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bluetomorrows · 8 months

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I want longer games with beautiful graphics and how dare you suggest that I'm kidding

So that whole "I want shorter games with worse graphics made by people who are paid more to work less and I'm not kidding" thing is making the rounds on Twitter again and since I don't like to give genuine opinions on that site I'm gonna talk about it here.

In short, I disagree with the sentiment. I DO want game developers to have higher pay, reasonable hours, and deadlines that aren't cruel. I want an end to the crunch that infests AAA development. But a lot of people who post things like that don't understand what it means for a game to be short or have bad graphics. Frankly, this isn't even as much me refuting this statement as it is a chance to rant about those topics.

Game length is a funny thing. When video games first transitioned to the home, the experience was essentially the same as the arcades that were so popular at the time. Atari games were mostly short score-based rounds or head-to-head multiplayer. Even games like H.E.R.O. and Adventure which deviated from that structure to do a version of the more traditional single-player progression we're used to still didn't last very long. It was a mix of both the limitations of the primitive technology and what players had come to expect from the arcades. When the NES came along expectations changed. People didn't want just arcade games, at least not the kind from the 70s. At launch Super Mario Bros. was the clear stand-out game, far surpassing its arcade-like counterparts in critical and commercial success. They wanted bigger and better experiences. So now games have to last, they have to have that progression that's standard now. This evolution was much more smooth and slow outside of North America where there was no video game crash. However, North America's explosion in video game renting also helped push forward this mindset. If you can just beat a game in the rental period before you have to return it to Blockbuster, then you're never gonna purchase it and give the game publishers the returns they really want. So how do you make a game last on still primitive hardware? NES developers came across two main options: bullshit difficulty, and replay value. The former was easier to implement. If the game was insanely hard, then naturally it would take you more time to finish it. The latter required actually talented game developers. A game should be fun to play, and ideally more fun every time. The basic idea is as you get better at the game you'll be able to have a more satisfying experience playing the levels.

Let's take the NES Castlevania trilogy as an example of these schools of level design. Castlevania 1 is a brutal game, but that's really only your first time. When you replay it you now have a grasp on your own controls, but also the patterns of the enemy. You know how to use the sub-weapons effectively and when to spend hearts on them. The visceral gameplay flow here will make you feel incredibly badass but only when you've mastered it, the first time around you'll be weak and scared. The controls are very precise and one wrong move can cost you a lot, but you'll learn the best strategies to deal with it. Castlevania 2 employs the BS difficulty on yourfirst run. The solutions to the puzzles are obtuse and NPCs will give you strange and sometimes misleading advice. You need a player's guide to get through it. But there's the ending stinger. Gaming's first alternate ending. Depending on how fast you beat the game you'll get 3 different endings. Only by mastering the game can you achieve the best ending and see Simon survive the game, therefore encouraging you to replay it to achieve the true ending you want. Castlevania 3 combines the great replayability aspects of both games. It keeps the visceral skill-based gameplay of the original while taking the idea of different content in different playthroughs from Simon's Quest. There are now multiple paths to take to Dracula's castle, and the option to recruit three other characters to your group, although only one can travel with you at any time. 2 primary routes plus 3 possible character combinations mean 6 pretty unique experiences of the game, on top of the inherent skill progression the player experiences through gameplay.

The multiple pathways of Castlevania III's map

So how long is Castlevania 3? Like 3 hours? Not really. Because you're not expected to put it down after that first playthrough. It'd be ridiculous considering how much cartridges cost. Is Castlevania 3 a short game? Yes, but really no. It's a thing I see people very often struggle to understand. Classic Sonic games for example were designed specifically around replayability, the speed-based gameplay being inspired by Yuji Naka seeing through 1-1 of Super Mario Bros. tons of times and seeing how fast he was doing it. Doing the same thing faster is a very easy way for the player to feel they're improving. So many people play these games once and dismiss them when they're not really getting the full experience. If you watch a newbie play Sonic and an experienced player play the same stages it's practically a completely different game.

However when Sonic was coming out a new type of game was starting to appear on the market. Games that didn't need to figure out ways to make themselves last longer than they could, but instead could just last.

Due to the technical limitations of the NES and its contemporaries, the first games to really challenge the ideas of length at the time were RPGs. The main gameplay was turned-based combat, something not very intensive for the system so more resources could be given to the world maps and story. The drawbacks to RPGs in this era are that many still padded gameplay with ridiculously tough enemies and high encounter rates, and the ones that really pushed things forward with grand worlds and stories often never left Japan due to the higher-than-usual cost to localize them for other markets. Still, the effects were felt. These games didn't need to be replayed to make you feel like you'd gotten a full experience. They were able to last, while still holding on to some of the replay philosophy these developers learned during the previous generation.

The massive map of Mother/Earthbound Beginnings for the Famicom/NES. The game drew praise for the fact that every NPC had unique dialogue.

This genre would really come into its own in the next generation of systems as developers across the board were given more freedom in game length due to the improved hardware. Games outside of RPGs could still take inspiration from their world design and how simple action gameplay could only be one part of the design and mechanics of a game. With the advent of the PlayStation 1 and SEGA Saturn and the insanely higher amount of space afforded by CDs, developers were no longer limited by technology and could design their games to be as long as they really wanted.

Also the N64 was there.

This laid the groundwork for the "long" games we're seeing now, something far too complex for me to really analyze. The point is game length was now something a developer had to choose, not something chosen for them. Sometimes they even give the player the choice, allowing them to beat the "main game" or do side content for 100% completion. I'd say nowadays it's strange if a game releases without any side content for you to do. Replayability was becoming less and less important to developers. The only real push back against this came with the adcent of games specifically calling back to the NES and SNES era, specifically by indie devs, a movement that has one grown in popularity as we've entered the 20s.

So here's what I'm getting at: what is game length now? What does it mean for a game to be long? How many short games are truly short? How many truly short games are good?

Well to answer that question I made a spreadsheet. I compiled a list of 50 of my favourite games and the information on them on howlongtobeat.com. I've used this site before and generally, it's accurate, the player base isn't too skilled or too bad at games. In the cases where two versions of a game were listed, I chose the one I played, unless both versions only had very minor differences, in which case I chose the one that had a larger data set. For each game I noted how long it took to beat the base game, the base game plus some of the optional content, and how long it took to get 100%, as well as what option of the three I would recommend to others. I also listed the style of replayability of each game. Whether it was based on skill improvement, alternate paths, or had little replay value. Mind you just because a game was listed as having little replay value doesn't mean you can't replay it and have fun, if the game is good then the game is good, but it just means it wasn't really designed for that.

I tried to have a varied set of games to measure, first-person and third-person, and on-rail shooters, rhythm games, RPGs, action games, and puzzle games are all included, but there may be a bias towards platformers as it's what I've played the most of.

The results were rather interesting. Keep in mind that the games chosen are all ones I consider to be quite good, so this is supposed to represent what the average good game does. I found that the average base game lasts about 9 hours, extended to 14 hours with extras, and 25 hours if you go for 100%. I recommended completing the main game + extras about 50% of the time, with the other two paths each taking up about a quarter. Overall the average time I recommended spending with each playthrough was 15 hours. The longest recommended playthrough went to Super Mario Odyssey with 62 hours as I recommended going for 100%. The shortest time was surprisingly another Mario game, that being Super Mario Land at only one hour. But I think that's actually a perfect encapsulation of what this was trying to prove, as Odyssey has little replay value, while Super Mario Land has the skill curve via repeat playthroughs that I talked about earlier. More games weren't really built for replay value than I expected, in fact I expect the number is a bit inflated as I play more retro and arcade games than the average person. But the market has shifted, content outside of the main campaign is now the lasting appeal. But the question I ask is, should it be? Now there are some games on my list like Spyro: Reignited Trilogy and Yakuza Kiwami where I feel as though if you're not going after all the side content you're kind of missing the point of the game design, however there are other games like Doom (2016); a game that has more post-game content than the base game, yet all that content is completely pointless. Sure you unlock some cute figures and a couple extra skills, but searching around for obtuse secrets just feels like the antithesis of the design of that game, which should be fast paced reaction based action. The addition of it here has always confounded me. My best guess is they were trying to replicate aspects of the original Doom, where exploration was a much bigger part of the game, but here it doesn't work. I WOULD like to play more of Doom (2016) so I can get better at the main game, not so I can find all the doodads, and a game like it should find ways to encourage replay.

I make a special note in the file of Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland and how it encourages replayability. Beating the game 100% unlocks "Extra Mode" a version of the game that is nearly identical with the one difference being that Kirby has half the health. I do dislike this approach in other games I love; Super Mario Galaxy and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze both got "Main + Extras" scores instead of "100%" scores because they pull this at the end of the game, but I don't mind it so much here. Kirby is supposed to be a breezy relaxing game, where taking damage shouldn't be that much of an issue, but this flips that on its head and legitimately changes the way the player approaches the game. But Extra Mode isn't the real thing I want to highlight, what really elevates the replayability of Nightmare in Dreamland is what you unlock after beating all of Extra Mode: Meta Knightmare. Meta Knightmare swaps out Kirby for Meta Knight, and even though he doesn't play dramatically differently from Kirby with the sword ability, he nevertheless again encourages the player to approach the same stages differently. This more serious character should cut down enemies like butter and speed through stages without breaking a sweat, and that speed aspect is even more encouraged by Meta Knightmare removing the ability to save and prominently displaying how quickly you completed the game. Things as simple as a change in aesthetic and scoring change how the game is played and give the player more unique experiences out of a game that's "only two hours long". Mind you this doesn't involve creating tons of side content and extras, it's small changes that have a massive psychological change in how the game is played.

If you want to check out the list yourself I've linked it here. Special cases where games extend playtime through other means are noted where necessary, although they aren't common.

I think the vast differences between games on this list really highlight a point I think I already knew: Games should be as long as they need to be. Typically video games are made to be played for fun, and making long games or very replayable games typically suits that goal, but ultimately gaming is an art form. War & Peace would be a worse story if it was very short, just as The Great Gatsby would be worse if it dragged itself out for another 300 pages. The idea that games SHOULD be shorter isn't something that supports game developers or players, it's something that speaks down to the idea of games as an art form.

So yeah, I don't want shorter games. I don't care if it takes me forever or if it's over in an instant. I just want the games to be good. If I want some specific length then that's my problem, not the developer's.

I think I've made my point about game length being fluid, but that's only half the statement, what about graphics?

Since the dawn of time (1992), man has sought the best and most realistic video game graphics. In olden times, neanderthals were amazed by the 3D worlds of Wolfenstein 3D and Virtua Racer, "games will never be more realistic than this" they said. Now we know that they were stupid fucking cavemen who didn't know how butt ugly their games are, they don't even look like real life. Not like Tekken, now THAT'S some real graphics.

This happened to my buddy Eric

Of course, then we realized that Tekken was also dog water graphics when the PS2 came out. And now it's 2023 and all the PS2 games look fake and gay and actually, I think Wolfenstein and Virtua Racing look pretty alright. This is a point I specifically want to address because when I see people parrot this opinion when they say they want "games with bad graphics" the examples they point to for games to aim for are titles like Hades or other more stylistic, non-realistic games, typically by indies.

This is very frustrating because those games have great graphics.

Why the hell should good graphics mean realistic graphics? Just like with pacing game graphics should be whatever the hell they need to be.

Here are some games that have good graphics in them I think

It's not about the horsepower or however gigaflops per tera butt it can render, it's just about good art direction. Good art direction can be realistic, completely stylized, or somewhere in between! To say a game like Hades has bad graphics is... how do I put this?

Basically, fuck you.

When going for realism the most common obstacle is not entering the uncanny valley, and when going for a more stylized approach the the most common obstacle is making sure everything is still clear to the player at all times.

And no, I don't want games to look bad. And that goes for both

Stylized

and realistic

Just let games be games man. If you truly believe that they're a unique art form capable of creating meaningful experiences, then let them do what they want. You can say developers should be treated better and you're right if you do, but that doesn't mean they have to make more boring art.

#video games #games #gaming #essay #kirby #castlevania

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tdcloud · 1 year

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T.D. Cloud's October Novella Event: A Guide (blog#16)

Happy April, everyone! It’s finally starting to warm up here in Indiana, and I can’t say I miss the subzero temperatures, even if I do hate the rain more than the snow. There’s just something so soporific when it rains. It kills my motivation to do much of anything, and when you’re operating on as many deadlines as I am, that’s just not a good time. But! Onwards we move, and onto the next author blog.

Firstly, I want to give some updates—I’m freshly back from Evillecon in Evansville, IN, and WOW! It’s been several years since I last tabled at this convention and I am so stunned by how much it’s changed. The venue aside, the convention just seems to grow bigger and bigger every time I make the long trek down south to attend. Thank you so much to everyone who stopped by and picked up a book, and thank you to the repeat customers who remembered me from 2018! Evillecon was the first convention I tabled at properly—before that, all I’d ever done was sell ten or so books at Colossalcon’s Thursday Craft Fair—so anyone who took a chance on me back then and who were excited to see me again… That just means so much to me. Please enjoy your new books, charms, and other associated merch, and keep an eye out for what’s still to come!

My next scheduled convention will likely be Colossalcon in Sandusky, Ohio. Like always, I’ll be situated in the Thursday Craft Fair with my stock for a one day sale. Given I now have ten books and only half a table, I will likely only be bringing very limited stock of my older works and will begin prioritizing table space and numbers for my newer releases—which means the Tempest Series will soon likely fall out of rotation on my table. If you still have a few books missing in your Tempest collection, this may be a good time to pick up a signed copy while I still have them on tap! Please stop by and grab a book or two, and feel free to bring your previously purchased books if they’re lacking a signature! I am always happy to meet up with someone to sign their books—just shoot me an @ on twitter or Instagram and I’ll make it happen!

I’d also like to announce here that I’ve gotten into JAFAX in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This convention takes place the weekend after Colossalcon and will most likely be the convention where you can expect to see updated manjuu. I’ll be selling some Ossuary merch here that will later be made available on my ko-fi store. Keep an eye out on my Twitter and Instagram for pictures as they come in if that sounds like something you want to own for yourself!

That’s enough updates for now—what are we discussing this month? Given it’s April, there are a lot of updates happening on my Patreon right now. I figured we’d take a break from discussing DVerse clans to instead switch gears to one of my most popular and anticipated events of the year—the October Novella Event held on my Patreon!

First things first: are you pledged to my Patreon? If not, you should be! I do a lot of fun stuff there and every single novella as well as quite a few full-length novels are posted there as they’re written. I know I’ve spoken ad nauseam about my October Novella event here before, but for the few of you unfamiliar with it, I’ll give you the sparknotes: every October I post a full novella written to celebrate my birth month. My patrons vote in Spring to decide what I’m going to write, and then I write it, essentially giving them instant access in October to a weekly updating story that concludes on or around Halloween. It’s a really fun event that tests my ability to bring to life a fully realized story on a much shorter time schedule than I typically work with these days, and it’s more or less my version of NaNoWriMo, but for my patrons’ personal enjoyment.

Interested? God, I hope so.

With today being April 1st, I’ve gone ahead and posted this year’s novella premise options to begin the process of deciding what I’ll be writing for October. If you aren’t pledged to my Patreon, this is still something you can get in on! I’ve begun opening this poll to the public as well as patrons just to generate more interest in the event. To make this blog post a larger part of that, I figured we’d spend this month going over this year’s options in depth to showcase just what all is on the docket and maybe, just maybe, convince a few of you to join us in October for the big reveal.

To start in on this, let me give you the rules of the event itself. Every poll holds four options, and every year we have two new premises and two old premises to vote on. Each premise stays on the poll for two years unless it wins—after it’s been on the poll for two years, it’s cycled into my monthly short story poll and updated monthly when it wins that poll. It keeps things fresh, gives close runner’s up another shot at winning in the event, and allows me extra time to revise and sharpen previous premises if I can tell they need some additional planning before they’re ready to be written fully.

So far, Ossuary and Convergence have emerged as winners from this poll and reached fully published realization. I’ve got a plethora of other novellas that have either come off the monthly rotation poll or this novella event that are sitting on the edit block just waiting for their turn to come. If you liked either of those novellas, that’s the sort of thing you can expect to come from all of this!

All stories here run between 5-6 chapters and have varying smut/warning levels. I usually include that on the poll itself, so after you’re done reading this, check out the poll and get to voting on whatever sounds the most interesting to you.

So, onto the premises themselves.

It should come as no surprise that if Ossuary reached completion through this event that it stands to reason I’d give its sequel, Reliquary, a shot on the poll, too. Reliquary is one of our two repeat options and will be cycled into the monthly rotation if it fails to win again this year. It is, as I describe it, the sequel that no one asked for and that doesn’t need to exist but will solely because I want to write Thierry getting horror-fucked by an inhuman vampire creature. While Ossuary was my attempt at exploring the concepts behind survival horror as a genre and the inextricable link between horror and the erotic, Reliquary is my attempt at exploring another very prevalent and established horror genre trope: the haunted house. The idea of being trapped in a home with the vestiges of domesticity surrounding you but warped by something inherently malign residing there with you. Where Ossuary was survival horror, Reliquary will be psychological horror dealing with the concept of death-of-the-self and the idea of “infestation” within a space all humans by design should find comforting (the home). I went into depth on this concept of “infestation” in last month’s blog, so if that’s something you’re curious about, go check out the Q&A segment from March to learn more about that.

Suffice to say, this is going to be a pretty intense, Dead Dove Do Not Eat type of story, and while Ossuary was already pretty Dead Dove as it was, this will be a step further in that direction given it will involve sex and the logical extension of our dubious-to-outright-lack-of consent moments experienced in late-stage Ossuary. While I don’t view Reliquary as noncon, it certainly is closer to that than any definition of “enthusiastic consent.” It will not be a story for the faint of heart, and I don’t know if I expect it to win. If need be, I’m content to just write it on my own if there’s no real interest from my patrons to see it written for them there—but given how hugely positive the response has been for Ossuary, I think it’s safe to say there is demand, just maybe not fully informed demand. That’s why I’m trying to state things plainly here.

Either way, this sequel doesn't NEED to exist, but I want it to because I think by design, Ossuary has far more story left to tell. This will not be the happy ending Ossuary didn't have; if anything, this will be almost exactly like Ossuary in that the ending will carry on the thread of "What could happen next in this situation? Nothing good!" since that's the sort of premise it is.

I enjoy trying to offer up a diverse range of vibes and dynamics to keep things fresh and give people some difficult choices to make, and this is the not cute, not nice, apeshit horror option for the year. If you’re curious about the sort of dynamic I intend for this story to have, I've posted snippets already on twitter here.

I try to write summaries to give people a general overview of each poll option, and while I hate summaries and feel like I’m pretty bad at writing them even after the story itself is fully written, here is Reliquary’s attempted summary:

Thierry Pryor is the descendant of a family of infamous vampire killers, a fact which makes him horrendously blacklisted in the magical society he begrudgingly calls home. After encountering an elder vampire with ties to his family in the Parisian Catacombs, Thierry finds himself trapped in a strange house with the creature who professes love that tastes closer to obsession, and try as Thierry might, he can't seem to tell if the vampire sees him for who he is and not the dead ancestor the vampire can't seem to forget.

What transpires is a nightmare that refuses to disappear come morning-- and proof that your life isn't always the worst thing you can lose.

So, finish reading Ossuary and if you feel like you want to see more, vote for this option!

The other premise on the poll that’s about to grandfather its way onto the monthly rotation is M4gp13, the fourth and final installment of my as-of-yet untitled Vigilante-Verse series. For those of you familiar with the previous installments, this one will be set in America with more Pride/Stray vibes than Ezra/Kennedy or Tamsen/Vulture—meaning it’s not as drama filled or plotty in an interpersonal way; it’s really just a dumb, silly, and horny little foray into how a yandere-in-training younger hero-aligned top goes rabid-simp over the sexy yet oblivious older villain who keeps taking him hostage.

The summary is as follows:

Russell 'Rus' Underwood is the most maligned sidekick in all of New York State. His mentor, the hero Royal Flush, cares more for glory-hounding than looking out for her Bloodhound, and not a week goes by without Rus dangling from a rope while paparazzi snap pictures of the hero showing off from down the street. And don't even get him started on hostage situations. If there's a sidekick who's been ransomed off more, he'll eat his cape and be done with it, then and there.

Of course... Being held hostage isn't all bad, especially when the one doing it is M4gp13, the latest villain the city finds itself playing host to. European, chic, and cool, M4gp13 may be the only villain on the eastern seaboard to care about prisoner accommodations, and really, what does it say about Rus's life that his holding cell is nicer than his apartment?

The hacker doesn't have to treat him so well, but they do. They always do, and... Well, if Rus daydreams about being someone else's sidekick every now and again... What's the harm? It's not like it'll awaken something in him... Right?

I’ve spoken at length in previous blogs about my Vigilante-Verse and all the various characters, concepts, and story premises for the three previous incarnations. This will put a nice end cap on things and serve as a very nice conclusion to the American side of things while also allowing me to dabble a bit into a relationship dynamic I don’t get to play with often enough. I know danmei is super popular right now. Have you guys read Scum Villain Self-Saving System yet? If so, then you may love this option. Imagine LBH/SQQ with these two—they are really that bad, and it’s going to be hilarious.

Also, don’t worry if you haven’t read any of the other Vigilante-Verse stories: this will be entirely self-contained and functions as a one-shot within that universe. There may be a few name drops here and there, but your enjoyment of the story at large will not suffer from not having previous experience with the series.

Though, if you’re worried… All three of the previous installments are available in full on my Patreon. I promise you won’t reget binging them all, they’re fucking hilarious XD

The next option is brand new for this year! It’s also something that I’ve never written before, shockingly enough, and I can’t lie—I’m really excited about this one. A few weeks ago I went on a James Bond bender. I grew up watching those movies as a kid because my dad fucking LOVES them, and while they’re not well written, age appropriate, or at all good anymore, there’s just something so fun about hokey spy shenanigans involving dumb gadgets, seduction and honey-potting, and over-the-top bad guys with their world-ending weapons that have a convenient off-switch located somewhere nearby.

While this story won’t get into even half of that (a girl can dream), this will be a threesome heist-type story with assassins, spies, nefarious villain auctions, and all the bullshit spy nonsense you could hope for. Given this is a newer premise, the summary is a little rough. Regardless, you all should still get the gist of what I’m aiming for with this one.

In a world of assassins, thieves, and cutthroats, the chances of making enemies are higher than the alternative. Pierce Trevelyan knows this better than most and has thus spent the majority of his working life with only one man at his back—his longtime partner Ilya. The two share everything, be it jobs, guns, and each other’s beds, so when it comes to Pierce’s attention that a captured spy has just become the prized jewel of an Underground Auction and that Ilya has taken an interest in the situation… Well, turns out there’s a secret or two between them they have yet to share.

Which is fine, Pierce thinks as he looks at the picture of the spy in question. If this "Luka" has caught Ilya’s attention, there’s no reason the two of them can’t share this, too—especially if this particular secret looks like that.

-wags eyebrows- When a bad-at-emoting killer has a crush and doesn't know how else to act on it than through acts of violence, thank god his merc boyfriend is there to ease the way once the smoke clears! I’m super excited about the character dynamics in this one. We’ve got Ilya, the big, buff, gap moe mercenary Cheeto puff, Lucas, the oblivious, breedable conman caught in a pinch with a collar around his neck and no godly idea of the sort of danger he’s in with these ersatz rescuers of his, and Pierce, the mildly entertained charismatic killer who can’t WAIT to see just what makes Lucas so interesting to Ilya.

It’s going to be a riot and a half if it wins—trust me.

And the final option on the poll and likewise the other new premise is something I’m colloquially calling Circus of the Dead. Not to be confused with Carnival, the previous winner of last year’s October poll, CotD is a SFW yet massively macabre jaunt into Limbo a la Dante’s Divine Comedy. It’s largely a “vibe” that I’ve been mucking around with for the better part of four months now and has only recently coalesced into something concrete enough to write in this format. It’s a combination of a lot of my favorite things: the call of the void, erotic death, Limbo and Purgatory, and the sort of energy I’ve been calling “Corpse Bride meets Mushishi.”

I think I said it best on the patron poll itself: “While some take their existentialism with dread, this is the story that recommends you try it with a spoonful of sugar instead… but don't let that fool you--it wears its teeth in different ways than the other options on this poll.”

The summary is pretty rough (I'm still refining this concept, but trust me, it's really, really fucking dope), but y'all should still get the gist with what I’ve got here.

The Circus of the Dead are a traveling troupe of the restless dead who perform for those occupying the interstitial boundaries of existence. Ringmaster Nikita has the beauty of the dead and charm to match, and he serves as a semi-regular torment for Lyde, tinker and check-point denizen of Limbo. While the music, laughter, and company can break up the monotony of eternal neutrality, it also comes with challenges of its own. Something is off about the Circus’s newest member, and Nikita doesn’t want Lyde to find out what. And what, pray tell, is that rhythmic noise coming from Nikita's personal caravan?

The beguiling dead are a distracting danger, even to someone neither living nor dead. Lyde’s duty compels them to discover what Nikita is hiding, even if it does mean exposing themself to the full scope of the undead’s eternal charms.

It’s going to be a deep dive into Dante’s concept of Hell, the idea of functions of Limbo working as personifications of Duty (think of Lyde sort of like Charon in Chthonic myth), and the idea that while the dead want the living to be dead along with them, everyone has their roles to play, their duties to fulfill, and giving in to this hot, dead thing’s impressive tits will only result in you becoming a hot, dead thing, too, and you’re still on the clock!

Or, as I’ve been describing it to my editor and artist friend, CotD is what happens when a really slutty corpse tries to show his tits to the TSA agent checking his bag in order to distract them from the contraband tucked into their cosmetic bag.

That’s it. That’s literally the story. Excited? I hope so XD and not just about CotD. I hope you’re excited about all of these poll options. I feel like we’ve got a super strong, stacked set of choices this year, and I hope I’ve made it hard on all of you voters because as of right now, I can’t even decide which of these I’d want to work on more. They’re all bangers. No matter what wins, I guarantee we’re in for a rollicking good time.

Let’s open things up to some questions about these stories, other stories, and anything people felt like sending my way this month.

Do you have any prerequisites before you start a good writing sesh? Like a cup of coffee ect?

I do! I usually write here and there over the course of the work week as my schedule/energy allows and save my big writing binges for the weekends. I typically wake up between 8-9am, shower, go through my normal morning routine of doing my hair and getting dressed, and I make myself a latte with at least four shots of espresso. While I drink that, I’ll go through my social media, answer emails, update my website, and do the random bits and pieces of managing a business like this before tucking into whatever chapter I’ve got on deck for that weekend. By that point the caffeine has hit and I’m focused and ready to write.

The writing process itself involves listening to one of my many spotify playlists, typically something upbeat, heavy, and metal. I usually make a goal to get to before I stop for lunch, i.e. completing half of the required writing or ¾ depending on how easily it’s writing. I usually experience a dip in productivity after I eat so I really like to do as much as I’m physically able to do before stopping to eat anything.

So, yeah, a cup of coffee usually makes an appearance when I do a writing session XD I also treat it the same way I would treat a real job. I shower, do my hair, and I get dressed. I do as much as I can to put myself into Work Mode so I’m not tempted to fuck off the entire day on youtube or whatever instead, and a common thing I opt for when working and encountering blocks or dips in motivation is taking a walk mid-afternoon or just doing something outside for maybe an hour before getting back to things.

How do you pronounce “Thierry”?

Well, I’m shite at French so I pronounce it wrongly as “Theuh-ry.” To my knowledge, it’s more like “Tee-eyree” but the “tee” has a bit of a “t-yhuh” softness to it. This video will say it for you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BULYCNSGFNQ.

I can pronounce Latin, Greek, and my bullshit titles much better than some French names (do not even begin to ask me how to pronounce Hippolyte), so sometimes, just reading it is better than saying it aloud.

Will you be at (insert convention name here)?

Maybe! My rule of thumb is that I’ll apply for just about any convention within easy driving distance of where I live (Fort Wayne, IN) if it seems large enough to be worth the trip and has its applications open.

If there’s a specific convention you’d like to see me at, feel free to use the contact form on my website to let me know or just leave a comment on one of my posts/DM me on social media! I likely will not travel further south than southern Indiana given I’m in the northern part of Indiana, a deceptively long state, but I’ll happily travel around to Ohio, Michigan, or Illinois and consider further conventions if I’ve got friends near the con who could help facilitate me flying and mailing my books out there (like I did to attend Anime Minneapolis).

I’ll be attending Colossalcon and vending at their Thursday Craft Fair as well as JAFAX the following weekend. As of right now, those are the only confirmed conventions I’ve got left for the year, but I’m crossing my fingers for Youmacon and potentially the Matsuricon waitlist to fall in my favor. If there are any other late-in-the-year cons you’d like me to consider, please, let me know! I’m all ears.

That’s it for now! Please, please, PLEASE check out my poll and cast your vote! If you see the post on Twitter, Instagram, or Tumblr, consider sharing it to spread the word about this event. My dearest wish is to branch out and include more people in this awesome event that makes October so fun for me every year, and the more we talk about the story premises and what’s potentially on tap, the more interest will be generated towards that end.

Also, I know everyone who ordered a signed copy of Ossuary has now received it. Great! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my latest offering, and if you did and want to help me out a little more, please leave reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, and anywhere else you post to let people know your thoughts! This can happen on TikTok, Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter—anything you want. The biggest challenge indie publications face will always be marketing, so any little bit you’re able to do to show your enjoyment helps me immensely when it comes to finding new readers and new audiences.

Thank you all for what you’ve done, and happy voting!

Until next time,

T.D. Cloud

#author blog #GO VOTE!!#its open to the public!#just click on the links in this post and youre gucci!

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kirankumar166 · 18 days

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Ariba Red

There’s a lot of talk about Ariba, but have you stumbled upon the term “Ariba Red” and been left wondering what it is? Fear not, because while there isn’t a product called “Ariba Red,” the term describes a specific functionality within the broader Ariba Network.

Ariba Network: A Business Collaboration Powerhouse

At its core, the Ariba Network is an online platform connecting businesses– buyers and suppliers – in a collaborative ecosystem. Think of it as a digital marketplace designed to streamline procurement processes, improve communication, and generate better business outcomes for all participants.

The Power of Ariba Network Features

So, what exactly does the Ariba Network offer? Here are some of its key functionalities:

Spend Management: Gaining greater visibility and control over your business spending.

Contract Management: Streamlining the contract lifecycle from creation to negotiation and finalization.

Supplier Management: Simplifying communication and collaboration with your supplier base.

Financial Supply Chain Management: Improving efficiency and automation in your financial processes.

Where Does “Ariba Red” Come In?

While “Ariba Red” isn’t a specific product, it’s a term sometimes used to refer to the earlier versions of the Ariba user interface. These interfaces may have had a color scheme incorporating red elements, leading to the nickname.

More importantly, however, focusing on the color misses the bigger picture. The actual value lies in the Ariba Network’s functionalities, regardless of the interface design.

How Can Your Business Benefit from the Ariba Network?

Here are some of the ways your business can leverage the Ariba Network:

Reduced Procurement Costs: Gain efficiencies through automation and improved communication.

Shorter Procurement Cycles: Get things done faster with streamlined processes.

Improved Supplier Relationships: Foster more vital collaboration for better outcomes.

Enhanced Visibility and Control: Gain real-time insights into your procurement activities.

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Conclusion:

Unogeeks is the No.1 IT Training Institute for SAP Training. Anyone Disagree? Please drop in a comment

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stateofsport211 · 8 months

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US Open MS Q3: Know Your Qualifiers (2/2)

The US Open tennis complex is the venue for the US Open Tennis Championships (📸 CBS 58).

Due to the continuous rain delay in the past few days, the third qualifying round of the US Open was split into two days. The first day had 7 players qualified for the main draw, whose third qualifying rounds were played in the last timeslot (starting the late afternoon local time). Most of the players playing or concluding their second qualifying rounds on that day played their third qualifying rounds today (local time, by the time this draft started).

As a result (including pulling a Roland Garros on splitting the third qualifying round into two days), there were 9 third-qualifying round matches that concluded today (local time). Interestingly, most of these matches concluded in three sets compared to yesterday, which was headed by, such as but not limited to 6th seed Hugo Gaston, 17th seed and one of the rising NextGens Arthur Cazaux, and the likes of Emilio Nava and Zachary Svajda.

The shorter Twitter/X thread of the qualifiers can be found here.

Section 2: Titouan Droguet d. Kimmer Coppejans 6-1, 1-6, 7-5

Titouan Droguet's point to 6-5* 15-40 (initial match point creation), 3rd set (📸 Eurosport)

Titouan Droguet’s rise to this ranking range started when he became the Cherbourg Challenger (indoors) runner-up to Giulio Zeppieri. His big serves, often followed by some working forehands, also carried him to the clay season but also had its efficacy in the outdoor hard courts when he defeated Cristian Garin and came back from being down 3-5 in the third set to defeat Tennys Sandgren in the first two qualifying rounds. A more offensive version of Kimmer Coppejans awaits, who stunned Gabriel Diallo 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(9) in an absolute thriller back in the first qualifying round, which could give this match another interesting element to follow.

T. Droguet appeared destroying Coppejans in the first set, but it was an erroneous set visible from the latter’s 12 unforced errors by the end of the set, which explained the first set breadstick (6-1). However, Coppejans tried to cut down on such unforced errors, but it was T. Droguet who ended up making more instead (and mostly through his forehand side), which also affected his service game. As a result, Coppejans returned the breadstick (6-1) to force a decider. The Belgian had his chances, having several break points out of T. Droguet’s errors, but the latter managed to hold his service game there (to 3-2, 3rd set). It was not until the 12th game that likely scoreboard pressure came to Coppejans when T. Droguet made his forehand passing shot to create his initial match point (6-5* to 15-40). It was not until several points later that T. Droguet converted it, taking the decider 7-5 at the end of the day.

In his maiden Grand Slam appearance, T. Droguet will face 18th seed Lorenzo Musetti. This will be their first meeting at any level, but while L. Musetti could, in theory, appear more offensive, there will be some challenges when T. Droguet is on from his forehand side, especially in utilizing the open spaces. Still, everything can still be wide open before the game, set, and match is called.

Section 16: Emilio Nava d. Eliot Spizzirri 6-3, 3-6, 3-1 ret.

Emilio Nava's point to 4-3* 30-40, 1st set (📸 Eurosport)

Wild card Eliot Spizzirri, who currently studies at the University of Texas and became the 2023 ITA National Player of the Year thanks to his NCAA achievements in the past season, stunned Matteo Gigante 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-1 in a comeback fashion in the first qualifying round before shocking the 18th seed and one of the bigger favorites in that section, Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-4, 6-4 to prevent a possible revenge mission against Emilio Nava, who defeated A. Kovacevic 7-5, 7-6(5) back in Stanford Challenger quarterfinals. For Spizzirri, while this rise could be unexpected compared to his, hopefully, steady progress using his college accelerator spots (with a second-round appearance in the Lexington Challenger, l. Steve Johnson), Emilio’s dynamic game would be pitted similarly against Eliot in a possibly tight clash.

Spizzirri started the match with an early break (2-1) at the cost of Emilio’s backhand error right in the middle of the court to succeed the latter’s double fault, only to be broken back at the expense of a forehand misfire (which went too wide) several games later (3-3). Although Emilio broke for the first set 6-3 due to Spizzirri’s forehand error as well, his offensive play was ruined by a double fault right after a forehand error, hence Spizzirri’s break of serve to 4-2 before he consolidated to 5-2, absorbing the pace quite steadily. Spizzirri successfully brought this match to a decider, where he broke earlier thanks to going after Emilio’s forehand in the middle of the court (1-0), but he got broken back over a backhand error (1-1). After being broken 2-1 out of his error spree, Spizzirri had to take a medical timeout, and after Emilio held to 3-1, he decided to retire, hence Emilio’s qualification to the main draw (after being awarded a wild card last year).

An intriguing clash might appear with Emilio taking on fifth seed Casper Ruud in the first round. While this is their first-ever meeting, Casper had several rough patches lately at the start of the hard-court season while defending his runner-up achievement from last year, with a close loss against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-7(4) in Toronto M1000 and Max Purcell 3-6, 6-4, 3-6 in Cincinnati M1000. While this could mean Emilio could play more freely and appear to be more offensive (hence he possibly would come at the rest of the draw), Casper’s offensives under pressure would be heavily tested in this round. It is heavy for a reason, so it is worth seeing what is going to happen.

Section 9: Jakub Mensik d. Zdenek Kolar 7-5, 6-4

Jakub Mensik's point to *0-0 0-15, 2nd set (📸 Eurosport)

This match became a perfect embodiment of the depths of Czech tennis in the ATP department. Zdenek Kolar came back in form on the hard courts (other than winning the Ostrava Challenger several months back) without dropping a set by defeating Gijs Brouwer and stunning ninth seed Thiago Seyboth Wild, aggressively fending his power while doing his remarkable service. An interesting test on the balance of power awaits Jakub Mensik, a 17-year-old (turning 18 next week) former junior World No. 2 who defeated Fabio Fognini 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 in an extraordinary breadstick exchange and a fellow NextGen in Leandro Riedi 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 in yesterday’s talent-off interrupted by 2 separate rain delays in the first two qualifying rounds.

The match started with two consecutive breaks (1-1) before a forever deuce moment, which ended with Z. Kolar holding his service game 3-2. That showed J. Mensik’s stiff opposition right at Z. Kolar’s game point, which showed the importance of point construction in one way or another. J. Mensik then utilized this well, being more intuitive in the eleventh game where his winners, from volley to lob, started to put more pressure on Z. Kolar until he erred the last 2 shots, which resulted in J. Mensik’s break of serve, successfully taking the first set 7-5 afterward. A volley let-cord moment occurred right at the start of the second set, with J. Mensik’s volley reaching the let cord and was in for him to win that point (0-0* to 0-15) although Z. Kolar held that game (1-0). However, it was not until the fifth game that Z. Kolar’s forehand errors resulted in the break of serve to 3-2 and J. Mensik has not looked back since. He successfully served for the match (6-4) while having his chances the game prior, securing his maiden Grand Slam appearance.

In the first round, J. Mensik will face Gregoire Barrere, with a likelihood to face the winner between 18th seed Lorenzo Musetti and fellow qualifier Titouan Droguet in the second round. While there is a possibility of being an overpowering contest, J. Mensik’s controlled aggression might neutralize Barrere’s service games with a right rally execution, added by intuitive play even when the former had to move forward. However, Barrere could come up with some interesting responses along the way (fending powers), which might not be easy to manage.

Section 10: Sho Shimabukuro d. Liam Broady 6-4, 3-6, 6-3

Sho Shimabukuro's point to *1-2 0-30, 3rd set (📸 Eurosport)

Stepping closer to the Top 100 with 7 lines to spare for the time being, tenth seed Liam Broady had to get out of trouble in the first set as he trailed 4-6 in the first set against Jelle Sels and 0-6 (before the rain delay) against Jesper de Jong in the first two rounds before he nailed the rest of the two sets. On the other hand, his opposition Sho Shimabukuro kept putting on a show with his depth, pushing Tristan Boyer 7-5, 7-6(8) in the first round of the Stanford Challenger before coming to the third qualifying round without dropping a set, defeating 21st seed Jan Choinski and coming back to prevent a third set against Gauthier Onclin.

Both players put it on a show right at the start, with Liam starting with a backhand passing shot even if S. Shimabukuro held that service game 2-2. However, the latter’s cross-court forehand winner put him to the more intuitive side of the open space, separating him and Liam at 2 points before the former broke to 4-3. Liam had his chances to break back right when S. Shimabukuro served for the set (thanks to another cross-court forehand winner), but the Japanese ended up taking the first set 6-4 after averting such damage. Liam brought this match to the distance, roaring after saving 3 break points, one of them with a forehand winner to hold 1-0 before his forehand lob secured the break to 4-2. Liam then took the second set 6-3, but S. Shimabukuro bounced back by trying to get out of his comfort zone, successfully volleying his way to open the gate before Liam’s 2 consecutive double faults resulted in that break (3-1). S. Shimabukuro stayed steady, and took the third set 6-3 for another main draw appearance.

Qualifying for his second Grand Slam this year (since Wimbledon), S. Shimabukuro gets fellow qualifier, Hugo Gaston in the first round, whose third qualifying round match will be rounded up right below. Somehow, they have yet to play each other at any level before, and knowing both players’ return depth, it would boil down to execution to imagine the bigger picture, knowing how H. Gaston could take one set unseriously and bounce back in the other thanks to his qualifying campaign. However, while there is a likelihood of being another highlight-reel match, S. Shimabukuro’s attacking play will also be tested. Should be a fun clash!

Section 6: Hugo Gaston d. Lukas Klein 1-6, 6-3, 6-1

Hugo Gaston's match point conversion to 6-1, 3rd set (📸 Eurosport)

In the clay department, Hugo Gaston won two Challenger titles in two weeks in Iasi and Trieste, before allegedly retiring unseriously in the first round of the Verona Challenger down a match point against Marco Trungelliti. Despite his straight-set loss against Jason Kubler in Cincinnati M1000, he went on to defeat Antoine Escoffier and Yuta Shimizu after being a set down, even a set and a break down in the case of the latter to clinch the final qualifying berth. However, his point construction skills will be tested against a resurgent Lukas Klein, who lately had a rough patch but went on to defeat Mariano Navone and 24th seed Maximilian Marterer to set this clash alight.

The situation at the start of the second set, where Lukas Klein was technically a point away from his demolition mission (📸 Eurosport)

To phrase it in an unserious way, H. Gaston might have clowned the first set with his error sprees, but we never know because he took a medical timeout right after he broke 4-1 (hoping everything was fine), and ended up being breadsticked (6-1) by L. Klein, who did just fine except for H. Gaston’s errors. However, H. Gaston started to take the second set seriously from a set and a break down, even L. Klein was a point away from holding his service game to 3-1 in the second set before H. Gaston had his ideas to bring him off balance, holding his service game to 3-2 right after the crucial equalizing break. H. Gaston then broke to 5-3 when L. Klein’s balance was off from his forehand side, taking the second set 6-3 to force a decider. Interestingly, H. Gaston broke early and led to 3-1 before his cross-court forehand pass doubled the break to 4-1, returning the breadstick with a backhand pass to L. Klein’s volley (6-1) to finally qualify for the main draw. Quite a circus, in joking terms, but it was not new with H. Gaston and his comebacks throughout the qualifying rounds.

In his first main draw appearance as a qualifier, H. Gaston will face qualifier Sho Shimabukuro, whose third qualifying round match against Liam Broady was recapped right above. A possible highlight match, while it could boil down to some critical points (and execution, in general), H. Gaston’s serious version would pose some challenges to S. Shimabukuro, other than the possible overpowering contest. Other than who will appear more offensive and intuitive, H. Gaston’s ability to get out of his comfort zone (add some trick shots as a bonus), when serious, could also factor in. It appeared that this is also their first-ever meeting, already an interesting match-up in itself!

Section 13: Nicolas Moreno de Alboran d. Joris de Loore 3-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(12)

Nicolas Moreno de Alboran's point to 6-6(13-12), 3rd set tie-break (📸 Eurosport)

25th seed Nicolas Moreno de Alboran, who won the Tyler Challenger several weeks before Wimbledon and became the runner-up of the Cary 1 Challenger to account for his positive, but rollercoaster-y hard-court records this season, faced Joris de Loore, who started the season by winning the Oeiras 1 Challenger and becoming the runner-up a week later in Oeiras 2, although he restarted his hard court season with a loss against Viktor Durasovic in Grodzisk Mazowiecki/Kozerki. Knowing Moreno de Alboran’s explosive game when he was on, dealing with an aggressive but tricky de Loore would be an interesting encounter to see how they dealt with each other’s pace.

Being one of those serve-oriented matches, it all boiled down to their second serve and oftentimes, point construction in general. The first break point of the match after 3 consecutive holds came from Moreno de Alboran’s forehand error, but Coppejans took that advantage to fire a forehand winner away, breaking Moreno de Alboran’s serve (thanks to going after his second serve) before holding to 4-1 afterward, not looking back to take the first set 6-3. However, Moreno de Alboran also had to avert the damage right in the seventh game of the second set, with de Loore’s cross-court forehand paving the way as well to his break point, but the New York native held that game to 4-3. It all came down to the tie-breaker, where de Loore’s forehand errors (one was too wide) became the differential for Moreno de Alboran to take the second set 7-6(3). Fast-forward to the match tie-break thanks to their 12 consecutive holds, Moreno de Alboran was trailing 3-6 before a key turnaround started after the 6-6 equalizer, saved 2 match points (including de Loore’s double fault) while his cross-court forehand winner got to the Belgian’s volley side for his latest, before its conversion to take the third set 7-6(12) to finally qualify for the main draw (fell short back in Roland Garros).

Moreno de Alboran will face Lorenzo Sonego in the first round, which also is their first meeting. While both players had their own reliable serves, it will boil down to how aggressive and balanced they are in constructing their points. The former’s second serves were often risky in execution, which might open a chance for Sonego to attack from his forehand side, but an overpowering contest would be another, hence the aforementioned point of balance. Definitely a fun one, could turn out to be a dramatic encounter when both players are on fire!

Section 8: Borna Gojo d. Tomas Machac 7-6(5), 6-2

Borna Gojo’s point to 0-0* 15-30, 2nd set (📸 Eurosport)

Eighth seed Borna Gojo survived an early blockbuster against Hamad Medjedovic 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-4 in the first qualifying round before he defeated Adrian Andreev straightforwardly, 6-3, 6-4, yesterday after a lengthy rain delay. Both he and 19th seed Tomas Machac, who did not drop a set by defeating Laurent Lokoli and former World No. 5 Kevin Anderson will have their return depth, point construction, as well as their composure tested apart from their solid serve, making this one of the most anticipated clashes to close the qualifying rounds.

Fast-forwarding to the first-set tie-breaker due to the rest of the set being service game holds (6-6), Gojo had his moments before Machac found several ways to equalize, bar a double fault, hence Gojo successfully took the first set 7-6(5) after a hold. Since then, he controlled the flow from his forehand side, opening the set with a forehand winner (0-0* 15-30) and had a cross-court forehand winner to take the first break of serve 1-0. Not enough with just a break and a hold lead, Gojo’s forehand once again struck Machac (who usually responded well but had troubles with his second serves then) with his passing shot. Gojo ended up doubling that break and stayed solid until he took the second set 6-2, hence his qualification to the main draw.

Gojo will face Hugo Dellien in the first round, which will be their first-ever meeting. While Gojo might have liked his chances due to H. Dellien’s long way to recovery, when both players are on, that would be where H. Dellien’s return depth steps in to neutralize Gojo’s offensive. However, it would depend on which version of H. Dellien is on, considering his early exit in the Santo Domingo Challenger against Bernard Tomic of all people 6-3, 6-2 despite his Luedenscheid Challenger runner-up run back in the clay. An interesting encounter.

Section 5: Zachary Svajda d. Marc Polmans 6-2, 6-1

Zachary Svajda's point to take the first set 6-2 (📸 Eurosport)

During the start of the North American hard court season, Zachary Svajda came by storm by qualifying in Washington (500), taking advantage of the draw by digging deep, defeating Max Purcell before going down in straight sets against Taylor Fritz He had to dig deep to defeat Ivan Gakhov of all people 7-6(1), 6-7(5), 7-6(6), with the latter being the match tie-break (to 10). However, Marc Polmans is also a tough feat at times, as he surprised Dennis Novak 6-3, 6-1 in the second qualifying round albeit suffering a rough patch for the rest of the season. This would mean both their return depth and flow control consistency to be tested for the rest of this match.

Zach went full-on offensive on Polmans, giving him less or no room to create or convert his chances. Despite the break exchanges starting between 2-0 and 2-2, with Zach breaking early before Polmans breaking back somewhere, Zach’s aggression kept Polmans guessing, notably from his backhand side. Polmans’ second serves were the culprit here other than his errors, where his double fault, which also was the reason behind the break point conversion 2 points after his forehand pass equalizer several games back (ended in Zach’s break to 4-2), opened the gate for Zach to take the first set 6-2 out of his backhand down-the-line winners. Polmans’ fh errors did not help anything either except for Zach to break 3-1 in the second set, but Zach doubled that break thanks to his cross-court forehand winner to create the break point (after foiling Polmans’ game points), eventually breaking to 5-1 and served the second set breadstick (6-1) by the end of the match.

In the first round, Zach will face 20th seed Francisco Cerundolo, whom he has yet to meet before at any level. For the past season, Fran came a long way in the past season, despite his second-round exit to Tommy Paul (who is currently on a roll) 6-7(2), 7-6(2), 6-3 in Toronto M1000 and Dusan Lajovic 3-6, 4-6 in Cincinnati M1000, he was close to defending his semifinal run in Miami M1000 several months back with a quarterfinal elimination as well (l. Karen Khachanov). In a battle of controlled aggression, pacing could be of note due to the possibility of Zach being overwhelmed in facing Fran’s powerful shots, but it would also be thought-provoking to see if Zach keeps digging deep as he did in the qualification rounds.

Section 11: Stefano Travaglia d. Arthur Cazaux 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-1

Stefano Travaglia’s point to *1-2 40-40 (second deuce), 3rd set (📸 Eurosport)

Stefano Travaglia’s interesting resurgence came from the Tenerife 3 Challenger final, despite being demolished by Matteo Gigante. He survived all three-set matches coming to the third qualifying round, stunning fellow veterans Norbert Gombos and John Millman in 3 sets before setting an exciting battle of the generations match against 17th seed Arthur Cazaux to close the qualifying campaign, who did not drop a set by defeating Zizou Bergs and Shintaro Mochizuki along the way. Here, as explosive as Cazaux’s game went, its consistency in practice would still be tested, especially in pressure points.

Arthur Cazaux was one point away from breaking at *4-4 15-40, 2nd set, but Stefano Travaglia had ideas (📸 Eurosport)

This was a topsy-turvy match with Cazaux having his moments, but once he went erroneous, Travaglia took that inspiration and shifted the moment in his favor, even if it seemed it was the end of the tunnel. In the first set, Cazaux had a 4-1 lead with a forehand winner opening the gate 2 points before the said break and hold, but Travaglia’s forehand winner to set up a break point created a break point before he broke back 2 games later, leveling the play to 4-4. The first set boiled down to a tie-breaker, where Travaglia’s forehand errors became the most important differential other than Cazaux’s powerful cross-court forehand pass to take the first set 7-6(4). After a similar drama in the second set at 3-1 to 3-3 just like the beginning of the first set, Cazaux’s touch at the net set him a point ahead at 4-4* 15-30 before he had 2 break points, only for Travaglia to have ideas to hold 5-4. It became an important hold since he started pressing Cazaux’s second serves, going after his shots with his backhand error resulting in Travaglia’s set point conversion to 6-4. Travaglia went on to dominate the third set in an out-grinding contest, where other than Cazaux’s erroneous display (mostly from his forehand side, but his backhand errors were another level), he had a forehand winner to foil Cazaux’s game point before the break to 3-1, which set ended up in a breadstick instead (6-1) to secure his first Grand Slam qualification since the Australian Open 2022.

His resurgence attempt will already be tested against 14th seed Tommy Paul, where apparently, they met thrice at all levels. T. Paul won 3 of them (2 on indoor hard, 1 on clay), but they were close contests, with a notable 3-set play in the qualifying rounds of the Paris M1000 (indoor hard), winning 7-5, 4-6, 6-2. This reflected the necessity of return depth at times to complement their established service games, with an emphasis on how they set up their points. Expect a close clash for this one, it will never be easy dealing with an inspired Travaglia!

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znowblind · 3 years

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Why DarkMilk is bad, an essay.

Dark Choco Cookie x Milk Cookie , better known as DarkMilk, is an incredibly popular ship between Milk Cookie and Dark Choco Cookie in the Cookie Run fandom, fueled by the story posted by the Devsisters Official Twitter and the in-game guild story. However, I am here to explain why DarkMilk is an unhealthy and problematic ship, not to fuel the ship's flames. This was not created to start arguments, or call DarkMilk shippers gross and nasty, but simply my opinion on the ship.

On the surface, DarkMilk seems like a wholesome ship between a ray of sunshine who thinks of the dark brooding character as their hero, but this is not the case. The problem with this ship is that fans of the ship fail to acknowledge the age gap between Milk Cookie and Dark Choco Cookie. Milk Cookie has to be at least 20-25, whereas Dark Choco Cookie has to be at least over 40-50+ years of age.

People defend this by saying whenever Dark Choco Cookie and Milk Cookie met, Dark Choco's current title was "Young Prince" so him and Milk Cookie must be the same age. Whenever Dark Choco Cookie was the Young Prince, he was at least 25-30+ maybe 24 at the youngest. While Milk Cookie had to be under 15 [14-6 probably]. Milk Cookie was obviously not an adult or young adult, as in the Dark Mode Story 7, his name is "Milk Village Youngster". This may be seen as another version of young, but they mean different things.

[Screenshots and definition]

The Cookie Run artstyle always makes it very clear about which cookies are children and which are adults. Even in this silhouette, you can tell Milk Cookie is a kid-teen. Even compared to Dark Choco and Plum Cookie[?] he is very small, even though he isn't a short adult like Alchemist Cookie. If Dark Choco's Young Prince outfit was implied to look like he was around Milk Cookie's age, he would be shorter, have bigger eyes, a shorter waist, and have skinnier [or stubbier] legs, like kid cookies always do. However, Young Prince Dark Choco has none of these features, whereas Milk Cookie does. Dark Choco cookie even has wrinkles [forehead crease, even when not frowned up], which means he is an older Cookie. It wouldn't make sense for someone the same age as Milk Cookie to have wrinkles.

Even if you decided to make it so they got together when they were both adults, they would have an age gap of 15+-20+ years, which is.. Not Good At All. If Dark Choco Cookie returned his feelings for him whenever they first met as well, that would imply Dark Choco Cookie likes teen-kid cookies while being an adult, or waited for him to get older whenever they reunited. Both of these are incredibly gross.

Even Milk Cookie's love [platonic] for him is child-like idolization, like a person who was saved by their favorite Superhero actor as a child and carried that child-like attachment towards them into adulthood. Milk Cookie idolizes Dark Choco Cookie to the point where he only sees him as his hero. The man who saved him. Not a cookie.

[Though Milk Cookie is current age in this, Devsis usually doesn't make new sprites for these little story things.]

[TLDR]

DarkMilk isn't.. The best ship due to their startlingly large age gap and Milk Cookie heavily idolizing Dark Choco Cookie as a hero more than a cookie. This post is not meant to call all DarkMilk shippers awful and bad, but it's simply a heads up about the ship.

#milk cookie #dark choco cookie #anti darkmilk #cookie run #crob #znow.posts #anti dark choco cookie x milk cookie

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tuhbanbuv · 2 years

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I found some MRD concept art on Pinterest! Some of them are pretty identical to the final version sprites, and I keep noticing a few things in the designs. Also I looked on Twitter to confirm that these are official concept art pieces, I think from the artbook.

So, me, being the unapologetic nerd I am, will infodump once again because OH BOY I have so much to say.

First off: Madrat has a buck tooth/rodent tooth!

While the teeth on the sides and bottom jaw are shorter, he often has a bigger one in the front!

Also, his tail tends to change from time to time. While I don't have the patience to go through hours of cutscenes, I'll just state that from what I've found online, rat tails move a lot like dog tails! They can swish their tails when excited (happy or angry) and flick their tail when stressed. The more I look into this, the more I realize how much NIS put into this game! There's so much detail put into this indie game!!!

Also for the second thing. Madrat's chonky!!

Now, these are fairly early concepts, but Madrat still has that chonk. It's just gone to his hips in the final design.

What I like to note about this is that while the other rats are not like Madrat, they do have similar body structure, especially in early concept art.

But the Mob Rats seemingly have tinier hips and arms. Now, Madrat has a heart condition (either heart block/failure) and is basically hours from death, indicating it's severe or reached the last stage. A symptom of severe heart failure is edema, which is water retention located in the legs, ankles, and feet of the victim.

Despite being canonically hallucinations, I'd like to mention that the zombie Mob Rats are more slouched and their bodies are a bit more swollen like Madrat.

While it's a hallucination, it can imply that either this is how Madrat considers "unhealthy" rats to look like or Rat God took the parts of Madrat's appearance that she thought were ugly or unhealthy. She might not know everything about rats, but when Madrat faints after the Mob Rat battle, she notes that he was "asphyxiating" and that it "happens to rats all the time", and rats are prone to respiratory issues in real life, so she might know SOME things.

The Stray Rats also have a swollen belly, due to malnutrition this time. Either way, it proves that in this game, unhealthy rats have swelling in legs and belly.

Now, there's so much more I want to cover but since Pinterest doesn't give credit because people rip content to their as much as they do on Instagram, so if I can confirm it coming from the artbook and not fanwork, I'll do another post with that.

#mad rat dead #mad rat dead spoilers #concept art #theory

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tina-nightray · 3 years

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Pandora Hearts SS Gift~!

i-prefer-the-term-antihero My Secret Santa Gift of Pandora Hearts for you my Dear,

Hope you Enjoy it and wish you Happy Holiday, Sweetie.

From: Me~ (Tina Nightray)

To: This Lovely~

twitter: @nightrayuwu

tumblr: @sassybitch-classyqueen

Archiveofourown: heismysoulmate

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Pair: Ozbert~

Type: Fluffy and caring.

Summery:

Gilbert thought of his cheerful young Master while holding his White Rose.

Oz thought of his old servant / friend while walking into the garden holding a single Blue Rose.

And then, their fate started with warmth going through their hearts.

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Saturday morning, a peaceful calm weekend morning, the sky was clear and the cold breezy morning signified the upcoming winter with its gentle blows.

A fine young man was resting in his chair on his balcony looking up at the sky while smoking quietly. On his free hand was a white rose with few water drips over it ‘I wonder, what should I make for today’s meeting?’ His thoughts were calm as he blew the smoke out and sighed knowing there was no escape from the sweet tooth Break but he also had to make something warm like a pie, a classic cherry pie would be a good choice then.

‘I hope things stay calm as it is and the weather stay clear for tonight’ with another sigh he stood up and walked back inside his room to change into some proper clothes and head to the kitchen ‘good thing they won’t be here for breakfast so I can have my time making that pie with no bunny to disturb my cooking’ he smiled at the picture of Alice trying to taste every ingredient while Oz try to stop her with loud laughs “I better have my breakfast quick then get started on the pie” he said with amusement in his voice as he sped up his steps to the kitchen.

After 30 minutes, he was done with his breakfast and started to make the crust part of the pie when someone unexpected dropped by to say hello coming out of the cupboard and startling the man as always “Hello there, Gil kun~” that was enough to send shock to the other man who was about to lose his pie base “Break! can’t you come from the door like a normal person?!” After that flustered yell he sighed and calmed again not like that was new anyway “Good morning, I thought you'd be with Sharon until the meeting time” he asked quite curiously as he focused back on his pie.

“Well she sent me here to get her some fresh bread knowing that it should've been baked a few minutes ago, but what are you doing here this early, Gil kun~?” The playful man was quite interested as he watched the black haired one place the crust in the oven “I’m making a cherry pie for today’s meeting, it should be ready to offer by noon” he answered while his hands reached out to start the second part of the pie.

“That looks promising, I will be so happy to eat it, Gil kun~” the excited Break danced then took what he came for and left humming a sweet cheerful song on his way back.

“That was.. unexpected,” Gilbert mumbled as he continued. After an hour and half he was done then left the pie to cool down on the counter as he went to check on his reports and the meeting preparation himself.

He went to the garden and got help from two maidens for flower selection and rearranged it in a beautiful vase in the main room. While he was fixing the flowers angles for a more stunning display his mind went to a memory of his past with Oz as they were hiding from little Ada in hide and seek game.

“Gil, don’t make any sound she will find us easily if she heard you” Oz told him with big smile of his “Y-yes, young master” he nodded and covered his mouth, while waiting there together, Oz was sure to stare his young servant up and down then try to hold a small giggle noticing how fragile he looked and how cute he was while trying to do what he was told as to not make any sound with his eyes fixed on the outside of the closet they hid in.

Gilbert on the other hand, just noticed the soft and smiley eyes of his master that kept looking at him “Ma-master, is there something on my face?” he whispered his question and Oz blinked twice before realizing what he was really doing and blushed slightly and tried to hide his small crush by saying “I just realized that white looks good on you” looking away from him.

the younger boy seemed to take in the words as he slightly blushed and smiled looking at his shirt “You think so, young master?” he asked again looking up at him with sweet smile that always make Oz’s heart beat faster which cause the older boy to nods his head and smile happily at him “Maybe I should get you a suit that matches mine for the upcoming party” he suggested and made the younger boy blush but happy as well and got a nod from him before they got caught by the young girl “Found you two!” she cheered and giggled hugging them both as they whined in defeat.

Gilbert’s cheeks were slightly bright as he remembered that time and giggled quietly, he left to the front door as the time went fast. He then heard the loud sound of horses and cart being stopped by the gate to the mansion and the servants gathered to greet the guests at the HQ.

Gilbert stood outside by the cart and opened the door to have the duo walk out then turn to hug him for more flustering greetings “Good morning, Gil~!” the blondie boy said “Good morning!” Alice said knowing he would make something for their meeting she was so excited “Good morning, how was your trip?” he asked as he patted their shoulders gently “It was nice and quiet” Oz said as he walked to the gate with the two following him inside.

They arrived at the lounge room and rested there until the others got here too so they could start the meeting “Alice do you want to go to the garden for a bit?” Oz asked her and she nodded. They walked out with Gilbert left to get the last of preparation done.

After a while they heard Break calling for them to come inside as everyone has arrived and ready to start the meeting in the main room. A few hours had passed before the meeting was over and everyone went off to their ways.

Oz, Alice, Break, Sharon, Mr. Oscar and Gilbert were together in one lounge as they enjoyed their small meeting with Gil’s pie and gray tea to warm their hearts. “It’s good~, Gil kun~!” the doll said loud and clearly cheerful as well “I never knew it could eat” Alice said looking at the doll “Nope, it was only me who ate, Alice chan~” with his usual playful tone Break answered as Oz hummed like the rest in satisfaction from the sweet treat the black haired man made.

“Thank you, Gil” they all repeated and he only answered with a nod “You are very welcome” his voice was calmer than usual as the day passed by for lunch and then some nap time for the afternoon, yet Oz was not with Alice.

Gilbert was walking through the corridor when he spotted Oz walking alone through the garden and went after him.

The young boy sat on a bench there surrounded by flowers and roses, he sighed only to be startled by none other than Gilbert, his old personal servant, dear friend and secret crush “Oh hey Gil, what are you doing here?” the shorter boy asked as he looked at Gil then to the blue rose in his hands upon his lap “Nothing, I just saw you walking here alone and I wanted to ask you if everything is okay?” Gil said calmly, walking to stand three steps away from his master’s seat.

Oz looked up at his crush and smiled but Gilbert felt as if that smile was a bit odd not quite the cheerful one as usual “It’s nothing, Gil. you still worry too much over everything, huh. looks like you’ve never changed from back then. soft and gentle oh but of course you’re more stronger not like the fragile boy you were back then, but still scared of cats” he chuckled at the last one which caused the older male to blush and try to defend himself “They still want to scratch my face off!” he seemed flustered with blush all over his soft cheeks.

Oz smiled at the sight and hummed “You know Gil you’re still as beautiful as you were back then” the words came out naturally that when Oz saw his crush’s face turn red, he blushed slightly himself and looked at his hands “Sorry, that was weird” he tried to dismiss the matter but then “Wait.. um.. you.. Oz.. I..” he stood in his place stunned and unable to finish his words like when he was young and his master looked up at him blinking a few times before a wide smile spread on his lips “What is it, Gilbert? you still hesitate when you want to tell me something about your feelings or thoughts” he tried to tease him only to be met with a shy Gil, the exact same face but in an older version.

“I.. I don’t think you are weird” he mumbled looking down on his feet, the cold breeze blowing a bit stronger this time taking the white rose the taller man was keeping in his jacket to the younger boy’s lap next to the Blue one in his hands “Oh? is that so? and why Gilbert?” Oz decided to hear his thoughts on this matter as he held the other rose in his hand now “Because I..” his words died this time and he couldn't find his voice anymore.

Oz stood up and walked to stop in front of Gilbert and into his personal space then looked up at him to see how red like tomato the man was now and ready to run off, he held his coat to prevent him from escaping and lightly tug on it to get him to lean in toward his face “Gil, do you like me?” it was a direct shot to the man’s heart causing him to face away from him and sulk in frustration unable to answer him.

Oz showed a smile of sadness and sighed “looks like it’s just me then, huh” he mumbled and let the fabric go only to have a strong and bigger hand to hold his retreating one and rested it on his chest forcing the blood to rise to the younger one’s cheeks in rush to feel those strong heart beats drumming so loud and clear through that always seemingly calm chest.

“I think it’s cold, do you wish to share our bodies’ warmth?” Gil’s words were soft and low barely above whispers “Oh Gil~, that would be so dramatic but of course I would love to” Oz’s words were low too as he moved his arms to wrap around Gilbert’s neck while the other kneeled down closer to wrap his arms around his thin waist too and pulled him into his chest whispering the words softly to his neck “I love you, Oz” the young boy smiled and whispered the same way to his lover’s neck “I love you too, Gil” closed eyes as they shared quiet and peaceful moment before they pulled a part to share a soft and sweet kiss to warm their hearts while sealing their already intertwined fates.

The sun was setting and the night was coming so they decided to get back inside to relax and enjoy their newly found love, with those feelings being finally revealed and spoken of, their lives would be so much happier now despite the hardships, they had each other's backs forever and ever.

“Will you stand by my side until i’m gone?”.

“Rest assured that I shall never leave you side, no matter what, My Master”.

“I would love to sleep forever in your arms, My Dear Love”.

Fin.

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Tags :

@phmonth2020

@i-prefer-the-term-antihero

@maddyisenough

@sassybitch-classyqueen

#phsecretsanta #phsecretsanta2020 #pandora hearts secret Santa #pandora hearts secret Santa 2020 #ozbert #pandora hearts #too cute #my writing #fanfic #lovely and fluffy

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tragedyposting · 4 years

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wrote a shorter version of this on twitter but i’m going to cross post and expand a little but I think it's pretty telling how many white women on social media are acting like this year’s screenwriting wins are part of the stranglehold of patriarchal establishment or whatever and not actually sociopolitical landmarks of their own. The winners are two men of color: one writing in a language other than English, which is smth that hasnt won original screenplay in 17 years, and is deeply rejected by mainstream consumers due to plain xenophobia, and the other being the first Maori Oscar winner ever. If anything it's a bigger stride for the academy! Can we stop reducing that to uwu hollywood hates women look two men won for screenwriting what a win for the powers that be?

#ik im a white women on social media but...maybe i can appeal to my peers to stop sfhdfgf

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fly-pow-bye · 5 years

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DuckTales 2017 - “The Duck Knight Returns!”

Story by: Francisco Angones, Madison Bateman, Colleen Evanson, Christian Magalhaes, Bob Snow

Written by: Francisco Angones

Storyboard by: Vince Aparo, Emmy Cicierega, Ben Holm

Directed by: Tanner Johnson

The big mid-season finale!

I knew right from the beginning that, yeah, this episode's going to be the big one. It turned out to be even bigger than I imagined. I must say something first.

If there's anything that should disqualify myself from reviewing this episode, it's that I'm barely familiar with Darkwing Duck. I have watched a few episodes, knew about some of the villains, and, of course, know that amazing theme song, but I wouldn't call myself a huge scholar of the subject. In another way, that should make it even better for me to review it, because, for the most part, the little kids this show is targeting have likely never watched any episode of Darkwing Duck. It's not on Netflix, for one. Let's get to the episode.

This episode begins with a masked villain who aims to blow up an orphanage by setting up bombs in the sewers. No real reason, he just wants to be bad. He is going to be stopped by the terror that flaps in the night, the pebble in the penny loafer of depravity, and someone who is willing to do things in a non-comfortable way. He words that slightly differently, of course.

He's not too sharp, ending up stepping on every land mine. However, he never gives up, and ends up living up to his notoriety, as whoever this bomber is seems to know his name. All in all, a good way to introduce the character for people who don't know who he is. He grabs the villain, and then decided to reveal who he really is...

...himself?! To be concluded...coming absolutely never! This turns out to be the cliffhanger series finale for the series. This was first detailed in Friendship Hates Magic, but this is the first time we actually get to see what would have led to Darkwing Duck's Finest Hour. There was this one villain from the original that could easily be what the payoff was, but there's no way anyone would known in-universe.

This all turns out to be something shown by the ever-so-proud-of-being-Darkwing-Duck Jim Starling at a special event attended by the biggest fans of Darkwing Duck. A comics convention? A Darkwing Duck convention? A Darkwing Duck comics convention?

No, he's at an opening for Siesta Rick's, a furniture store, being a last minute replacement for the much-more-fitting-for-this-event Johnny from the Ottoman Empire. No, Djinn, not that one. Can't help but notice it was just Johnny, too; apparently the two brothers have yet to make up after their incident from The Outlaw Scrooge McDuck. However, there's no time for that plotline.

I wasn't lying about how it was attended by the biggest fans, the plural only justified by Launchpad not being alone. This guy is just as excited as he is, wondering what he could possibly say to the actor who played his biggest idol as a kid.

I felt this episode was a lot longer than most of the previous episodes, though a reason for that is that we get an even shorter intro than usual. It's longer than just having the DuckTales logo fade in and out, but far shorter than the shortened intro that appeared after certain episodes. However, they did color the logo purple.

Right from the get-go, we see that Jim Starling is this washed-up superstar, sitting mostly alone, telling his agent that he is "the one and only Darkwing Duck" and he deserves better gigs. All he needs is an exorbitant price tag for one of his autographs, and I think that was mostly implied by him snatching the bills from the president of his fan club before he can even say his name. By the way, his name isn't revealed until the very end of the episode, and it's actually a minor twist to people who know the original. I'm just going to call him That Guy.

He's far more excited to see a young kid, in this case, Dewey, which makes a lot of sense. Darkwing Duck was a kid's show, and seeing someone from the next generation. Unfortunately for him, Dewey's just here to get an autograph for the pilot who's fainted a few feet away. After taking a photo of Jim Starling awkwardly smiling with a fainted man with his signature on him, Dewey notices a logo popping up as soon as he types the hashtag #DarkwingDuck.

Darkwing Duck has become a trending topic on their version of Twitter, alongside theories about Gizmoduck, National Pants Day, not that widely celebrated in this universe, and some horrible opinions. Hopefully not mine! The reason why it became trending is because a new Darkwing Duck movie was announced, and the boys take it to themselves to investigate. You'll see that will be fitting for pretty much all of them for different reasons.

While trying to keep Launchpad from looking at the rear view window to see the faint-causer, Dewey does raise that question of why they have to be the ones to bring "the one and only Darkwing Duck" to the studio making his new movie, and Launchpad merely agrees with the sentiment. To Launchpad, Starling is Darkwing Duck, and Starling lifts his head up and agrees in a way that indirectly calls him a buddy.

In an obvious chain of events, he ends up crashing. This fainting gives it a different reason beyond any inability to park a car, so it's still up in the air if that "surprisingly good parker despite everything else" gag is still happening. Dewey gets worried about this studio not taking kindly to someone who crashed a car into their studio opening, but it turns out said studio is owned by someone who knows that Launchpad and crashing go hand-in-hand.

That someone being Scrooge McDuck, who is in a meeting with Alistair Borswan, who is totally not Christopher Nolan. He's trying to get some more funding for the big finale of his new Darkwing Duck movie. This will be tough, as not only has he spent a lot of money already, Scrooge hasn't seen a film since the 30's. The only films he ever funded before this were instructional videos starring Donald doing stuff that workers shouldn't be doing. Kind of wish we could see those, actually; the DuckTales equivalent to those Goofy shorts I always loved as a kid that didn't need any guy to say "BLAAAM" over them.

Before Alistair can prove that he can use those funds to give Scrooge his much wanted profits, and be convinced by Scrooge's idea of giving the villain a giant mustache to twirl, Dewey, Launchpad, and Starling show up to crash this meeting, all for different reasons. Dewey wants his cinematic dreams to come to life, Starling wants to begin this great creative partnership, and Launchpad starts to stare at the poster for the upcoming film.

Launchpad: Aw, cool! A big budget reboot of a thing I loved as a kid! Those are always great!

See, it's funny because it's usually not true. See, not only is this going to be a new Darkwing Duck film, it's going to take Darkwing Duck in a different direction! In other words...it's a reboot. I was practically destined to review this episode, it seems. I review nothing but reboots on this site; it wasn't an intentional theme, but it became a theme nonetheless.

Alistair can think of only one thing to stop all of the questions: show the trailer. Hey, it would be good focus testing!

Unlike certain reboots, it's quite clear we're seeing a very different Darkwing Duck, not a continuation. One could say it's a Beginning of a Dark Knight that will eventually Return. People are running away from the "Dark-Wing", the entire movie is set in the nighttime, and Darkwing Duck is told by the not-Commissioner Gordon character that he shouldn't go flapping in the night, but he's too dark to go by anyone's rules, like "don't set the streets on fire with your initials". Darkwing: First Darkness, not suitable for children!

We do get one early reaction shot from the well-established biggest fan of the show, and let's just say that this trailer is not going to get a lot of thumbs ups.

We get to see the reactions from everyone involved, with only Alistair grinning at his own work. Launchpad is offended at the prospect of a Darkwing Duck that sets fires and harms innocent people that aren't accidental. Starling liked it, if only because he still thinks he's going to be a part of this. As for Dewey, he absolutely hated it; he couldn't tell who the villain was, or what was even happening.

He then describes his ideas for this movie. See, everyone has their own ideas to reboot a beloved series. Look at, say, Looney Tunes. Along with the normal "Bugs Bunny in the forest outwitting his foes" reboots, it's been a sitcom with everyone in a house, and even an anime-esque superhero show set in the future. What I'm trying to say is that Dewey seems to be batting for a Loonatics Unleashed, suggesting that there should be aliens and ninjas.

Scrooge decides Dewey should be in charge, because, hey, this is for children, and Dewey's the most childish child he knows. This sets up a sort of B-plot. I don't really remember too much about it, to be honest. Jim Starling has different ideas, and it should be him that should have them, because he's obviously going to be the star of this movie. Even though he did not appear in the trailer, nor did he know anything about this movie until Dewey told him, he has to be the star, right? Right?

What very few would have guessed, unless you took a good look at him and realized he's practically a splitting image of Darkwing Duck sans mask, is that the role is going to That Guy. The one grown man that wanted his signature who didn't faint at the mere sight of him. Hopefully, the guy who claimed himself as the "one and only Darkwing Duck" isn't too stabbed in the heart about it.

...sorry, I had to reference that at least once.

To make a long story short, Starling ends up getting thrown out of the building. Launchpad shows up, and his dislike for the movie's new direction has cured his inability to stand along Starling without fainting. Either that, or they realized that fainting joke was getting old.

Starling goes into his limo and comes out as the one real, original, don't-call-him-old Darkwing Duck. Jim Starling's to bring the glory of his original masterpiece in the only way he can, and calls Launchpad his sidekick. Hey, just like the original! This makes Launchpad faint again, which would have been a little more powerful if it wasn't a gag.

Starling's first plan: while Darkwing Duck distracts the guards with his ability to disappear into any role, which is definitely exaggerated by the far-too-over-himself Starling, Launchpad has to break into That Guy's trailer. Launchpad questions if this is really "heroic", but Starling talks him into it anyway.

Launchpad: Now I wait for that phony actor, lock him up, and us, the good guys, wins. Totally heroic.

I'll be honest: I know, it's Launchpad, he says stuff like this. Practically every line seems to be him unsarcastically saying something that should be said sarcastically. He does think he locked himself inside the trailer, until his savior shows up. That Guy recognizes him, and asks what he's doing in his trailer.

This leads to a fight scene, though Launchpad is completely apologetic about all of this. Eventually it stops when he finds out he was going to beat him with a vintage Darkwing Duck shampoo bottle, and almost suplexes him into a complete run of the Darkwing Duck Adventures comics.

Eventually, this just leads to two grown men playing with their toys. I mean, that's pretty much what this show is; a bunch of grown men who grew up with the Disney Afternoon playing with action figures of their childhood favorite shows, except it's animated, fully funded by Disney, and is generally really good. Eventually, we get to hear That Guy's story, and not just in any way, either...

...but in comic book form! Much like Launchpad, he idolized Darkwing Duck as a kid, buying his merchandise, and even using him as an inspiration to stand up against his bullies. Even if he got knocked down, he'd always get back up, and he has Darkwing Duck to thank for that. If the art style looks familiar, that's because it's drawn by Michael Peraza, as his signature at the end of this comic proves.

There's easily a contrast between the two Darkwings. That Guy just wants to inspire kids just like his idol did, while Starling, the man who played said idol, just selfishly wants his most famous role back, seeing himself as the "one and only" Darkwing Duck.

While That Guy convinces Launchpad to change his motives, Starling is a bit busy with the guards. What could possibly be a good cover for a purple-cloaked guy with a cape?

How about hiding in a crowd of several other purple-cloaked guys and girls with capes, courtesy Dewey and his wacky ideas? Finally, the Dewey plot actually managed to tie in with the other plot. The only real time it does outside of one other thing at the end.

With some convincing from Launchpad, That Guy confronts Starling, saying he's sorry for everything. He offers him the chance to teach him how to be the best Darkwing Duck, give him the opportunity to fix the movie, and just maybe, this new Darkwing will inspire generations to come!

This seems like this would be the passing of the torch from the old actor to the new actor, and it almost seems like it as he begins to shake his hand. And...there's 8 minutes left, is there?

Jim Starling: Yes...

Jim Starling: ...I will!

Right from the beginning, it seemed that his only problem with the movie is that he's not in it. But maybe he just needs a little more convincing of his own!

Forcibly taking over That Guy's role, Jim Starling tells a wandering Launchpad that the new guy told him he can be in the finale. Launchpad really questions this, far more than the apparent villainy from the last couple scenes. When Launchpad is not buying it, that's really something.

The scene is the big finale, directed by Alistair, Dewey, and a little mustache-related advisory from Scrooge. This is where, in a shocking twist, Darkwing will have to surrender to the classic villain, Megavolt, who, most important to Scrooge, has a villainous mustache.

Starling is not too happy about that script, though Dewey's new lines making Megavolt say that he's awesome doesn't exactly please Alistair either, and he ends up doing some improv. He ends up doing everything Launchpad didn't want a true hero like Darkwing Duck to do: harm innocents and cause fires!

Launchpad is certainly not happy about that, but before he can point out the obvious, he hears someone in the distance. It turns out it will take a lot more than just doors getting slammed into his face to stop That Guy.

We even get a fight scene, a real one with no apologies, between the new Darkwing Duck and the old one. I've seen FV shows with less violence, and I don't even just mean that other show! Not a bad thing, by the way.

In an excellent bookend with the first scene, we see that That Guy is well deserving of his role when it comes to not giving up. And not in the way that Starling "didn't give up" by not following the script. A box full of dynamite detonates below him? He just gets back up. A piano falls on him? He gets back up, spitting out those piano keys like that old cartoon gag. He even takes on Megavolt's gun, which was actually electric!

Launchpad eventually comes in. Even Scrooge talks, in a more in-character way, that this seems way out of character for him. However, since he is a huge fan of Darkwing Duck, Launchpad is actually far more qualified to speak to two Darkwing Ducks. Speaking of electric, he's also a guy who's really qualified to get into some sort of accident, as this electrical tower is about to electrocute him, and this could be a good chance for either one of them to show their heroism.

I don't like spoiling episodes unless I have something significant to talk about it beyond just outright ruining it for anyone who didn't watch the episode. Honestly, I felt the same when I spoiled the commercial break twist here, but this review would have been quite short.

Well, maybe I could talk about the ending of the Dewey part, which just ends with him apparently recording over the footage of the fight scene he wanted to use the salvage his movie. When did he even get the time to do this? I don't really care. The Dewey plot is definitely the low point of the episode. Really, that isn't saying anything, and it's really just low compared to the rest of the episode.

There's a lot of spoilers I didn't want to show off here. It's shocking, satisfying, and well worth a watch. In the end, at least one of them proves that he is worthy of his namesake, and the other...well, you'll see.

How does it stack up?

With good commentary on reboots, great new characters, and tons of twists and turns, this episode is just incredible in every way. The Dewey plot would have just taken away from it if there was more to it, so it's not that much of a problem. A Top 5 episode, a must watch.

What's going to happen next? A trip to the moon, that's what.

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