#but its also really fun and very retro at this point and like. its nostalgic for anyone who played it when they were a kid
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Hey! Question from one wannabe game design graduate who is also an artist and wants to make their own (very simple) little game one day - how is it like working on a game set to release one day? Did u feel discouraged learning a new skill (?) after already being a pro artist? Was the game a random idea or have you guys been planning this since a long time? Btw super excited for Sorry We're Closed and I'm obsessed with the retro look and artstyle <33
Firstly THAnk you so much for being into Sorry We're Closed - it's my lil bby pride and joy so I'm glad someone out there in the wider world is looking forward to it! I'll try and answer your questions in order and not ramble too much!
I'm a little older now, and gotten to that point where deadlines aren't so scary anymore. There's a point in which you learn to live with what you can make, rather than trying to make something that's not what's within your ability (which is why we always want more time to get better while we work). But after a while you just realise its better for the idea to be out there in the world where other people can see what you were trying to do! Admittedly i will do a lot of hours sometimes if i REALLY want something to be a certain level or if I'm particularly stuck on something , but a deadline keeps me realistic. It allows for the thing to be good and exist, rather than perfect and existing only in my mind.
Learning a new skill was actually extremely exciting. I wanted to absorb everything like a sponge. I hadn't done any 3d modelling before 2020 seriously (i tried zbrush once in like 2015 and i kept crashing my computer lol). I just wanted to keep going because it was so fun seeing my creations come to life! I always dreamed of designing game characters and it was literally happening before my eyes. Also, the indiedev community is extremely kind, helpful and resourceful. There's lots of free knowledge out there, and people who are willing to talk to you and help you figure things out! Being trained as an artist honestly only helped the modelling endeavour. Having an understanding of anatomy helped my understand how I wanted to approach the form of my models - what needed to be shaped and what I could get away with painting on.
So my knight is about 934 verts/1,861 tris (sort of like a ps2 character) but painting can give some fun depth. I've found this method to be really tricky though as it's highly prone to unflattering angles - but thats partly cause I'm still learning and relying too much on my skills as a 2d artist I guess. This model I made a bit later on, the Sorry We're Closed models I made were far earlier before i really knew what i was doing so they rely even more on my painting skills
but I felt it was okay since we were going for a nostalgic game feel which means some funny deformities like this
but it's whatever, i think it's kind of cute lol.
We started planning the game in 2020 as well, literally after I saw my partner Tom make a character model move around in Unity (it looked pretty terrible) so i said I'll make models and he would code. Then I came up with a story, and from there we came up with how the game itself would play. Game design itself is something we were both lacking and real experience in so that has been the biggest wall to climb so far but its been a really fun and rewarding journey so far.
Anyway sorry for the ramble!! I really hope you get a shot at working on a project you really love and want to pour everything into!
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On a bit of a tier list kick and realised “goddamn I’ve played a lot of different Mario Kart games recently” so decided to rank them :D
Notes below:
Idc what anyone says Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the most fun I’ve had playing any of these. “But it’s so much easier” “but the booster course is just a cash grab” I don’t care!! I enjoy it!! There so many tracks to choose from and all of their soundtracks are so goddamn good!! Plus the booster course is slowly improving the character roster which is amazing!! I know it’s the old “new=good” thing but this time it’s true I’m sorry
On the other hand, Mario Kart Wii. I’m nostalgic I’m sorry but can you really blame me when this game literally ruled my childhood from ages 5-10? So many cool and iconic nitro tracks and the best character roster in the whole series. I’d love to play it again if my wii remotes weren’t broken
Okay so I didn’t remember all that much about Mario Kart DS. I knew I had it when I was a kid but other than a few courses I had mostly forgotten about the game, but I bought it second hand the other day and omg. This game slaps. It’s so fucking fun and I can’t believe I forgot about it. Straight to top A tier
Mario Kart 7 is also probably a nostalgia based pick tbh but it was the game that actually made me play Mario Kart properly. I learned to drift in MK7 and overall appreciated the competitive side of the series a lot more. Also it has my all time favourite track, Melody Motorway :) (or Music Park for Americans)
Honestly the only reason I enjoyed Mario Kart 64 as much as I did was because it’s so fucking chaotic and brutal to the point where it’s funny. Drifted too far? Approached the jump awkwardly? Oops you’re now facing backwards and in last place! Some of the courses are ridiculously long *cough* Rainbow Road which lowers it
Probably a bit controversial but I do enjoy Tour. I haven’t played in over a year but late 2021 - mid 2022 I played it to DEATH because one of my irls got me back into it and coincidentally this was a pretty rough period in my life, so I do owe it one for keeping me stable. Kinda sucked that they got rid of the gatcha feature though :(
Mario Kart Super Circuit is really tricky for me but I really like the graphics. That’s probably it’s only saving grace lmao. Maybe I just find the GBA era of pixel graphics to be endearing idk. It has the same level of brutality as N64 but nowhere near as fun
I have played the arcade game a few times in amusements and it is fun :) that’s it. I don’t play it enough to actually have a proper opinion.
Og Mario Kart is very annoying and the tracks and boring. If I see their asses as a retro track I am not happy >:(
Never owned a Wii U so I never played the og Mario Kart 8 but all I know is that MK8D vastly improved on a lot of its flaws over the years so ultimately it is just better. Also I desperately want to play Double Dash (please add GameCube games to the switch Nintendo holy shit) and I would rank it high because all the tracks that have been turned into retro tracks are so so fun.
#tier list#mario kart#mario kart 8 deluxe#mario kart wii#mario kart ds#mario kart 7#mario kart 64#mario kart tour#mario kart super circuit
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some assorted music opinions under the cut given im not using twitter anymore yes you will have to contend with this regularly from now on (or as regularly as I listen to new music which isn't all that much)
alright let's get the big one out of the way
speak now taylor's version
i generally support the rerecordings as the statement that they are and I don't expect her or the records to sound the same (i think that's a foolish thing) but the production on this one sounds a little off to me particularly in the most punchy songs like haunted and enchanted (I like that she sounds audibly older though) the only song I'm disappointed by is back to december which somehow lost some of the magic I cannot however even begin to pinpoint why
vault tracks rank (better than fearless, much worse than red's btw)
When emma falls in love (lyrics are a bit cringe but it's a banger)
I can see you (originally my favourite rapidly becoming overplayed tho)
Electric touch (it's fine but it fades out of my memory the minute it stops playing)
castles crumbling (fine lyrics, okay melody, what a way to misuse Hayley Williams)
timeless/foolish one (they're okay but they're definitely not my style the refrain from timeless chafes at me and the whole concept of foolish one is too silly for me to battle against my dislike of its repetitiveness. They're passive listens)Su
surrender by maggie rogers
the story with this album is that I put one song in my anthony/penelope fic playlist (it is what it is) and became so obsessed with it I had to look into more and the album it is off of was actually great! it was very nostalgic sounding to me I sank into it and I was like this could've played in the princess' diaries and I wouldn't know a thing. really liked it. her vocals are very nice to listen to and I have done so repeatedly which is the highest praise an album can get from me. anyway some semblance of a ranking after a half assed listen but you gotta know it's not very trustworthy
begging for rain (THEE ballad sorry)
that's where I am (2000s ANTHEM????? the vibes are immaculate when every teen girl I looked up to on TV was a little grunge)
Want want (SO close to number 2 it's also a fucking banger)
overdrive (a good opener! it nails down the vibe early and contains some sonic (?) themes/devices that reoccur during the album and does them best (I'm thinking of the ahhs))
anywhere with you (this one is also very vibey it went into one of my character playlists right away)
horses (my second favourite ballad I enjoy the simplicity)
shatter (one of my favourite choruses this one's even more retro)
symphony (I rlly like the rickety synth (???) in the back. idk what it is it only strikes me as metallic in nature)
honey (I love the chorus verses are meh I like the instrumental)
be cool (this one is very retro but it sort of stagnates until the end which I like lots. I think it may be the interrupted synth throughout it all which bothers me some)
different kind of world (I enjoy the switch up it is simply not my fave)
I've got a friend (the only one I don't entirely like the verses are okay the chorus and the ending is so... did you write this on a ukulele)
assorted random releases
grl gvng by xg (ate up aespa. sorry.)
bite me by enhypen (good for a bg song the spoken bit is always jarring and a little cringe though)
seven by jungkook (I did not like it the mv SLAPS though)
super shy by new jeans (I liked this better than the other release but not more than ditto)
vampire by olivia rodrigo (very nice and singable loved the twilight vibes in the mv)
paradise calling by birdy (I KNEW she was gonna go retro with the album at some point it was the hair loved it obviously I've loved every release from portraits this one is very fun)
francesca by hozier (it's like he made this for 2016 me)
unknown/nth by hozier (in contrast this one's too flat to keep my attention long I know I'll like it when I get invested in the lyrics but I can't spare the focus now)
I haven't listened to the exo album or any NCT song lately nor anything from the Barbie soundtrack....... hopefully later?
#first listen rank#psa newsmen still at large#im most excited for the new jeans album and the hozier birdy double release. i cant believe they're doing that on the same day#oh and whatever the artms girls produce since the oec album was nice
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1, 6, 7, 15 :)
Why did you become interested in Sonic?
Well when I was around 6 years old Sonic X used to always be on TV and I just...happened to watch a lot of its episodes, being particularily hyped about Super Saiyan hedgehogs because I was into my DBZ phase like many others my age.
One day my dad took me to a game shop and I just happened to notice a game that had one of the characters from the show depicted on its cover, that being Shadow
Yes Shadow the Hedgehog of all games was my first Sonic game, soon followed by Heroes, Mega Collection Plus and Gems Collection, though I can't remember the order
2) Favourite game(s)?
My opinions (on anything really) tend to always change but in general:
Sonic 3 & Knuckles is a game I hold dear, although ever since Mania came out I've been put off by it because the Retro Engine's renewed physics have made me notice all the little imperfections in S3K's own physics, plus all the little bugs and stuff like randomly stopping while spindashing up a slope in IceCap act 2
Sonic Adventure 1 is a game I have many nostalgic memories of, but as time passed I've begun to really dislike its repetitive structure and undercooked campaigns
Sonic Adventure 2 on the other hand is a game that I used to not like very much, however in recent years I've begun to appreciate it way more than SA1 for its more compact and streamlined structure, and I've also grown to like its other gameplay styles by mostly judging them on their merits rather than how they may or may not fit into a Sonic game....which is still a valid criticism though, and I in no way will I ever declare SA2 the "best Sonic experience ever"
Sonic Unleashed is a game I haven't played in a long while (alongside Generations) mainly because I haven't been able to use my XBOX 360 in a long while. I have many good memories of this one, and I still really like the Daytime stages despite their linearity,as I really like their length and difficulty level...but the Werehog brings it all down, as while I may appreciate alien gameplay styles in Sonic to some extent like I now do for SA2, the Werehog's stages simply drag on for far too long
Sonic Colors is a game I still quite enjoy when trying to collect everything. Going through these stages like normal is not very fulfilling because of their length and relative simplicity, but when you're going after those Red Rings it really makes the levels much better to me, as it forces you to actually explore them, do extra platforming and use the Wisps in particular ways. True its platforming is often not very Sonic-like, but for the most part I still enjoy it as I don't think it overtakes the speedy portions too much (hell I still like Sonic 1, which is worse in this aspect)
Sonic Generations is another game I haven't played in a while, and I really wish it were longer (and actually did something with its story) because it's got some of the best levels in the series, Seaside Hill act 2 in particular. Ironically I feel that Modern Sonic steals the show completely, to the point that you could take Classic out and the game wouldn't get worse, though he's still enjoyable, albeit not 100% faithful with how he handles in the Classics (and City Escape act 1 is just fun, alongside Speed Highway act 1)
Sonic Mania, which would have been my absolute number 1 had it had way more OG stages and given Knuckles more unique alt paths
7) Favourite vocal themes?
*Inhales
It Doesn't Matter for being a great way of describing Sonic's character in a nutshell (I used to prefer SA2's version, but now I've swung the other way)
Open Your Heart for obvious reasons, although I've noticed just how cheesy some of the lyrics can get (GOTTA OPEN YOUR HEART DUUUUUDE)
Live and Learn, which for the longest time I actually didn't like nearly as much as Open Your Heart for being shorter, but now I REALLY like how much it fits the final battle of the game....if only it were a longer and harder fight (that guitar solo followed by the lyrics with the quiet guitars in the background at the halfway point is the best)
What I'm made of, I just love how the song and especially the lyrics pump you up for a big fight against such a big slithering cowerd as Metal was in Heroes
Endless Possibilities, for reasons more or less similar to It Doesn't Matter, though I guess it's not as descriptive of Sonic's character, but it sure is adventurous! (I'm not the biggest fan of the part about the Werehog, as it kinda...feels out of place with the rest of the song? As if they absolutely had to represent the werehog in some way)
With Me, I just LOVE the back and forth between the two singing voices representing the clashing ideologies of Sonic and Merlina...though I kinda wished the voices were a bit more similar to theirs (I also like the Crush 40 version, but the original is the best)
Infinite's Theme: Which I got cut by just typing about it
I am all of me: OUCH I'M BLEEDING!!
15) Favourite Sonic levels?
Chemical Plant in Sonic 2 because yes
Hydrocity and Icecap from Sonic 3 because you all should know why
Red Mountain in SA1 because I actually really like the aesthetic, and I find it's got a better balance between speed and platforming than Speed Highway (which is still really good, but a bit on the short side I feel). Plus Emerald Coast for being fun and iconic, Windy Valley (though I wished its first act was longer), Speed Highway, Lost World for its great atmosphere, and Final Egg for how...dirty it looks, favourite Eggman base to this day
City Escape, Metal Harbor, Radical Highway, Final Chase, Meteor Herd and Security Hall (yes you read correctly) for SA2
I wanna say Mystic Mansion for Heroes but mainly because I adore the Halloween aesthetic and OST and I wish more games did something like it
Rooftop Run for Unleashed because....c'mon
Green Hill act 2, Chemical Plant act 1, Sky Sanctuary act 2, City Escape (both acts), Speed Highway (both acts), Seaside Hill act 2, Crisis City act 2 and Rooftop Run act 2 (though not as much as the original) from Generations
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OK re that last post/drawing.
Lets elaborate on that and add the music score rating. This will sound insane btw. Its highly subjective.
Ou. ter Wil.ds
Gameplay: 5 stars - introduces simple but cool features, nothing extraordinary for my taste but serves what it does perfectly.
Low res visuals: 4 stars - just fine, low res as i like it, doesnt crash your computer just watching a LP. loses a star bc its 3d obviously
Aes/scenery: 5 stars+ - such creative and artistic sights. awe inspiring. just the DLC's world is incredible by itself but everything is different and unique
Mood/vibes: 5 stars+++++ infinite - makes me cry just thinking about it. perfect perfect perfect cannot understate this
Storytelling: 5 stars+ - the way the story is told tells just enough and leaves you to figure the rest out, exactly as everything should be. any other type of storytelling is garbage but thats my own subjective opinion
Innovation: 5 stars - never seen a game like this.
Symbolism: 5 stars+++++ infinite - watched a bunch of hours long analysis videos and learned something about the themes every single time. i still feel like it has more to tell too
Worldbuilding: 5 stars+. so creative so creative so creative. sadly the storytelling style doesnt allow for more depth which is fine the way it is for this style. but i yearn to know more
Music score: 5 stars+++++ infinite - sound design in general is perfect. idk what else to say its just amazing. not my fave music style though but perfect for what it does here and the associated emotions are gut wrenching.
Bonus replayability rating: 0.5 stars - i want to wipe my memory to experience it again, over and over. considering not interacting with it for 10 years to try it again from the top. not likely as im hyperfixating on it currently.
Ken.shi
Gameplay: 5 stars+++++ infinite - i never want any other style of gameplay in a game.
Low res visuals: 3 stars - low res as i like it. unfortunately this isnt 2d. would have matched the aes so much better. the game is beautiful but could be more which is why this rating is low.
Aes/scenery: 4 stars - would be 5 but so much space is empty. it serves the vibe of the game but its also overkill lets be honest
Mood/vibes: 4 stars - great. could be better though. see above
Storytelling: 5+ stars - i think it isnt infinite stars only bc ive known this game for years and became a bit jaded by it. otherwise my absolute fave style of storytelling. tell almost nothing and speculate. every art do this or die
Innovation: 5 stars+ - comes up with so many cool ideas that it actually makes you feel like there are more than there are. anyway unprecedented, never been done before, etc etc etc. the gameplay, the concepts, etc etc.
Symbolism: 4 stars - there are a lot of things to say about it. provided that you speculate correctly. could be more but fine the way it is.
Worldbuilding: 5 stars+++++ infinite - perfect.
Music score: 2.5 stars - its fine but loses at least one star bc part of it makes it annoying. not very diverse either. i usually just turn it off. otherwise great vibes for it.
Bonus replayability rating: 4.5 stars - never tire of starting over, in fact its way more fun than the end game stage. play regularly
Now lets do Dar.k Chr.o.nicle.
Gameplay: 4 stars - cool features for a game like this.
Low res visuals: 4 stars - its got that playstation/gamecube goodness
Aes/scenery: 4.5 stars - some areas are so pretty
Mood/vibes: 4 stars - makes me feel nostalgic and like the world is simple and good, which is kind of the point bc it has black and white retro rpg morality.
Storytelling: 2.5 stars - its fine, very conventional for the genre. the time travelling mechanic is incredibly cheesy, best not to think about it too much.
Innovation: 3.5 stars - introduces many features ive never seen in a rpg, but at its core stays very true to its genre.
Symbolism: 1 stars - good will prevail no matter what and people are evil bc theyre hurt. doesnt really have any deeper themes.
Worldbuilding: 2.5 stars. actually 1.5 stars only due to elves and moonfolk
Music score: 5 stars - one of my fave instrumentals ever comes from this song and i just still listen to the OST regularly despite the fact that ive played this game as a child first and foremost. ive never forgotten its music
Bonus replayability rating: 3 stars - 1 star due to nostalgia factor and another bc its nearly impossible to complete everything. i come back to this game about once every few years
i hope ive been exhaustive otherwise ill edit this. if you read all this wow. really?!
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Chinatown Detective Agency [Review]
Chinatown Detective Agency is a little point-and-click game, where you (duh!) play a role of private detective, starting out and solving cases -- and amongst them, there will be a case that starts simple, but sets the path for your career...
This little game is intriguing and funny, and I loved characters and the story. And under usual circumstances it would be a five stars from me, but there are a couple of things about the game itself that, sadly, made my experiences far from perfect.
Firstly, this game leans into a concept of having to look up things online to know answers to questions in game. Now, that certainly was a thing a while back that was quite popular; and to me, personally, the time for this concept to work has passed.
Not only did I constantly got tons of walkthrough for the game links which made it harder to go through results and figure out what exactly I need to know... on top of that, the things to look up were... very specific and rather tough to find.
Granted, the game gives you an option to call your friend / ally for help and get hint or solution which I did appreciate, but at the same time -- it’s like skipping a puzzle in a game, really. I didn’t choose to gather help because I struggled or didn’t want to try and solve the puzzle, but because solving the puzzle was time-consuming and complex to the point of it being... unbearable to me.
And, I truly hated the parts where googling things up was mixed with time limit. Now... I am going to ignore what happens when you have slow connection; however, my internet speed is decent and I still was too slow if I didn’t know anything about the topic and had to find info... It was truly annoying (especially since fail means you get yeeted back to start of the mission).
So that’s a design choice in gameplay I did not like, but I could deal with it. However, game was also just so filled with bugs to the point where simple, plain playthrough (once) through the game made me cause to even softlock it once. And little bugs that you notice but ignore were so common it really pulled me out of immersion of the game.
Those were two major issues I have. The writing certainly made it worth my time, the pixel graphics are nice and the areas are designed well -- a couple extra items to click on, but things are rather linear most of the time. The whole art design definitely was up my alley, somewhat retro-ish from my POV and made me feel nostalgic about my childhood, for sure.
The game had many great parts, the story pulled me in and I just wish it was polished just a little bit more. That being said, it is a 25$ indie game (albeit published by Humble), and I am not gonna harp too much at its flaws. I think for the 25$ you get a decent little game, an entertainment for ~10h, with possibility to replay it as at some point you do make a rather big choice (it might be fun to see where other choices take you).
So, all in all, I recommend it, but you should be aware of the couple of flaws Chinatown Detective Agency has, and it may at times annoy you. Though, if you are a connoisseur of good story, you won’t be disappointed.
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let's talk about andi mack's worldbuilding
sorry this took forever to make! i've been pretty busy with school stuff and i kind of lost my inspiration for a bit, but i ultimately really enjoyed writing it! i wish i could've included more pics (tumblr has a max of 10 per post), and it kinda turned from less of a mini analysis to more of an extremely long rant... but i hope it's still a fun read!
i've been rewatching the show over the past few weeks (thanks again to @disneymack for the link!), and i’ve been noticing a lot that i never did the first time around. this is really the first time i’ve watched the show from start to finish since it aired, and it honestly feels so different this time - probably a combination of the fact that i’m not as focused on plot and can appreciate the show as a whole, and also that the fandom is much, much smaller now, so there’s a lot less noise. so the way i’m consuming this show feels super different than it did the first time, but the show itself doesn’t - it’s just as warm and comforting to me as it was the first time around, if not more so.
i think a lot of that can be attributed to andi mack’s “worldbuilding”. i’m not quite sure that this is the right word in this context, to be honest, because i mostly see it used in reference to fantasy and sci-fi universes, but it just sort of feels right to me for andi mack, because you can really tell how much love and care went into constructing this universe. for clarity, worldbuilding is “the process of creating an imaginary world” in its simplest sense. there’s two main types: hard worldbuilding, which involves inventing entire universes, languages, people, cultures, places, foods, etc. from scratch (think “lord of the rings” or “dune”), and soft worldbuilding, in which the creators don’t explicitly state or explain much about the fictional universe, but rather let it’s nature reveal itself as the story progresses (think studio ghibli films). andi mack to me falls in the soft worldbuilding category. even though it takes place in a realistic fiction universe, there’s a lot of aspects to it that are inexplicably novel in really subtle ways.
so watching the show now, i’ve noticed that the worldbuilding comes primarily from two things - setting and props, and oftentimes the both of them in tandem (because a big part of setting in filmmaking does depend on the props placed in it!).
one of the most obvious examples is the spoon. it really is a sort of quintessential, tropic setting in that it's the main gang's "spot", which automatically gives it a warm and homey feel to it. and its set design only amplifies this:
the choice to make it a very traditional 50s-style diner creates a very nostalgic, retro feel to it, which is something that's really consistent throughout the show, as you'll see. from the round stools at the bar, to the booths, to the staff uniforms, this is very obvious. the thing that i found especially interesting about it though is the choice of color. the typical 50s diner is outfitted with metallic surfaces and red accented furnishings, but the spoon is very distinctly not this.
instead, it's dressed in vibrant teal and orange, giving it a very fresh and modern take on a classic look. so it still maintains that feeling of being funky and retro, but that doesn't retract from the fact that the show is set distinctly in modern times.
of course, this could just be a one-off quirky set piece, but this idea of modernizing and novelizing "retro" things is a really common motif throughout the show. take red rooster records. i mean, it's a record shop - need i say more? it's obviously a very prominent store in shadyside, at least for the main characters, but there's no apparent reason why it is (until season 2 when bowie starts working there, and jonah starts performing there). a lot of the time, though, it functions solely as a record shop. vinyl obviously isn't the most practical or convenient way of listening to music, but it's had its resurgence in pop culture even in the real world, mostly due to its aesthetic value, so it's safe to say that it serves the same purpose in the andi mack universe.
the fringe seems to be nostalgic of a different era, specifically the Y2K/early 2000s period (because it's meant to be bex's territory and symbolic of who she used to be, and its later transformation into cloud 10 is representative of her character arc, but that's beside the point). to be honest, exactly what this store was supposed to be always confused me. it was kind of a combination party store/clothing store/makeup store/beauty parlor? i think that's sort of the point of it though, it's supposed to feel very grunge-y and chaotic (within the confines of a relatively mellow-toned show, of course), and it's supposed to act as a sort of treasure chest of little curios that both make the place interesting and allow the characters to interact with it.
and, of course, there's andi shack. this is really the cherry on top of all of andi mack's sets, just because it's so distinctly andi. it serves such amazing narrative purpose for her (ex. the storyline where cece and ham were going to move - i really loved this because it highlights its place in the andi mack universe so well, and i'm a sucker for the paper cranes shot + i'm still salty that sadie's cranes didn't make it into the finale) and it's the perfect reflection of andi's character development because of how dynamic it is (the crafts and art supplies can get moved around or switched out, and there's always new creations visible).
going back to the nostalgia motif though, the "shack" aspect of it always struck me as very treehouse-like. personally, whenever i think of treehouses, there's this very golden sheen of childhood about it, if that makes sense. i've always seen treehouses in media as a sort of shelter for characters' youthful innocence and idealistic memories. for example, the episode "up a tree" from good luck charlie, the episode "treehouse" from modern family, and "to all the boys 2" all use a treehouse setting as a device to explore the character's desire to hold onto their perfect image of their childhood (side note: this exact theme is actually explored in andi mack in the episode "perfect day 2.0"!). andi shack is no exception to this, but it harnesses this childhood idealism in the same way that it captures the nostalgia of the 50s in the spoon, or the early 2000s in the fringe. it's not some image of a distant past being reflected through that setting; it's very present, and very alive, because it reflects andi as she is in the given moment.
some honorable mentions of more one-off settings include the ferris wheel (from "the snorpion"), the alley art gallery (from "a walker to remember"), SAVA, the color factory (from "it's a dilemna"), and my personal favorite, the cake shop (from "that syncing feeling").
[every time i watch this episode i want to eat those cakes so bad]
these settings have less of a distinctly nostalgic feel (especially the color factory, which is a very late 2010s, instagram era setting), but they all definitely have an aura of perfection about them. andi mack is all about bright, colorful visuals, and these settings really play to that, making the andi mack universe seem really fun and inviting, and frankly very instagrammable (literally so, when it comes to the color factory!).
props, on the other hand, are probably a much less obvious tool of worldbuilding. they definitely take up less space in the frame and are generally not as noticeable (i'm sure i'll have missed a bunch that will be great examples, but i'm kind of coming up with all of this off the top of my head), but they really tie everything together.
for example, bex's box, bex's polaroid, and the old tv at the mack apartment (the tv is usually only visible in the periphery of some shots, so you might not catch it at first glance) all complement that very retro aesthetic established through the settings (especially the polaroid and the tv, because there's really no good reason that the characters would otherwise be using these).
besides this, andi's artistic nature provides the perfect excuse for plenty of colorful, crafty props to amplify the visuals and the tone. obviously, as i discussed before, andi shack is the best example of this because it's filled with interesting props. but you also see bits of andi's (and other people's) crafts popping up throughout the show (ex. the tape on the fridge in the mack apartment, andi's and libby's headbands in "the new girls", walker's shoes, andi's phone case, and of course, the bracelet). not only does doing this really solidify this talent as an essential tenet of andi's character, but it also just makes the entirety of shadyside feel like an extension of andi shack. the whole town is a canvas for her crafts (or art, depending on how you want to look at it. i say it's both), and it immensely adds to shadyside's idealism. because who wouldn't want to live in a world made of andi mack's creations?
and, while it's not exactly a prop, the characters' wardrobe is undoubtedly a major influence on the show's worldbuilding. true to it's nature as a disney channel show, all of the characters are always dressed in exceptionally curated outfits of whatever the current trends are, making the show that much more visually appealing. i won't elaborate too much on this, because i could honestly write a whole other analysis on andi mack's fashion (my favorites are andi's and bex's outfits! and kudos to the costume designer(s) for creating such wonderful and in-character wardrobes!). but, i think it's a really really important aspect of how the show's universe is perceived, so it had to be touched upon.
[^ some of my favorite outfits from the show! i am so obsessed with andi's jacket in the finale, and i aspire to be at bex's level of being a leather jacket bisexual]
and lastly, phones. this is a bit of an interesting case (pun intended), because the way they're used fluctuates a bit throughout the show, but i definitely noticed that at least in the first season terri minsky tried to avoid using them altogether. these efforts at distancing from modern tech really grounds the show in it's idealist, nostalgia-heavy roots, so even when the characters start using their phones more later in the show, they don't alter the viewer's impression of the andi mack universe very much.
so, what does all of this have to do with worldbuilding? in andi mack's case, because it's set in a realistic universe and not a fantasy one, a lot of what sets it apart from the real world comes down to tone. because, as much as this world is based on our own, it really does feel separate from it, like an alternate reality that's just slightly more perfect than ours, which makes all the difference. it's the idealism in color and composition in andi mack's settings that makes it so unmistakably andi mack. even the weather is always sunny and perfect (which is incredibly ironic because the town is called shadyside - yes, i am very proud of that observation).
the andi mack universe resides somewhere in this perfect medium that makes it feel like a small town in the middle of nowhere (almost like hill valley in 1955 from "back to the future"), but at the same time like an enclave within a big city (because of its proximity to so many modern, unique, and honestly very classy looking establishments). it is, essentially, an unattainable dream land that tricks you into believing it is attainable because it's just real enough.
all this to say, andi mack does an amazing job of creating of polished, perfect world for its characters. this is pretty common among disney channel and nickelodeon shows, but because most other shows tend to be filmed in a studio with three-wall sets, andi mack is really set apart from them in that it automatically feels more real and tangible. it has its quintessential recurring locations, but it has far more of them (most disney/nick shows usually only have 3-4 recurring settings), and it has a lot more one-off locations. it's also a lot more considerate when it comes to its props, so rather than the show just looking garish and aggressively trendy, it has a distinctive style that's actually appropriate to the characters and the story. overall this creates the effect of expanding the universe, making shadyside feel like it really is a part of a wider world, rather than an artificial bubble. it's idealism is, first and foremost, grounded in reality, and that provides a basis for its brilliant, creative, and relatable storytelling.
tl;dr: andi mack's sets and props give it a very retro and nostalgic tone which makes its whole universe seem super perfect and i want to live there so bad!!
#andi mack#buffy driscoll#cyrus goodman#jonah beck#tj kippen#tyrus#ambi#bex mack#analysis#film analysis#disney channel
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🍁🍂🍁🍂Alright, since its mid-September, its time for my annual spooky movie reccomedation list! I include ratings, and I can include trigger warnings for any of these films upon request as well! I'm also looking for horror movies to watch myself, so feel free to comment/ask any as well!! So, here we go, in no particular order...🍁🍂🍁🍂
Fantasy/sci-fi horror:
The Thing 1982 [R]: A group of scientists find a shapeshifting alien underneath the ice in Antarctica, and they just survive as it imitates them. Trust no one. The Thing is one of my favorite movies in general. Its scary, retro, and the special effects are insane. It reminds me of classic Lovecraft, but better. Very terrifying. 10/10
Pan's Labyrinth 2006 [R]: During the Spanish Civil War, a young girl named Ofelia enters a world of twisted fantasy while above, her step-father's brutality causes trouble in the midst of a rebellion. Genuinely a beautiful movie. It's like a fairy-tale, and sometimes you forget it's a horror movie. It's simply magical, but frighteningly real. If you love classic fantasy, monsters, history, and horror, you'll love this movie. 10/10
Alien 1979 [R]: A team on a shipping vessel in soace come in contact with a parasitic alien within the clausterphobic confines of the ship. A classic, and it's still absolutely terrifying. Sharp insight on early 80's consumerism (in more than one sense), and a marvel of alien horror. Its very claustrophobic, tense, and 100% worth watching, especially if you love scifi. 10/10.
Aliens 1986 [R]: Continuing the story of Alien, space marines must investigate a distress signal from a colony, and what they find is more horrifying than they could have imagined. Full of retro action, humorous quips, scares, and plenty of bullet spray, it's a terrifying and fun watch. I enjoyed it just as much as the original, and its just awesome, while being scary at times. 10/10
Annihilation 2018 [R]: After the mysterious death of her husband, a Biologist goes into Area X to discover what horrifying cosmic entity his team found there. Not nearly as good, or accurate as the book (I CANT reccomend the Southern Reach trilogy enough), but this movie genuinely frightened me at points and the setting is simply beautiful. Its clever, creepy, and it's a strange watch. 8/10
Signs 2002 [PG-13]: After strange symbols appear in the cornfields on a family's farm, they must protect each other, and their faith, during the invasion. Love this movie, it's just spooky enough, but outside if the monsters, the people in this movie are what really matter. It's compelling, and a beautiful story. Simply excellent. Plus you'll know where the screaming guy in a closet meme comes from after seeing this one. 10/10
A Quiet Place 2018 [PG-13]: Could you survive a world where making a single sound could spell your death? Monsters decend upon the Abbot family, just as a baby is on the way. One of my favorite movies ever. Its beautiful and ABSOLUTELY horrifying. I think I forgot about eating my popcorn while watching this one. Overall, the desperate survival of the Abbots is heartwarming, but oh so stressful. If you can, PLEASE watch the sequel right after this one. 10/10
A Quiet Place 2 2021 [PG-13]: The Abbots face new challenges as they traverse a devestated landscape, and monsters wait around every dark corner for them. An EXCELLENT sequel. I caught myself actually going "NOOO AAAA" at some points, and its totally a worthy sequel to the scares in the first one. Again, great story, great characters, great cinematography, great message. 10/10.
Coraline 2009 [PG]: Coraline Jones, unhappy with moving to a new house, suddenly finds a whimsical world in a little hidden tunnel inside the house, but she learns the sinister truth behind the candy-colored world beyond the wall. Dont let the stop-motion animation confuse you; this movie is terrifying. A classic from my childhood, and its a treat to watch every Halloween. The Beldam has to be on the list of the most horrifying villains ever. 10/10
Zombies, ghosts, ghouls, and everything in between:
The Haunting 1963 [G]: Based on the novel The Haunting of Hill House, a group of people must stay in a supposedly haunted mansion. Eleanor, one of the women, suddenly believes that the house is talking directly to her. One of the many adaptations of the book, it's spooky, and it's very disturbing, while also having a nice theme. Perfect for setting the mood on a October night. 8/10
Night of The Living Dead 1990 [R]: Survivors take shelter in an abandoned farm house while the undead attack. Can they work together, or let their own prejudices get the best of them? I havent seen the original yet, but I love this movie. Very scary, and its directed by Tom Savini, so lots of good ol zombie gore. Not only that, there's a good bit of social commentary here on racism. The classic was the original zombie film. 9/10.
Dawn of The Dead 1978 [R]: As the undead rise up, survivors take to a shopping mall in order to survive. I don't know how to describe this movie's vibe. It has this weird retro 70's feel, mixed with uncanny horror. It's campy at times, but it doesn't take away the scariness. Very fun in a weird way, and its an on-the-nose satire of american consumerism. 10/10
Train To Busan 2016 [R]: While the world crumbles around them, a small group of survivors must learn to protect each other on a train headed to Busan. Seriously, please watch this one. It's completely unique to any zombie film I've seen. It's scary, but you genuinely care about the characters, and its VERY intense. Love this one. 10/10
Murder and ect:
Scream 1990 [R]: A masked serial killer stalks high school students in middle class suburbia. Its a parody of the modern horror genre, clever and scary all at once. I enjoyed it as a classic and I liked the commentary on how violence with no essence effects people, especially when glorified with horror films. Definitely not for everyone, but its good never the less. 8/10
Wait Until Dark 1967 [NR (I give it a PG-13)]: A gang of criminals looking for heroin attack the home of a blind woman, and it turns into a horrifying game of back and forth between them, until it can go on no longer. Literally one of the best thriller movies ever. Genuinely scary, and genuinely clever. This was actually the first film I saw Audrey Hepburn act in. Super tense near the end, I was biting my nails the whole time. 10/10
The Village 2004 [PG-13]: A rural community is faced with a hard decision as the monsters in the woods leave bloody warnings around their small town. I watch this one every autumn. Its atmospheric, the score is breathtaking, and its a great story. Its beautiful, gently frightening, and its overall a love story. I love this one a lot, even though I know a lot of people didnt like it. Don't go in expecting a great twist at the end, and you'll enjoy it. 10/10
Jane Eyre 2011 [PG-13]: Jane Eyre becomes the governness to an estate, and find a dark secret there. Not necessarily horror, but its gothic and absolutely beautiful. Its the perfect october movie. I love it lots. Nothing hits different than a rainy october day, a cup of chai tea, and this movie playing. 10/10
TV Series:
Stranger Things 2016- [PG-13]: After a child is taken by a supernatural force, the small town community of Hawkins must search for answers and find him before its too late, but as they search, a horrifying conspiracy comes to life before them. I adore this series. Its a love letter to the 80s. Cant reccomend it enough. 10/10
The Twilight Zone 1959-1964 [PG]: A serialized series featuring many different stories ranging from scifi to horror and everything inbetween. Its genius honestly. Each story is compelling, and thought provoking. A great Halloween watch. 10/10
The Walking Dead 2010- (seasons 1 & 2) [R]: A sheriff wakes up from a coma to find himself in a terrifying world of the undead. Its a decent series, at least in the first two seasons! Its pretty scary. Its great if you like zombie movies! 7/10
Over The Garden Wall 2014 [PG]: Two brothers find themselves lost within the world of the Unknown, a place where time is blended together and reality isn't quite right. Ok, real talk here. Its my favorite series of all time. I could go on and on and on about it. If you haven't seen it, please I beg you. Theres nothing like it. Its literally the BEST autumn show to watch. Clever, funny, lightly disturbing, deep, nostalgic...its fantastic. 11/10
So, there you have it. Huge list of horror movies I've enjoyed and actually reccomend. I have seen quite a few more than this (Halloween, Dawn of the Dead 2004, Nightmare on Elm Street, ect), but I specifically picked out the ones I love the most. Enjoy! And have a great autumn.
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thoughts on the glass animals album dreamland? (info dump welcome)
YES hi hello thank you
I talked like,, a lot so I’m sparing y'all with a cut
The album itself is just so well organized and executed it’s insane. The entire album just captures the feeling of taking a nostalgic trip through your own life and the way that it ends up forgotten in a way, sickly sweet and vague, subdued, and so easy to get completely lost in. And part of what makes it so well done is the pure authenticity it’s completely drenched in. The album itself didn’t exist until quarantine hit, they had been taking a break after a band member was injured and had to recover, and that isolation had that same impact on them as it did on most of us, and the result was this extremely genuine album embodying nostalgia itself.
As a band they’ve always done such an incredible job of maintaining a theme throughout their album that is consistent without becoming repetitive. The song Dreamland does such a perfect job of pulling you into the album, easing you into a subdued album, fuzzy around the edges but clear once you can hone in on the details, on what’s being said, perfectly reflective of the theme it’s introducing you to. While it’s doing that it’s also providing a smooth shift from the last song on the album before it, HTBAHB. Agnes leaves that album off on such an extremely a somber, desperate, and lost note, which Dreamland picks up, just as lost in itself, taking off so beautifully from Agnes’ “You’re gone but you’re on my mind, I’m lost but I don’t know why,” and getting into the why. But it does so by warning you first, “You see in kodachrome, you see in pink and gold.” This album is distorted, it’s not right, the colors are wrong and everything is sweeter than it should be. At the same time, it sets up for the songs to follow, like “That worst thing you said” for It’s All So Incredibly Loud and “You were ten years old, holding hands in the classroom, he had a gun on the first day of high school” for Space Ghost Coast to Coast.It’s those vague, unconnected memories that you haven't quite grasped onto yet in full, but you know you’re going to get lost in them once you do. You’re stepping back from the overload of information and action today to visit who you used to be and what made you who you are now.
Right after it, Tangerine does something that Life Itself did for HTBAHB, it smoothened the general sound’s transition between albums. Just as Life Itself, with its beat similar to the album before its own could have fit into ZABA with no issue, Tangerine could have been on HTBAHB without disrupting the album. The “retro” vibe, the themes revolving around both the nostalgia of Dreamland and those of past relationships deteriorating because of missed opportunities and growing apart fits so well into both albums, it’s such a great transition from the past album to the current. The “I’m begging, hands knees please, tangerine” is also a common expression used (often as a double entendre) by them, again like in Life Itself, with its chorus being “Come back down to my knees, gotta get back, gotta get free, come back down to my knees, lean back now, lean back and breathe,” which just sets up for a really smooth callback to previous songs and album. Something else that Tangerine establishes is something that’s been a running theme with Glass Animals since ZABA: fruit. There is a lot of fruit here. It used to be a running joke that Glass Animals wasn’t actually a band, but a cryptic pineapple worshipping cult (no amount of music made will fool me, this is definitely a pineapple cult). This album uses fruit to remind you of the sugary sweetness of nostalgia, but there’s more history and, well, fan specific nostalgia that goes with that metaphor, too.
Hot Sugar is similar to a later song, Waterfalls Coming Out Your mouth, in that it’s about someone who is so cool that they aren’t actually cool. The person isn’t genuine, the idea of them isn’t actually them, but this was someone that you still want to be anyways, because who wouldn’t want to be that cool? The song doesn’t have much deeper meaning underlying it compared to some other’s because that depth doesn’t exist here, with this person. You know they’re “faking it,” but it doesn’t really matter beyond deciding if you actually like them or if you just want to be them, and the answer is the latter. This song is also similar to another, later song, Tokyo Drifting, introducing the listener to this person that he wants to be like, referencing “Hot rubber on the tar,” and setting the stage for the later song to tell you more about what he wanted to be like. Also, once again, through a mention of watermelon, fruit continues to be a recurring theme in the earlier tracks on this album, when the trip through nostalgic memories is still more sweet than bitter.
Right after we get introduced to this idea of who he wanted to be, we move onto what became of someone he knew closely, shared a lot with, and very suddenly lost touch with through Space Ghost Coast to Coast. The music itself is reminiscent of the music he listened to at the time. This song, being a telling of something that actually happened, is so authentic and raw in how it ends up, all still told through the layer of confusion, hurt, and again, that sweetness of nostalgia, with “You look bizarre in the apricot” establishing a deceptively sweet but confused tone over something heavy through yet another fruit metaphor. This song also manages to hit on other songs from the album when he tries to delve into why his friend did what he did, “Were you bored of gender norms,” matching with Dreamland’s “Go ask your questions like “What makes a man?”,” “… of being alone,” matching Heat Waves’ “I don’t wanna be alone, you know it hurts me too,” and “… no mama home, a bad divorce” matching pretty much the entirety of Domestic Bliss. Like Hot Sugar, this song sets up for Tokyo Drifting, with his idea of who he wants to be but isn’t, with “Remember when you stole mom’s old Geo Metro, you wore her old bathrobe, too small to see the road.” There’s also more blatant references being made to both past shooters (Black cap back with a trench coat, ay) and the arguments afterwards of what motivated them (Playing too much of that GTA, playing too much of that Dr. Dre). While he still wants to understand his old friend, and what happened for him to change so abruptly and dangerously, he does not want anything to do with him anymore. It’s a song about a loss of innocence and the understanding that sometimes you just won’t understand why someone does something. It’s just a complete banger in general.
Which then takes us to Tokyo Drifting, which absolutely slaps. The song itself revolves around what he wanted to be like, singing from a new persona rather than his own (Cane Suga from HTBAHB was done through the same persona). It breaks the pattern of referencing to fruit, instead focusing on drugs and alcohol, dropping the sickly sweet lens of nostalgia for something more fitting of the song’s specific theme. Don’t worry, though, dragonfruit was used extremely heavily in this songs promotion as a single, so the fruit is still there, just not directly, and that lack of directly referring to a fruit in the song itself fits with the way that the song breaks from nostalgia of things that have happened and people he knew into something that was never real. There is no rose colored glasses needed for something that never even happened. I don’t have much else to say on it, it just goes hard, this was my most listened to song two years in a row lmao.
Melon and the Coconut is just sheer Glass Animals. It’s weird, it’s fun, and it sounds great. It cleanly splits the album in half, splitting the POV’s straight down the middle while making a reference to its own position in the album, “Sometimes B-sides are the best songs.” Needless to say, there are some super subtle references to fruit in Melon and the Coconut, the song about two fruit.
Then, the second half of the album kicks off with Your Love (Deja Vu), a song extremely similar in theme to previous songs about missed timing, like ZABA’s Pools and HTBAHB’s Pork Soda. Instead of fruit, “juice” is mentioned in this song. It takes the turn from thinking about people you were friends with, what you wanted to be like, to people that you were with, and things that just didn’t work out.
And then there’s Waterfalls Coming Out Your Mouth. It’s such a clean parallel to looking back on things with nostalgia and seeing them through the fake sweetness that time brings, with this song being about the rose colored glasses that were present in the moment, the time when you start getting to know someone but you aren’t actually getting to know them, you’re getting to know this other, more impressive version of them instead, and they get the exact same experience of you on their own end. He’s letting this other person have their own version of him while he has his own version of them in his head, and he knows their version of him is wrong, so he also knows whatever he thinks of them is going to be wrong, too. He knows them, but at the same time he doesn’t. He’s realizing here, that this person, like the Hot Sugar person, is too cool, and they aren’t real, it’s all just talk, and it’s all fake like the “chemical warfare, red lips and television eyewear, raspberry soda hair, in the pool with a blow up gummy bear.” It’s sweet, sure, but it’s also fake. “Chat shit but where’s the real you? Never seen The Price Is Right, I’m a liar been on that shit since ’99. You make me look like a clown, clap clap, you’re a clever clever cookie now” has no right go that hard, and yet it Does.
Then, abruptly, we get to It’s All So Incredibly Loud. The song itself is subdued, it’s that point in your trip through your own memories where you remember why things went wrong. You get shaken from your train of thought and lose your place in it, because you aren’t there anymore, you’re here and you can’t go back, you can’t fix anything, all that’s left for you to do now is mourn the wrongs and accept them, even though its painful. This is remembering what Dreamland meant by “That worst thing you said,” the realization that you have to break someone else’s heart, and how much that hurts.
((home movie: rockets)) is the longest home movie audio in the album, and creates a smooth transition back into childhood, journeying back through a sound similar to that of their first album, ZABA, on the way there for the album to transition into Domestic Bliss. This time, with someone else entirely’s perspective falling back onto knees, but this time under an entirely different tone, “Fight for me. We can leave I’m begging, please, on my on my knees.” These two songs back to back continue the downward spiral that too much nostalgia can leave you falling into, the wrongs, the regrets, this trip down memory lane has lasted too long, now.
Which drops us off at Heat Waves, which returns back to his own perspective after Domestic Bliss focused on a friend of his. It fits the bittersweet feeling in nostalgia, the understanding and acceptance that you can’t go back, you just have to keep going forward and separate instead for everyone’s sake, a followup less to the tangent in thought that is Domestic Bliss, and more to It’s All So Incredibly Loud. It also wraps up those previous album’s songs, Pools and Pork Soda in a way, bringing a sense of closure to the nostalgic feelings, as well as to the entire album.
And finally Helium, the bookend opposite to Dreamland. This song flawlessly embodies that feeling of when you realize you’ve just been sitting and staring at a photo album for an hour now, and you finally take a look around you, feeling the air conditioning on your skin, hearing the sounds of the world around you, snapping back out of your train of thought and into real life again. Things didn’t work the way that you used to think they would, but that’s a good thing. It is such a perfect ending to the nostalgic journey that is this entire album. Fading back into the melody that started this journey of sickly sweet memories of people you looked up to, when you learned for the first time that people can change and you might not ever understand why, ideas of who you once wanted to be, finding something light that you can laugh about, realizing how similar so many things in your life have been to each other, the realization that the people you used to look up to might not have actually been that impressive the whole time, your regrets, times you wish you could have done more, and the understanding that sometimes you shouldn’t have done so much.
I love this album so much man
#hi glass an/imals is my favroite band i have listened to them since 2013 and i love them thank u amen#ask#anon
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First of all, big apologies to the six people above who asked me about this song over a month ago when it came out. I understand what Nakata meant when he said he only knows a song is finished when he hits his deadline – I could’ve easily let this sit another week and came back and messed with it more lmao.
If you want the short and simple of it: it’s nice, with all that piano it’s sort of reminiscent of jelly (aside from the WOF thing which I’ll, uh, get into below), it’s great to see Toshiko in one of their MVs again (and Nakata directing which hasn’t happened since ’07) though I’m not wild about the video per se. I guess in a broad sense I would say I like it, it’s a return to form for him and infinitely more enjoyable than anything he’s done with his “officially solo” material, but I could also fully understand if someone thought it was boring.
For my actual thoughts on it...
Hikari no Disco (ひかりのディスコ; Light Disco) as a whole package is sort of unusually mired in nostalgia. It’s got all that densely layered, classic style Nakata’s best known for which has been largely absent from his other projects over the past six years of CAPSULE (god I still don’t like the all-uppercase stylization) being in live-shows-only mode. As a piece of music it has an endearing sense of comfort and awe; it amuses the listener with odd little vocal modulations (my favorite is at 2:02), pointed percussive moments, and a strong piano backbone that work in tandem to give it character and charm. It even eschews the club-ready rinse-and-repeat of Nakata’s past compositions for capsule in favor of something very traditionally pop: an actual, proper break right before the song’s climax. Maybe it’s not a stretch to say all the tiny flourishes and embellishments in Hikari are a pure reflection of Nakata finally finding some kind of reason to go back to capsule – the overly bombastic (and loud) way the track opens feels like a curtain unveiling, like somebody pointing to capsule and going “hey, look at this!”
Though there is a bit of an elephant in the room here and that would be the recurrence of the motif from WORLD OF FANTASY (the repeating pattern of twelve-ish notes) which defined that track ten years ago. For the person who mentioned him recycling material, he did say in his Real Sound interview that he deliberately sampled it, but despite my agreeing with him in that it’s a good motif I have a few issues with its reappearance in Hikari. It’s such a specific and memorable facet of a previous track in their discography that its inclusion here feels like a sister song has been created rather than an entirely new work. Not only that, but Nakata went one step further with this callback and basically reimagined the entire music video for WOF as well. He’s definitely not a stranger to self-reference within his music but it normally seems to occur under incidental circumstances, and since historically capsule isn’t a music unit that does a lot of looking back, it comes across strangely for longtime listeners. Nostalgia and sampling oneself aren’t inherently bad, the problem here is that it doesn’t do enough to transform its inspiration point into a solidly new work. I spend both the song and music video just thinking about WORLD OF FANTASY and comparing the two in my mind.
Which, speaking of new works, you probably don’t need me to tell you this brings absolutely nothing new to the table for Nakata’s standard. I’m mixed on whether or not I could call this a detraction, because on one hand I’ve believed for years that he could stand to break out of his comfort zone musically and really try wholly different things (CAPS LOCK is an example), but on the other hand I recognize that capsule’s first new track in six years may not be the place to expect that. I think my concerns right now are for an album that’ll be too self-referential and maybe too focused on being something people remember liking from over a decade ago. (I mean, even their new artist photo is a goofy MORE! MORE! MORE! reference. Love the gloves, though.)
Lyrically Hikari is even more nostalgic, verging on the same type of sweetness present in past capsule songs like FRUITS CLiPPER’s dreamin dreamin and FLASH BACK’s Eternity. I often find myself fixating on the line “この身体にまだ / 慣れてないけど” (“Though I’m still not used to this body”); it strikes me as a strange thing to say in a song that’s otherwise teeming with sentimentality and familiar words (disco, stars, sparkling, landing, lights). Is the speaker meant to be an alien that got turned into a human? Are they now a 41-year-old grappling with age? Am I reading into things here? To answer the person who asked what the song “means,” it’s really up to your interpretation and how you relate to it. For me it’s a song about the lights of the city at dusk, the lights of the club and, just maybe, the lights inside all of our hearts. (That was awful. I’m kidding.)
The music video is an anomaly in that it is apparently Nakata’s return to the director’s seat after a fourteen-year absence from helming this aspect of capsule. While video direction isn’t exactly his forté, nor has it ever seemed like a passion of his, I’ve always enjoyed the outside-the-box approach that yielded visual works like Retro Memory’s stylish, static angle lounge singer concept and Glider’s quirky portrayal of the afterlife, or something. Despite what I said earlier, Hikari is equally helped by the immediate parallel the viewer will draw between it and the music video for WORLD OF FANTASY – it’s almost as if (note: he did not say this! I’m speculating!) Nakata revisited WOF and felt dissatisfied by director Tani Atsushi’s “night drive through Tokyo but make it Blade Runner on a budget.” As someone who never particularly cared for that MV, I have to praise what Hikari does differently with the same basic premise. Here, Toshiko is shown through a neutral lens that chooses not to highlight her body as she gets into a Honda Prelude, an older car almost utterly devoid of the cool points earned by WOF’s Lamborghini. The core of Hikari’s intrigue is in anachronism: the car is from the 1980s, but the road Toshiko is driving on didn’t exist at that time, so when does the music video take place? They carefully include a shot of Tokyo Tower, a symbol of pre-2010s Tokyo, and exclude the much newer Skytree. There’s also the appearance of the cassette tape from which the single’s cover art and central nostalgic ethos are derived. Where WOF followed expectations of an ultra-sleek futuristic cityscape, Hikari is subversive in only the way something with Nakata’s direct involvement could be. It does it all with an unsteadily amateurish camera, a fixation on the unfocused glittering lights of the city, and an intense 3D-effect filter that brings to mind Sugarless GiRL, his last directorial work.
Though as charmingly set up as Hikari is, the video – and Toshiko – ultimately go nowhere. Not that capsule’s music videos were ever particularly story-driven (the animated sci-fi trilogy notwithstanding), nor do they need to be, but there’s a one-note sameness that permeates Hikari and leaves me wanting more. This is especially glaring in the way the video ends with in-car audio and prolonged silence, suggesting something is about to happen, but nothing does. As the music itself ended I found myself desperately hoping for a visual conclusion to go with it: maybe she’d answer a phone call, or arrive at her destination and get out, but the MV just sort of...stops. Legend has it she’s still driving to this day.
Overall the music video does its job better than any other capsule MV between 2010 and now, and the musical nostalgia here is a fun diversion even if it isn’t exactly introducing new ideas. I’m presently just confused about the status of the album (and whether something as jarringly old-school as Utsusemi will get tacked on there) but capsule’s not really followed consistent scheduling since they moved to Warner/ASOBISYSTEM. Maybe next time they drop something I’ll be more conscientious of the timing of answering questions about it though, lol.
#messages#capsule#Hikari no Disco#i really wrote ~1000 words about this...#and i didn't even say everything i could've said#oh well
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[Review] Jill of the Jungle / Onesimus / Vinyl Goddess from Mars / Xargon (DOS)
I never played much DOS shareware but it’s still oddly nostalgic! Also, Jill is just a good game.
I’ve played all these on a stream before but when my pal Lifeforce picked Jill for the monthly retro game club, I relished the chance to try it again and play the related games more thoroughly. Jill may seem basic now but it’s well designed, varied, and has a ton of charm.
Hearing the digitised voice call out “YEAH” when you pick up a key, so cheesy. Transforming into a fish, a frog, or a metal-as-heck fiery bird, very cool. Navigating the caverns, wilderness, or castles, it’s good clean fun. Jill is a classic of its time, a bit experimental (each of the three episodes has a different approach to the hub between levels), and full of silly self-promotion for Tim Sweeney and Epic MegaGames, as they were called long before Gears of War and Fortnite.
As part of exploring the larger Jill universe, I then played Onesimus: A Quest for Freedom. Built on the Jill engine, I figured I was in for more Jill-style action; in fact, all of its levels are recycled from the three Jill episodes (apart from I think the intro, and the Jill 3-style top-down map screen). In all it’s more levels than any individual Jill episode, but in an effort to keep things more realistic they’ve cut the transformations and changed some of the enemies. For example, instead of a demon you’re now sometimes accosted by a shirtless bandit... although he still flies and shoots fireballs. There’s also still an “ice palace” level. It’s supposed to be an adaptation of the story of an escaped slave as told in the Bible’s book of Philemon, and there’s lots of text popups taken from the book, but they don’t really relate to the action. It’s at least got the novelty of being one of the rare Christian/Bible games that are actually good, but it’s not worth playing over Jill itself.
Six Pound Sledge Studios at one point pitched Epic on a sequel to Jill. Epic passed on it, but SPSS finished the game anyway and released it with a new skin. Vinyl Goddess from Mars (the title a play on the unrelated adventure game Leather Goddesses of Phobos) has a schlocky sci-fi theme, complete with a heavier focus on the exploitation aspect of its heroine (not that Jill was entirely innocent of this). I judge it as a decent follow-up to Jill, expanding on its weapon and keyhunt concepts while pouring on more combat, secrets, and collectibles. It’s a fun, action-packed take compared to Jill’s slightly more deliberate style, although the level designs are a bit too sprawling and it pushes the system a little far at times as the abundance of sprites cause slowdown. It’s got top-down map segments but like in Jill 3 itself they don’t add much to the experience, and there’s no transformations at all. Still, I had a good time but wouldn’t dream of setting the game any higher than Easy mode.
I finished up by trying Xargon (out of release order, oops). It was Epic’s own follow-up to Jill, albeit without Tim Sweeney. It’s very similar in structure to Jill (especially 3, as again there’s a top-down map) but with a bunch of new systems bolted on: weapon upgrades that make your default feel weak, a shop that unbalances the game design, and a greater focus on story that’s pretty unremarkable. The sci-fi/fantasy setting is fun... but it’s just not the classic Jill was. There’s a lot more clumsy combat, Malvineous Havershim despite having a cool name is a boring protagonist, and the more open level designs demand so much backtracking and aimless wandering for keys. The graphics are more detailed and colourful but this comes at a heavy cost, as the slowdown is even worse than Vinyl, and its sluggishness really hurts the playability. After the game unfortunately locked up for some reason near the end of the second episode (of three, as seems to be common shareware practice) I decided I’d rather not return to my earlier save point, and dropped it there.
What this experience taught me is that extra bells and whistles are no substitute for good game design. Jill’s simplicity is its strength, and even within its limitations there was lots of room for iteration and experimentation to give you variety in gameplay. The attempts to follow it up in Vinyl and Xargon add a lot of “stuff” but end up feeling blander because you’re more often doing the same thing, and they go too far causing technical drawbacks to performance. This was a very instructive comparison to me, and for that reason they’re all worth trying out at least, but Jill is the keeper here (not that the other games shouldn’t be preserved, of course they should).
#jill of the jungle#epic megagames#vinyl goddess from mars#six pound sledge studios#xargon#dos#review#onesimus
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The Goonies: A Product of the Times
Released in 1985, The Goonies came along right smack in the middle of a decade well-known for its movies centered on youth. While there are plenty of fond memories of the ‘teen oriented’ films like The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Adventures in Babysitting, Hollywood of the 1980s was focused on more than just the teenagers: it was also pretty heavily focused on what it was like to be a kid.
From Flight of the Navigator, The Explorers, and The Monster Squad to E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial, a lot of the films of the 1980s were about the adventures of people under the age of 14: children. Ranging from sci-fi to comedy, to horror, to adventure, the movies about kids during this decade of the new and untested were getting as big as everything else: more and more impressive as an entire subgenre of children’s movies starring up-and-coming child stars (Drew Barrymore, Fred Savage, River Phoenix, Corey Haim, and plenty more) sprouted up out of the ground, playing the gambit of genres and allowing children to act in ways that hadn’t been deeply explored before. These weren’t adult films with roles for children: a lot of these were movies about kids.
Instead of movies like The Champ or Aliens, starring children in side roles, films like The Goonies, Return to Oz, Stand By Me, and Time Bandits starred kids in the main roles, carrying the stories themselves with incredible performances, broadening the horizons for adventure films about kids, for kids.
Such is The Goonies, a film that really could only have been made in the 1980s.
How do I know that?
Simple.
As we’ve discussed before, no film ever made is separate from the culture it was created in. Every single movie, television show, radio broadcast, book, newspaper, comic or song ever made has been directly impacted by the culture and other pieces of media surrounding it.
This seems pretty obvious: after all, a product made by people living in a certain kind of culture is going to reflect that culture. No film is an island, and while that seems pretty self-explanatory and without much need for discussion, in an era with more and more pieces of media debated as to their worth to a modern viewpoint, it leaves those of us who enjoy older movies with a very important question:
How ‘dated’ is too dated?
It’s not as easy a question to answer as it might seem.
See, ‘dated’ is an interesting term.
Typically, the word ‘dated’ is used to apply to anything discernibly created in a specific time period. It’s synonymous with ‘old fashioned’, when applied to a film, it carries the implication that the movie is less understandable by those looking from outside that particular culture or time period, worsened by the cultural drift. This would be a film that hasn’t ‘aged well’, most often describing contemporary films of the day. By contrast, a film that’s considered ‘timeless’ is the exact opposite: a film that remains completely understandable following a change in the culture. This is a film without a cultural footprint or identity, without any actual context, able to be enjoyed no matter how much time has passed.
These are words that get thrown around a lot in the film world. There are plenty of arguments over which films are timeless, and which are dated, whether Die Hard shows its age too much to be enjoyed, or whether Commando is too ridiculously ‘80s to be watched in any other context, but the fact is, the argument is a lot more complicated than it seems to be boiled down into.
We’ve talked a lot about definitions, but the fact is, by strict definitions, no movie, or any piece of media ever made, is actually ‘timeless’. Every film is a product of its times, but that does not mean necessarily that they are defined by their times. With this in mind, films like The Terminator and Predator, while set and made in the 1980s, are not exactly dated, because they are not defined by the 1980s. Anyone with the slightest understanding of the idea that times change can accept things like hairstyles, music changes, and special effects. Like I said, a film is considered ‘dated’ if it is less understandable or enjoyable in hindsight, from a place outside of that specific culture, and things like the movie tips and tricks of decades past are fairly easily forgiven.
Less easily overlooked are ideas.
If a ‘timeless’ film is a movie not defined by its own times, then a ‘dated’ one is a film that is defined by its culture, typically in a negative way.
So, the question is: which is The Goonies?
Timeless iconic kid’s adventure film, or dated ‘80s flick?
Well, it’s kind of hard to say at first glance.
By externals, there’s no question. The way the kids are dressed and Mouth’s use of the word ‘gnarly’ pretty clearly set this film in the mid 1980s, as does the fact that nobody has a cell phone to call their parents. But as we’ve already established, there’s a bit more to it than that.
The cast is fairly typical of its day: all white except for Rosalita, the Spanish-speaking housekeeper, and mostly male. The two female Goonies do allow for a little more range than is sometimes portrayed in kid adventure films, with a Tomboy and Girly Girl dynamic that normalizes more than a standard Token Female per group, and even Mama Fratelli (although by no means a role model for young girls) balances out by being a memorable villain, bringing the gender ratio a tiny bit closer to even than a lot of contemporary films. With that said though, there isn’t really anything that I’d argue idea wise in this sense that dates the film terribly badly, aside from a series of fat jokes at Chunk’s expense and a moment where Andy is given the unfortunately expected treatment of having her date try to look up her skirt, which was considerably more shrugged off at the time (although she does get him for it later, offscreen).
And there are other elements too that indicate that this film is from a different time:
A PG in 1985 for a kid’s film was very different from a PG now, and it shows. The language used by a lot of the kids, as well as the violence, drug jokes, and other material has proven to shock more than one fan who went back to watch The Goonies as an adult. And that’s not all: the basic concept of kids banding together in this way, while making a resurgence in the form of Stranger Things, hasn’t really stuck around for very long.
After the 1980s, the ‘band of kids’ adventure story somewhat died out. By the 1990s, the ‘kid’ adventure stories calmed down, with lower stakes and less danger, and while the trope still appears in ‘retro’ nostalgia pieces, for the most part, we simply don’t see it anymore, and the idea still tends to bring to mind stories like Stand By Me, The Monster Squad, and even It.
It’s just a statement of fact, and not nostalgia, to look at this film and remark: “They don’t make them like this anymore.” Because they don’t.
In most movies today, kids don’t run around in tunnels, having a blast and looking for buried treasure without their parents or any adult supervision, with their lives in danger, all the while quirky, peppy music assures the audience that everything’s going to be okay. That’s not necessarily good or bad, it just means times have changed, and that the way that The Goonies was made was directly influenced by the types of movies coming out at the time.
However, while that style may bring to mind the 1980s, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s specifically enjoyed in that era.
As a matter of fact, there’s a lot about The Goonies that’s like that.
The basic premise of the story, while not necessarily common anymore, is still understandable to people decades later. Just because we no longer dress or talk like 1985 anymore doesn’t mean that the core essentials of the film are rendered completely unrelatable. Kids still become friends and don’t want to move away from them, that much is understandable. Even though the style of filmmaking has changed, the characters really haven’t: we all know a Data, or a Mouth, or a Chunk, or a Mikey, sometimes we even are one of them. Kids understand the danger they’re in: not just losing their lives, but their homes, their friendships. These characters and their story still ring true decades later, even if there are things about it that point to its creation being set in the mid ‘80s.
In short?
No, The Goonies probably couldn’t have been made today. But that doesn’t mean it can’t still be enjoyed today.
There’s surprisingly little that actually harmfully dates the film itself, and the film is, in many ways, just as exciting and fun as it was when it was first released. Honestly, there’s the possibility that due to the lack of movies like it made today, the film actually has a larger impact and is more unique and memorable now than it was in 1985.
And while the quality of the film has not shifted, as the time around it does, I think we’ll find that as the film gets older, more audiences will continue to discover it, forty, fifty, sixty years later and find that the movie still tugs at a nostalgic part of them and makes them feel like children again.
The Goonies is a fun, exciting, charming story that has remained beloved so long partially due to nostalgia, but also because people genuinely love the story and characters, proving that a film is ‘timeless’, not because you can tell what decade it was made in, but because it has endured, because people still enjoy it after the culture has changed.
If you can watch The Goonies and love these characters and enjoy their adventure, it doesn’t matter that Mouth is wearing parachute pants or that some of the character cliches haven’t been used in thirty years. In the end, a film’s quality has little to do with how easily we can tell what time the film was made in, and a lot to do with what it’s about, and how well people remember it. If that’s the criteria, then The Goonies is pretty timeless.
The Goonies has lasted this long as an ‘80s staple, and an adventure movie classic in general because no matter if it’s 1985 or 2085, people can understand it, enjoy it, and relate to the characters and themes. And that’s the reason it will continue to endure.
It’s been over thirty years since those kids first trekked into the caves to save the Goondocks, and the audience for this film has done nothing but grow since then. The characters and the heart of the film have gone unchanged since then, still entertaining and even touching audience members who remember what it was like to be a kid and want ‘their time’, and they will continue to endure for decades.
Thank you guys so much for reading! If you have something you’d like to add or say, don’t forget that the comment box is always open! I hope to see you all in the next article.
#The Goonies#The Goonies 1985#80s#1985#Film#Movies#PG#Adventure#Comedy#Family#Sean Astin#Josh Brolin#Jeff Cohen#Corey Feldman#Kerri Green#Martha Plimpton#Ke Huy Quan#Richard Donner
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My thoughts on the 2021 mix of April fools
1. Friends with you: pretty solid remake, liz's vocals clearly improved so I really love how the beats are more harder in a way, a pretty nice upgrade
2. Apple pie: Really good!! The synthetic sound effects and the dreamy feel of the chorus really makes it such a pretty song, the beats are more solid, it makes a wonderful experience to listen too
3. Feeling so matroshka: A banger, it gives off such a spacey vibe and the synths and chiptuneish beats and the soft fizz of the beats make it sound so surreal but in a good way? I also love the slight echo of liz's voice it really pulls it all together
4. In bitter syrup: a pretty nice remaster,I like how the vocals are more clearer with some changes to the effects on the voices, i kinda perfer the og one but its still very well done
5. Catabolic seed: I love the upgraded sound effects in the music with some smaller extra ones, they really up the clown like charm of the og, they sound so cool! They vocals are great as usual and an absolute bop and the echo of their voice makes this really fun to listen to, the last few minutes of the songs are amazing with the echo and listening to this album in its entirety really made me excited for my favorite song of the album to start playing and is still those songs that kinda leads in to the next one
6. Icicles: the opening music to is amazing with an addition to piano sounds which are great, the beats and boys have much an 8 bit feel which are awesome,I can hear the other instruments clearly and I think, the effects of liz's voice really make it so much fun to listen to since it has an echo in some part and when the "when my full blown implosion" part starts it has such an exciting fuzz like beats with some piano noyes playing and when it leads to the chorus it has these really cool r and b ish beats with make it a huge banger, liz has done an amazing job with the vocals,they're a great singer,it's upgrades the songs in small way but still keeps the clown like charm it had in the og which makes for an amazing listen,the ending part of the song sounds so dizzy in a way?
7. Mannequin adrift: it starts out with a bombastic beat like it did in the ig but in s more louder way, the piano in the songs sound so dreamy, the vocals are more clearly but still have that charming distortion to it and they just sound to pretty, I adore the soft bass in the song with the synth hook that also plays at a certain point of the song with some more beats to it. The ending part part the song sounds so beautiful with just the harp playing us out before coming to the next song.A pretty great remaster
8. Blood from the concrete,I love how the opening chiptune beats have this slight echo to it and the more louder beats really make it very catchy. It has some minor changes to the sound effects and has the vocals be more clear with the echo,it's a pretty good remaster,it has some minor changes to it but they still are enough to make it different and it just sounds really nice.
9. A night at the movies: I love how the lil ukulele has a retro ish sound effect to it and the beats are more passionate,the vocals sound so dreamy,there are some parts where it just sounds so pretty,and I also like the keytar ish sound that plays during one of the lyrics of the songs. I love this one alot,its so charming and nice to listen to
10. Pink smoke: I love how the vocals are slight muffled at the beginning which makes it sound really nice with the cell phone like sounds that play,the fuzz like beats really escalate the nostalgic feel to it, and the ending part of is nice
11. Pleasure cruise: I like that the beats have this drum like sounds,the vocals are more clear,there are some extra sounds that are sprinkled in,it really gives of a cut cloudy feel? But in a good way
12. Toynbee tiles: I'm obsessed with the guitar in the opening,ans I rlly love the synth part of it,it like travels through your headphones it's crazy,I love the effects on the vocals and the weird glitch at a certain beat,I also notice that the bass part of the song is accompanied with the synth from the opening, and oh my god where the more rock part of the song later on is a huge banger its amazing and a huge upgrade for the og!!!! And the guitar riff after I'll walk w u into the blue part is great it has an old 70s rock feel to it. Its catchy and a great closer for such a fun album
Overall I really enjoyed the 2021 mix of April fools alot,it does alot of upgrades for the song and angel marcloid did a great job remixing the songs,while there are some parts of the og that i perfer over the new one I still love this album. The Scary jokes always meant alot to me and their music has really helped me go through alot and it's nice to see their work appreciated. It's a great album and I reccomend listening to it if you love the og april fools as much as I do
#sorry that this is so long i had alot to say even though i have a very vague knowledge on music and instruments#the scary jokes#*ramble txt
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It's funny how I'm actually putting effort on this. I'm putting actual effort on a shitpost.
Anyways I said I'd write a bad sonic creepypasta so here it is. Here's the catch: I like how its turning out so imma make it a 2-pary story. This is the first part. It doesn't have any scary shit but it has the basics for a shitty creepypasta: someone gets a old pirated/unreleased/defective game and tries them out despite getting warned that bad shit might happen.
Again I'm not a fluent English speaker so expect some grammar error and stuff like that ._.,
So ladies, gentlemen and non-bis, I present to you-
Sonic: Battle of Metal and Blood (Part 1)
Synopsis: Teen gets nostalgic mid-quarentine and starts playing old Sonic games. She asks for some cheat codes and shit happens.
So for context; I'm a 17 year old girl stuck home because of quarantine.
It had been 4 or 5 months since the virus sent everyone home. Students were playing Animal Crossing and DOOM all day to fill in the summer hours since no one could go outside. I never liked going to the beach so I was never really bothered by it.
Like many people, I found myself going back in time to easier phases of my life. I was rewatching old cartoon shows from my childhood, getting into MCR and P!ATD and just living in pure nostalgia. I also started getting into gaming again, even going to the point of setting up my Wii again just to play Epic Mickey, but I didn't exactly grow up with the Wii. I was more of a Playstation kid, so much that me and my bro got a Playstation 2 from our cousin when he eventually bought the 3rd one for himself.
My cousin was older than us; I remember him being 16 or 17 when I was like 12, so he was kind of our gaming hero. If there was a level in Crash Bandicoot we couldn't beat, we'd call my cousin and he'd do it in 15 minutes. He knew all the cheat codes, all the secret levels and extra content for the games he had; he was like a genius to me and my lil bro, so when he gave us his old Playstation 2 and games me and my sibling knew we were in for a treat.
We got this Sonic Gems Collection for the Playstation 2 from him. It's like a port of various older Sonic games like Sonic CD, Sonic The Fighters, Sonic R and so on. I grew up playing that game, especially Sonic The Fighters since I wasn't very good at the racing games.
I still had a working controller and a lot of free time so I asked my bro for help setting up the console. The thing was so dusty I was actually scared it wasn't going to work. We clicked the power button and the light on the console turned on. Me and my brother held our breaths as we put the DVD in the console and crossed our fingers. As the screen lit up with the SEGA logo and music started playing, I just hugged him and cheered. He set up the console in my room so I could play without having to go to his room (he was the one keeping all the electronic stuff) and told me to have fun.
I didn't even know where to start. There was so much I wanted to play now that I actually knew what I was doing. I thought about starting with my favourite one out of the bunch: Sonic CD. I'm a sucker for the retro 2D pixel games so that was a must. It was better than what I remembered; the music was so catchy and the art style was vibrant and it stood out from a lot of games nowadays that go for a washed out "hyper realistic" look.
As I kept playing, I eventually reached the level where Amy tags along with Sonic for a while before Metal Sonic bursts through a wall and kidnaps her. Oh yeah, Metal Sonic was a thing. I remembered him from Sonic R and Sonic The Fighters - and the fact he was in the fucking cover art of the DVD case. I absolutely loved the fucker in the games though. He had a cool design, and the idea of the villain being a copy of the hero gone wrong was so interesting to me at the time.
I ended up passing the level and even making it to Stardust Speedway. I was sweating since I'd never come this far at any game. My bro was there cheering me as I tried not falling on spikes or getting hit by Metal Sonic's attacks. I ended up making it till the end on top, but it was kinda sad seeing Metal crash face-first against the door like that.
I was done with that for a while, so I went ahead and played Sonic R and Sonic The Fighters for nostalgia. Again, the fucker was there, either as a boss or as an unlockable character. I ended up noticing how there were a bunch of games missing. There were empty grayed slots with question marks instead of the game titles. I couldn't understand if the game was broken or if there was something I was supposed to do, so I called my cousin in hope he would somewhat tell me what to do. He ended up explaining how the game made you complete all the other games to unlock new ones. I thought that was kinda stupid so I asked him if he had any cheat codes or something to make the whole thing available. He told me he was going to dig up his old stuff and ring me again if he found anything.
A few hours later, he sent me a message telling me he'd found something that should work. He told me he did have a cheat code but he thought it was best if I didn't do it. Here's the transcript from his message.
"There's something that might work but it's kinda weird. I got this memory card from a friend of mine and he said this should unlock all the hidden contents within the disc, but when I tried it some weird shit started happening. Most of the sonic games were unplayable no matter how many times I restarted the console or cleaned the disc. There should be an extra game slot but that's just a glitch. Something about the system trying to make up storage for the extra code. Just don't click on anything that looks like a glitch and you should be golden"
Well that was a bit discouraging, but we agreed to meet that afternoon so he could give me the memory card.
When I got home and plugged the cartridge into the slot on the console, I was kinda scared. What if the thing exploded or something? I gave it a try and the thing actually worked! As I clicked on the games section, everything was there! There were some vectorman games but I didn't know who that was at the time so I didn't really care about them. What I was more interested in was the museum. There were a bunch of unlockable promotional art and illustrations there that I never got to see as a kid, so you could imagine how joyful I was when I saw the museum section filled with pages upon pages of illustrations and renderings of the games. Some of them weren't even on the Gems Collection like some screenshots of Sonic Heroes.
I went back on the game menu and was surprised to see another game entry below all the vectorman ones. It was called "Sonic: Battle of Metal and Blood". What the hell was this? It surely wasn't in the cover art and a quick google search turned up nothing. Was it a glitch? It couldn't be; it looked too clean and intentionally made to be a glitch, not to mention that whole game titles don't just appear out of thin air. Game or not, something was programmed in there. I concluded it was probably someone's fan project that was in the memory card my cousin gave me. Why hadn't he mentioned it though?
I was too curious to turn down a mystery like this one, so I got up first to make a cup of coffee since it was already getting late. As I returned from the kitchen, I remembered to look at the synopsis of the game. I can't remember exactly what it said but it was something along the lines of:
"In this sequel to the famous Sonic CD, step in the shoes of Sonic's friends as they face their biggest challenge yet. Control Amy Rose and Miles "Tails" Prower and fight against the metallic faker himself, Metal Sonic, and stop him before he puts his plan to become the only Sonic in action"
Woah, that sounded exciting; I wasted no time. I got all cozy, kept my cup of coffee next to me
And pressed START.
To be continued in part 2
#sth#sonic#sonic the hedgehog#creepypasta#creepy story#short story#sonic gems collection#sonic: battle of metal and blood#battle of metal and blood#maggy moment#shhh i actually like how its turning out#i'm not that good at writing but this is the best i've written in a while
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Let’s Get Dressed (FULL)
A long, long time ago (2013, to be exact), H from TheWritersHelpers and C from WriteWorld (inactive) got together for a collaboration on how to write and describe clothing. This is the fruits of their labor.**
Anonymous asked: Any tips on describing clothing?
The Writer’s Helpers and WriteWorld have teamed up to create a series on clothing and fashion. These articles were primarily written in the context of how to write about clothing.
Clothing is a term that is used to describe items worn by humans (and recently other animals, like tiny dogs), either for practical reasons or for reasons of style. Since humans have been wearing clothing for tens of thousands of years, it’s probably best to narrow down the timeframe for the clothing you’re describing to a particular era, year, season, etc. With that in mind, let’s talk about fashion!
Fashion (n): A popular trend, esp. in styles of dress, ornament, or behavior.
We’ll be discussing the dress and ornament portion of this definition. Now, there are a few ways that fashion might affect your description of clothing: Your character might be fashionable, ahead of the times, behind the times, or apart from fashion entirely. All of this is going to make a difference not only in what the clothing actually is, but also in what there is to describe about said clothing. Let’s have a look at these different positions for your character on the fashion scale:
1. Fashionable. Fashionable characters are insiders. They are usually very in tune with what is hip with the kids. Fashionable characters (for an example, read the booksThe Devil Wears Prada,,The Princess Diaries, and Confessions of a Shopaholic) can usually have a backstory where they once were not fashionable- perhaps the unpopular nerd- and with a little help or luck, improve their fashion sense. Magazines such as Vogue, Seventeen, or GQ can act as guides for your fashionista characters in present day. For more on eras, check out the “Links to Look At” section at the end of this article.
If you’re writing a fashionable character, you might use clothing labels to describe your character’s clothes as opposed to just describing the color, size, etc. You might also want to thread themes through the character’s style, such as the season or a trademark for the character (think always wears yellow or channels Audrey Hepburn on the red carpet).
Materials vary often in fashion, but fashionable characters are more likely to wear expensive fabrics and jewelry. After all, they have a reputation to uphold.
2. Ahead of the times. These are the trendsetters, the fashion pioneers, the people who pave the way for others and push the boundaries in all the right ways. Trends come and go, but the fashion forward never look back.
Characters wearing forward-thinking fashion (or couture) might find themselves in fur and duct tape and think nothing of it. Descriptions of their clothing might tend toward the bizarre and using eclectic words may help drive home the eccentricities of their style. For example:
Her aluminum coat sparked like Tesla coils in the firelight.
Weird descriptors aren’t a problem for fashion-forward characters. The weirder, the better.
3. Behind the times. There are those unfortunate souls who do not keep up with the fashion popular at the time your story takes place. Whether it’s the 1580’s or the 1980’s, not all fashions are universal. Styles come and go, but if your character’s whole wardrobe was procured twenty years before the story begins, they’re probably not up with the latest fashions. This might arise from monetary constraints or because of isolation, but the simple fact is: not everything is retro-chic.
Retro-Chic (adj): pertaining to the fashionableness of the nostalgic revival of a style.
Characters who are behind the times might have old clothes that aren’t in the best condition. They may not have the vocabulary to describe the clothes they wear or that others wear with any degree of accuracy. This most especially applies to clothing labels or technical terms for the design of clothes as the character is not up on the popular designers and the newest fashions.
Apart from fashion altogether. There are many reasons why a character might be apart from fashion. Fashion is essentially self-expression, and some people don’t care. Take into consideration religious preferences (monk attire is pretty standard), strict parental figures (if your character is a youngster), or time travel (we’re lookin’ at you, Doctor Who).
Characters who stand apart from fashion may also be unaware of the terminology to accurately describe clothing popular at the time and in the place of your story. These characters might not, for example, know the word “silk” and so must describe around the word. They might not have any concept for manufactured material and therefore have trouble describing nylon or faux leather.
Links to Look At:
“Why Do We Wear Clothes?” by vsauce
Glossary of Clothing Terms by allwords.com
Your Guide to Clothing Terms by EBay
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Let’s look at detail. What sort of descriptors could you use, how could you use them, and why?
Try not to go overboard with the description, but make your descriptive words count. Let’s look at an example of a simple description of the two largest articles of clothing on an example character:
She wore a top and a skirt.
That’s pretty basic. “Top”, for example, isn’t very descriptive. After all, women’s fashion is complicated! So, let’s use specific terminology:
She wore a blouse and a skirt.
You might add color:
She wore a black blouse and a gray skirt.
You might add fabric descriptions (Remember, the color describes the fabric now, so it goes before the descriptive word for whatever material the clothing is made of):
She wore a black silk blouse and a gray tweed skirt.
There are other descriptors worth mentioning such as how the clothing drapes or hangs, its age and general condition, its size and length, and the overall feeling toward it from the narrator.
How it drapes: The dress was slinky; it clung to her curves and pooled like water at her feet.
Its age/condition: His jeans were faded and ratty at the seams, especially on the back pockets where there were inch-wide holes.
Its size/length: Her boyfriend’s XXL shirt nearly swallowed her up and fell to her knees like a shapeless potato sack.
Narrator feeling: It was an ugly gray uniform.
With all of these descriptors around, the business of relaying useful information to the the reader about a character’s clothing can get pretty muddled. No one wants to read a description like:
She wore a boring black silk blouse that was over-large, a few years old, and hung blandly from the crest of her breasts. Her shin-length gray tweed pencil skirt was also old and too small for her hips.
There is just way too much going on there. Too many descriptors. Cut out the adjectives and adverbs that aren’t absolutely necessary, the ones that don’t really add anything essential to character or the look and feel of the scene.
You may think that the above example is so obviously bloated that it’s too easy for me to state offhand that you must hack away at its descriptors and leave only the bare essentials. Well, I agree, but it is possible to have a decent bit of description and still overshare. For instance, it might be way too detailed to embroider the blouse and skirt example thusly:
She wore a black silk blouse that shone in the flourescent light of the waiting room. It had loose sleeves that gathered at the crook of her elbows with a little bow and buttons covered in the same sleek material as the blouse. Her skirt was made of gray tweed and slightly out of fashion. The waist cut uncomfortably into her stomach just below her navel and the hem rode up past her knees when she sat. She couldn’t cross her legs in the skirt; it was too tight.
Now, if the “loose sleeves that gathered at her elbows” are described for a purpose--maybe she has an injury or blemish she’s trying to conceal or she’s very modest--then details of this kind are great to have. Unless the details of the clothes are important to develop the character or the plot or the setting, you need not distract the reader with unnecessary description.
There are a few methods to consider when describing clothing.
Blocks. Block style moves from the biggest, most noticeable articles of clothing to the smallest. It describes in a similar order to what the eye sees. Since the largest piece of clothing at around eye-level will be covering the upper body, block style usually starts there with a shirt or jacket or the bodice of a dress. Layers in an outfit are described from the outermost clothing item to the innermost item, then go back to catch the accent items.
For example:
He wears a jacket, vest, and crisp white shirt with a checkered tie and matching blue pocket handkerchief.
Another fun tip: If items match, you only need to describe one with the corresponding details. Notice that I was able to omit the color of the tie because I said the blue handkerchief matched it and that I didn’t mention the pattern on the handkerchief because we knew that it at least looked good with a checkered tie.
In the instance of a dress, however, it is more likely that block style will point out the most noticeable (i.e. largest) part of the dress first. If the dress has a poofy skirt, you can bet block style will point that out. Regardless, if the article of clothing covering the upper body is separate from the article covering the lower body, block style usually describes the top first then moves to the bottom then to details like shoes, belts, and jewelry.
Colors. A large part of clothing is color. The color of what a person wears often depicts their mood without them realizing. It has a lot to do with color psychology (x), which describes how different colors affect a person’s mood.
The human eye is also attracted to bright colors (some of which even cause headaches and irritation, such as bright yellow or red), though the average eye can see around seven million colors. For more information on color theory, click here.
More likely than not, a person wearing orange might be noticed before a person wearing gray. The eye is drawn to the orange because it is bright and demanding. Weather also affects what colors a character would wear. For example, in winter months, many people wear darker colors such as black, navy, grays, and browns (termed neutrals) because the lack of Vitamin-D in the human body doesn’t allow for endorphins to be produced as largely, causing a decline in mood. It is commonly believed that darker colors represent darker or depressing moods. And in summer months, your character might be wearing brighter colors such as yellows, pinks, and greens because sunlight elevates a person’s mood.
It is also important to remember the cultures of your characters. Say a character is getting married and is of Irish descent. Assuming she’s traditional, she would wear a blue wedding dress because in ancient times, blue represented purity and was the prefered color for brides. In many cultures, such as in Sweden and China, the color white represents mourning or death. It is essential to research the culture of your characters. Otherwise, you may end up with a white wedding that feels like a heck-of-a-lot more like a funeral. For more on what brides wear around the world, click here. For more on color symbolism, try here and here.
Describing colors can be difficult and you don’t want to be put into the category of really cliche fan fiction descriptions. His green orbs watered and he blinked to keep the tears from spilling over... Not happening here. Generally, you’ll need another word to help describe the color of something (for a list, click here). For example:
His shirt was pastel blue.
Placing “pastel” in front of “blue” indicates that the blue that he was wearing was lighter, or closer to a neutral color than if he were to be wearing a dark blue shirt.
Her jeans were covered in patches fabric with flamboyant pink bunnies.
What do you think when you see the word flamboyant? You think bright; you think colorful; you think brightly colored and decorated. It adds more than just saying “Her jeans had patches in them”. Don’t be afraid to dip into the Crayola Crayon color dictionary and use names of colors like “Mac n’ Cheese Orange” or “Sahara Desert”. Used in the right context, these colors can add another dimension to your regular oranges and browns. Though these fun words are great alternatives to your average colors, be careful not to overuse them. No one wants to read one incredibly-detailed clothing item after another.
Fun fact: If you put a group of women in a room, those who are wearing red are most likely on their period.
Reverse Order of Dress. This is a weird one. When in doubt, describe in the order that you put on your clothes--backwards. Obviously, you’d want to start with the visible items and work your way closer and closer to the body. So, if you put on your shirt then your pants then your cardigan then your shoes, describe in that order.
** This is not to say that H will not continue this series later on. However, this is the extent of their collaboration.
#Collab#Collab with WriteWorld#WriteWorld#Lets Get Dressed#Describing clothing#description#writing clothing#writing help#Made by TWH
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Weekend Top Ten #482
Top Ten Sega Games
So I read somewhere on the internet that in June it’s the thirtieth birthday of Sonic the Hedgehog (making him only a couple of months younger than my brother, which is weird). This is due to his debut game, the appropriately-titled Sonic the Hedgehog, being first released on June 23rd. As such – and because I do love a good Tenuous Link – I’ve decided to dedicate this week’s list to Sega (also there was that Sonic livestream and announcement of new games, so I remain shockingly relevant).
I’ve got a funny relationship with Sega, largely because I’ve got a funny relationship with last century’s consoles in general. As I’ve said before, I never had a console growing up, and never really felt the need for one; I came from a computing background, playing on other people’s Spectrums and Commodores before getting my own Amiga and, later, a PC. And I stuck with it, and that was fine. But it does mean that, generally speaking, I have next to zero nostalgia for any game that came out on a Nintendo or Sega console (or Sony, for that matter). I could chew your ear off about Dizzy, or point-and-click adventure games, or Team 17, or Sensible Software, or RTS games, or FPS games, or whatever; but all these weird-looking Japanese platform games, or strange, unfamiliar RPGs? No idea. In fact, I remember learning what “Metroidvania” meant about five years ago, and literally saying out loud, “oh, so it’s like Flashback, then,” because I’d never played a (2D) Metroid or Castlevania game. Turns out they meant games that were, using the old Amiga Action terminology, “Arcade Adventures”. Now it makes sense.
Despite all this, I did actually play a fair few Sega games, as my cousins had a Mega Drive. So I’d get to have a bash at a fair few of them after school or whatever. This meant that, for a while, I was actually more of a Sega fan than a Nintendo one, a situation that’s broadly flipped since Sega stopped making hardware and Nintendo continued its gaming dominance. What all of this means, when strung together, is that I have a good deal of affection for some of the classics of Sega’s 16-bit heyday, but I don’t have the breadth or depth of knowledge you’d see from someone who, well, actually owned a console before the original Xbox. Yeah, sure, there are lots of games I liked back then; and probably quite a few that I still have warm nostalgic feelings for, even if they’re maybe not actually very good (Altered Beast, for instance, which I’m reliably informed was – to coin a very early-nineties phrase – “pants”, despite my being fond of it at the time). Therefore this list is probably going to be quite eccentric when compared to other “Best of Sega” lists. Especially because in the last couple of decades Sega has become a publisher for a number of development studios all around the world, giving support and distribution to the makers of diverse (and historically non-console) franchises as Total War and Football Manager. These might not be the fast-moving blue sky games one associates with Sega, but as far as I’m concerned they’re a vital part of the company’s history as it moved away from its hardware failures (and the increasingly lacklustre Sonic franchise) and into new waters. And just as important, of course, are their arcade releases, back in the days when people actually went to arcades (you know, I have multi-format games magazines at my parents’ house that are so old they actually review arcade games. Yes, I know!).
So, happy birthday, Sonic, you big blue bugger, you. Sorry your company pooed itself on the home console front. Sorry a lot of your games over the past twenty years have been a bit disappointing. But in a funny way you helped define the nineties, something that I personally don’t feel Mario quite did. And your film is better than his, too.
Crazy Taxi (Arcade, 1999): a simple concept – drive customers to their destination in the time limit – combined with a beautiful, sunny, blue skied rendition of San Francisco, giving you a gorgeous cityscape (back when driving round an open city was a new thrill), filled with hills to bounce over and traffic to dodge. A real looker twenty years ago, but its stylised, simple graphics haven’t really dated, feeling fittingly retro rather than old-fashioned or clunky. One of those games that’s fiendishly difficult to master, but its central hook is so compelling you keep coming back for more.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Mega Drive, 1992): games have rarely felt faster, and even if the original Sonic’s opening stages are more iconic, overall I prefer the sequel. Sonic himself was one of those very-nineties characters who focused on a gentle, child-friendly form of “attitude”, and it bursts off the screen, his frown and impatient foot-tapping really selling it. the gameplay is sublime, the graphics still really pop, and the more complex stages contrast nicely with the pastoral opening. Plus it gave us Tails, the game industry’s own Jar Jar Binks, who I’ll always love because my cousin made me play as him all the time.
Medieval II: Total War (PC, 2006): I’ll be honest with you, this game is really the number one, I just feel weird listing “Best Sega Games” and then putting a fifteen-year-old PC strategy game at the top of the pile. But what can I say? I like turn-based PC strategy games, especially ones that let you go deep on genealogy and inter-familial relationships in medieval Europe. everyone knows the real-time 3D battles are cool – they made a whole TV show about them – but for me it’s the slow conquering of Europe that’s the highlight. Marrying off princesses, assassinating rivals, even going on ethically-dubious religious crusades… I just love it. I’ve not played many of the subsequent games in the franchise, but to be honest I like this setting so much I really just want them to make a third Medieval game.
Sega Rally Championship (Arcade, 1994): what, four games in and we’re back to racing? Well, Sega make good racing games I guess. And Sega Rally is just a really good racing game. Another one of those that was a graphical marvel on its release, it has a loose and freewheeling sense of fun and accessibility. Plus it was one of those games that revelled in its open blue skies, from an era when racing games in the arcades loved to dazzle you with spectacle – like when a helicopter swoops low over the tracks. I had a demo of this on PC, too, and I used to race that one course over and over again.
After Burner (Arcade, 1987): there are a lot of arcade games in this list, but when they’re as cool as After Burner, what can you do? This was a technological masterpiece back in the day: a huge cockpit that enveloped you as you sat in the pilot’s seat, joystick in hand. The whole rig moved as you flew the plane, and the graphics (gorgeous for their time) wowed you with their speed and the way the horizon shifted. I was, of course, utterly crap at it, and I seem to remember it was more expensive than most games, so my dad hated me going on it. But it was the kind of thrilling experience that seems harder to replicate nowadays.
Virtua Cop (Arcade, 1994): I used to love lightgun games in the nineties. This despite being utterly, ridiculously crap at them. I can’t aim; ask anyone. But they felt really cool and futuristic, and also you could wave a big gun around like you were RoboCop or something. Virtua Cop added to the fun with its cool 3D graphics. Whilst I’d argue Time Crisis was better, with a little paddle that let you take cover, Cop again leveraged those bright Sega colours to give us a beautiful primary-coloured depiction of excessive ultra-violence and mass death.
Two Point Hospital (PC, 2018): back once again to the point-and-clickers, with another PC game only nominally Sega. But I can’t ignore it. Taking what was best about Theme Hospital and updating it for the 21st Century, TPH is a darkly funny but enjoyably deep management sim, with cute chunky graphics and an easy-to-use interface (Daughter #1 is very fond of it). The console adaptations are good, too. I’d love to see where Two Point go next. Maybe to a theme park…?
Jet Set Radio Future (Xbox, 2002): I never had a Dreamcast. But I remember seeing the original Jet Set Radio – maybe on TV, maybe running on a demo pod in Toys ‘R’ Us or something – and being blown away. It was the first time I’d ever seen cel shading, and it was a revelation; just a beautiful technique that I didn’t think was possible, that made the game look like a living cartoon. Finally being able to play the sequel on my new Xbox was terrific, because the gameplay was excellent too: a fast-paced game of chaining together jumps and glides, in a city that was popping with colour and bursting with energy. Felt like playing a game made entirely of Skittles and Red Bull.
The Typing of the Dead (PC, 2000): The House of the Dead games were descendants of Virtua Cop’s lightgun blasting, but with zombies. Yeah, cool; I liked playing them at the arcades down at Teesside Park, in the Hollywood Bowl or the Showcase cinema. But playing this PC adaptation of the quirky typing-based spin-off was something else. A game where you defeat zombies by correctly typing “cow” or “bottle” or whatever as quickly as possible? A game that was simultaneously an educational typing instructor and also a zombie murder simulator? The fact that the characters are wearing Ghostbusters-style backpacks made of Dreamcast consoles and keyboards is just a seriously crazy detail, and the way the typing was integrated into the gameplay – harder enemies had longer words, for instance – was very well done. A bonkers mini-masterpiece.
Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (Switch, 2019): the very fact that erstwhile cultural enemies Mario and Sonic would ever share a game at all is the stuff of addled mid-nineties fever dreams; like Downey’s Tony Stark sharing the screen with Bale’s Batman (or Affleck’s Batman, who the hell cares at this point). The main thing is, it’s still crazy to think about it, even if it’s just entirely ordinary for my kids, sitting their unaware of the Great Console Wars of the 1990s. Anyway, divorced of all that pan-universal gladhanding, the games are good fun, adapting the various Olympic sports with charm, making them easy-to-understand party games, often with motion control for the benefit of the youngs and the olds. I don’t remember playing earlier games extensively, but the soft-RPG trappings of the latest iteration are enjoyable, especially the retro-themed events and graphics. Earns a spot in my Top Ten for its historic nature, but it’s also thoroughly enjoyable in its own right.
Hey, wouldn’t it be funny if all those crazy internet rumours were actually true, and Microsoft did announce it was buying Sega this E3? This really would feel like a very timely and in some ways prescient list.
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