Seeing the Gaz exclusion done by Activision itself (like not being on merch or getting fun new skins in game) reminds me of Arthur from Call of Duty: Vanguard. He was the main character: the head of the team and the narrator of the story. They gave him a couple of skins and called it a day. No new content for him after season 2 (out of 6), while the other campaign characters had consistent additions and bundles throughout the seasons.

idk if I'm reading too much into this, just thinking about how both those characters are black men.

maric would be so much more interesting if dragon age leaned into his horrible vibes. this guy killed his girlfriend, never made any steps to improve things for the elves (there was literally a purge on the denerim alienage the same year he met fiona.), and either a) did not pay enough attention to one of his sons to know he was sent to the templars or b) did know but did not like. do Anything about it. despite his son being the son of an elven mage. i do actually like maric as in canon but he feels... underwhelming and I think a, not necessarily evil, but morally shittier (or perhaps rather, acknowledged shit morals) maric would work so much better.

anyway fascinated by the potential ramifications of rowan being alive during the events of dao. i think she could act as an interesting parallel to Eamon, not like as a person, but in that maybe she could be the 'older figure pushing a candidate for monarch'. i admit im not really sure about that but rowan being alive is so much more interesting than her being dead.

SAY THIS.

i could enjoy maric as a character way more if the writing was able to admit he sucks but it inexplicably can’t, despite having written a guy that sucks. anyway i didn’t sit through fiona and katriel’s storylines to have to be sympathetic. i can’t stand the guy he didn’t deserve any of them i’m glad he died badly and i hope he comes back to die badly again

rowan being alive in dao is soooo good and fun to me... milf rights... bonus landsmeet drama... the INSANE dynamic she and loghain would have going on after losing maric and after he left her SON to die... did i already say milf rights... it would be so interesting what side she came down on vis a vis the throne. i could see both tbh

Did Marvel miss the boat in not having Storm and Black Panther still being together during the Krakoa era? It feels like Ororo essentially being Queen of Wakanda, through her marriage to T’Challa, would have added an interesting wrinkle to Mutant-Wakanda political relations, especially if Storm was sitting on the Quiet Council at the time?

I mean Storm was of being Not!Queen of Mars (no thrones on Arakko!) before we were that far into the Krakoa storyline I feel like, though admittedly my sense of time is pretty shaky these days.

And T'Challa hasn't even been king for a few years now; lately whenever he sees any other Wakandan they just shit-talk him to his face about how many times he's screwed over their whole country to create Plot.

And T'Challa unilaterally anulled their marriage over a decade ago.

I think that one dramatic, very divorced conversation they had was about what you could expect. Storm would have dumped T'Challa in favor of her obligations to Krakoa and Arakko if T'Challa hadn't divorced her first, so we'd mostly just have gotten the same thing way more drawn out and it probably would have gotten boring way before they pulled the trigger.

Although admittedly if Storm had been ruling Mars while married to the exiled former king of Wakanda, who couldn't go to Mars because it's accessible only via portals that only take mutants who aren't Shadowcat, the, uh. The themes. Would have been front and center in ways that would be interesting, if Marvel was willing to deal with them.

Like Krakoa tries not to be mutant supremacist even though it is but Arakko...and Wakanda's history of isolationism the breaking of which has never improved things for them but which is inextricably tied to T'Chall as a person...and the angle of view on the oppression-racism-separatism deal if Storm left T'Challa for Arakko, when they are the premier black power couple of the Marvel Universe...hmmmm. Spicy. Too spicy.

Anyway they did a storyline where Wakanda was suddenly a space empire (I have never dug enough to figure that out) while Krakoa was also becoming a space empire while Teddy Altman was becoming the Emperor of a Kree/Skrull united space empire and I think some of the Inhumans were alive again for part of this though I'm not sure they were living on the moon again, and they did minimal. Crossing over of these storylines. Like at all. So I really can't see this particular divorce drama actually being written successfully. 😂

Have you ever heard the song Light by Sleeping at Last? I get sooooo many inukag feels from it and I feel like you’d really like it!

I love Sleeping at Last! Two is in every Inukag playlist I've made to this day. I'll admit I don't remember ever listening to Light before, but when I finally did, all I could think about was how Inuyasha's relationship with Kagome impacts who he would be as a father.

According to Genius, Light is the follow on track — storyline wise — of Uneven Odds, a song about a boy who had lost both of his parents. Ryan O'Neal explained that the song is written from the perspective of this little boy, who is now an adult and becoming a parent himself.

May these words be the first to find your ears The world is brighter than the sun now that you're here Though your eyes will need some time to adjust To the overwhelming light surrounding us

From the very beginning it's clear the narrator is a parent talking to his newborn. Kagome was the first person to tell Inuyasha things he desperately needed to hear and something I love about Inukag is how she is a source of light and warmth in Inuyasha's life and how this is supported by the text and the narrative, so it's like he is saying those things from experience here.

I'll give you everything I have I'll teach you everything I know I promise I'll do better

Inuyasha doesn't have much, but he was always risking everything he had to protect Kagome and now that he has much more than he ever thought he would, he can do the same for their child.

And I'm not talking only about the fire rat robe or tessaiga — although they can be great heirlooms — but we know when Inuyasha loves someone, he gives them his all: body, mind and soul. His sweat, blood and tears.

Furthermore, Inuyasha's jorney was tremendous and he learned a lot, especially from Kagome. Now that he is grown and wiser, he can pass on those very important lessons to his own child while still working on himself to improve and be better than he ever was, to be a man deserving of Kagome and his baby because he has been through too much and is still a work in progress.

I will always hold you close But I will learn to let you go I promise I'll do better

Inuyasha was touch starved for the most par of his life, so even though he tries to be nonchalant about it, the truth is that he thrives on physical affection, which is why he wants to keep close any source of it.

But he also came to terms with the fact that holding on is only half of what truly loving someone actually means. The other half is letting go, which is why we often got scenes of him pushing Kagome away — both literally and metaphorically — or giving her up even if it was the last thing he wanted to do.

Because he can't be selfish with her, her safety and her feelings have got to come first so he has to give her space to make her own decisions and hope that, whatever she decides, she will be safe and happy. He owes her that much and that's all he really dares to ask for.

With kids is not different, because sooner or later they're gonna leave the nest and there's not really much a father can do except staying back, watching them shine and cheering them on in every step of the way.

I will soften every edge I'll hold the world to its best And I'll do better

There's nothing more symbolic than a character who was once rough around the edges wanting to soften every edge of the world because once upon a time someone softned his and now he is trying to do the same in hopes of creating a better place for their own baby.

We don't talk about it much, but Inuyasha is an idealist. Way less optimistic than Kagome, sure, but an idealist nonetheless. As much of a cynical as he was — or claimed to be — about the world and the people in it, he never really was a passive voice.

On the contrary, he fought for his life, fought for people like Shiori and Jinenji. Even though he knew this was just how things were he didn't act like he truly accepted it and that's why Change The World is one of the best openings ever. Inuyasha changed the world by just existing and now he'll make it so it treats his child better than it treated him.

With every heartbeat I have left I will defend your every breath And I'll do better

"If that's what you want, then I'll protect you with my life" is the first things that comes to mind and it couldn't be different. Inuyasha lives and dies for the people he cares about. A child would only intensify those protective instincts to the highest level.

'Cause you are loved, you are loved more than you know I hereby pledge all of my days to prove it so Though your heart is far too young to realize The unimaginable light you hold inside

Although he has his moments, words aren't usually his thing. He shows his affection with acts of service, physical touch and quality time and it's often so subtle sometimes people won't notice it or, if they do, won't comprehend just how deep his feelings runs.

Inuyasha is nothing if not loyal and the love he felt for Kagome was so transcendental that it kept growing strong even in the three years they spent apart, when he went to the well every three days to try and get to her. He would have waited for her until the end of his days and when she finally returned, he gave them all to her anyway.

And the "light" of this last verse can be interpreted both as a reference to the recurring theme of Kagome being the sun of his cold, dark world — who is now brighter also thanks to their kid — and a refference to the light of a priest(ess) born out of their union, who could easily carry their mother's powers within them.

I will rearrange the stars Pull 'em down to where you are I promise I'll do better With every heartbeat I have left I'll defend your every breath I promise I'll do better

Another thing I love about Inukag is the constant use of stars in their relationship — they often can be seeing stargazing alone — because stars are constantly associated with the universe. Stars aligned so that they could meet at the right place at the right time only for fate to cruelly rip them away from each other. They had to defy time and space to get their happily ever after. It's nothing Inuyasha wouldn't also do for their child.

Being a parent is already challenging. You're learning on the job every single day, so you're always trying to do better, to do better. In Inuyasha's especific case must be even harder due to his traumas and the prejudice that his child will have to go through, but the bottom line is that he is willing to go above and beyond to give them everything he didn't have.

jt (finally) watches warrior nun - s1 e2

Another interesting episode - today, I have thoughts on:

Ava and Mary's parallels

Duretti, and some filming irks

More Beatrice thoughts lol

Okay, about Ava and Mary: such an interesting choice, to have these two particular storylines run parallel to each other. Both are diving deeper into things they don't understand, trying to find some sort of closure/answers; both quite unstable and at times, desperate. Idk I feel like that bit where Mary's torturing that dude and Ava leaves JC to find Michael (who was creepy af ngl) was an interesting parallel at what they're both capable of: Mary leaving behind her humanity, Ava leaving behind what's been her first semblance of comfort and safety.

Also, again, have to give props to both Alba Baptista and Toya Turner because their scenes could have fallen flat, but their acting choices were brilliant. Also, a nod to JC's character too - I think if he wasn't written so sympathetically (and if Emilio Sakraya didn't play him with such kindness and sincerity), it wouldn't bring out Ava's different moods (and Alba's reactions).

Let's talk a bit about Duretti - fascinating how they portray him in both cinematography and dialogue as the quintessential baddie - and also how that characterization immediately makes us want to be sympathetic to Vincent (again, setting up for his betrayal later). My only beef so far are the scenes between Duretti and Kristian, and then Duretti and Jillian, mostly for the trite "religion vs science" dialogue and the uninspired cinematography.

I say the latter only because we've seen really beautiful cinematography for Ava, so I'm assuming it was a conscious choice, but still I'm not sure what it brought, just having close face shots the whole time. It would have been really nice if they used the setting a bit more - for example, if they had the lighting play a role, maybe during that standoff between Duretti and Jillian, have the camera a bit wide at times and have the light swing back and forth between the two, maybe even time it to light a character when they have the upper hand in the argument.

In that standoff between Duretti and Kristian, I think the writing could have been improved by being more aware of the audience they have. To have to be indirect about things not only would have added some tension to the exchange but also force the audience to think a bit more. For example, that scene where Ava gets all excited about the wheelchairs and she says "I always wanted one of these!" - the others are a bit confused about it but we the audience can make the connection that oh, right, because of when she was paralyzed. Again, this might have been a choice, maybe to not force the audience to think so much? idk

Okay now my favorite thing, analyzing Beatrice lol. Three things stuck out to me (outside of the fact that for a "seemingly" minor character, she's present quite a bit) - first, how she does the research on the tarasks herself. So, in the military and larger organizations in general that have a similar hierarchy and specialist teams, leaders would typically assign other people to do that kind of research. Which makes me wonder: Did Bea just want to do it herself? Does the OCS not have folks who specialize in research? I feel like the latter wouldn't be true (though we don't really have any evidence otherwise) and more that it's the former: I'm willing to bet that Beatrice doesn't see herself as much of a leader though she carries herself as one (see my notes on the first episode here). Though now I've just had a thought: I wonder if this is her also trying to keep info close to only the core group? Mm that doesn't quite work because Camila's there, and it would've been easy to assign her as the junior person to research things. Anyway, I just see this as an interesting choice of Beatrice doing the work herself.

Second thing is the tranquilizer gun. Note how this was hidden beneath her robes - she has to put away the weapon she was holding to then reach for it:

This makes me think two things: 1) she figured there'd be a lull and she would have the time to get to it, showing again her incredible foresight and strategic thinking, and 2) she was hiding it from the others. That latter is really interesting to me. I don't think she was hiding it because she felt ashamed of it, but rather it being an extension of the first point above: Beatrice does the work herself. Additionally, this is her working off of her own conclusions from the conversation with Vincent - she didn't receive a direct order from Vincent, they just talked about Vincent wanting to "give her [Ava] a choice" and she went with that. So this is her acting on her own but because she was convinced by/agreed with Vincent. (Side note: This makes me wonder what action Beatrice would have taken if she hadn't had that conversation with Vincent - again, fascinating to think about what Beatrice is capable of).

Third and last, there's that flippant comment "I had a feeling she'd be a handful." Two things here again: 1) this kind of ability to make light of a shitty situation (in contrast to Lilith's exasperation) reminds me again of the military, where dark humor is really one of the only and best ways you can cope sometimes, and 2) it's also Bea kinda making light of her own abilities - her ability to foresee and plan (and follow, in a way). Again, this is Bea not seeing herself as a leader or extraordinary.

Alright, well I've got some travel planned this weekend but hopefully I'll get to episode 3 before that, but no promises.

hi! you don't have to answer and I'm sorry if I misunderstood what you said, but I think it's a little unfair to say you cannot distinguish people who criticise trop because they're racist vs because they don't want to support amazon vs because it doesn't follow the "original storyline". also the Jackson trilogy had its fair share of problems, but they mostly followed the story and I think the heart was there. amazon has to change a lot of plot points because they don't own the rights to the silmarillion, so it's not really the same thing. I understand the need for caution because unfortunately the tolkien fandom is full of misogynists and white supremacists, but I don't think it's as undistinguishable as you made it to be. again, sorry if you're done talking about this, I love your blog, nor trying to start any shit. ok bye <3

Never done talking about this! Might be talking about this for weeks to come.

To be clear, what I mean is that the talking points are indistinguishable. If I see someone talking about how RoP is betraying Tolkien's vision or how this is a sin against Tolkien or how he's rolling in his grave and other such rhetoric, I cannot tell if that person is saying it because they don't like the canon changes, or because they are racist. Because I have seen all sides of the fence, often verbatim! make those same points. The only way to tell where they fall is often either digging quite deep into their social media, or by actually engaging with them in a discussion that can get incredible nasty very quickly. And even then, it is not a surefire thing. And with the massive weight of the backlash, often you don't really have time to do any of that in the first place. What I'm saying is that, no matter the original intention, the vitriol and aggression of the pushback against RoP is only serving the white supremacists, no one else.

Next, and I'll keep saying this until the cows come home, they have absolutely enough of the rights to the canon material to adapt the Akallabeth. They do not have to change a lot of plot points. They are making plot points, in order to fill in for the scarcity of character and plot within the actual text itself, but they are fully able to tell this story. They even have special dispensation from the tolkien estate to use material they dont have the rights too on a case by case approval basis. This is misinformation which is, I'm pretty sure, from the racist backlash on places like youtube.

Peter Jackson, I might add, had the rights to a fully written and characterised story with everything he needed and he STILL changed: - Every character's personality, and most of their motives and dialogue - Removed characters with large speaking roles and entire sections of the story including the ending to the whole thing! - Removed all of the complexity to the plot, the philosophy, the mentions of the west, boiled down every theme to something something 'friendship' and Frodo's whole agency in the ring's destruction entirely.

So I really don't see where RoP is going wrong if we're all fine with the jackson trilogy. Is it the heart? If you watched the interviews from cast and crew, I think you'd find a lot of what you're looking for. Peter Jackson was under the thumb of a massive profiteering mega corporation too, Harvey Weinstein literally produced those films.

I'm not saying you can't dislike it, I'm not even saying don't criticise it or hate on it! What I'm saying is #1 think about where you got the information that caused you to hate it, #2 make sure that's not misinformation #3 allow RoP's right to exist, even if you hate it. Don't treat tolkien's work like a religious text that cannot be tainted, it is still just a story and anyone could improve upon it if they wished.

Amarimonogatari: Afterword

There are many arguments for and against the idea that the creator and his creation are separate, but if we think about it simply and logically, it is impossible for the creator and the creation to be the same, or to be in perfect agreement. Personally, I think that the statement, "The creation is but one part of the creator," is correct. But the funny thing is, there are examples--lots of examples--where that one part surpasses the whole, and I'd like to say that's the real thrill of creation. I suppose it would be like, "The creator is but one part of his creation"? There is no doubt that he is one of its components, but the proportions of those components and the roles they play may vary. In that case, what if the creator expresses that his creation reached fruition in a manner completely different from his original plan? One may think it equates to being a failed work, but that isn't the case--the author may have failed, but it surely wouldn't become a failed work. I'm sure we can solicit any number of opinions on how much the excuse "This wasn't what I planned" can be used against a creative work, but I imagine the number of people saying that it ended up better than the original plan and the number of people saying that it ended up worse than the original plan would be about the same. Of course, whether it's good or bad, the work is a part of the creator's self, so he may not feel any sense of accomplishment as a result, but I suppose that point is what separates the creator from his creation. Even without parents, a child will grow.

Although this has no relation to the above discussion, this book was originally a story about Araragi-kun and Ononoki-chan going on an adventure to the demon world during the summer vacation of his first year in university. That had been the plot at the planning stage, but once I began writing and finished thusly, the contents ended up slightly different. But I am not dissatisfied in the least. Conversely, if I think about how it would've never ended up like this if I'd planned everything out in minute detail, then that sounds even scarier. Sengoku Nadeko's storyline in the latter half also has Ononoki-chan as a partner, so the entire novel was full of this corpse doll as a result, which was also outside of my expectations. But, at least when it comes to me, I have never written a single novel according to my original plans. Nevertheless, it appears that my next novel will become my hundredth one. It was certainly outside of my expectations to have been able to write for this long, so I can only say that I'm truly glad that things didn't go according to plan. With that, this book was a tsukumogami[?] written 100 percent as a hobby, "Amarimonogatari", "Episode 4: Yotsugi Buddy" and "Episode 5: Yotsugi Shadow".

As you have seen, the cover features the version of Ononoki Yotsugi-chan in her new fashion. VOFAN-san, thank you very much. Her appearance rate on the covers has inadvertently become top-class, so she's completely become a main character before I knew it, didn't she? Monster Season will now be entering its second half, so please look forward to the remaining three volumes. I hope you will follow along with my unplanned plans. Translator's Afterword

There are often times when I revisit some of my earlier translations and think that I could've done better. Of course, feeling ashamed of my past translations is likely a sign that I've improved as a translator—but when I consider the embarrassment I feel from recalling my past memories, does that really mean I've grown as a person? On the other hand, there have been times when I've read a translation of mine and thought, "This holds up surprisingly well for something I did several years ago," so perhaps I haven't actually improved as much as I think I have. For example, instead of an upgrade, it would be a sidegrade. (At least, I hope I haven't downgraded.) In any case, if I had infinite time and resources, I'd be tempted to keep going back and editing what I've put up, but then again, if I really did have infinite time and resources, they'd be better off spent translating new works instead. With that in mind, I'd like to have the confidence to never go back and edit my earlier translations, but perhaps that isn't quite it either.

It was touched upon in the text itself, but the word "buddy" in the arc title "Yotsugi Buddy" could also be read as "body". Given that the word "body" is more commonly written as bodi unlike title's badi, and considering the partnership of Koyomi and Yotsugi being more at the forefront of the story than anyone's bodies, it seemed more appropriate to use the word "buddy", but in the end, I can't claim to know for sure the author's true intentions. Perhaps a translation should seek to be so natural that people forget it's a translation, but ironically, I'd like to keep reminding people that a translation is but another interpretation of the translator.

On behalf of the author, I would like to thank you for reading "Amarimonogatari"—and I would like to thank you for reading my translation.

Polaris

5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Rules: post the top 5 works you’re most proud of that you released in 2022 (not necessarily your most popular), your top 4 current WIPs that you’re excited to release in the new year, your top 3 biggest improvements in your writing over the past year, your top 2 resolutions (ways you wish to improve your writing/blog) for the new year, and your number 1 favorite line you’ve written this year!

Thanks @chicgeekgirl89 for the tag!

5 Works

The lightnin' in my heart makes it worth it: My first Rookie story and what I hope is the first of many. Chenford stole my heart and I had the best time writing them. I also love every single character on the show and had a lot of fun writing them ganging up on poor Tim.

Silhouettes with no regrets: Heartstopper is one of my favorite stories and I loved writing a Tarlos fic inspired by the show. I really like the balance it has between my usual angst, emotional moments between the boys and more romance than I've ever written.

A Partner's Always Got Your Back + A Friend's Always Got Your Back: Two fics that could be a first and second chapter of the same fic; hence, why I added them both. This was my first time writing from a perspective other than Tarlos and I had so much fun. I love Nancy and I really enjoyed getting inside her head, and showing her sass, how badass she is, and how good a friend she is to her partner and Carlos.

The Green and Brown of Each Other’s Eyes: This one is also very special and easily one of my favorite fics I've ever written. I loved filling in the blanks of various show moments and showing in my own way the growth and evolution of TK and Carlos' relationship. It has some of my favorite lines ever and I just loved exploring Tarlos and sprinkling little parts of myself within their story.

Surrounded by Love: My father passed away in 2020 and I wrote this fic about TK dealing with the passing of his mother in honor of that storyline and my favorite character, and as a tribute to my father and my own grief. It's very personal and very special and easily my #1 favorite.

4 WIPS

The Courthouse fic: Tarlos, Nancy and Tommy + Owen and Gabriel at court when a bad guy breaks out; what could possibly go wrong? Been working on this one on and off since 2021 and it rarely cooperates. I started working on it last week again and might have figured out how to make it work for a bingo square but we will see.

Domestic Abuse: A NCISLA bingo square where Deeks suspects his neighbor is a victim of domestic abuse. My typical angst with some of my 'humor' in between.

A The Rookie fic of Chenford's first Valentine's Day together since they started dating.

An earthquake fic for my 'Natural Disaster' bingo square that I haven't started. Not sure yet if I want it to be for The Rookie and Chenford, or Lone Star and Tarlos.

3 Biggest Improvements

Better integrating my dialogue with the descriptions of what the characters are doing and what's happening around them.

I used to be very much an introspective writer and I spent a lot of time getting inside character's head and doing descriptions. Now I feel more comfortable writing dialogue and incorporating more characters into my fics.

I used to think I could only write fic for NCISLA and even that was mostly a fluke. I've now written for 8 fandoms and have learned to see I'm a good enough writer in my own way. I see how happy writing makes me and now that, for better or worse, it's probably going to be a part of my life forever.

2 Resolutions

Writing consistently: I wrote 13 fics in 2022. 12 in between January and May, and 1 in December. Enough said lol.

I want to get better at adding humor and romance into my fics. I love whump and angst but want to feel as comfortable writing other emotions and different types of scenes as I do with those two.

1 Favorite Line

From Can You Feel It?

Sitting back down on the chair with a sigh, Carlos grabs TK's hand again and sets it on his chest, over his heart. "Can you feel it?" he asks his ex-boyfriend. "Can you feel it beating for the both of us?"

Tagging @wanna-be-bold @ejzah @ravens-words

Danger of idolising human being (aka: Queer ‘representations’ in Taika Waititi’s films)

Idolising cerebrilities is one my least favourite things. Don’t put them on a pedestal.

I know the fandom tend to jokingly exaggerate and over-simplify, claiming everything Taika Waititi does is gay. Except, it is not. Let me remind you, he is not the greatest ally in history. Though he is definitely in the learning process.

I am not trying to call him out. I am a fan of his works (always his work, not him personally, cause I don’t know him personally). I watched all his films after OMFD and easily noticed that he didn’t really care about queer people at first. Gay and Lesbian are mentioned in Eagle vs Shark, Two Cars One Night, Boy, they are neither encouraging nor insulting (basically the terms are used to someone who might attract the protagonists’ crushes - you know, to eliminate the ‘rivals’). It is not that he had deeply cared for queer people. Also, the ‘hom*’ and ‘fa*’ jokes in wwdits? Was it funny? I am not really sure.

(Btw I saw the interview that Waititi and Clement said when they filmed the short film of wwdits in 2006, people in Wellington called them (vampires) homophobic slurs like hom* and fa* (It was Friday night and there was rugby match or something). However in 2015, they didn’t hear these insults despite they included in the script. Their point was basically how people have changed in the past decade. )

Again, I am not accusing him. I definitely think he has learned and improved his work. For example, he was aware that there have been various people in the society and included queer storyline in Jojo Rabbit (it is hard to say captain K is a ‘representation’. Btw did you see the pink triangle in his chest, which is a sign for identifying Homosexual people in the concentration camps but now became the gay/LGBTQ liberation symbol?) . As we all know, wwdits (TV show) and OFMD have amazing LGBTQ representations. Although he didn’t write the scripts, still he was more or less involved. Of course he is an ally, but don’t assume he was born to be the one.

I generally think his works centre father-son relationship, masculinity, and belonging. Questioning authority of patriarchy and (conventional, ‘modern’ western-centric) masculinity is his thing. He doesn’t value biological family like some old-fashioned cis hetero men in the industry but rather validates chosen/found family trope, and that’s why his works go well with queerness as well.

Yeah, we, as a community, have been craving for inspiration. Taika Waititi’s recent works are the particularly well-written queer stories. However, don’t you ever put him on a pedestal. Most importantly, don’t try to justify or protect his flaws. Don’t be blind. He is not a saint, he is just human. Please calm down and do not forget a critical mindset.

Sources (Interviews)

wedits https://youtu.be/ERVWnq7uY3E

Jojo rabbit https://www.pride.com/movies/2019/10/18/why-taika-waititis-jojo-rabbit-includes-queer-storyline

N'Pressions: Ghostbusters: Answer the Call Comic Mini-Series is a Better Movie

Greetings lethals and villains-it is spooky time and I decided to go chatter about a Halloween classic: the ghostbusters series. Granted I don’t consider the original Ghostbusters this sacred golden cow of cinema but it is one of those franchises that gives way to a lot of flexibility if the two animated series and comic lines have shown us anything. The first one has the best jokes, the second has the best storyline, and Afterlife has the most heart. I’ll admit I didn’t like Answer the Call….on its own terms. A lot of the scenes dragged on to get to the point or the jokes were repeated until they just lost all amusement. And there was just this undertone of unnecessary bitterness that just…why? I could even forgive the special effects if the writing was better. What is crazy is that it wasn’t the story or character concepts themselves that were bad because both Channel Awesome and Lego Dimensions could take those ideas and actually make them funny. Heck the IDW line did a mostly female team arc in their main Ghostbusters series about two years prior to the film and I highly recommend it.

Thinking about that; if they had used the basis of that story for the film-it would have been a huge improvement and maybe I’ll squawk about that one another day. One of the boons that came from Answer the Call was that a lot of the IDW Ghostbusters comics were on sale on Comixology way back in the days before Amazon and their meddling with the UI of the site. Which is really frustrating now especially when you live in the middle of nowhere and you would have to drive almost an hour to get my wings on comics and manga.

Which actually brings us to this mini series that is based off the Answer the Call team. This isn’t the first time they were featured in comics, that would be the crossover miniseries: Ghostbusters 101. Unfortunately that crossover is the weakest out of the six crossover specials but this is another discussion for another time. Though their comic journey would be improved in this 5 part miniseries and the Crossing Over event.

These issues would come out in 2018 and in timeline it would take place after 101 with the story written by Kelly Thompson and the artwork done by Corin Howell. The story begins inside a brownstone house and the team is fighting a ghost child. After the capture we see that something is up with Abbey. Back at base Patty is researching up the history of the place and finds something disturbing-that the house used to be come to a Doctor Kruger.

On the nose, I know-even the comic admits that and that he was researching nightmares. And then it shows Abbey being possessed. Holtzman brings out a new weapon and starts technobabbling like she did in the movie and Patty and Erin actually tell her to shut it. On a side note-one thing I will give the movie credit for is the variances of the proton functions and other tools. Sure they will use the basic wand shooters for most jobs-but when they are facing a different sort of enemy-they know they have to vary things up as we shall see later in the mini. Anyway, while they do recuse Abbey-Kruger uses Intimidate and then runs off. In the next issue they chase Kruger into the Empire State building but he is able to push back the capture streams. When they question why-Kruger gives them a demonstration of just what he is capable of even in his current power level by putting them each into their own personal nightmares. Erin is chased by giant bees. Abby is surrounded by clowns, Patty by creepy dolls, and Holtzman surrounded by automatons.

But if you look a second time there is a second nightmare underneath all that. Both Erin and Abbey have a fear of being laughed at and mocked by the scientific community despite their research and evidence. Patty being left behind by the others because she is not a scientist like the rest of the crew. And Holtzman being unable to escape the pressure of conformity. Again it is a nice little character moment that plays into the narrative without halting the plot.

Kruger leaves them behind and as Holtzman puts it afterwards he does not see them as an actual threat to his goals. But after a pep talk they head back to the firehouse to make a new plan and gather information. They realize the only way to really beat him is to either increase firepower (which they can’t do through legal means) or outsmart Kruger on his own turf-the latter being decided. After a joke about memory implantation and soup they discover they all share a singular experience from years ago and they can use that experience to level the playing field.

Back at the empire building they face off-though with some hiccups they manage to capture the field and have a plate of nightmare scrambled eggs. The end.

Honestly this comic is what the film should have been. It captures what is best about the franchise-a horror comedy that is still a fun adventure with some snark in the mix. In my opinion it addresses some of the issues of the 2016 film but fixes them in a more subtle way as opposed to shining a flashlight on them. I won’t go though every gag in this book but there is a clever running gag involving Kevin and the phones. The first time they didn’t receive calls because Kevin unplugged the phone. Later in the next book Kevin had cut the phone line but Abby had a storehouse of phones. And finally in the last book they bring up he can run the siren if he can master the phone plugged in. It’s a cute and clever bit of humor that varies it up enough and spaced so the gag actually works.

Though I wouldn’t say the comic is perfect. It’s biggest issue is that it tends to repeat the same story beats for the five issues. They encounter Kreuger, he scares them, he gets away-encounter, scare, escape-encounter, scare win. It really disrupts the flow even for a comic miniseries.

Even shows that play on the Fight to be Continued next episode still weaves into one another without falling back into a repeating loop. I get that they only had a limited space to work with unlike films but it some things could have been cut down such as Abbey being possessed (really aside from a quick reference to the film it doesn't do anything) or cut out to fit in those transitions more smoothly. If this ever got an adaptation this is something that could be fixed easily enough. That being said, if you can get your hands on a copy I recommend giving this mini-series a try and shrug about what we could have had. Also, Sony darling? Extreme Ghostbusters practically handed it to you! I’m Noctina Noir and take to the skies.

Unveiling the Captivating World of Tim Burton's Wednesday Series on Netflix

Plan to be charmed by Tim Burton's Wednesday series, a captivating addition to Netflix's collection. Written by the gifted team Miles Millar and Al Gough, this captivating story takes viewers on an excursion alongside Wednesday Addams as she embarks on a way of self-discovery at Nevermore Foundation. Set against the background of a town succumbing to a frightening power, the series offers a remarkable mix of darkness, appeal, and whimsy that only Tim Burton can convey.

Unveiling the World of Wednesday Addams

In this captivating story, Wednesday Addams, the dearest character from Charles Addams' iconic funny cartoon and previous adaptations, takes the all important focal point. Depicted as a little kid on the cusp of adulthood, Wednesday finds herself at Nevermore Foundation, a prestigious institution where she hones her skills and navigates the complexities of adolescence. The series delves profound into Wednesday's excursion of self-discovery, investigating her remarkable abilities and the challenges she faces as she strives to find her place in a world loaded up with darkness and vulnerability.

An Unpleasant Setting

As Wednesday grapples with her very own development, her old neighborhood becomes a landmark for an ominous and relentless power. The town's residents wind up succumbing to dread and distrustfulness, elevating the tension and adding an additional layer of mystery to the story. This spooky setting serves as the ideal canvas for Tim Burton's distinct visual style, mixing gothic esthetics, potentially offensive humor, and fantastical elements.

The Sorcery of Tim Burton's Vision

Tim Burton, known for his distinctive style and inventive storytelling, brings his remarkable vision to the Wednesday series. With his signature gothic and whimsical touch, he breathes new life into the dearest Addams Family universe, offering a fresh and captivating interpretation of the iconic characters. Burton's meticulous attention to detail and his capacity to make visually stunning worlds give an immersive encounter that transports viewers into the depths of Wednesday's excursion.

The Gifted Collaborators

In the background, the gifted team of Miles Millar and Al Gough, known for their work on famous shows like Smallville, have made a rich and nuanced storyline that captures the essence of the Addams Family while infusing it with their own imaginative splendor. Their expertise in character improvement and storytelling shines through as they dive into Wednesday's transformation from a curious little kid to a strong power embracing her special personality. Click to see here Уэнсдэй смотреть

Conclusion

Get ready to be spellbound by Tim Burton's Wednesday series, a spellbinding addition to Netflix's collection of convincing content. Miles Millar and Al Gough have masterfully written a story that takes viewers on an excursion of self-discovery alongside Wednesday Addams at Nevermore Foundation. With a town succumbing to an unnerving power, the series offers an ideal mix of darkness, whimsy, and visual spectacle. Tim Burton's visionary direction brings his interesting touch to the Addams Family universe, making a mesmerizing world that is sure to charm fans old and new. So, prepare to be entranced and immerse yourself in the captivating world of Tim Burton's Wednesday series, accessible exclusively on Netflix.

Mikayla Walters

This is an author blurb about my thoughts on one of my OC characters, Mikayla Walters. And yes, there are going to be spoilers for my fic "There Are Others" in this commentary, so the actual thoughts will go under the cut.

Mikayla Walters. Or as she is called now, Mikayla... Afton. There's a lot to unpack here, but I'll start with the basics. Originally, Mikayla was written to be Cassidy's older sister. She was meant to have blonde hair, as to resemble Vanessa more. Mikayla was meant to have an important stake in the story, even before her role was revealed, but when I started putting words on the page, the time period changed as well. Suddenly, Mikayla wasn't some twenty-something looking for a job change out of a career in literature, and she was instead a twelve-year-old who babysat Michael's younger siblings when he wanted out of the house. That should've resolved my issues, because didn't I already say that she was initially Cassidy's older sister? If Cassidy was meant to be Mikayla's younger sister, then she'd have to be around the same age as Michael, which wouldn't have been possible in the original storyline I'd come up with. Still, while changing the setting enough to make that make sense, I'd somehow managed to place Cassidy into a different family entirely. I don't recall how exactly this came about, but Cassidy ended up with a different older sister, and an even older brother who both had their own focuses and lives. Not the greatest family combination, but then, not all older siblings endlessly torment their younger ones like Michael did. Mikayla was left without any siblings at this point. That bothered me immensely, because her motivations would have to be changed in order to explain why she was so motivated against William Afton. So I gave her a new sibling: Jason. We'll get back to him at a later date. Mikayla went from being an older sister to a twin sister, and with that change, her personality became more fierce. I made it so the two siblings were protective of one another, almost to a fault. Mikayla would die for Jason, and vice versa. It worked pretty effectively in the story, if I'm honest. His death had to be at least a little bit crushing on Mikayla in order for this all to work, after all.

Mikayla got her babysitting job as a favor to her family, but she didn't tell anyone except her brother. Her father wouldn't be very pleased about her creating a source of income for the family as it would be a blow to his pride, so she avoided mentioning it to him at all. She practically begged for her job with the Aftons, even as William dug his feet in and said they didn't need a babysitter. What they needed was for Michael to be a better older brother, which I actually kind of agree with. Anyway, Mikayla formed a bond with all three of the Afton children, something I hadn't initially planned. Sure, she was going to end up meeting Michael eventually since he's the main protagonist of the original series, and excluding him would mean more work for me, but at twelve, Mikayla had given Michael more attention than anyone ever had, aside from an old friend (another person we'll get back to). It's kind of funny to me how this changed things in the story. By meeting Michael so early, and by making friends with Michael before the bite, it meant that I had to work things out a different way. Their friendship would pressure Michael to improve himself, as Mikayla would never treat her siblings that way. This changes Michael from canon in so many more ways than I thought, actually. By developing a crush on Mikayla, Michael's character had shifted to try to instigate more positive interactions with her, and in turn made him nicer to Evan as well. Haha... the feelings... I wasn't sure I even wanted her to end up with Michael at first. I mean, I'd written Michael to be somewhat attracted to her, but I knew that could change. Twelve-year-olds can have crushes, after all! But Mikayla... Well, she was a different story. Even now, realizing how I want her to behave, it still comes through as a struggle for me. I don't know enough about the sexuality I want her to have in order to properly write her into it. I mean, she doesn't need labels of any kind at all. She married Michael, and that should be the end of it. But her behaviors to me are important. Why does Mikayla act the way she does? What motivates her? I'd been trying to keep Mikayla motivated by her family. First it was the firm belief she'd held that Jason was in some kind of danger from Afton. After his disappearance, she does have that bit of time where the illusion disks work really well, and honestly, I should make a short post explaining that as well. But anyway, when Mikayla recalls what William Afton had done, she's angry. She tells the police what she knows (eventually) and she does the most damage against William Afton. This does tie-in later, but I'll save that for when I decide to do spoilers for later on in "Of the Others." Mikayla remains devoted to her family and protecting them, but she also feels personally responsible for all of the remaining dead children. If she'd said something immediately upon discovering what she knew, maybe this could've been avoided. Mikayla isn't the only one with this internalized responsibility. Several characters feel this way, including Evan, Cassidy, Michael, Elizabeth, Scott, Jeremy, and Peter. It's just part of the way things ended up for them. They all blame themselves personally for some aspect of the children being dead, so they all have a belief that they have a duty to the dead children. Mikayla does take things a lot heavier than she appears to. While I'm absolutely terrible at portraying the fact that she is scared of the animatronics, I do want it on the record that she's as terrified of the Foxy models (if not more afraid) than Jeremy is. The idea of getting near Funtime Foxy in any capacity terrifies her, simply because 1. he murdered her brother, 2. he helped in the plot to scoop Michael, and 3. he looks a lot like our friend Mangle who caused the Bite of '87. I... cannot think of much else about her atm, so I hope you found this interesting!

Live On

Summary

“Abyss” is about a man and a woman who tragically die and are given another chance at life through soul-reviving marbles in a magical abyss. Go Se Yeon was a tough, accomplished, and an unrivaled beautiful female prosecutor who worked in the Seoul District public Office but gets into a fatal accident and dies. However, due to the mysterious magical marble—Abyss—Go Se Yeon is revived, but now in a totally different appearance. Go Se Yeon now possesses a common appearance based off of how “good” her spirit was in her previous life. Cha Min was the highly intelligent heir to Korea’s top cosmetics company but was also a smart, humble, and a kind-hearted man. Although he has both the brains and an astounding amount of wealth, he considers himself unattractive and is insecure about his looks. Like Go Se Yeon, Cha Min gets into an accident and dies. Due to the mysterious magical marble—Abyss—he comes back to life with a different appearance as an exceedingly handsome man just as bright as his spirit he had in his previous life. Go Se Yeon and Cha Min begin to work as a lawyer and an administrator at a private law firm and decide to investigate the magical incident. Romance blooms in the office as the two intertwine together to accept their same fate.

Review

Had So Much Potential To Be Amazing (but was ultimately just okay)

Abyss was a rollercoaster unlike no other. It had me changing my opinion of it with every episode. STORY: Some episodes were really great with the right balance of crime, comedy, romance, and thriller, with the addition of well executed storytelling. Whereas, other episodes were plain messy and had left me feeling frustrated with the characters' dumb decisions. On one hand, I disagree with a lot of opinions out there about this drama being to confusing or lackluster.

But on the other hand, I agree that the story could have been executed waaaaaaaaaay better. I followed along pretty fine most of the time, so I wasn't having a hard time in that regard, but it still felt clumsy at times and the rules of Abyss (the marble itself) felt awfully convenient when they revealed themselves.

So yes, plot holes are there. But I don't think the plot is as badly written as others make it out to be. Plus, the romantic storyline really held this show together - personally, I found it to be perfect and the leads were so cute together. I loved the themes of friendship too and how they developed slowly (and convincingly) throughout the drama.

The only story aspect of this drama that let it down due to some messiness and senselessness is the crime (supernatural? alien? thriller?) part. And the ending. But that's completely personally preference. I'm sure a lot of people are satisfied with the ending but I really wasn't. I don't know, it lacked something (emotional impact?) for me. And I hate that kind of ending - I can't say without going into specifics but there's something (related to time) that I don't like. If you know, you know. Plus, I was still left with questions. ACTING/CAST: Okay, why is everyone lowkey hating on AHS's acting performance in this? They say things like "... he's a little green, but he's done an alright job..." In my opinion, he did great! He nailed the right emotions during his scenes without overexaggerating and he does exceptional in romance scenes (especially kiss scenes lol). Also, he gives off that puppy vibe in this that vaguely reminds me of The Great Lee Jong Suk. Obviously, there's some improvement that could be done in some areas of his performance but I don't see the importance of nitpicking. PBY did a great job too and they had amazing, natural chemistry which is all we could ever long for. MUSIC: Nice, fitting, and catchy. REWATCH VALUE: Low for me because watching this storyline play out again would just exhaust me - OH that's another thing. This drama somehow felt draggy because it wasn't (? I don't know how to explain this). Basically, so much was happening in every episode and it almost always felt like I was watching a finale (or the build up to one) and therefore, it felt like the show went on forever. IN CONCLUSION: I gave Abyss a 7/10 because I think it was good, had a great romantic storyline, the comedy was great when it happened, and I definitely recommend watching it at least once! And despite it's outward appearance - and the premise - this show isn't trying to say that "looks are all that matters", it's trying to say that "what's in the inside is what counts". Your soul. It's not like Cha Min was reborn handsome and Se Yeon was suddenly in love with him. If that had happened, I would have dropped this drama straight away for being shallow. Anyway, give it a go and form your own opinion!

Duskwood episode 10

⚠️ might contain spoilers ⚠️

I just finished the last episode and, for something that has been over two years in the making, both from the Everbyte development team and the player community side... THIS WAS AMAZING 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

I low-key wanna write some self-insert fanfiction for this one because I could absolutely see this game being adapted into a drama miniseries for a streaming service. It's so beautifully written and full of red herrings, which I love. The plot twists blew my fucking mind.

Right off the bat, as I mentioned during one of my first playthroughs of the game via Twitter, the disability representation is a fucking mixed bag of weird peanuts and I would very much love to hear from wheelchair users about this.

Let's start my review with criticism, because there are some things I feel that could be improved upon:

Sure, in the final episodes, one of the characters is A FUCKING BADASS in a wheelchair and saves the day, but there are also a little too many dialogue references about how the wheelchair is an impediment which, yes? But also, if you're going to have a disabled character (even if only temporarily), then why not present a more positive depiction of disability? Why not have that character be a disabled person for the whole game and show how he's still a badass? It's 2022, I certainly think that we can do much better if we're going to include disability in our media content.

In my very humble opinion, the ending was a little predictable (we could kinda get hints at how it was going to unfold since episode 8), and the mini-game breaks between story cutscenes take people away the immersion for a little too much time (I feel that the mini-games could be a little more immersive, you know?) but MAN, I'D BE LYING if I didn't tell you I CRIED when I saw the final cutscenes and played the final mini-games. Mostly because one of them sort of mirrors the first mini-games (but with the added difficulty, of course).

There's also the fact that one of the first clues we receive comes from a background character who has a "mental disability" that's never addressed other than being used to infantilize him (to be fair, he is a child or pre-teen, at most) or to call him an "unreliable witness", which was a big yikes for me from the beginning.

The studio apparently, in my opinion, tried to redeem themselves about their disability representation in the more recent episodes. (Please remember that the game was being developed while each episode was released) but I'll still deduct one full point from my overall score because of that. As a neurodivergent person myself, it sucks to be misrepresented CONSTANTLY 🙄 even if it's a trope of the mystery genre, it's tired and we need to retire it.

Richy, Jessie and Jake became my immediate favorite characters since episode 3, so this ending was partially satisfying... Sure, we get a really meaningful text from Jake (if that's the playthrough style you're going for), and we also get to see Jessie react to the actual ending. And Richy's storyline is completed in a really satisfying (yet heartbreaking) way, but what the fuck is up with the rest of the gang?

If you want to know what happens to Cleo, Lilly, and Thomas, BE DAMNED! Because from Episode 8 onwards, they fade into the background, to the point where on this last episode, it felt like the game itself forgot about them as people/characters and other than SOME dialogue from Y/N to them (and a nice conversation with Dan), there's almost zero interaction.

🎶They could have done so much more if they only had timeee🎶 (me, @ the Duskwood development team)

He's a fan favorite and yeah, yeah, we know that the dialogue we get from him on this final episode points out at him being in the next Everbyte game... But he kinda contradicts his own story arc? Back on the first episodes, even if your play style with him isn't actually flirty, he says you're "going to become very important", and even though there's a sweet unlockable dialogue option for him on episode 10 for those who wanted to romance him, the rest of us actually DON'T KNOW why we are important, at the end. Character development for both Jake and Y/N be damned.

I have a feeling that we're going to see more of Alan on the next game, considering the endgame hint we get at a new game taking place in the same universe... But what the fuck happened to Jake? Did he manage to leave [redacted] before the last cutscene?! Again, we have no idea. If this was Everbyte's way to generate expectations for their next game, it's a great marketing strategy, but an awful conclusion to the story arc of Duskwood in general. I don't think it's too respectful towards their own product to use the most meaningful plotline point as a marketing ploy.

Also, if you want to know why Hannah had Y/N's phone number in the first place, which is KINDA pushed by the game as one of the biggest parts of the mystery: Get bent, because we absolutely don't get that on episode 10 and I can only hope that we get some sort of preface related to Duskwood on the next game because otherwise, so many questions are left unanswered... Unless you write fanfiction about them lmao.

Now, onto the things I LOVED about this game:

The interactivity... OMFG, the conversations with the characters are so entertaining. I loved seeing how Y/N was slowly becoming part of the gang and I loved to traverse the "websites" that the players are able to interact with, because they are fucking exquisite.

I especially enjoyed the portion where the player is able to access [redacted]'s phone, because there are so many more apps than the ones needed for the plot, and those were really fun, and I loved to read (and comment!) the web forum of creepy stories that Y/N has to research. Absolutely loved it.

If you're able to splurge a little, I would definitely recommend buying the premium photo pack from the beginning of the game because you'll be able to access SO MUCH MORE CONTENT and not only does it improve immersion in the game, but all that content is actual art by itself.

The photography for this game is actually incredible for a mobile game. When you compare Everbyte's Duskwood with similar games like I Am Innocent by Twinaleblood, for example (though I thought the original study who made the game was Glaznev?), you get visuals that are far more stunning from Everbyte's part. Even though I Am Innocent has amazing black and white photography where the chiaroscuro works to heighten the mood of the game, the visual content doesn't actually get to stand out as much as the photography does on Duskwood.

And the videocalls are done masterfully. The cast of actors did a fucking brilliant job, even though we can clearly see that English might not be their native language, and even though some of them are amateurs like Ivonne Scherer, the artist who plays Jessy, their work on the videos conveys so much emotion. Especial kudos to actor Alex Friedland, who plays a MASTERFUL Richy. I'm looking forward to my next playthrough of this game so I can see more of our re-cast Hannah, Theresia Erfort, because she did an amazing job as Hannah, even though she was brought onto the cast at such a late stage of development.

The extra dialogue options that you can purchase through the aforementioned premium pack give you SO MUCH MORE information about the diegetic universe and they make it absolutely worth it. You're still going to get the plot-worthy info for the sake of game progress, but tbe premium pack dialogue options let you have a peek at the characters as people, beyond the tragedy of losing Hannah, and they let you understand them and their motives a little bit more.

I'd also recommend paying for the heart and credits pack beforehand because even though the mini-games are satisfying and it takes you 2 or 3 attempts (at most) to figure out the gist of their solution, in a way, they are designed more like a gacha, in the sense that sometimes you're going to solve one of puzzles in less than 10 moves, and sometimes you're going to get stuck on a single level for DAYS because the seemingly random piece distribution might not be as random as it seems (after all, mobile games subsist through microtransactions).

The mini-games are idle fun and they ARE entertaining (although they do cut the immersion), but the heart pack is definitely worth buying beforehand if you don't want to bother with the constant microtransactions to replenish hearts and credits mid-play. Especially on those pesky levels where the only solution is to actually pay for more moves.

The general plot of the game also lends itself for roleplaying a character, if that's the play style you're going for. If you want to write and play a character of your own while answering the dialogue, I 100% encourage you to do it, it's a really fun experience and the dialogue options lend themselves pretty well for doing that.

Having to use actual social media to find the clues to advance the plot brought me back to that one Toshiba "interactive film" from 2011 with Emmy Rossum, but this time it was well done and didn't feel like a forced commercial for a shitty laptop.

The Instagram comment sections that players need to solve the clues do spoil some of the story but they help you solve some of the trickiest parts of the game pretty quickly, especially the image-related ones. I hope that Everbyte brings those Instagram mini-games to the table next time and maybe add some another social media to the mix, maybe some YouTube videos to look through. The video feeds and audio files are top tier as well. And Cleo's Instagram stories are so fun to watch as little easter eggs, although I do feel that they could have used better for more referential content towards the game, but her recipes are actually easy and fun to try. Maybe for next installment they could pull a Cicada 3301 on social media and use cryptograms and other cyphers to increase the difficulty? For those of us who nerd out about it, that is. Although I absolutely understand that part of the popularity that this game has had, is precisely because of its simplicity.

The #IAmJake portion of the game is pretty amazing for those of us with an artsy side. I remember I even talked on my Twitter about creating my own OC "Duskwoodsona" to cosplay for my participation, but in the end I decided this was a cringe idea and decided to scratch that, but for those of you out there who want to do cosplay or fanart or fanfiction, this part of the game is absolutely beautiful because it lends itself to those types of participation.

I wish the developers had held some sort of contest or shared more of the #IAmJake campaign as an event of sorts, but at the same time, not having the added pressure of the time limit of an in-game event is pretty good for the replayability value of the game overall. So that's a great point for me, who can't be bothered with time limits.

In conclusion: I give this game a 9/10 and I can't wait to see what Everbyte brings us next.

The magic of 3rd Life, or why such a simple hardcore miniseries works as well as it does

For a series which only lasted for eight sessions, 3rd Life has had a profound impact on the MCYT fandom. While it did go comparatively unnoticed on Twitter (as is consistent with YouTube-based Minecraft content as a whole, admittedly), Tumblr and other platforms have fallen in love with this series, and it’s become a vector for many fans to familiarise themselves with Hermitcraft and Empires SMP as well. But at its core, 3rd Life is a simple vanilla survival series with a gimmick. What about it resonates so much with so many people?

I would argue that its simplicity, its small cast, its vanilla gameplay “with a twist” is certainly part of it. It’s an easy series to consume, with many POVs totalling four hours or less, and it doesn’t require any prior knowledge of any of the members. Its mechanics are easy to understand. As a standalone, it functions perfectly – it’s immersive and can be followed easily by anyone, regardless of any prior knowledge they may or may not have. However, these factors alone don’t quite encompass what makes 3rd Life so special. Its true charm point lies in the format of the series, and how well it utilises improv.

[more below the cut; this is a fairly long post about 3rd/Last Life meta and my love of its improv. I'm mostly talking about 3rd Life here as it's a completed series, but this most definitely does apply to Last Life as well]

3rd Life is an entirely improv-based series. Whilst members may have a brief concept of the direction they’d like to take their series in – how heavily they want to roleplay, for example – the actual content of each session is fully improvised. Each episode is recorded in one three-hour block, and members are not allowed to play on the server outside of the allotted time other than specifically to finish builds. This time constraint prevents any planning from going into each episode, and interactions between players are completely spontaneous. Players simply run around the map looking for others to interact with (which is significantly easier with the limited world border) and chat about various events on the server, form alliances or deals, etc.

By definition, this almost completely negates the possibility of bad writing. Each player’s reaction to any server event is spontaneous, a legitimate reaction; they aren’t trying to play any specific roles or shoehorn in any specific events (with the exception of the Red King/Hand of the King roles, who were still completely improvising). Even the finale – a distinctly heart-wrenching and tragic scene – was improvised without Grian or Scar attempting to tell any specific story. According to Martyn, they weren’t roleplaying, they didn’t have any aims with that scene. It just happened to turn out in the way that it did, and they were legitimately sorry to one another. The server progressed in this natural way, and every person’s perspective tells a completely different story. It’s hard to identify any specific heroes or villains – fans of the Dream SMP can surely relate to this feeling, but I would argue that 3rd Life takes this one step further. 3rd Life is a tragedy from all perspectives, a tragedy which tells one cohesive story in its entirety before stopping as abruptly as it began.

3rd Life hinges entirely on its interactions between its members. Whilst solo content does exist – base building, for example – the majority of each session is spent interacting with others. 3rd Life is carried by its dialogue; nothing else drives the story, and yet many episodes are between 30 minutes and an hour long. It’s that dialogue-heavy. Members of the server have expressed trouble with even editing their videos because there is so much key dialogue that they don’t want to cut. People don’t watch 3rd Life for the actual gameplay, at all – there’s so little of it! They watch it for how each member interacts with the people around them. This is something not found in any other SMP I’ve encountered. SMPs livestreamed on Twitch have plenty of downtime, and people will happily watch streams on that SMP no matter what’s occurring on the server; people often watch them for their interest in specific members. Other currently popular YouTube SMPs, namely Hermitcraft and Empires, are well-balanced between solo content and interactions, and all server content hinges on the members’ various skills like building and redstone. 3rd Life is, to my knowledge, the only SMP which does not rely on building or redstone skills (what’s the point, when they’ll be dead the next week?), it doesn’t rely on the creator doing solo work talking to their chat, it doesn’t rely on planned roleplay. People legitimately just want to hear various members talking to each other. It’s a fascinatingly unique series in this regard. This dialogue-heavy aspect of 3rd Life ties back to my earlier point about 3rd Life feeling like a completely different series from all perspectives; with all of this dialogue being conveyed through proximity chat, so many events are entirely left out of other POVs, or presented in very different lights.

The pure improv format also helps significantly with worldbuilding, whilst also leaving plenty to the imagination. MCYT fandoms always require a significant amount of imagination to become invested in them, let alone make fan content of them, and 3rd Life is no exception to this. As discussed in this post, which was incidentally the inspiration for me to write this one, 3rdLife is full of lines which flesh out the series, which illustrate what happened better than can be shown in Minecraft. These lines are improvised on the spot, and are often complete throwaway lines in the creators’ eyes. In the fans’ eyes, they make 3rd Life feel alive, they provide plenty of material on which to base headcanons. Again, this isn’t necessarily unique to 3rd Life, it’s a common aspect of all Minecraft series, but I think this is where the rather angsty nature of 3rd Life comes into play. A dramatic survival game, entirely unscripted, with all events hinging entirely on your interpretation of them? It’s not hard to see why 3rd Life fans are so creative with character designs and fanfiction – hell, a lot of 3rd Life fics simply narrate canon in their own more dramatic light. Canon-compliant fics are significantly more common for 3rd Life than other fandoms I've encountered, because people hear these simple lines and want to dramatise them, put their own spins on them. I don't feel that this would be possible with any other series, not to the extent that 3rd Life fans do it. Other series' canon is either already dramatic, and so rehashing it can feel repetitive, or so lighthearted that people write AUs/new storylines. 3rd Life strikes a brand-new balance.

The development of its characters is also bolstered by improv. As no events on the server are pre-planned, members have to react completely spontaneously to anything that occurs. They don’t get time to think – only to react as though they genuinely were in that situation. As I said at the start, 3rd Life inherently lacks bad writing, because it’s not written. Ren, for instance, began 3rd Life as a kind and harmless person, with others often walking right over him. His reaction to his death by Grian and Scar’s trap spurs him to become the Red King; he raises an army and goes to war, and ends the series having taken countless lives, becoming hardened by war. He begins Last Life by isolating himself from others, seeming jaded and unwilling to form alliances, ready for another war to break out. Being improvised, it’s impossible to say how much of this was deliberate, or if Ren just started building his base without thinking about continuity from the previous season. This improv is what makes it feel so natural. It isn’t planned beforehand. This is Ren’s natural reaction to starting Last Life. It makes his character feel so much more real than it would if this was all scripted beforehand.

3rd Life is, overall, a testament to the power of improv. It manages to be compelling and dramatic without any acting feeling forced or wooden. Its characters’ arcs feel natural, because they are natural. Placing such a heavy emphasis on dialogue, with the gimmick of the server being a vehicle for interactions to happen rather than the sole appeal of the series, makes it truly feel as though we’re getting a glimpse into the characters’ lives, rather than watching a story which has been written beforehand. We get to watch everything unfold in real time. 3rd Life has a magic to it that, to my knowledge, no other SMP has been able to recreate.

Ok the time has come

If you are a diehard Raiden fan or won't take me criticising Genshin for some other reasons, plz skip this post, because It's gonna be one hell of a Rant.

Don't get me wrong, I love Genshin and I'm not planning to quit it or something, but criticism must be given.

And that being said...

GENSHIN 2.1 STORYLINE WAS VERY, VERY BAD

And here's why:

Barely any playable characters were given any depth in this version. They were all treated just like plot devices.

Especially Yae Miko, who was there just to explain everything to our dumbassess and and give us an axcess to the power of ambition and friendsip I guess

Kokomi and Gorou? Nahhh, why give them any actual spotlight, if they were there only to deliever the schocking news that Fatui gave dellusions to the resistance? We might've as well learned that from some random soldier NPC and it would make little to no difference.

Speaking of delusions, don't Kokomi and Gorou fight on the front line? HOW THE HECK did they not notice that all of their visionless soldiers suddenly can use the power of elements? Did everyone hide it from them and everyone actually succeeded? Wasn't Kokomi weired out buy th sudden improvement of the whole resistace? How the heck did none slip up? WHY DIDN'T KOKOMI OR GOROU CHECK OUT THESE "WEAPONS" BEFORE GIVING THEM TO THEIR SOLDIERS? THEY COULD HAVE BEEN BOMBS OR SOMETHING

Also the fact that Kokomi just made us a general without giving us time to get to know how resistance works, or that she would give Teppei promotions just because he asked was extremely stupid. Not a master strategist move for sure. We could be a spy. Kokomi didn't even aknowledge Teppei until he asked her for a promotion.

Overall the whole resistance arc was extremely rushed and basically almost useless. If it was wisely prolonged, this update could be spread between two versions no problem. We could have had more quests where we and Teppei would slowly climb up the ranks, get to know more about Kokomi, ACTUALLY FIND OUT STUFF ABOUT EI AND SCARAMOUCHE INSTEAD OF LETTING YAE INFO-DUMP IT ON US.

Kazuha was ok I guess, but he was given very little screentime, and as my friend (a big Kazuha fangirl, mind you) noticed, that his whole arc revolves around Tomo and he barely has any personality besides grieving his loss, which is dissapointing.

I'd rather see him actualy join the resistance and face Ei not because he randomly appeared to save us, but because he was banished from Inazuma and had the courage to return.

Speaking of random appearances, why were Kazuha and the resistance at Tenshukaku anyway? Like, hear me out: Last time they've seen us alive was when we declared we would find the dellusion factory. So unless Yae told them we were here, they had no right to know (and if she did, how would that help?) And if they ACTUALLY thought that they could raid Tenshukaku, why do that right after their army recieved such a big blow, and with so little men? Besides the fact that Kazuha Conviniently managed to save us, it was all just an unnecessary bloodshed.

And Ei... Oh my god, I'm sorry, but the way they did her was such a mistake.

She basially went through the same thing as Venti and Zhongli, but was the only one to chose violence.

When we tell her that her people are suffering she's like "yeah, I know, so what?" But then we defeat her with what's basically a power of friendship and she's like. "Ok, I'll stop the decree I guess" and in her story quest she suddenly wants the best for her people? Oh no I know you don't.

She could have been the actual victim of The Fatui's plot. Imagine if Sara was actually collaborating with the Fatui and when we told her about them "manipulating" Ei she'd say she's gonna tell her but would actually go to backstab her before she realises the truth. Or if the "you've changed, you're getting weak" line would be what Scaramouche said to Ei after he defeats her.

Or, she could be an ACTUAL villain. The one that isn't forgiven just because she buys some dango milk and pulled a sword out of her boobs. She's a tyrant and there's no denying it. So why didn't she die to get what she desserved? Why didn't she get any actual redemption, or make some sort of sacrifice to show that she wants well for Inazuma after all? She could face the consequences of her wrongdoings and see the death she caused or experience the wrath of the people she hurt but noooo, her people already forgave her and are concerned for her health! But she's just being angsty, so let's go on a peacefull stroll and show her some horny light novel people wrote about her <3 Like come on, really?

Like seriously, if Mihoyo had the guts to actually call her evil, that would barely infulence her popularity. People simp over well-written villains like crazy. Well-written villains rule.

I'm honestly worried about how The Tsaritsa will be handled...

But okay, okay. To lighten up the mood, here are some things that I liked about this update:

Teppei, duh.

Watatsumi Lesbians.

Sara. Oh dear, oh dear, gorgeous. Once again, she proved herself to be an honorable person. We've seen her admit that she was doubtful about the decree. We've seen her world being shattered as she realised what her family did. We've seen her put away her selfless devotion to do what's right. My hot tengu gf, I absolutely love you and your writing so far.

Scaramouche has more interesting backstory and motivations than hid creator. He's the villain we deserve. He has the gnosis and he's yet to cause some drama, so hopefully he fixes this hell of an arc.

Thoma didn't have much screentime, but I like how they touched the topic of how it's hard for him to stay in hiding

Sayu was cute and fit into the story nicely.

ANGRY TRAVELER YES. They spoke. They were pissed. They were traumatized by witnessing Signora's death, even though they hated her. They see that the gods are nothing to mess with, they're changing, they're becpming just like their sibling. YES, YES, YES.

The fact that Raiden somehow "marked" us to attack us when we join the resistance army was cool and relflected her elemental skill really nicely.