting some pre and post battle lines. What makes this shine is kinda the causes surrounding why you’re even doing this. After we saw that little teaser at the end of TTM the new Kieran takes the spotlight. And what an introduction he gets, basically booting out a member of the BB League club for having family problems and couldn’t train as hard as expected. This guy really does feel like the natural progression of Kiki’s story. After all what would you expect someone to do after

1. Someone you thought was a friend lied to you and even ended up catching the one thing you’ve cared about your whole life right in front of your eyes?

2. Constantly beaten and never having a single win against?

Obviously you end up training as hard as you can even against the advice you’re given from loved ones and friends. To the point you’ve kinda walled yourself in not letting anyone get close to you, lashing out at anyone who tried. So that’s where we come in as the player. We’re “tricked” (the game tries to railroad it into sound like Drayton is manipulating us but aside from some shift word twisting if we say a response he didn’t like, we really just go along with it og our own free will.) into battling the League, to eventually battle Kieran and try to smack some sense into him.

Eventually we obviously win and get to battle the champion of the School Kiki himself. Really it’s played up as a big event and it kinda is, ego wouldn’t want to see a battle against the new hardcore, kinda scary champion and this new transfer student who isn’t even supposed to be able to battle but got special treatment because they got the OK from the champ himself? The ending to this story is kinda epic but bittersweet if I’m allowed to say. It ending with almost everyone literally walking away from Kiki upon his loss, him LITERALLY FALLING TO HIS KNEES looking ready to pass out over the shock he just will never be strong enough to beat us. Only to have the Ex-Champion he defeated, walk right up to him, and just kinda rub salt into the would with the “ex-champ” comment being the first words said to Kieran after the battle. Plus even after the defeat Kiki is still laser focused on finding a new way to beat us, it’s very worrying.

Thus the new Arc begins: Finally we get to what the whole 2 part DLC is named after: The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero. Immediately after one-shotting Kiki we’re immediately spotted over into heading to Area Zero by Ms. Briar, who finally gets some spotlight after being absent the rest of the DLC and having a few lines in TTM. This is where the real story happens and kinda connects the stores from All 3 areas: The Mysteries in Area Zero in Paldea, The Arc Kiki is still going though which started in Kitakami, and I guess Blueberry Academy w Briar but really most of the BB Arc is kinda self contained besides still following the Kiki story.

Also we get a bit more spotlight on Geeta and a Rika cameo, the latter obviously pissed that the whole time during the ending of the Base Game we were very obviously trespassing. Tho it is nice to see them have some input on the story since it would’ve been odd not to have Geeta show up when AZ is always treated as heavily guarded and part of her Job. Tho the fact “The Indigo Disk” this DLC is named after was a physical item was funny ngl.

Heading all the way to Turo’s Lab, the disc is now able to show up the hidden, literal, depths of the Crater. The whole way there we gotta battle Teralized Pokémon to head deeper before reaching the core of the crater, and into what the redacted Violet Book described.

And finally everything reaches the Climax: Kieran in his thirst to finally be better try an us, literally YANKS out the hidden treasure that was sleeping in the core, being egged on by Briar who’s oblivious to what’s been brewing because she’s too excited to research everything. The treasure is revealed to be Terrapagos, a Pokémon that obviously starts to head to the first thing it sees upon being forced awake. Unfortunately that thing is us, and not even a single step is taken by the creature before being caught by Kiki, who was frantic on trying to make sure we don’t steal this moment from him too.

This whole sequence is so well done. We spend all of TTM with Kiki and Carmine getting to know them, and seeing how they basically switch roles and Kieran’s almost blind desperation to be special, be someone strong who can beat us, it’s kinda sad to see him just try to throw that master ball as fast as he can before Terrapagos even knows what’s happening.

The rest of the battles here are kinda story based and semi-scripted. We battle Terrapagos and win almost immediately, and this is when things go wild. Briar pushes Kiki to use his Terra Orb, as the little disc turtle here looks almost nothing like the illustrations in the Violet Book, and despite Carmine’a pleas Kiki charges up the Orb. Immediately things go from bad to worse as the orb is almost supercharged by Terrapagos, who’s so overflowing with terra energy it goes out of control and starts attacking everything in sight. Correct me if I’m wrong but this is the first time in the main games history where the MASTERBALL is broken and useless against it. Kiki himself almost joins the ball’s fate if it wasn’t for Miradon taking that face full of Terra energy.

Now we’re fighting the Stellar Tera Type Terrapagos, and I gotta say it’s really neat when story fights are obviously based off the mechanics in games made for multiplayer. This fight plays just like a Terra Raid, complete with the Terra Charge mechanic. The only thing lacking were cheers and 2 more players. The whole time we do a cycle of “charge our orb, Terra, break the shield, out orbs are reset”. Each time everyone’s pleasing for the shell shocked Kiki to snap outta it and help stop this thing.

It’s a fantastic moment, especially with the music I’ll talk on later. The second part of the song kicking in once Kieran chooses to join and fight against Terrapagos, it gave me some goosebumps ngl.

Finally things end and Terrapagos is pacified enough that we can catch it. We manage to make it out but not without Briar getting an earful from Carmine (who is right on every count). Meanwhile Kiki is actually sorry this time unlike the apology in TTM which was obviously forced by Carmine. He’s genuinely distraught that his actions in trying to beat us and be special and the strongest and be perfect lead to people getting hurt and in a life or death situation. It’s so heartwarming seeing him smile again, and how the whole time in AZ before freaking out we would see bits of the old Kiki. Him wanting to start over and be a true friend that doesn’t care about comparisons is a great way to end it. I wish we saw more after to see how Kieran would try to mend things between his club mates but the way it did end was great too, packing almost the same punch as the ending to the main story.

Overall the story here was good! It’s mostly all focused on Kieran before we get some more lore and stuff. But like the main game: the stories of the game are all much more focused on the characters and thier relationships.

The Epilogue “Mochi Mayhem”? It’s bad I’m not gonna lie. It felt short and unsatisfactory and the way we get it, it really should’ve been part of the main game instead of a free Mystery Gift you need internet to get. It felt like an afterthought bc ppl complained the Area Zero Crew weren’t in this DLC. It’s literally “we meet w NPA, go to Kitakami to see KC, fight a Pokémon and we leave”. Like Carmine only has like, 3 normal lines due to being possessed the whole time. The story has cute interactions together but all the interactions between the Paldean Trio and Kitakami Duo happen offscreen. A literal “Catch the problem Pokémon the day we arrive, fade to black and it’s the day we leave and time to go.” The problem pokemon itself feels like an afterthought too. Literally had almost 0 foreshadowing or anything in the DLC, besides sharing the chains the Lousy 3 had. But anyway like an explicit connection or backstory? Nothing. Literally get the mystery gift pecha berry, and for some reason the plushie in the store in Kitakami is show to be alive oooo so spooky. What is the connection? Bc they’re shaped the same? Why now? This epilogue gives way more questions than answers and really just there for more moments between the player and the main trio and DLC duo (read: just Kieran).

Music

Oh man, the Unova Nostalgia goes INSANE. Like my jaw dropped when battling Lacey for the first time and hearing the Gen 5 trainer battle theme. Like an almost exact recreation aside from some slight differences. Plus the wild Pokémon theme, and even the Easter egg of including the “rare” Pokémon theme from Tera Pokémon in the field. It was so nice to see. The field theme also has some Unova references with snippets of route themes and even a hint of Driftveil(??) in it was so cool.

The new Music is cool too. I was expecting the E4 music to be a remix too based off all the references but then getting new music was very appreciated. It’s intense and has the same energy as the Unova E4 but it’s obviously its own thing. A great background for the much tougher battles I’ll explain in the gameplay segment. Also the new remixed of Kiki’s battle theme in the Champion fight was sooo good. Literally I can’t say much else besides please listen to each ver of his theme and you’ll see the evolution. How with each version you can tell he’s kinda losing himself in his quest to be the best. Like his last “theme” has almost 0 hints of his motif anymore. It’s completely overridden by the Tera/Terrapagos theme. Showing how in his blind desperation to beat us he’s thrown away every shred of principle and sense of self he had remaining.

The battle with Terrapagos is amazing too. Like if Toby Fox didn’t compose this theme too I’d be shocked because it really has his signature motif reuse all over it. Feeling like a Terra Raid but life threading stakes. And the (personally) best part of the OG music coming in when Kieran joins giving it the air of Victory and giving it your all it deserves.

Overall while I feel this DLC didn’t have as many new songs compared to TTM, the songs it did have? Really knock it out of the park and I would KILL to have it on streaming or something.

Gameplay

Man, they really made sure to give you your moneys worth. Like this half of the DLC is locked to the post game of the main story. You are EXPECTED to have been able to beat 6 star raids and have max level pokemon. This area used double battles and god have mercy if you never used that in online. Even the average trainer will have 75+ Pokémon and have strategies like “use earthquake while the partner has levitate”. Hell Lacey is the intro fight and I still had trouble as her electric AoE would either heal one pokemon or power up the other. Then if you beat one, she throws a GROUND TYPE. It really sets the stage up that you WILL be needing revives and learn some smogon even if you have max level pokemon.

The Elite 4 of the BB League are no Joke. They have a little mini game before a battle, like the gyms in the base game, but they take things seriously in battle. Like an interesting bit of gameplay-story connection is that even though each member who’s higher in rank goes

fire->steel->fairy->dragon

The weakness they have are actually reversed. So even with a type weakness they manage to outplay the other. And you can feel it. I went fire/steel/dragon/fairy but honestly either of the last two can do in terms of how hard they are. Like I had ppl who wiped Lacey and Struggled with Drayton while I had an easier time oneshotting Drayton and only started struggling w his Ace while Lacey I was chugging those revives and potions like candy to the point I basically was going 1v1 with my Pokémon and her Max stat Excadrill bc my attacks kept missing the Alcreamie who spammed decorate.

I need to give a shout-out to Drayton’s challenge btw. Unlike the others who were trivia, or a sandwich trade quest, or testing out the new flight mode you get from beating the DLC, Drayton forces you to use Pokémon from his area. And I mean his area, you can’t transfer a high level IV trained Pokémon that can spawn in the polar biome from someone else. It needs to be caught BY YOU in HIS BIOME. And his lackeys are all different types so you’ll need a varied team at that.

Kieran is not playing around either in his Champion battle. While I had an easier time with him, he had a cute interaction if you bring Ogrepon to the fight. He brings INTIMIDATE INCINEROAR you know his ass was watching Smogon forums like crazy in his free time.

The Terrapagos raid even if it’s a story battle, it’s still not letting you win easy. Idk if it was just my team not having a good counter but the fact it changes type each shield regen is also tricky too.

Misc

I feel most of this might actually be me complaining about the Epilogue but first let me talk about the League Club and BBQs

The League Club is really fun to mess around with especially after the main story is done. The highlights are the Item Machine and Trainer invitations. The item machine (I forget the official name) can be upgraded through the story, and it’s a great way to spend BBQ points (Aka BP) once you finish how you wanna customize the room and unlock new Pokémon in the biomes. Basically spending some BP and material from Pokémon, you can do a little gacha and obtain items. It can be anything from revives to big nuggets to even high quality stuff like the apricorn balls. All with the added bonus of occasionally starting a mode that only gives pokeballs (which is how you can try for apricorn balls) or doubling any prize you get which can be really good if you get high selling items.

Trainer invitations are cool too, I haven’t done many asides from a Larry trip but they’re fun. You can rematch them and if you’re good enough friends you can even get a fun item or even a traded Pokémon with a special ribbon.

The extra paradox Pokémon are neat but. Man…I wish they weren’t version exclusive. It’s hard to trade back with people unless you have a friend w the DLC. Like, idk I wish they’d one day make raids w them so ppl can catch the ver-exclusives, also I’m glad they’re not needed to count as completion but it sucks if you miss out you’ll always have a blank slot for Iron Leaves and Walking Wake.

Anyway into the Epilogue. It was baddddd. I’m sorry but it really shouldn’t have been as hyped up as it is. First: that big crystal tree they used in the BB trailer? Not important at all and never elaborated on. This is literally just an afterthought that was made probably because people complained about the lack of Nemona/Penny/Arven. It was cute seeing the interactions between everyone, and neat seeing Kieran interact with the others, but still it feels like an afterthought. The fact Carmine just, isn’t in this at all sucks. I get we get more time with her compared to Kieran when looking between both but cmon. Was she really needed to be written out as the first curse.

Also the way it happens is just, weird lol. Like you’re telling me to even activate the story we need to Fly to Kitakami, interact with the plush so Arven calls, then we need to fly back? Like all this to make it feel like days passed so they can have Carmine eat mochi offscreen? Be soooo fr.

Like this whole thing has like, 3 double battles and a cinematic battle that tried to live up to the hype of Ogrepon or Terrapagos and it will NEVER SERVE AS HARD. Like I mentioned earlier we get 0 backstory on this peach ass Pokémon and we’re supposed to act like battling it is on par w other 1v1 fights? Get serious. I get it’s technically “free” and wasn’t advertised as part of it but, you need to buy the DLC for this. Idk I was kinda expecting more.

Also the fact you need a mystery gift for this? Why couldn’t you have given it w the masterball. Hell if you only wanted one item given make Drayton be like “usually all champions get this but we’re out so take this” and THEN have Briar or Geeta give the Master ball before heading to AZ. That way you can still foreshadow Kiki having a Master Ball for the Terrapagos but like?? This is such a dumb way to unlock this DLC. It was in since the DLC dropped so just unlock it by making an NPC hand it over or something. There HAD to be another way to do this.

The story obviously was nothing. We just get some cute moments but the whole thing is just, walk with Kiki, battle twice alongside him, battle Nemona, battle the Pokémon, and end.

Final Thoughts

Anyway, kinda giving my final thoughts on The Indigo Disc, it’s a great DLC. It’s obviously made for people who wanted a challenge and gives a great end to the arc Kieran had in The Teal Mask. I really enjoyed it and I’m still trying to do the BBQs to do everything with the League Club. Plus the fact you can casually find loads of Tera Shards on the floor. It really is a good buy compared to like, SwSh’s DLC which is kinda useless.

The Epilogue I’m glad it’s not an extra buy but you’re not missing anything if you don’t play it. Literally a nothing burger afterthought and a shabby excuse of a legendary Pokémon event bc I literally was thinking it feels like those Mythic events from 4/5 but the fact it’s treated as like, this big deal.

[mildbarking]

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off Thoughts

Ok so I’m fresh off the series, like typing as the final credits roll fresh, and oh boy! I have so many thoughts both good and meh bc obviously not everything is perfect.

Spoilers behind the read more, it’s gonna be very disorganized but I’ll try to group it all

No spoiler thoughts: It’s good, read the comics or watch the movie if you need a fast rundown of the plot before watching the anime.

8/10 I need to take screenshots of Stephen NOW

First off, man can I just say I’m glad they had Anamanaguchi come back, they were great in the game and hearing some of the same work in the show was great, plus it was fun to hear the new work they did too. And hearing some covers of the game tracks?? Slay never ending.

The characters…I’m genuinely impressed w Micheal Cera. Like the movie was infamous for how Scott was just, a completely different person in the movie. But here? He was great! I feel he fits the personality from the comics well, very happy go lucky. Ramona too, she’s way less cold and you could feel she really does love Scott. Like I wonder if the cast was given some voice training work bc they were REALLY cool as VAs, some better than others but everyone’s way more animated (pun unintended) and it feels less cynical if that makes sense?

Really I feel like everyone got a glow up here, like everyone gets some moments in the spotlight. Especially the Exes. The fact Scott is kinda gone for 5 of the 8 episodes means other guys need to have more screen time fjdns. If anything it feels like Ramona is the protagonist of the series. Maybe it’s me but ir was low key giving Danganronpa V3 Trail 1.

I think that completely changing the story of the og comics and even the movie was SO interesting. Like they were so coy about it and I see why. Scott DIED in the first episode (or at least we were tricked into thinking it). Like, this doesn’t feel like a replacement for the other versions but def like, a companion piece. You get to see more layers to everyone rather than the glimpses.

Also some changed to the story were really good, removing the very ermm moments w Kim and Knives, and just how Knives was treated in general. I think it was really cute how her and Stephen’s friendship was shown, like there was some cute moments in the comic but the show had them all buddy buddy it was so silly. Tho I kinda wish her beef with Ramona was dealt with better, like we get a talking too from Stephen land that’s it. I’ll touch on it later but some scene where they talk while helping her dye her hair could’ve been great.

And speaking of Knives hair dye, I feel there was def some things that felt really rushed or outta nowhere. Like no one acknowledged Knives completely out of no where change in hairstyle or clothing? I get its fan service to match her style in the game but still no one mentioned it. Then the future setting, I feel it kinda came and went. It was only one episode but they had to cram so much that we didn’t really get to talk about it. All we really know is Scott, Ramona and Wallace. We get mentions of other characters but we never really see or hear what happened. I feel if MAYBE each episode was an hour instead maybe they’d have more time to let things breathe. Especially when there’s certain things that are left out or just only come up quick with not much buildup.

Like, I’m kinda bummed some elements were left out, and others just feeling unresolved. I get it’s because a lot of the stuff didn’t happen bc Scott didn’t win the fight but I wish they found a way to include it anyway, like the stunt double fight being changed to be Wallace vs Envy, or how Knives still had beef with Ramona but for a new reason. Like you’re telling me they couldn’t have had Lisa cameo during the funeral scene? (Or maybe she did but only a non speaking background role and I missed it),

What about having Envy and Scott talk a little? Like at the end of the show those 2 still have a nasty relationship. And what about Stephen Stills? We know him and Julie broke up but 0 mention of him being into men. It’s a little bummer ngl but that might be my bias of him being my fav, tho we get some fun moments with him so whatever. Then Kim mentioning the whole “being kidnapped by a rival school” thing, wasn’t that a fake memory by Gideon? And the reality was a nerd hugged her and Scott punched him outta jealousy? Like something’s feel off.

Also the future plot? It’s, something! My main problem is the whole thing feels so out of nowhere especially because we only get it at the last 2 episodes, cmon man if this the big twist at least give foreshadowing or SOMETHING. Like sure the robot was there every episode but it felt like a red herring bc it’s not the twins who were the main villain but scott, and not just scott, but FUTURE scott, except it turns out it’s future FUTURE scott. Like idk, I feel Patreon artists might get some mileage outta them but they were, there bc Gideon isn’t the main baddie.

Also the Exes were fun, especially Todd like PLEASE THE WAY I LOST MY MIND OVER THE KINDA COMPLETE CHANGW THEY DID WITH HIM. He felt a little one note compared to characters like Lucas or Roxie so this show really gave him a lot to work with. His ass WAS victim to comphet. Gay (or Bi) Todd REAL and I’m sure you can make a joke of him suddenly breaking veganism after realizing he likes Wallace.

Every Ex gets growth and we spend some time with them, like the major shakeup with the League was crazy and if Scott’s death in episode one wasn’t the tell this isn’t like the comics the Gideon gap moe arc would’ve been it. Funny enough I feel the only Ex that didn’t get more development were the Twins despite them being instrumental to the change in the story.

The removal of Nega Scott made me sad, I feel the whole “fighting the incel future version of you” thing would be the new way he kinda reconciled with his actions but idk, it still feels different than the literal “facing your dark side” NS had.

I should say it but I LOVEEEE how Studio Saru animated this, I will say I haven’t seen their past works but I know they did Devilman and Eizouken but still man everything was so fun to watch, like the fight scenes were so cool and then the Lucas Lee vs the Paparazzi fight, shaking crying it made me want a Musou Scott Pilgrim game fjdnsn.

I’m not sure what else I can say bc it’s so fresh in my mind this was me kinda rambling. To kinda wrap things up, this was a great show and while it has its issues I feel that it’s best watched after either reading the comics or watching the movie (tho the comics are better bc the movie has its own issues) THEN watch the show bc this isn’t a replacement but like a companion to the original Scott Pilgrim.

8/10 needed more Stephen Stills ♥️

[mildbarking]

POKÉMON SCARLET AND VIOLET: THE TEAL MASK THOUGHTS

This is gonna be me writing out some of my thoughts over the recent release of Part 1 of The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero. Just finished the main story tonight and I want to share my thoughts. So there will be spoilers below the read more. Because this is much smaller story, and DLC for a previously reviewed game, the review/thoughts will be split slightly differently: Story, characters, gameplay, and then miscellaneous. As the graphics and music are on par with the base game I feel.

Note this is only the main story, no side stuff like rebuilding the statues or the Perrin side quest. If those have any substantial stuff I’ll update this post with stuff after the main chunk of reviewing.

Story

So the story of TTM is obviously only part 1 of 2 that’s part of the overarching story for TToAZ, so it’s kinda short. You can easily finish this in a day or two if you’re not taking any breaks and skipping past the Pokédex. I’d say it’s maybe the length of one of the routes of the main game?

The story is fine for the most part, but oh my god do I have 2 big gripes with this plot. It all stems from Kieran and Carmine’s grandpa who ends up causing most of the story’s conflict to happen and it’s so needless. Because of him I’m just getting FE Fates flashbacks where so much of the plot could be solved if they didn’t pull out of their ass some reason we can’t explain everything properly.

It was annoying having everyone treat The Loyal Three as heroes and make them stronger than before all because gramps said not to tell anyone the truth about Ogrepon…only for him to be proven wrong as once the truth IS out everyone isn’t buring us at the stake as heretics. Like it could’ve made more sense if the villagers were shown to be hostile to those who try to change tradition but like, everyone was nice. Also doesn’t help we never see Kierran actually telling everyone the story. It all happens offscreen which was super lame.

The second thing grampa (and Carmine who started it) caused was the other conflict with Kierran. Literally none of what happens with him would’ve happened if we were allowed to tell him when if happened. We’ll get to it later but while I love Kiki’s arc, it didn’t need to happen if we just said everything. Hell it could’ve been the same arc but instead of feeling lied to we see ogrepon again WITH Kieran but when Ogrepon shied away from him but was friendly with us that could’ve caused his arc, or something other than “we can’t tell him bc it’d hurt his feelings : (“

But ignoring those two big problems I personally had, I really enjoyed the story. The lore on the signboards of the (pre-Kiki) story of the loyal three was interesting. When you learn the real story it’s even more interesting because it really feels like something that can happen. I can’t think of any atm but I know historical revisionism always happens especially when it involves different cultures and races.

Not to mention this DLC gives even more lore hints of the tera crystals. With the crystal pool also having glinmora, the shiny instruments from AZ, the Masks having “jewels from a far off land” shown to be Terra Crystals, and the unredacted pages of the Violet Book. It was all really interesting to think about and I hope The Indigo Disk builds on it

Like I said it’s a short story but it gives a lot of food for thought even if some stuff made me rip my hair out.

Characters

Characters in TTM are…mixed bit mostly because of one glaring issue: the Uva/Naranja Students. Before this I thought this was just a solo adventure, then I started it and…why did they need to give us three nameless generic students for this? They specify we’re one of FOUR picked for this trip, and there’s THREE spots that could’ve been taken by the obvious picks of Arven, Penny, and Nemona.

You had to make this accessible before you even got your first gym badge/titan/team star base why?? While I haven’t played SwSh’s DLC I feel that was probably handled a little better since that whole thing was more or less a Solo trip that didn’t have much to do with Hop or the others. But in SV the framing makes this baffling. You’re saying I, a student of the academy, was picked for an academy sponsored trip, where there’s THREE more students who come and they’re not the three important names classmates of mine????

Like, I’m harping on this and we’ll move onto the rest soon but it just baffles me. Like, you could’ve made this story just not mention stuff past the first of each milestone for the routes. Like all we knew was Penny was nerdy and shy, Nemona liked to battle, and Arven was kinda a dick. I’m sure they had reasons but idk, it just could’ve been so easy not to include the generics and write a different reason we’re paired w Kierran.

Speaking of Kierran, I feel he’s definitely my favorite of the 3 major characters introduced in TTM. It’s so interesting seeing him go off the rails. I’m sure for PokeMas players this feels familiar but it’s also interesting as it gave me minor flashbacks to part of Hop’s arc in SwSh. Like the nice rival slowly changing, while Hop has it mostly in changing teams and by the end he’s back to normal, Kiki is like if that arc went on to the other end. He starts off show and really liking us, but soon defeat after defeat, and seeing how special we seem to be, it just makes him kinda resent us. By the end even if he appeared to be on even ends with us, that cliffhanger at the end really shows that TID is gonna have him be very different. Like the kid punches a wall, AND falls to his knees punching the ground at different points, little man is gonna have it out for us after winning the ogre custody battle.

Carmine is great and ppl who hate her need to be locked up I fear. She’s a blast, she’s so mean and full of herself it’s fun to watch. Seeing ppl call her xenophobic and other nasty stuff. Y’all love to hate powerful women who aren’t nice at first glance. Like, the whole thing reads less as “racism” and more as “country folk not trusting a city slicker”. Her whole arc was learning just because someone new comes to town that they aren’t gonna turn your home into a tourist trap or try to change you. It was nice seeing her warm up to us even if she’s still full of herself and sees us as a grunt to do her dirty work. Tho at times they do go a bit heavy handed on the whole tsundere tropes.

I will say it’s so interesting to me that at the beginning of TTM and then end (and probably the beginning of TID) Kierran and Carmine kinda flipped roles. Going from a mean rival to a friendly (if not haughty) one and a rival that thinks the world of you to one that genuinely seems to have a grudge against you. I hope the new characters in TID don’t overshadow the siblings because I’m excited to see how they change next time you meet.

The third is Ms. Briar. I’m gonna be honest there’s not a lot to here aside from wanting to meet terapalogos or whatever it was called. I only being her up bc at the end she’s kinda vague on what happened in The Great Crater, and idk. I’m sure they didn’t mean it this way but the way she would smile at the end just made me feel weird. Like something was up, the fact Carmine and Kiki also leave without much explanation too is odd. I’m sure Carmine was acting a bit weird was just because she was sad to leave but idk. Kiki being weird that’s unrelated to this tho I just think he’s had it with us having main character disease.

Gameplay

The leveling here is pretty ok I’ll say. Just as a note that the game does have some level scaling (which the main game doesn’t and it’s wolf to go between the two). I played after the main story and unlocking 6* raids, so every wild Pokémon was in the 50s and trainers were around the 70s by the end. So if you want a challenge you need to bringing in some Pokémon in that range. There’s also the ogre clan side quest which had some really strong Pokémon and some with unique gimmicks compared to other trainers (one with Ice and Rock, one based off Sunny Day Chlorophyll Explosions, Rainy Day Swift Swims) they were fun to battle.

The new minigame is hard as balls if you want that shiny munchlax. Definitely built for multiplayer, but it’s still neat. The Mochi items are good too. I’m not a comp player but I’m sure they’ll be useful. Also I like the Teal Card, it’s fun to have more new clothes to try out, and hairstyles too. Also the new uniforms and festival attire are nice too…even if it’s still limiting…

MISCELLANEOUS

This area is much smaller than Paldea but that’s not a bad thing I feel. The Dex is smaller too, even smaller if we don’t count the Pokémon already from the Paldea Dex. It just makes having version exclusives even weirder. Like why are you gatekeeping 2 lines of Pokémon???? It’s literally Aipom/Gliscor and Crawmorant/That hungry ass hamster. Was that needed?

Also I know it’s from a story perspective but man was it kinda ass the world is in permanent daytime aside from the first night of the festival. Like if you wanna do any night evolutions you need to head back to Paldea, and god forbid you didn’t think of searching for nighttime Pokémon while at the festival because you’ll have to wait till after the main story to start searching. Like I had almost all the Dex filled minus the Loyal 3, and the ghost Pokémon you can only find at night. So if you wanna fill it all up you’ll need to have someone trade you the night stuff or travel to their world if they finished the story.

Can I say? I’m not a fan of some Arceus Pokémon being here. You’re telling me this small region has some surviving white ass fish? You’re telling me I can trade over Pokémon but if it needs a certain item or battle style I’m shit outta luck? Like this place was the PERFECT spot to add Hisui evolution methods. Say alongside the terra phenomena the place has some odd historic aura that causes Pokémon to unlock previously extinct DNA or something. For Huisian Braviary I asked my friend to evolve them in his Arceus game, same for the H!quilfish I transferred from Pokémon GO because SV doesn’t have battle styles. Thankfully Basguegion you can find in raids and evolve with the recoil goal. But still it just feels like such a Tease that I lowkey would’ve rather not have them in at all.

Final Thoughts

Anyway that’s all I can really think of for TTM. Overall I had a nice time and I feel it added some nice stuff to play with while waiting for the second part of the DLC. I liked the characters and felt it was nice not battling 70 different Students for every unique class. The story was short and hit or miss at times but I feel has enough of a hook to leave me excited.