#It’s really the combined effect of so many things but I have to say characters
Note
What was it exactly that ruined RWBY after volume 3? Was it the death of the author or the creators simply lost touch with their work?
I think I talked about the changes and issues within the narrative before, so I'll just stick to the overall problems with the shift from V3 to V4.
Honestly? The author's passing might have an impact, but it shouldn't have this level of impact.
It's easy to attribute all the success to Monty and just pretend the show was doomed without him. Then why did V3 still come out extremely good? Clearly, there was still talent here - Dillon Goo carried V3 fights on his back, and the story continued - nothing instantly fell apart.
And yet the show did fall apart.
So, what happened?
Were they blindsided by Monty's passing? Were they too inexperienced? Did the hard shift in direction destroy the show's setting? How about the employee burnout?
In reality, I think it's a combination of all of those and more.
They were caught off-guard.
No matter how big Monty's actual role was, people at RT are still human beings.
Death of a friend can turn one's life upside down and fast - understandably, the company would struggle to continue after losing someone so integral to their identity back then.
The way Volume 4 is structured instantly shows that the rest of the staff got blindsided by having to continue the show - V4 is designed to spin its wheels, buying them time while they try to figure out what to do. It's averse to any characterization for the lead four or any change in status quo, and even the lore bits we DO get during V4 are very vague (because the showrunners have no idea what to do).
You can literally imagine them all running around behind the scenes frantically trying to see how they can pick up from where v3 left off and delaying, delaying, delaying.
The issue, however, is that at some point, that kind of stalling becomes their whole MO rather than a temporary thing.
The show effectively stalls any sort of payoff for anything from the first three volumes, shying away from addressing anything within its original identity.
After a while, it's not like they didn't have time to figure things out or turn things around yet - it's that they decided this stalling issue works fine as-is - even as far as V9.
The relationships never quite progress - Blake and Yang have been in limbo since V3, for example.
The characters never progress or regress - how many times did the show "hint" at Ruby's distress for years, promise Blake's growth, or have Yang on the verge of some big moment of self-reflection?
It's not even JUST that it shifted away from its original identity as a contemporary tech-fantasy show - while it absolutely DID do that, the issue is that the showrunners have no idea what shape the show's identity OR aesthetic should take OR how to do it.
The show just stalls because it works even if viewers start to dwindle, and they don't have to do anything that would "alienate" people (Like, let's say, addressing the elephant in the room that is Yang and Blake).
A staggering amount of effort is made to NOT progress things and to have characters go through all these locations without really changing at all.
Things happen but not really.
What did Ruby's journey from Patch to Mistral accomplish for her as a character? What did Blake's journey to Menagerie accomplish? How about Yang's journey to find her offscreen bandit mother? How about Weiss getting taken back by her father?
Nothing.
What did the conflict in Atlas accomplish? Were characters affected or changed in any way? Did Weiss finally have her story arc? Did Ruby face herself?
Nothing.
You could literally change up the end of V3 with them dropping into the future of Vacuo and you wouldn't miss a single story beat.
We don't know MORE about the world OR the characters, really - the dumb Brother Gods plotline revelations can be summed up in half an episode.
Mistral's fate, Vale's fate, Atlas falling? That can be done offscreen - it's not like the show hasn't already offscreened far more important things
Of course, the show DIDN'T just skip that padding so it still has to get the major story beats in as everyone moves through locations.
But those story beats happen in the weirdest way possible.
Why?
There is ego involved, yes.
Miles didn't have to add up the brother gods subplot he had dreamt up one day.
Miles didn't have to keep pushing Jaune into the front of the show at the cost of the actual leads.
It's no secret that the show would always work this way where one of the people involved would posit an idea of how they think something could be cool if it happened - Monty was pretty notable for wanting to have Raven fight Team JNPR in the Fall of Beacon for example, and he refused to elaborate.
Is it so surprising someone like Miles or Kerry would want to "add their own touch"? So what if those ideas clashed with literally everything in the setting before - be it narratively or aesthetically?
But there was something else that changed.
Before V4 the people involved would come up with something and then work it into the plot. While imperfect, there was a possibility of a somewhat healthy dynamic where, with, likely, actual pushback between those involved - Monty never did get his "Raven fights everyone" scene after all, no matter how cool it could have been.
After V3 that dynamic was gone, obviously.
The creative element of the show fell apart, but Miles and co seemed to keep going like nothing happened - and at some point rather than a bunch of people discussing possible paths for the show, it turned into a situation where Miles or someone else would propose an idea and then it would happen.
As the show grew in scope so did the necessity for actually making those desired elements fit into the story. It was no longer about "hey we can't really justify Raven randomly showing up and fighting team JNPR" - there were Kingdoms and multiple locations and dozens of characters involved now.
They just lost their friend who proposed the show in the first place, they struggled to make the show continue and they were clearly inexperienced running something as big as this.
Yet instead of growing, learning, or hiring people, they seem to have been content with just dumping what Miles wanted into the show without worrying about narrative structure, set-ups, payoffs, characterization, and so on.
The weird medieval aesthetic of various locations no longer fits the contemporary modern setting of the first three Volumes? So what.
The magicky ridiculous cheese of brother gods was the polar opposite of a more grounded setting before it? So what.
The decision to not show actual character progression and growth that could be Yang's recovery arc because "it was boring"? This would make any writer or college professor scream because that's now how you characterization, that's not how you do pay off or ANYTHING, but yet again -so what?
Why?
They were unwilling to learn and to accept critique.
Listening to staff commentary for the show (even before Monty's passing) there's one thought that would persist - "Wow, they sure sound content and prideful with not knowing their things and just going with the flow."
RT drank their own Kool-Aid - "Oh we are just a small indie group of friends - look how scuffed our production and decision-making is."
It was impossible not to notice back then - people would point that out all the time.
Yet instead of improving and changing and learning and, honestly, growing up, Miles or someone else would just throw some backhanded remark and continue.
A group of amateur film-makers can grow and develop, but RT were so proud of their status as being this industry underdog where it's just a group of friends(despite that not being the case for YEARS at that point), that they were unwilling to make necessary changes in their work culture, approach or, well, anything.
I keep coming back to Miles watching Land of Lustrous and going "Oh, I don't get it." and that's it - there's no self-betterment or willingness to "get it" showcased and that's emblematic of RT culture as a whole.
Whether there was talent in the company (there was), it wouldn't matter if people at the top would stomp their feet and refuse to learn or improve. Even V9 staff had quite a few talented animators involved - did not help.
They were too caught up in the "youtube machinima bro culture" RT's size had long since grown out of.
They were "a bunch of friends, just a bunch of indie amateur people creating content", and they were proud of it and of how scuffed everything was.
So what if at that scale of the company, the culture would end up creating genuine issues with power dynamics, harassment, over-work, inefficient production, employee burnout, resource wasting, and so on?
The working conditions drove away most of the talent they had left over the course of next few years.
(Un)Surprisingly being stuck in a frathouse mentality lasting decades is a really good motivator for actual talented people within the company to quit and work elsewhere. Who would have thought?
One logical path forward would be to hire actual industry professionals, right? They could have created a writer's room, hired management experts, a proper HR department, hired sensitivity readers, outsourced researching various topics, etc, right? Miles and Co could keep pretending to be auteurs while competent people would get paid to do what needs to be done and course-correct them.
Easy, right?
Well.
They were unwilling to hire professionals.
Reminder that it took RT till around Atlas arc to have anything resembling a writers' room, they still refused to hire actual sensitivity readers to ensure they don't end up writing something blatantly ableist or just outright all-around problematic.
In the cases where professionals were involved, the people in charge just ignored all suggestions (otherwise Volume 8 and 9 would have been stopped at brainstorming phase and changed - I refuse to believe no one took a look at it and said "this will crash harder than Genlock Season Two")
I have no doubts people at the core of RT wanted to honor their friend's legacy and make right by them, but...
If "everything was fine" and who they were was fine and no critique mattered then why change anything or listen to outside voices?
And thus they continued.
Overall
It's a mix of variety of issues, really. It's actually kind of fascinating RT managed to have so many things go wrong.
26 notes
·
View notes
Text
On David Tennant and Aging
So, I’ve seen a lot of posts in response to Tumblr users’ habit of affectionately calling their favorite middle aged dudes “old men”, David Tennant in particular, saying things like “clearly you’ve never met an actual old person”, “omg you talk about these guys like they’re 80”, “please be normal about people aging”, etc. And on one hand, all of these statements are objectively right and true! But as someone who’s always been really fascinated by and found a lot of beauty in getting older (which I’ve explored in some of my writing on A03 because nobody else is going to do it for me), I’d like to provide a bit more nuance on how I think this label applies to David in particular.
David, obviously, in literal terms, is not “old”, at least not to me- I don’t personally consider people old until they get past 60. 52 is middle aged, simple as that. And yet, when I see David stuck with the “old man” label, it still somehow feels weirdly right, for a number of reasons.
It annoys me so much when people say David “hasn’t aged a day since Doctor Who”, because, well…
He clearly has. A lot. He’s got forehead creases, deep crows’ feet and eyebags, and I think that post-Fourteen we’re gonna see him rocking the grey temples a LOT more. He also has the voice of an older man now, his upper range is still there but the default is much more deep and rich, with a gravelly, rumbling quality that just goes straight through you. I personally think Broadchurch was when David finally started to embrace looking his age- Alec Hardy just wouldn’t have been served by Ten’s fresh-faced boyishness.
Obviously, these are the kinds of changes you’d expect any 52-year-old man to have, but something about David just makes it all seem a bit more… intense? The expressiveness of his face combined with his almost gaunt frame makes his wrinkles very prominent, and when he works his voice to its emotional extremes, his lower register can sound positively ancient, to devastating effect.
David, I think, is someone with an old soul- I don’t think he could be as good as he is at playing ancient characters like Crowley and The Doctor if he weren’t. He has lived so many lives, given so much of himself to so many characters, often incredibly tragic ones, and I think it wears on him. David also has five kids. FIVE. Do you know how exhausting it is to be one of the hardest working actors alive and be a present, loving father to even ONE child? But David somehow does it anyway! Nowadays I see him and my heart breaks because he looks so tired, so weary and fragile. But he’s all the more beautiful for it to me because I know that that is because he is kind. He’s a deeply empathetic person who feels and lives to the absolute fullest, and that story is written so clearly on his face, along with every other story he has ever been a part of.
There’s other things about David that make the label endearingly fitting- his utter hopelessness when it comes to technology, for instance. And he’s just got that warm, wise, grandpa energy too sometimes- look at that above Fourteen picture and tell me I’m wrong!
I once showed my friend who’d only seen David in Doctor Who and Harry Potter a picture of David from Around The World in 80 Days. It was a particularly emotional scene, and his face had just the most beautiful expression of compassion and sadness, every wrinkle on full display. And she said, in a less than complimentary fashion, “he looks so old!” Which, of course, offended me quite a bit at first. But to me, referring to David as old almost feels like a badge of honor, something he’s earned by living fully and selflessly, working hard and being wise and compassionate beyond his years. I think David himself is secretly more than a little insecure about the fact that he’s getting older. There’s sadness behind every jovially self-depreciating remark he’s made about his age in the past year, particularly in comparing himself to Ncuti Gatwa. I know how much David struggles with his impostor syndrome and how people perceive him, and I can clearly see in his eyes the fear of being discarded, the anxiety he feels about if he’ll still be as loved as he was back in 2007 now that he’s closer in age to King Lear than he is to Romeo. So I hope David knows it’s a privilege to watch him grow older, to watch his soul and talents deepen with the crinkles around his eyes. If I, in my silly goofy tumblr girl-ness, call David Tennant an old man, it’s because it’s a label that suits him beautifully- even if it isn’t TECHNICALLY an accurate one yet.
#David tennant#doctor who#the tenth doctor#the fourteenth doctor#good omens#crowley#shakespeare#around the world in 80 days#phileas fogg#pro aging#growing old
1K notes
·
View notes
Text
This latest Adventuring Party really drove home my favorite aspect of Brennan's DMing style. He genuinely loves seeing his players succeed, even against odds he considered to be nigh insurmountable.
Let's take the Last Stand as an example. Now, Brennan made no secret out of the Last Stand encounter being very hard, and for people who do not play D&D it may even seem like he overhyped it, but from a mechanics standpoint, the CR, functionally the difficulty rating of this battle royale was sky-high. Yeah, none of the Bad Kids went down, but that is entirely thanks to a combination of excellent strategic play from the Intrepid Heroes and some choice luck.
To mention some of the game changer moves, the Scatter spell really re-defined the battlefield more favorably for the Bad Kids, the disguise self was a value proposition because it split the flying monsters, which was the greatest threat to the proctor by far, in two, functionally halving the threat to the squishy normie, not to mention dealing with the mega-mosquitos in combo with Spirit Guardians. Those little flying bastards would have been such a pain in the ass if Fig didn't bug zapper them to kingdom come. And the bless. Dear god, the Bless saved so many asses in this encounter.
This isn't to say magic was the only thing that defined the battlefield. The single-target damage dealers did some truly astounding numbers and managed their attention and abilities shockingly well. Yeah, Gorgug crit like a madman, but he also tanked like three or four non-barb PCs worth of effective HP damage without going down even once. If he had failed his saves and gotten eaten by the Purple Worm things would have gotten nasty for him, but again, the touch of luck (and bless) saw him through.
So, this is all to say that this was an encounter meant to kick the players' ass. Not an unwinnable one, evidently, but this was supposed to be a considerably worse experience even without getting into the non dice-roll exam questions. And how does Brennan react when the Intrepid Heroes put their game face all the way on, get really smart with their level 1 spell slots, and dismantle the whole thing? He's overjoyed, he's cheering for his strange adventure children, and we're cheering with him because frankly it's rad as hell.
This illustrates one nuance I feel sometimes gets glossed over about the DM-player relationship. A lot of people have talked about how Junior Year is the "Revenge of Brennan" or what have you, and I feel that kind of misses the central appeal of DMing and Brennan's style in D20 in particular. Yes, Mr Mulligan enjoys playing the heel on occasion. It's good fun to play the personification of everything going wrong and the inherent shittiness of the world, but like the wrestler heels, all that wicked charisma is meant to do one thing, and that is build up the faces, or the players in this case.
Now, the ghost of Gary Gygax may come after me for this, but I firmly believe it's not the DMs job to kill the player characters, or even to inconvenience or torment them. A good DM's job is to make it seem like they're going to kill the player characters, as to provide an environment for the players to succeed, a challenge for them to overcome. It's all one big improv exercise (or kink scene if you prefer to view it that way), where the DM derives their (near)absolute authority over the world the PCs inhabit from the shared understanding that they're going to show the players a spectacular, if not on occasion harrowing, time.
This is Brennan's biggest strength as a DM I think. He genuinely wants to make a spectacular time for his friends, and he understands that to do that he must on occasion be the monster they oppose, and on occasion he must be their breathless cheerleader. On occasion, one imagines, he must also be both.
#d20 fhjy#d20 fantasy high#brennan lee mulligan#d20#fantasy high#So this turned out long huh#but d20 is a good show#and it's worth saying
121 notes
·
View notes
Text
so we can all agree that the newest 2WEI song (take the crown) is the trailer song for an Antarctic Empires Emerald Duo pg14 movie where Techno is a gladiator who earned his freedom and has vowed to destroy the government that enslaved him and Philza is an old demigod banished to a solitary plane of existence for five decades after attempting to run a coup against the ruling class.
They meet on a battlefield, Techno having joined up as brute muscle and Phil having used some minor illusions to pass as a quirky avian and join the bombardment team. Combining some similar plot beats as Oceans 11 and Atlantis: The Lost Empire, they gather a specialized team of insurrectionists, anarchists, battle mages, and warriors to take down the imperium from the inside, eventually planning on restoring the nation to the democracy it was in Phil’s earliest memories. But will they manage it, or will their bloody pasts and violent present seat Technoblade on the throne as the Antarctic Emperor, with Philza as his right hand, the Angel of Death? (Spoiler, the second option. It’s the most controversial film finale decision of the decade.)
The movie is filmed in a style somewhere between Dune 1, the Prince of Egypt, and Topgun. (denis villeneuve is too busy and too expensive, but it’s clear they’re taking inspiration. Bold colors and lighting and a lot of shots of the sky, wildlife, architecture, or of characters’ hands.) It’s scored by an up and coming indie musician, working under the consultation of Ludwig Gorannson in his spare time as a pet project, though his association with the film doesn’t really come out until it Smashes the expected theatre income in the first two days of release and critics start Raving about it. Techno’s actor is nominated for an Oscar for one of the most compelling intricate portrayals of ptsd and platonic devotion in modern cinema, but doesn’t actually get the Oscar.
Tumblr is flooded with gif sets of Techno in the Obligatory No Armor After Gladiator Fight Scene and the Late Night Vibing With Phil In A Loose Poet Shirt scene (firelit, lots of closeups of his eyes, the film is obviously attempting to express his complex emotional state and his deep relationship with Phil, and is failing miserably at doing Anything but making him hot. The internet is ✨gay✨ about it, because when is the internet not?) Also most of the simps are calling Phil a dilf.
Fit MC is the fan-favorite side character, his four scenes and nine lines of dialogue are clipped and edited and giffed and memed into the dirt. (His armor and prosthetic, the makeup and costuming department say, were the hardest thing to do in the entire film, which is why he isn’t in too many shots.) Though, a close second is Niki, who is played by a woman built like a brick house who doesn’t wear sleeves, so…. Yeah. We all know what the response is there. The effects, including Phil’s wings, are almost entirely practical and the only real places it gets iffy is Steve, the giant war polar bear that’s pretty clearly clipping through a few snowbanks here and there. Nobody can agree on which characters are morally reprehensible.
Within a few years, very few people outside a dedicated fan base have seen it and a few assume it’s made up like Goncharov. It’s also, for some ungodly reason, been labeled a Christmas film. (most of the plot happens in the ice and snow, hence ‘Antarctic Empire.’) I guess nothing says ‘Christmas spirit’ quite like ‘unmitigated violence, platonic yearning, and overthrowing oppressors.’
#molten rambles#technoblade#mcyt#philza#philza minecraft#film idea#2wei#antarctic empire#smp earth#Emduo#emerald duo#This arose from the depths of my psyche like a worm from the sand#And consumed me body and soul#and i genuinely love it so much#BRB gonna go cry about the fact this isn’t real#Tcu#Technoblade Cinematic Universe
142 notes
·
View notes
Text
Qi Ye ensemble cast poster, second edition
Yet another one of those LOL Qi Ye just has that power over me. You know the drill; more info below!
I'll go straight to the point: my main reason to draw this was because I wanted to draw the most somber, dark-looking Helian Qi possible with some dark cross-hatching effect.
And because I don't want to draw a Helian Qi solo image because who the HELL does that, I had to turn it into an ensemble cast thing again. I just REALLY like to do that for Qi Ye, for some reasons!!!
For a general note, first: shading was a PAIN but making a nice composition and thinking about how to make a hierarchy that both works in terms of storytelling and visual composition was fun. I also liked finding out the "color scheme" to use and I do like lineart.
So, now, little notes about each character, and the obligatory name poster just so I'm sure we all know whom I'm talking about:
Jing Beiyuan: I've mentioned it before but drawing Beiyuan is like. The easiest for me, I think, out of ALL Qi Ye/TYK characters combined. He happens to have my general goto "pretty face" (which conveniently has peach blossom eyes). I'm happy with how he turned out here! And got to put the sable around his neck which makes for a nice additional touch.
Helian Yi: He's easy to draw as well and I'm glad with how the guan turned out. He initally looked sideways, but I liked it better having him wistfully stare into the distance.
Helian Zhao: has the exact same face as in the other, coloured poster, and that cracks me up bc that wasn't even intentional.
Helian Pei: GDI I find him so hilarious. He looks so done and out of it. Shout out to all his bird as well, which, I find, really complete the look.
Helian Qi: I can't possibly say that I love him as an antagonist because there's nothing to love about this literal trash, but I'm still grateful that we got some of the most rancid stuff going on in Qi Ye just because of him and I'm always here for that. He deserves the villain visual treatment, at least. He was VERY fun to draw and I tried to push that nasty grin and shading as much as possible. He turned out exactly how I wanted him to! (the shading on his face and the balance of light and shadow was a bit of a challenge, actually)
Wuxi: Again, a rather easy one, always pleasant to draw! I loved working on his hair (but complained a lot while doing so)--which I think turned out nicely.
Bai Wuchang: Finally! Finally I draw him!! He had to be there, since he's like. The base of the whole Qi Ye plot. Lining him was....... a pain, but at least it looks nice.
Su Qingluan: nothing much to say--I think it's always important to have her there in Qi Ye stuff, and I put her next to Helian Zhao because of how he tried using her--but it did make me feel bad for her when I realised that.
Song Ping'an: The real star of the show, lowkey, but always alert and present.
Feng Xiaoshu: FINALLY. PRINCESS JING'AN. I'm sorry I took so long to draw her. I want to work on a proper design, I swear. To make up for having completely forgotten to include her in the other spread. I'm so sorry. I like how her face turned out!
Liang Jiuxiao: I never, ever, EVER get enough of drawing him. Have I mentioned how much I like him? How much of a great surprise he was reading Qi Ye? How many times I've wanted to high five because finally someone is as confused as I am? I love drawing this very specific smile on him, SO satisfying. Also Bichen said he was "THE Qi Ye antagonist" and I live for that LOL
Zhou Zishu: do I really need to say anything atp
Jiang Xue: I'm so sorry I put Xiao Xue next to ZZS. The cruelty. But she came out really cute didn't she T_T
Anyway that's it. I'm still obsessed with Qi Ye and given my current (totally secret) retranslation project I'm nowhere near done going crazy about this book.
#qi ye#jing beiyuan#wuxi#bai wuchang#helian yi#helian pei#helian zhao#helian qi#su qingluan#ping'an#princess jing'an#liang jiuxiao#zhou zishu#jiang xue
325 notes
·
View notes
Note
Thank you for posting videos, pictures, and the Tribeca panel commentary on twitter. It is much appreciated. 🙏🏻
[ Anonymous #2 asked ]: Sarah, would you mind writing a S701 review since you were at the premiere last night? Don't mind spoilers and you can warn others if they don't want to read. Loved it when you did it before. Thanks!
Hello Anons! Thanks so much for both your asks! I hope you don't mind me combining both your asks.
You're so welcome, Anon #1! I so glad so many people enjoyed my posts about it! I'm very grateful that I've been able to go to these events for several years now. I know that so many of you don't get that opportunity, so I try to do what I can to bring it to you all even if only virtually. Things are always so much more fun when they're shared, anyway. After all, that's what fandom should be about! 💜
For anyone who missed it, you can check out my Twitter page for my full coverage of 92Y and the Tribeca Festival. But here's some GIF spam from my favorite of the videos I was able to capture this week!
Anon #2, yes of course I'll write up a summary of my thoughts. I know you said you don't mind them, but I will try my very best to not include any spoilers in it as I know it really does ruin it for some. But just in case:
~~~POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR OUTLANDER 7x01 BELOW~~~ ~~~SERIOUSLY, DON’T @ ME THAT I DIDN’T WARN YOU~~~
Outlander 7x01, "A Life Well Lost"
As Caitriona + Sam have mentioned previously in interviews, 7x01 picks up right where 6x08 left off. No time jump or anything, which I was really glad for. The opening scene was SHOCKING and used something that I thought was really clever and really rude all at the same time lol. I can tell you that the audience gasped because of it. I feel this bit was extremely effectively done. Caitriona's micro-expressions really made it for me.
One thing that surprised me — and perhaps it shouldn't simply because Outlander has always been full of this — was that there were so many small moments of humor in this episode, despite the obvious dire situation Claire and Jamie are in (but really, when aren't they lol). There's a new small side character that both Claire and Jamie get to interact with that provides much needed comedic breaks. Even Jamie's menacing looks add to this. Claire especially, I feel, gets to use her biting wit (or just straight up cursing) to add some humor to the tenseness. There's one particularly funny scene that takes place on a boat and involves an interrupting officer that I so loved! The entire audience burst out laughing when we saw it.
While Caitriona + Sam were obviously amazing, I'll say the surprising standout actor in this episode wasn't them. I won't say who, but it's someone we're well acquainted with. There are moments straight out of the book that this actor just fully nails. We're so lucky to have such strong actors filling these side character roles and s/he is just fantastic. Their sincerity and conviction sold me completely.
As book readers can probably guess from the title and from where we are in the timeline, we know basically what will happen in this episode — and they to stick pretty well to it. Even so, it is still so satisfying to get to see it played out on screen. Claire's despair, hope, and heartbreak. Jamie's torment, anger, and determination. The relief of it all. It's all played so, so well across Caitriona + Sam's faces and in their line delivery. Sam said during the Tribeca panel that Jamie is perhaps "more frail" in this episode, and I think that can be said for both of them. Despite them being well versed in separation, I think every subsequent one after their 20 year split wears on them more and more. And they both play that so expertly, making the time that we do see them together just that much sweeter. I don't think it's too spoilery to say that yes, they do share several scenes together this episode so dinna fash!
As for Brianna and R*ger, their scenes are pretty well separate from the Jamie x Claire scenes. I don't really have much to say about them, except that they move certain other storylines that will become more important later on in the season forward. And only just so. While it was important to do so, honestly it felt a bit filler-like. That said, I am actually pretty excited for certain arcs for Brianna and Jemmy later on (while also hoping they don't include that storyline for R*ger... sorry, not sorry) and this brought them maybe half a step closer to it.
Other than the moment on the boat I had mentioned earlier, there are two scenes toward the end which I really loved. One was such a sweet moment straight out of the book with some really great book lines that I had very much wanted to hear. it is Classic™ Jamie x Claire, so you know Caitriona + Sam knocked it out of the park. The second is not a book scene (I believe?? I don't remember it anyway), but was a great one for Sam / Jamie. It's how the episode ends and I told a new friend I had met in the Tribeca line that the final moment of the episode reminded me of Batman's cape swooshing over the camera turning everything black. Lol take from that what you will!
Some other random thoughts:
Jamie x Claire are SO. SOFT. They say separation makes the heart grow fonder? Really, it makes those two grandparents softer AND I LOVE IT.
I LOVED seeing Caitriona + Sam's names appear as Executive Producers! The entire audience was singing along to The Skye Boat song and then burst out cheering when that came up.
I really hope Major MacDonald's wig gets snatched by Adso at some point because F him lol
Overall, I'd say I enjoyed the episode. Some might say it's a bit slow, which I wouldn't disagree with. But knowing that 1) they had to get this part over with the tie up the Season 6 cliffhanger; and 2) this is really going to be a jam packed season of action and emotion, I think I'm okay with that. I've heard it from more than one source that 7x02 is even better than 7x01 so I'm really excited! I'm also really excited to meet our newer cast members, as none of them featured in the premiere episode. The Hunters especially will be so much fun to watch!
Hearing Caitriona + Sam speak about not only this season, but their journey with Outlander overall makes me so grateful that the quality is still there after seven seasons. They're clearly still so passionate about these characters and are determined to do them justice in every way to the very end. And I think that most definitely shows up in their scenes. I'm super curious to see if there's anything noticeably different or better now that they've been promoted to Executive Producers. And of course, to see Caitriona's first foray into directing!! Until then, I'm looking forward to you all seeing the first episode for yourselves 💜
#outlander#outlanderedit#outlander 7x01#sam heughan#caitriona balfe#outlander season 7#season 7 promo#jamie x claire#jamie fraser#claire fraser#my edit#92Y#tribeca#tribeca film festival#outlander premiere#a life well lost
203 notes
·
View notes
Text
V ISNT DEAD GUYS!!! : )
ALWAYS BACK UP YOUR DENIAL WITH PROOF AND EVIDENCE KIDS
1) well okay, first off, the classic rule that if a character dies off screen, they're probably not dead. classic time tested rule!
2) they made so much merch of her, not to mention she's literally the face of the franchise as one of the first characters liam made for the show. They aren't going to kill off such an iconic and integral character this early on. remember, we still have SEVERAL more seasons to go!
3) the lyrics of eternal dream, which are supposedly about V's inner thoughts and wishes, states that she is tired of this dream (life), which is more of a nightmare for her. I'm going to annotate the entirety of it on genius sometime this week hopefully /srs, but the last line is "I can't end this dream", a desperate cry, for she can't escape her living nightmare, where she is hurt and used and traumatized so much, but also, in our case, potential evidence of her coming back? nola klop, her va, also said that this version isn't the whole song, since she mentions being excited for the full version. and since it's about V, a full version, along with that line, implies she will return. mostly that latter point though, ill admit the single line might be a stretch LOLL but i figured eh might as well include it...
4) J's still off reading about stock prices or whatever in tessa's space ship lol. J's doing J things and she might've gotten bored and went exploring and ended up finding and saving V. we literally have no idea what she's doing besides getting a command to look after tessa's vehicle, which she can probably do from a relative distance. she's stated as a workaholic, but that means she'd also probably get bored quickly if she has nothing to actively do, if there isn't anything for her to be actively guarding, she might wander off while simply occasionally checking the ship. (I also want more J too she's so fucking funny)
5) she had her eyes closed during the final scene where we see her! If she had kept them closed, then she should be fine in regards to getting bootlooped at least. maybe she was scared, or was embarrassed in a way, not wanting herself or anyone else to see her in this raw, vulnerable state she hates and fears so much. and unless the sentinels tear out her heart/core, she'll probably be fine and can regenerate herself. (side note: alice has an id card like nori and yeva, doll's mother. she was one of the patient zero drones who were purposefully infected with solver in order to see it's effects and conduct research, so she'll probably be back as well, considering she's most likely a solver user. beau might be back, i can't say for sure, all depends if she decides to revive him or not. the disassembly drone corpses in cabin fever labs were probably because alice used a combination of sentinels and solver manipulation to take them down and remove their hearts, which we can see she keeps in an old oven, which is why they can't regenerate themselves anymore and are effectively dead. the hearts are the "worm" thing uzi mentioned would come out of V if alice cut her up.)
6) while the show itself has a lot of gags, it's also brimming with genuine love for detail and lore, like they're fucking around, but they're also not fucking around. V has a lot to tell us still, since she's been extremely mysterious and quiet about her own personal past, probably due to trauma and being terrified of being vulnerable, since she was so often hurt when she let her guard down. a lot of things about her aren't really directly mentioned, and are just IMPLIED, the most prominent examples being her genuine inner thoughts, since there are many zoom-ins to her face and expressions, but we are only left to guess on what she's really thinking. so they're not going to let her go just yet; in fact, i think the next episode will be one centered around her (probably more flashbacks? who knows, but i think since she's been important, but not centered on really until now, she'll recieve her own time in the spotlight.)
7) similar to the point above, her character arc is far from over, and if she were to die now, it'd be a crime against her character and the entire story. she was and still is a vital part of the team, but everyone else was so wrapped up in their own plans or infatuations that poor V ended up getting almost completely ignored. even though she loves everyone deep down, and protects them with her life, she never once got a thank you, or asked how she's doing, or anything. all she got was mostly light arguements and insults back-- the last thing uzi said to her was "you, ew! you're mean!", while the last thing V said to uzi was "uzi, I trust you." one could argue that because of her snarky attitude, she's kind of walking into these scuffles, but...really? no one ever stopped for one second to think about that person right next to them and think about who they are beyond that snark? not even N, who's been with her since the beginning, and openly admitted to having a crush on her? or tessa, her superior, who presumably rescued her from the dump, gave her clothes and hair and companionship? she squealed upon seeing N, but didn't give a single glance at V aside from an argument near the end of the episode, and a reflection of V looking solemnly back in her helmet. i genuinely think that because of these mistakes, she'll come back... eventually, at least, so hopefully they can learn from their mistakes and treat her better this time around, for they are getting a second chance, and everyone can slowly start healing together. V has a very broken heart, so for her to fully heal, i unfortunately don't think that will happen for a long time, but she can begin the process slowly, if her teammates start treating her more kindly, as a peer, someone whose thoughts and opinions and feelings matter too, rather than just someone to be snarky and argued with.
to summarize, she has an almost 99.9% chance of coming back because she's the face of the franchise, along with having a bunch of merchandise, it'd be kind like of shooting yourself in the foot to kill off the literal most iconic character, the literal icon. the final lyrics of eternal dream and the mention from her va that this current version isn't even the full length version, implies V will come back, especially since the song is from her point of view. lastly, her character arc is far from over, since while being a vital part of the team, her teammates have been ignoring her for the most part ever since episode 2, even though she's been there with them this entire time. bringing her back gives everyone a chance to make it up to her, and brings both parties to a point of healing. lastly, her character arc aside, she has much to tell us about the lore, since she is implied to know and be hiding a lot, but since she is so mysterious due to her painful past, it is hard for her to open up. the last two points are connected, as if she is more comfortable, she'll open up more, revealing more about the lore and story along with it.
Out of all the characters ive loved throughout the years, i genuinely do think she is the most tragic one. considering the only real decision she was ever allowed to make was sacrificing herself to the sentinels, possibly in an attempted suicide to finally end all of the pain welled up in her heart? yeah.
she's probably one of my favourite characters of all time, even though ive only recently watched it, she has already made a permanent mark on my heart. i really, truly do hope that she comes back, because she deserves it. she deserves to heal and be appreciated for who she is, and she deserves a space where she's comfortable enough to let down her walls and be her honest self again. i think if she comes back, we'll see a much more vulnerable and timid side of her we haven't seen before except for occasional rare moments. she'll still be snarky, but it'll take her a while to recover from the initial shock of all her emotional turmoil surrounding her sacrifice, as well as get used to all the new attention she's getting. after that, however, she'll recover and start healing and come back as a stronger, happier, and still very snarky V. ♡
#v thesis paper#<< a fuckton of my ramblings specifically about V 😭 i have 18.5 hrs on the clock#i wrote most of them on discord to my friends so ill be editing them slightly then reuploading here!#md v#serial designation v#v murder drones#murder drones v#murder drones#murder drones theory#murder drones spoilers#murder drones episode 6#murder drones 6#tessa elliot#tessa james elliot#md n#serial designation n#uzi doorman#md uzi#md j#serial designation j#brain blastard#sui ment#sui mention#errnmm just in case idk#long post#md alice#opps forgot sbout her#intelligent words#chia vent
102 notes
·
View notes
Text
Info Masterpost
Hi everyone, you may know me from around the IF community, probably primarily from here, but you may also be familiar with some projects I've worked on as an editor (the two most prominent being @bodycountgame and @nyehilismwriting's Project Hadea) or other things I've done around the place. Regardless, it's my intention to set up a place here to provide proof-reading and other editing services in order to help people in the IF community who may struggle with doing it themselves for whatever reason (be that due to time, or difficulty, or anything else).
What's on Offer?
We all know that being an interactive fiction author is a HUGE undertaking - we're our own planners, publicists, programmers and also editors a large amount of the time - and sometimes it can be a lot to grapple with. I also know from personally interacting with a lot of authors that editing in particular can feel intimidating for people who don't do it often, and lots of people feel like they don't get it right or don't trust their own judgement with it. That's a normal feeling for anyone inexperienced in a certain skill to go through, but also it turns out that luckily, the internet exists!
For a fee, I can hopefully take some of the stress out of the process by doing copy, line or developmental editing for you, or a combination of the three in some way, shape or form. This doesn't give me any control over your work, obviously, and any suggestions that I make will be just that, suggestions - though like any editor worth their salt, I'll always do my best to explain what I'm suggesting and why, so that you can hopefully make an informed decision about what you want to do about it.
See below the cut for more information, along with pricing and some basic FAQs. Thanks for reading!
So, how does it work?
Well, it's pretty simple, really - you reach out and talk to me about what you want edited, I'll let you know how many (if any) jobs are in my queue currently, we'll confirm what the price will be, and then you decide if you want to go ahead with contracting my services. If we agree to work together, you'll sit back and relax after finishing the exhausting writing process, or, if you're really a glutton for punishment, start writing something new, and I'll do the editing. Then I'll return it to you, and send you an invoice. Easy!
I'm not going to hover over your shoulder demanding certain changes be made or be offended if you disagree with me - that's not a good editor's function, in my personal opinion. What you choose to do with my editing suggestions afterwards is entirely up to you!
FAQs
What's the difference between copy editing, line editing and developmental editing?
Most people editing for themselves do all three different types of these at once, but they are actually three separate skillsets. Copy editing is another term for what's sometimes called proof-reading; basically, it's checking for spelling and grammar mistakes (including homophones and so forth) but not for other purely textual elements like ineffective word usage or weak sentence structures. Anything beyond basic grammatical correctness is covered by what's called line editing, which looks at some common things people worry about like overused words, weak metaphors or other imagery, and sentences or segments of the text that can possibly be written in a way to more effectively convey the message they're trying to get across.
Developmental editing is a whole other ballgame - this is the part that most often makes authors nervous, the act of considering the text in terms of the effectiveness of each paragraph and story beat, analysing which parts of the narrative and various character arcs are working and which aren't, and so forth. This is a type of editing that is heavy on critique, and very subjective: it's akin to the kind of feedback you might get from beta readers in many senses.
You don't have to want all three types of editing in order to contract my services for, say, just one, but developmental editing on its own will be by negotiation, and likely be an hourly fee rather than a per word cost. You also can't have line editing without copy editing, as it would be impossible to make sure it's effectively-written without making sure it's correct. (You can have copy editing without line editing, however.)
Do you accept works from people whose first language is something other than English?
Yes, this is not a mitigating factor for me. I've worked on some pieces by French- and Brazilian Portuguese-speaking authors before. My editing suggestions come with explanations of why I'm making them, so it should be clear even for ESL authors what I'm suggesting and for what reason. I'm not a translator (unless you're talking about from Akkadian or Sindarin), but as long as you're capable of having a conversation in English, we should be fine.
How should I format my files for you to work on? And how will I get them to you/receive them back?
The two most preferable options are either in a Word Document, or a GoogleDoc document, as these formats both allow me to highlight parts of the work and comment on it directly so that you can see my suggestions. Any other format will make the whole process difficult for both of us as it will require cross-referencing between your work and my responses.
It doesn't have to be formatted in any fancy way, though - as long as it's in the document and readable, even just via basic copy/paste from wherever else you write, that's fine.
We can exchange the files via email or discord, whichever makes you feel more comfortable.
Do you accept jobs unrelated to interactive fiction?
Yes! I've edited novels and short stories before as well, and done work specifically providing developmental editing on outlines so that authors can feel they have a well fleshed-out plan before they begin writing. It's just that there's not many editors out there who are familiar with the IF scene, so that's my marketing focus, so to speak.
You write using British spellings... do you know how to edit for American spellings, too?
Yes, I know how to edit for AusE and AmE as well as BrE. Many authors also use a combination of multiple spelling systems, which I can work with as long as you let me know your style and parameters.
My game is written in the style of Shakespeare... can you handle that?
Individual style, both affected and inherent, is not really a roadblock for most editors. The job of a good editor is to consider each author's personal style and make sure to respect it, rather than try to overwrite it with their own voice, so if you're writing a Tolkienian or Arthurian or epic poetry piece, I'm capable of working with that as long as you let me know what you're aiming for beforehand.
If you have a style guide with particular specifications, feel free to submit it along with your documents, and I'll abide by its specifications. I've worked on projects ranging from high fantasy to scifi to modern fiction in the past.
Can I break my writing up into multiple parts to give to you over time?
Sure! All of the interactive fiction work I've done thus far has been chapter-by-chapter, and you can break it down smaller if you like. However, I can't necessarily bring forward developmental editing concerns from one job into another at peak reliability, particularly if a long period of time has passed between the different jobs.
That's probably all for the FAQs for now - if you have any other questions, please feel free to reach out and ask!
Pricing
How much the editing will cost is based on the length of what you would like me to edit, split up into three length categories: under 10k words, 10k-100k words, and over 100k words. Prices are in AUD, Australian dollars. Per-word rates round up (ie., at a rate of 1c per 5 words, 6 words would incur the cost for 10 words).
Under 10,000 words
Copy editing: 1c per word.
Line editing: a flat $15 fee on top of the price of copy editing.
Developmental editing: a flat $20 fee on top of any other costs, or an hourly fee by negotiation if without the other two services.
10,000 to 100,000 words
Copy editing: 1c per word for the first 10,000 words, followed by 1c per each 3 words for the remainder.
Line editing: a flat $30 fee on top of the price of copy editing.
Developmental editing: a flat $80 fee on top of any other costs, or an hourly fee by negotiation if without the other two services.
Over 100,000 words
Copy editing: 1c per word for the first 10,000 words, followed by 1c per each 3 words for the remainder, plus a flat $20 fee for each 100k words after the first (ie., 150,000 words will incur a $20 fee on top of the per-word price, while 250,000 words will incur $40).
Line editing: a flat $40 fee on top of the price of copy editing, rising incrementally per 100k words after the first (ie., 150,000 words will incur a $40 fee, while 250,000 words will incur $80).
Developmental editing: a flat $80 fee on top of any other costs, rising incrementally per 100k words after the first (ie., 150,000 words will incur an $80 fee, while 250,000 words will incur $160), or an hourly fee by negotiation if without the other two services.
Code-checking
If you're able to include your code with your writing (such as by viewing a proofing copy of a game via twine), and provide me with an outline of your variables and what you're using them for, I can by request check for possible errors (such as adding to a stat when it seems like it should be subtracting instead, or using a wrong or misspelled variable) for a flat fee of $80 per 100,000 words (in this case, the code is included in the wordcount, since I'll be checking it).
Outline Help
If you want me to look over an outline or plan and provide developmental feedback before you begin writing, this can be done for an hourly fee by negotiation.
Thank you again for reading! Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions.
153 notes
·
View notes
Text
Ok.
I cant beleive that im saying this but-
STOP TALKING ABOUT JUST HELLUVA BOSS!
-and from that I mean:
The show is awful beyond repair, and what we talk about now is just a repeat of what we’ve said before to the point of burnt out when we already know how this season ends.
The show has bad representation, we get the point. Move on.
-and number two.
THERE ARE PEOPLE IN REAL LIFE GETTING HURT RIGHT NOW AND ALL YOU CAN THINK ABOUT IS A CARTOON BIRD?!
Really, that’s what we’re going to do?
Whine about a cartoon bird being a creep while the creator in real life has been following a incest blog for over five years?! Not even mentioning the real life implications anymore but just a fictional character doing a bad thing? Not even representation and how it effects real people, but just going “WAAAA VIV’s DEPICTING INCEST IN A SHOW AND DIDN’T DO ANYTHING THAT HAS TO DO WITH REPRESENTATION IM TELLING MOM!!!” No, that doesn’t matter.
We already know how the show is going to end. We already know how S2 going to end and all of what needed to be said about the fictional characters has now been said.
When what is important is REPRESENTATION!
-and not just that, but helping those that worked on said cartoon that need our help because they’re being treated horribly- While most of us just sit there and whine about a cartoon character being evil, honestly, it’s becoming tiresome, we cant keep just making this about Helluva Boss anymore-
SPINDLEHORSE NEEDS OUR HELP! So many people are still at that studio and yet we’re still focusing on just the show and that’s not what’s needed at this point! We need to help with what’s happening IRL!
Vivzuepop isnt just transphobic, but also a literal ableist by calling depression “disingenuous” just because it isn’t obvious to her and literally called trans men and gnc “ashamed of being a woman” and a “trender!”
That’s horrible, and yet the fandom still tries to act as if this is somehow “normal” behavior for someone who claims to be a “trans ally” to have when it’s clear that she only shoves the transgender label onto characters that are on the storyboards, shoves them into the background, or erases them if they’re noticeable, when that just means that she doesn’t actually want to represent them, and with her outward transphobia, only did it for brownie points and to fetishize them for money while claiming that trans men are “ASHAMED OF BEING WOMEN AND ARE LOUD HARASSERS THAT WANT TO BE WHITE MEN!” when the “white” part is just a strawman argument to be transphobic.
In fact, everyone that Vivienne Medrano has hurt needs our help, and at this point, Helluva Boss is becoming a waste of moral time that could have been used to help someone in REAL LIFE! There’s so many of us, we can all do something if we combine our efforts instead of just getting angry on Tumblr about cartoon characters most of the time. But that’s it, we need to actually do something and go OUTSIDE OF TUMBLR to places that are more visible. So again- We need to have “#StopVivziepop” at least get close to trending. There are clearly enough of us, we just need to start doing it.
We need to get all that we have seen/learned, but it into a document, and post threads, along with interviews, etc. We need to make what’s wrong with what Vivziepop is doing known, while talking about the wrongs of the animation industry as a whole.
We cant just make this about the cartoon anymore!
We need to TAKE ACTION!
#STOPVIVZIEPOP
#helluva boss critical#vivziepop criticism#vivziepop critical#StopVivziepop#helluva boss criticism#anti vivziepop#anti helluva boss#spindlehorse criticism#spindlehorse critique#anti hazbin hotel#hazbin hotel critical#hazbin hotel criticism#helluva critical#tagging everyone here since we need the help we can get. STOPVIVZIEPOP!
176 notes
·
View notes
Text
*sigh*
Y'know, this really doesn't/shouldn't matter, but as this particular accusation keeps getting thrown at me over and over again - oh fuck it, I'm gonna take the bait this one time and set the record straight once and for all. Honestly my "appetite" in this context is truly not anyone's business (and if you don't care to hear about it this is the one warning you'll get to click away lmao) but I've reached the point where if you really wanna attack my credibility based on who you think I enjoy fantasizing about, I'm gonna throw you a bone and tell you exactly what type that is - cuz as much as I'm sick of the ad hominem attacks the Aussie in me is even more sick of watching them miss so fucking hard. If you're gonna roast me, the least you can do is hit me where it hurts, goddamn it. Get it right or go home you uncooked noodles. Capiche?
When it comes to my taste in men, my "type" is: big, strong, hairy brutes. There, I said it. Give me lumberjacks, give me cavemen, I want my Jason Momoas, I want my Ma Dong-Seoks, I want them broad shoulders and tree-trunk calves and I wanna see those muscles bulge. If a fictional character ever gets me biting my lip at the screen, it's never gonna be a fine-featured pretty boy, it's gonna be a good thick daddy who can take my wrists, pin me against a wall and [--------------------------------‐---sustained bleep sound effect---------------------------------]
youtube
1:38-1:51 🤣
Personality wise, I'm a basic bitch who has approximately zero defenses for the "jerk with a heart of gold" stereotype. Gets me every time, without fail. The smooth-talking playboy who flirts with everyone and who could bed anyone he wanted, but who only lets you see him at his deepest, dearest, most vulnerable moments? Sorry, am I supposed to not fall for that shit or something? Well frankly I don't understand how and I'm not ashamed to admit it. If he happens to be built like a fortress on top of that? Yeah, I'm done. Have me bathed and brought to your tent, sir, please and thank you.
I admit, it's rare that a character with the physique I like also has that heartbreaker personality I'm a sucker for. Guys in fiction are usually strong and mean or they make up for their lighter frames with silver tongues and barbed promises - rarely do writers create a character who's stacked with both brains and brawn, so to speak. Makes sense though, as while irl people can max out any combination of stats that they put effort towards - in fiction a character who's too good at too many different attributes can come across unbalanced or Gary Stu-ish and will fail to resonate with audiences unless the writer really knows what they're doing.
That being said, there really isn't any character in ATLA who fits my type - either of them, actually. There are some bit characters like Chit Sang who get close in terms of physical build - but Chit Sang has very gaunt, angular facial features that I'm really not a fan of and tbh, while I get that I can't expect all my big buff boys to also be masters of wit and cunning and charm, being dumber than a box of rocks does seal it for me, sorry. In terms of personality, I guess the closest character would be Jet, and he's cool and all but yeah, the whole "would go as far as killing kids" thing makes him a bit of a hard sell for me too. (And yes, it's worth questioning the writers' choices to create him with those flaws to begin with but look, that's a discussion for another day 😂)
All this to say, if you wanna tease me about coveting fictional characters and allowing thirst to cloud my judgment - COME AT ME BOYS. But not with Zuko, for fuck's sake. The character that makes sneezy.exe blue-screen ain't him. It's actually the late great Carthaginian General Hannibal Barca, the man the myth the legend may he Rest in Peace if anyone's seriously wondering. Look, I do like the scar, and the awkwardness is endearing - he's definitely not ugly or unappealing by any means so please don't misunderstand, I'm not trying to bash him or nothin' - but if I'm being brutally honest, he's not my type! Not physically, not even emotionally. If I ship Zutara, it's because aspects of the ship appeal to me that are unrelated to my personal opinion of Zuko as an object of fantasy, which if you must know (and now you do, congratulations, you're welcome), the kind of boy I do fantasise about when I'm in the mood for that sort of thing could literally and figuratively sweep Zuko off his feet - and then sit on him. In either order.
P.S. While we're on this topic, the character I personally relate to most heavily is not Katara either btw. It's Toph. If you're going to accuse me of bias, questioning my views on Toph would make the most sense for that reason. But really, it's hardly my fault that she's basically the most perfect flawless irreproachable badass in ATLA or practically all of animation as a whole. Come on now. *whistles innocently*
#anti anti zutara#fandom nonsense#zuko's nice and all but if you want him you can have him#seriously#I'm good thanks 👍#if he were built more like the Hound in GOT#well now we're talking 🤣#text post#long post#rebutting antis like Iroh teaching that mugger to mug better#LOL#Youtube
25 notes
·
View notes
Text
Slow Damage: Clean Dishes Epilogue 4, 5 & 6 Summary
It has been a while! I summarized the first three epilogues some time ago, but because I’ve been very busy I haven’t had much time lately to summarize the remaining three epilogues. Unlike the first ones, the other three are less dark and focus on the main characters spending time together and having fun. I thought it would be a good idea to write a few shorter summaries and combine them into one blog post.
Epilogue 4
It has been two years since the Hare’s Nest Incident. Shiro realizes it's Baku's birthday, but isn't sure how to celebrate it this year. Last year he bought him a birthday cake and they watched movies together, but this year he wants to do something more special. Baku however, doesn't care much about his own birthday and even forgets about it every year. This year is no different and Baku once again doesn't seem to care much, so Shiro decides to visit Roost. Shiro asks Kotarou, Mayu and Eiji birthday gift advice, but Mayu just mentions that he’s happy with merchandise of his favorite anime. Kotarou mentions liking alcohol and accessories, and Eiji, well… says that he’s fine with receiving anything he likes, so in the end Shiro’s still wondering what he should give to Baku...
He ends up taking him to Krishna (the restaurant you also visit in the main game) because they sell a lot of different kinds of beer, which Baku likes. After enjoying their food and drinks there together, they return home and Shiro gives Baku a book, featuring many illustrations by an artist Baku mentioned liking before. The game often hints that Baku is interested in art, but he usually looks at it online and doesn't usually buy things for himself. Shiro ends up telling him he asked Eiji and the others for advice, as he sometimes still doesn't know how to make people happy. In the past, he only used his body to make people happy, but now he's also trying to find other ways. As expected, Baku laughs and mentions how Shiro doesn’t really need to do anything special. Just being with Shiro is enough, but he’s happy that Shiro wanted to do something special for him.
Epilogue 5
Two years have passed since the Hare’s Nest Incident, and Shiro and Baku started living together. Before they started dating, Shiro hooked up with random men and didn’t return to his apartment often. Baku had been to his apartment once before, and said it looked more like a garbage storage room than a place where someone lived. After Shiro moved in with him, they slowly started learning more about each other’s hobbies. For example, Baku is interested in various art forms, such as special effect make-up and sculptures. Shiro likes collecting clothes and small, cute items. Shiro also likes singing, and Baku noticed he’s quite good at it too. While drinking coffee at a cafe one day, Baku suggests that Shiro could maybe even start his own band if he's interested. Shiro replies that he only wants to do it if Baku joins too, even though he has no experience playing an instrument. Shiro then suggests Ruu and Kimika also join his new band and invites them over. By the way, Kimika seems to have blonde hair again in this epilogue, but in the drama CD Ruu mentions he liked the blonde hair, so maybe he dyed it again? Anyway, seems like at least Kimika has some experience playing the guitar, but Ruu also has no experience. Shiro suggests they learn how to play an instrument and Ruu becomes the drummer and Baku the bassist. And that’s how their band activities started...
With the help of Kimika and Shiro, Baku and Ruu eventually learn some basic skills how to play these instruments. Eventually, they decide that they finally want to play some songs in front of an audience, but Shiro realizes he doesn’t really have any other friends he could invite… Luckily, Kimika suggests contacting the Roost manager, and maybe they could play some songs in front of the customers there.
Some weeks later, it's the day of the concert. They all bought some new outfits and Kimika also offers to do everyone's makeup. The concert ends up becoming quite the success and more than 30 people showed up. Eiji, Kotarou and Mayu are also impressed and share their positive feedback with the group.
I have to admit... that this is absolutely not what I expected to happen after the game’s ending, but it's quite interesting to learn more about their hobbies (?). They do mention that the concert is a one-time only kind of thing, but everyone did enjoy the experience, so who knows!
Epilogue 6
It has been six months since Kimika was released from prison, and all four of them continued woking at Sara-ya. With the death of the Takasato-gumi boss and many other incidents, Shinkoumi was in a state of chaos for a while, but things are slowly calming down. During one of their lunch breaks, the four of them started discussing the topic of vacation. It seems like Shiro and Baku usually stay indoors during summer, but Kimika and Ruu really want to travel to the mainland to visit the beach there. Baku and Shiro agree to join, even though Shiro has never been to the mainland before and Baku hasn’t been back there since he was a kid.
A month later, they finally prepare for their trip. Baku is a bit worried about Shiro because he has never left Shinkoumi before. After a one hour flight and a bus ride, they finally arrive at the inn where they will be staying for the next four days. They decide to drop off their luggage and then meet up with Ruu and Kimika near the beach. Shiro feels a little bit dizzy because of the heat, but he ends up having a great time playing in the water together with the others. They spend the next couple of days visiting shrines, climbing a mountain and all kinds of other activities they had never done before. This epilogue is probably the most light-hearted one of them all...! But it is nice seeing them have fun together.
At the end of their trip, Shiro starts teasing Ruu and Kimika again, wanting to know what kind of relationship they have now. Ruu claims there’s nothing going on and Kimika doesn't reply (those who listened to the drama CD know that’s a lie…). He then changes the topic and says he heard Baku and Shiro doing inappropriate things in the open-air bath. Both of them just nod "ah you found out..." and then the bus arrives to take them back to the airport. After that they return to Shinkoumi and the game mentions that this is the end of Clean Dishes's story for now. Shiro thinks that until Baku finally kills him, their life won't change much in the future.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And that's the end! Not much to say about some of these because they are pretty short, but I am always happy to see Kimika and Ruu in these epilogues too. Of course there's also the drama CD content, which kind of takes place in-between some of these epilogues. Right now I don't have any plans of summarizing/translating it, but maybe someone will do this in the future. By the way, all three of these epilogues have a new r18 scene, so I suggest buying them if you want to see them! I'm not able to upload these anywhere.
63 notes
·
View notes
Text
Falling
Falling, 20xx Games, 2015
Falling is a game about having a really, really hard day while being so badly depressed that you literally fall into an alternate spacetime below our own, and your climb or flight back out.
There's a big content warning right at the front of this game - Falling focuses on depression. It was written by someone with chronic chemical depression, the sort that's part of your brain chemistry. It's very good at getting you to understand what that's like. If you also suffer from chronic depression, this game is very explicit about not being the right place to get help.
You make a character by drawing a hand of cards, writing a hundred-word summary of your character (a la some other games I've reviewed), and giving a short explanation of what pushed you into Underspace. During play you use descriptors from your character bio and inciting incident to draw more cards and change the ones you have. You need specific combinations of things in your hand in order to do specific things, so it's not just a matter of "better poker hand wins". Black cards are strength and toughness (both emotional and physical) but also depression. Red cards are connection and wisdom but also either mania or obsession, player's choice at chargen. You might need three red cards for one thing, or a small straight in black, or one very specific card. It's all about adapting to the situation. Go too hard and you'll regret it. XP lets you boost traits by underlining them, or cross out some that aren't helping you and write new ones.
Underspace is a massive vertical shaft, a gaslamp fantasy idea of what an enormous abandoned mine would look like. You encounter its odd denizens, many of whom are part fungus. Some of them will try to help you leave. Others are there to drag you down metaphorically or physically. There's no shortcut to get out - it's step by step. As the name of the game implies, you're probably not going to make it out in one smooth climb. The book details one particular settlement with the idea that you could use it as inspiration for others.
The art aims toward DiTerlizzi. It doesn't quite get there, but the rough lines and dark shading make it a good fit. Fans of Planescape will definitely feel at home here. Layout is fairly standard, and there's nothing wrong with that.
One of the rules for the endgame is "It's not about the inciting incident." Whatever pushed you into Underspace was a side-effect, the straw, or a total coincidence. You can't fix your depression and return to Superspace just by fixing or reversing that event.
Falling is ultimately a hopeful game, but not an easy one to play. You're going to get pulled in emotionally, and there will absolutely be serious setbacks that erase a whole session of progress. I wouldn't say you need to be a masochist to play, but you do have to want to do something emotionally challenging.
20xx Games isn't in existence any more. Falling didn't sell particularly well in PDF, never made it to print, and their other big project ran into unspecified legal issues involving Capcom, so the whole company tanked in 2017. I'm not sure what Falling's copyright status is these days. Hopefully one of the company's partners still has the rights to publish it - I think it deserves to be out in the world.
24 notes
·
View notes
Note
I love drow but I just can't seem to create a unique tav ;-; I'm scared all our drow tav's look the same in the end😭 any advice?🥹
Honestly, since most drow are purple/blue with white hair and red eyes, it’s hard not to make them look alike, but I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing! I love drow sooo much that I just love every single drow tav I see 😭 I think they are all beautiful, so that just means your tav is also beautiful! <3
This turned into kind of a long post, BUT MOD RECS BELOW!!
I am probably not the best person to ask when it comes to creating unique tavs since I use the same face and hair for my fem tavs (IM TOO ATTACHED </3)
I like what I like what can I say, what can I saaay?
But for character customization here are my tips:
I’d say if you want to create a more “unique” drow, feel free to go beyond what is the usual “drow” look (purple/blue skin, red eyes, white hair, etc.)
I’m pretty sure drow can’t naturally have other hair colours (idk i could be wrong, ask @vspin cause they are like a drow lore master-I KNOW NOTHING) but who says hair dye doesn’t exist in faerun?!! Try some cool new hair colours! Have fun with different hairstyles and tattoos, different eye colours, download some new scar mods!
Another big factor is the clothing and accessories + the dye you choose. I feel like they really will allow your tav/oc to stand out.
Basically, DONT FEEL LIMITED!!! GO CRAZY GO WILD RAAAAA
PC PLAYERS - MUST HAVE MODS
Unique Tav - for body tattoos
New Character Creation Presets - a large selection of beautiful heads created by the wonderful Toarie
Npc Options Unlocker - just unlocks npc heads/hairs
Hair Mixer - allows you to mix different hairstyles, I use the oldest version cause I’m too lazy to update this mod, but the newest version allows you to combine THREE hairstyles now!
Astralities' Hair Color Supplement - A fun thing you can do is play around with the eyebrow/eyelash colours + there is more variants of white/grey hair colours if you want to stick with that colour!!
Astralities' Skintone Expansions - Fantasy | Natural- SO many new skin tone options, i feel like this can make a huge difference as well.
New eye colours (and blindness for all eyes) - SO MANY new eye colours + blindness options (as u all know I luv my ocs half blind 😭)
CovenElf's Tattoo and Makeup Collection - I use this for the messy eye makeup + Lillith’s night elf tattoos + I use the one that replaces the floral neck tattoo to intensify eyeshadow colours or I use like a brownish red at a low opacity to create the effect of tired eyes (my fav thing ever)
OTHER MODS I RECOMMEND:
Hair mods - 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
More heads (even though I use only one lol) - 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Cool scar mods - 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
Cool body tattoo mods - 1 | 2 (unique tav also has a large selection of body tattoos)
More face tattoos - 1 | 2 | 3
Cool armour/accessory mods - 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
More eye variant mods - 1 | 2 | 3
Armour dye mods - 1 | 2 | 3
My full mod list is available HERE (needs to be updated tho) + my oc mod lists - Lillith / Freyja
I hope this was helpful! <3
#༊*·˚ my asks#bg3 mods#linking all these mods made me realize how many of my mods need to be updated 💀 oh nooooo
45 notes
·
View notes
Text
Speaking of topics I feel are under-explored (he says, as he careens wildly into the blog after a week without speaking of any topics whatsoever) I feel like there’s a LOT that can be done with the juxtaposition of the individual Batfam members’ infamous trust issues & secrecy....and the fact that even when they don’t get along, the Batfam members are so inextricably connected that to reveal one’s identity means basically revealing everyone else’s too.
Obviously ‘giving away the family secret’ is a trope that effects most of the DC franchises that involve secret identities.....its not like Superman can reveal he’s Clark Kent without people drawing the connection to the rest of the Superfam, same with the Flash characters, etc, etc.
BUT.
Combine this with how DC adds Batfam members to basically any franchise they can think of, in an effort to capitalize on the high profile nature of those characters & their connections.....and just how damn MANY Batfam characters there are with secret identities compared to a lot of other franchises, and how between them they span most teams and organizations in the DC universe.....
Few other superhero families have AS MUCH of an issue with this as the Batfam does, basically.
BUT.
Now, for added seasoning, throw in the Batfam-specific factor that MANY OF THEM VERY FAMOUSLY DO NOT GET ALONG FOR EXTENDED PERIODS OF CANON.
And this suddenly becomes a much more intricate situation for the Batfam members. Or at least has the potential to be.
Because like, for the most part? The other superhero families are usually more....on the same page, in most respects. Like if one of the Superfam feels they have to reveal their identity to someone or wants to trust a friend with it, the rest of the Superfam is likely to just nod and go with it.
The same can, uh, very much NOT be said for the Batfam.
So I just think it can be very interesting to delve into how various Batfam characters feel about just HOW intertwined their identities are. Their attitudes towards specific instances where one of their relatives tells someone new who they are, when this family is full of people with GINORMOUS trust issues - and who often don’t even trust each other, at least not with things that potentially make them emotionally vulnerable.
How they feel about their relatives giving away the family secret to someone they don’t know. Situations where Bruce is like umm Dick does your therapist really NEED to know our secret identities and Dick’s like well yes Bruce, on account of therapy is super not useful when you’re LYING to your therapist about most of your life.
How does Jason (especially in eras where he’s known to be legally alive again) feel about Bruce revealing the family secret to various JLA teammates that Jason would never in a million years willingly trust with his own identity?
Is Cass ever resentful about being bone-deep CERTAIN she can trust someone with her identity, and wants to, and feeling that she has to factor in how this will affect her various siblings, even if she doesn’t particularly LIKE one of them, like Jason? And vice versa?
Do Dick and Tim feel Bruce is a hypocrite when he just unapologetically announces someone new has been brought in on the secret, as though its a done deal and he never even thought twice about it, when they’ve struggled with WANTING to tell people the family secret only to hold back and watch their relationships with a friend or new connection suffer, because they feel Bruce would never approve of them telling this person?
Does Duke second-guess how strong his ties are to the Batfam as a whole, especially members he’s barely ever had opportunity to interact with, and so worry how they feel about the Family New Guy coming INTO the family secret with a lot of close friends already in on HIS secret identity, and thus affording him a close circle of friends he never even has to struggle with whether or not he has the right to tell them, the way most of the other Batkids have struggled with telling their various friend groups? How DOES Tim feel about the fact that Bruce made him keep his identity secret from even his Young Justice teammates for YEARS while Duke gets his close friends grandfathered into the family secret from day one?
Do any of them ever like, feel that one of the others has told someone new just to spite them in some way? Do any of them ever think that they could get through to one of their enemies who’s trying to turn over a new leaf by showing they trust them....but then hold back because they don’t think its fair to ask the rest of their family to trust said enemy with their identities too? Does Jason ever drop into the middle of one of Dick’s fights just to be like “Okay don’t read anything into this because I’m still currently Not Speaking To You because of Reasons, but uh, what’s this I’m hearing about DAMIAN spilling the family secret to one of his classmates and should we be reading Implications into that?”
(I strongly headcanon that Jason, even when he’s estranged from various family members, is like, an incurable gossip who’s like NOT THAT I EVEN LIKE THESE PEOPLE but I am INVESTED in knowing the juicy details of their private lives for reasons completely unrelated to things like ‘giving a shit about them.’)
BUT I DIGRESS.
Anyway, I’m just saying like. The conundrum of having a secret identity with HUGE stakes attached to the reveal of said identity....when one is part of a huge, sprawling and highly dysfunctional family where ‘they can’t get along even with a gun to their head’ is a thing that literally happens all the time in canon.
107 notes
·
View notes
Text
The IT Girls of the Zodiac
What's your opinion on IT Girl or Main Character placements?👀 for me it's Sagittarius & Pisces explained below. Also honorable mention to Virgo moon that is quite common
I don't think it's a coincidence all the current it girls have major Sagittarius placements. We acknowledge the other fire signs for being baddies but sag gets swept under the rug quite a bit I've noticed? I just think we really sleep on their charisma and attractiveness. I could make the same debate for mutable signs in general but look at Madelyn Cline, Nicki Minaj, Alexa Demie, Alix Earle, Christina Aguilera, Scarlet Johanson, Zoe Kravitz, Naomi Campbell, Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton. They all have either Sagittarius in their big 3 or stelliums. And notably a good portion have the Sagittarius sun & Virgo moon combination which is a bit surprising. But all of these girls have been the it girls forever now yet we always say "Scorpio venus" or it's their "Leo mars" like noooo wake up Sagittarius is the IT GIRL SIGN LOL.
Like I've been thinking about this and looking at sooo many celebs charts who are it girls. The main character sign really is Sagittarius but let's not forget Pisces too. They're both traditionally Jupiter ruled which brings fortune, an expansion in their presence, mass amounts of attention or following, and over indulgence. Sagittarius is the explorer, they discover and create power while also giving others power. Just being in their presence can make you feel high as they carry that demeanour of knowing how to make everything or everyone work and fall for them.
Sag folk could be the biggest workaholic when it's something they truly care about as they fully immerse themselves into their passions. They become inventive and expand something that exists into another different category. I also don't think it's a coincidence Albert Einstein had a Pisces sun & Sag moon. Pisces rules the unknown and unconscious flow of spiritual knowledge. That man literally predicted so many things through science, he was ahead of his time.
Pisces is also significant amongst IT Girls. Because Neptune deals with illusions, deceptions, film, imagery, and dreams. Their effect on others means people project their fantasies onto the Pisces individual as a role to fulfill because their presence is always misinterpreted. The public creates a false narrative about them everytime. Although due to their identity literally being the publics fantasy this means they can either get away with a lot of the public puts them on a pedestal or they get blamed for everything if the public creates a harmful narrative around them because Pisces and Neptune create isolated space as this is the unconscious mind and realm.
For Virgos they're calculated in their interactions and know what to say because their adaptive and observant nature makes them pros at reading others and predicting reactions. Virgo is connected to angels and mythology actually. The symbol is the only goddess symbol in the zodiac which is Astraia the goddess of purity, innocence justice & precision (could also explain why I see so many virgos into law). She is the star goddess that left earth due to the brutal nature of humans. This connection shows people could often expect virgos to save them from their problems or use them as a source of escapism.
There's also a sense of idolizing virgos from the public because they're seen as pure and of higher good. The public often feels virgos have a duty to serve them so there can be a sense of obsession from the publics end on how virgos should behave or act. It makes me think of lily reinhart, blake lively, zendaya & beyonce. All It girls who are virgos that look like goddesses or have an angelic vibe? Like y'all see it too right? They have this pure (I hate the word pure but idk how else to describe this lol) and divine look to them. Plus they all have this incredibly high standard their personality has to live up to. You don't really see many virgo celebs acting out or being wild like a sag sun would.
Another honorable mention is Cancer risings or Amy Cancer placement in your inner planets. Cancer ruled by the moon which literally rules over behaviour and intuition means they can easily appeal and attract anyone due to their likable nature. People find them easy to talk to and their beauty is magnetic. The moon influences the public, the tides & animals. I think that speaks volume about how magnetic cancers really are. They are natural attractors like Angelina Jolie.
In general I believe any sign or placement could become an IT Girl or Main Character placement. This is just a different take on signs that are often ignored when it comes to their influence and beauty from what I've observed.
#astrology#astro observations#astro notes#astrology observations#astrology notes#astroblr#astro community#zodiac#aquarius#zodiac signs#astro observation#astro thoughts#astrology observation#astrology note#astro note#zodiac wheel#horoscopes#astro chart#astro tips#astrology community#astrology thoughts#pisces#virgo#sagittarius#mutable signs#cancer#astrology blog#astro placements#12 signs#astrology culture
393 notes
·
View notes
Text
Saw someone say that the wheel of time show has nothing in common with the books and this is. So not correct.
If you want to see what a show looks like when it has nothing to do with the source material, watch Netflix’s take on the witcher. That’s what happens when not only do the people adapting it not care about the source material but the showrunner actually has stated on record that she dislikes the source material. The witcher on Netflix fucked it up so bad that the lead actor, a huge fan of the source material, walked after three seasons. (I have been informed he actually left due to onset conflicts and instances of being misogynistic to his coworkers. Still a bad adaptation but I rescind this point) Pretty sure the entire country of Poland has disavowed this adaptation and the author wants Nothing to do with it.
The wheel of time is the total opposite. It is Extremely clear that the people working on it and the showrunner love the source material.
This production is running off a shoestring budget. Amazon put most of their high fantasy money into the rings of power (and the effects for the volcano eruption). And rather than being given enough seasons to adapt the entire book series, they’ve been given 8. To adapt 14 Extremely long and complicated books. How many named characters are there in the wheel of time?? Over 3000.
They are being given a very short time frame to accomplish a LOT of plot. Of course they’re going to cut stuff. Of course they’re going to combine characters. Season 2 is covering both books II and III! But they are focusing on the arcs of all the major characters and making sure they are set up for all their major character beats, and setting up the power players and institutions that matter in the larger geopolitical conflicts of randland. Sometimes that means making one character have later parts of their own plots sooner than it takes in the books (Moiraine and Mat in particular so far).
There are a lot of people saying it’s a bad adaptation mostly because a. They’ve made any changes from the books at all and b. Too many characters are gay now. Admittedly most of the people complaining about the adaptation having too many gay characters and nonwhite actors are on Reddit, but still. Both of these are of course nonsense. Of course you have to make changes in making Any adaptation of any book but trying to do the wheel of time in 8 seasons is a Herculean task. That’s why RJ made it 14 books, he tried to do it in less and failed cause he was an adhd king.
Rafe and the other writers have their own particular interpretations of characters but they Are interpreting the original work in a way that holds all the core themes. This season in particular is doing a great job so far of establishing the threat of the seanchan and the trauma of when channelers are cut off from the one power, both of which will of course be central focuses of the rest of the narrative for all of our main characters. I’m Really looking forward to the introduction of the Aiel this season as well.
Also if you’re mad there’s so many queer characters Come The Fuck On. Siuaraine is book canon, go reread New Spring. And I think making the polycule an actual polycule instead of a Mormon sisterwife situation is a fucking Brilliant choice. Making polyamory overtly present in the world already with Alanna and her warders is so good! And given they’re already coding Min as bi I have high hopes for Aviendha and Elayne as well (and also Mat, Mat should join the polycule I am crossing my fingers and toes like I know he’s probably gonna marry Tuon still but Come On he deserves to be in the polycule). If there is one thing I trust Rafe and co. to do well with this adaptation it’s the queer stuff.
Like I get it I’m also sad Uno had to die to make the Seanchan look more badass (r.i.p. my favorite foul mouthed bastard). But they have to make changes in the course of adaptation and if your criticism is just ‘they changed something,’ then please look at the holistic context of the changes, and accept that every adaptation of every book will make changes in order to translate the story to film.
#wot#wot show#wot show spoilers#wot on prime#wheel of time#siuaraine#rafe judkins#wot book spoilers#Caitie speaks
59 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
anomatedshad
Shaggy
rrune
®°rrune°™
tokkyuichigo-blog
SUPER SENTAI
rrune
®°rrune°™
angelavanrose
Angela van Rose