Downtown Rumbles: Sharp's Scotch Bar

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Dragon Age 2 was by far the worst of the three Dragon Age games. It had a lousy combat system, tons and tons of reused environments and drab level design. And it's difficult to care about the conflict between Templar and Mages when just about every one of them is so unlikable, and the few good ones either die ignobly or cave to the dark side. But it had an excellent cast of companions and incredible writing in every area not dominated by decaying Mage/Templar relations. Plus, the Arishok is up there with The Illusive Man for best Bioware villains.

I don't even remember who that is, is the thing.

[Vakanai]

Trump is visiting us soon. Apparently he's intending to avoid London because he knows that an enormous protest will be waiting for him.

Weird. I mean, a large protest waiting for him never seems to stop him from coming back to America when he goes off to share his ego with the rest of the world.

As an American I just want to say I didn't vote for him.

[Vakanai]

This looks pretty good, when is it airing?

This gif make me happy.

Cute girl, impressive feat, and her celebration at the end is ridiculously adorable.

More Shark Cinder Cuteness.

I don't know what Shark Cinder is, but that was cute and it made me smile.

[Dark Soul # 7]

Weird. I mean, a large protest waiting for him never seems to stop him from coming back to America when he goes off to share his ego with the rest of the world.

As an American I just want to say I didn't vote for him.

A majority of Americans didn't vote for Trump. But the weird voting system in America screwed us all over.

More Shark Cinder Cuteness.

More you say.

I must've missed the previous installments and must find them.

[Lord Falcon]

I don't even remember who that is, is the thing.

Big horned guy, head of the Qunari? Could give Ochazuke a run for his money for most stony, stoic face of disapproval?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7Rx0jdPgwU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQLNrZiDFz4

[Froggy]

gee,i wonder which manga she's talking about

I think I saw Natsu in the background of this chapter too

[master of read]

I think I saw Natsu in the background of this chapter too

levy and her team too.

and of course, puu.

[master of read]

gentlemen, say hello to the bullet club, FIRING SQUAD.

[Nik Hasta]

I think I saw Natsu in the background of this chapter too

Mashima has always been one for self-referencing. I look forward to seeing whatever this series' version of the Oracion Seis is.

I'm actually kind of liking this series thus far. Mostly for the setting, I think the bait-and-switch from the usual steampunk-ish fantasy world into actual space faring fantasy sci-fi was really good and the visual impact of a mysterious woman/god thing the size of sun was hecka awesome. I want to see more of this setting!

I don't like Shiki that much, he's a bit too blank slate-y for me to be a compelling protagonist and lead female (whose name escapes me at the moment) is a beat-for-beat redo of Elie from Rave Master in terms of character except with social media this time instead of gambling which is somewhat disappointing.

This is the thing with Mashima for me; he's got great chops for worldbuilding and visual design and he's good at the big and impactful moments of emotion but I think his skill at group interaction and crafting more complex characters really atrophied during Fairy Tail. I read through all of Rave Master again during this year and I was really struck by how on point the moment to moment characterisation is in that series. Most characters in that are pretty complex, they have a much broader emotional range than you'd necessarily think and have little variations on their proposed archetypes that make them stand out from the crowd. They also grow and change a lot, Haru and Elie especially. Because of the quest-based nature of the story, everyone always feels like they are in motion.

Thematically, Rave Master is really series that focuses on dealing with the legacy of tragedy on both a macro and microcosmic level. It's quite brilliant at its peak. Almost every character is defined by either the regrets they have or the ancestral regrets they have inherited and the final boss is the personification of rewriting history to try and escape said tragedy. It all links together really well and is compelling as all heck.

Comparatively, and I say this with the full admission that I fell off Fairy Tail a little way into the post-timeskip stuff (I think I got like halfway in total but it was already longer than Rave Master at that point) the Fairy Tail cast were quite static and didn't really grow and change that much. When they do change, the pace is glacial in comparison and the changes to their personalities much smaller and incremental. The thematic thru-lines aren't nearly as strong and it feels somewhat weightless. This is further compounded by the much more episodic nature of the plotting. There's no real overarching quest that is clear enough to drive everything forward so the pacing is much more plodding and uncertain of itself.

I'm hoping this new series will be a return to form and I'm willing to give it a fair shake.

[Nik Hasta]

Seven Deadly Sins: Man, with all the shit Gowther has pulled I'm finding it increasingly difficult to even like the guy.

I mean, he seems kind of more sorry about this one.

Gowther is perhaps the most alien of the sins. Magical golem constructed by a demon who was locked up by all the other demons is a heck of a character sheet and doesn't exactly say "human".

[Sharpandpointies]

This gif make me happy.

I have this one sitting on my smartphone. Hilarious.

Dragon Age 2 was by far the worst of the three Dragon Age games. It had a lousy combat system, tons and tons of reused environments and drab level design. And it's difficult to care about the conflict between Templar and Mages when just about every one of them is so unlikable, and the few good ones either die ignobly or cave to the dark side.

But it had an excellent cast of companions and incredible writing in every area not dominated by decaying Mage/Templar relations. Plus, the Arishok is up there with The Illusive Man for best Bioware villains. And Hawke is the only Dragon Age MC who I want to see more of.

I had a lot more fun playing DA: II story than DA: Inquisition. Inquisition could have been great, for me; I loved the premise, thought the storyline looked excellent, the characters had a ton of potential, the combat system was great, the graphics were fantastic, had loads of drama... But the 'open world' crap that people have been heading toward of late in EVERYTHING spoiled it for me. Too big, too many pointless sidequests, too much exploration. Was fun for a while, then got old, then got annoying. Became a sign of things to come; I barely finished that game, then started Andromeda which...well, I stopped playing half-way through planet #2.

That's my own opinion, anyway; I understand lots of people enjoyed both games (less-so Andromeda...).

I enjoyed the story of DA II. I felt it had the weaknesses you describe, big-time. But the story, the companions...those were fun.

My personal feeling is that Dragon Age hit a high point in Dragon Age Origins: Awakenings. But that's me. ^_^

[Dark Soul # 7]

I mean, he seems kind of more sorry about this one.

Gowther is perhaps the most alien of the sins. Magical golem constructed by a demon who was locked up by all the other demons is a heck of a character sheet and doesn't exactly say "human".

All true, an in addition to actually possibly being sorry about this action, it seems like Gowther did because his creator thought it was necessary to end the war.

But still, seems to me that Gowther has committed the most actual crimes of the Sins and gone largely without any punishment. Ban and Diane took the blame for things that weren't their faults, King was negligent in his duties but has paid his due several times over, and Meliodas' curse kinda counterbalances his crimes. Gowther on the other hand has largely gotten slapped on the wrist for messing around with people's lives and identities, and that along with his really weird self makes it difficult to like him. Your mileage may vary of course.

I might just mostly be annoyed that we haven't seen him properly apologise to Guila. Also, I miss Guila.

[master of read]

[Nik Hasta]

All true, an in addition to actually possibly being sorry about this action, it seems like Gowther did because his creator thought it was necessary to end the war.

But still, seems to me that Gowther has committed the most actual crimes of the Sins and gone largely without any punishment. Ban and Diane took the blame for things that weren't their faults, King was negligent in his duties but has paid his due several times over, and Meliodas' curse kinda counterbalances his crimes. Gowther on the other hand has largely gotten slapped on the wrist for messing around with people's lives and identities, and that along with his really weird self makes it difficult to like him. Your mileage may vary of course.

I might just mostly be annoyed that we haven't seen him properly apologise to Guila. Also, I miss Guila.

I can see that perspective.

I also miss the Holy Knights in general and kind of wish they'd remained at least somewhat relevant.

[Hiromi]

That Thai boys soccer team trapped in a flooded cave have all been rescued safely, that's a nice piece of news to wake up to