#i have to read the subtitle while they're saying one line
Text
yeah bouncing back and forth between the screen and the subtitles may be a bit of a learning curve but what about trying to read subtitles that are TIMED INCORRECTLY JESUS FUCKING CHRIST
#i have to read the subtitle while they're saying one line#and memorize it so I know what's happen when the audio catches up#AND i have to figure out who's saying what#finn says shit#crunchyroll pull your shit together or I will turn to piracy#i am THIS close#the only thing stopping me is that the other website runs slower and I don't want to sit and wait for it to load every two minutes
11 notes
·
View notes
Text
Yes, the 4channers were awful and they persist in misgendering me, while simultaneously complaining I don't post anymore, with zero self awareness.
4chan harassment alone isn't why I left. This is.
It's the transphobia.
I have been in the fandom since 2015. I have been arguing with transphobes in the fandom since 2015. I have been making write ups about why it's important not to misgender the - yes, fictional - characters since 2015, because of the complete lack of caring it communicates to real nonbinary people.
Last year, I wrote a post that got 7000 notes and is currently pinned to the Deltarune subreddit. I poured my heart out about what the nonbinary characters meant to me and why they were important.
It was argued over, I was mocked for it, I included personal details about my family situation and my difficulty coming out, I was mocked for it.
I wrote it because I believed it mattered. Because for eight years, the constant comment when mentioning the pronouns of these characters has been: Who cares?
At any point since 2015, Toby could have saved the transgender people in the fandom the trouble of having to "prove" the characters were nonbinary by saying something.
Last year, Legends of Localization comes out - thoroughly reviewed by Toby - and calls Frisk, Monster Kid, and Napstablook "ambiguous", designed to have an unclear gender.
You can see in the collage of screenshots how the transphobes in the fandom took that. One delightful individual was so triumphant over the victory, they put the statement in their Reddit subtitle.
So each time this individual posts to the Undertale subreddit, people will see this quote, carried around like a trophy with all the pride of a dog with a rotting pelt in its mouth. That's how much it meant to the transphobes in the fandom. They're delighted by having this quote to throw back in the faces of transgender fans.
Because who cares? The majority of the fandom isn't transgender, or on tumblr. It's easy for them not to care about transgender people.
You can block block block as many people as you want (I had thousands blocked here) but you can't curate your way out of transphobia. It isn't possible.
Because the majority of the fandom is on Reddit, or YouTube, or Twitter, and they, quite vocally, do not care about transgender people.
Some people may recall that I stopped posting to the Deltarune subreddit after the mods decided to filter all posts containing the word "nonbinary" without telling anyone.
The mods stopped filtering the word after I posted this and apologized, but the point was made: people in the greater fandom think the word "nonbinary" is a dangerous, impolite word, one that only invokes argument and therefore should not be used.
So I stopped posting on the Deltarune and Undertale subreddits. I never made YouTube or Twitter content. I set my blog to only allow people with Tumblr accounts to view it. I turned off all asks, anonymous or otherwise. I blocked thousands of people. It did not work. Transgender people can't curate (read: quarantine) our way out of transphobia.
Years of this, of transgender fans of the series getting attacked for trying to claim and fight for nonbinary representation in the series, and "ambiguous" is the language Toby signed off on.
If the characters are meant to be nonbinary representation, the last eight years has proven that this needs to be stated outright, or the onus of "proving" it falls on the vastly outnumbered transgender fans in the fandom - something that we have never been able to do without being profusely harassed for it until we shut our mouths.
If the characters were only ever meant to be ambiguous for the sake of "freedom of interpretation", then this should have been communicated with seriousness and respect to the transgender fans of the series years ago, not as a throwaway line in a translation book. (and to be clear, this is not at all the author's fault - Toby corrected and reviewed the language used)
This is why I left and why I'm never coming back, no matter what happens next. I have had enough of the transphobia in the fandom, and I have no way of fighting back anymore.
Transphobes in the fandom want the work and the passion of nonbinary people but won't even use a pronoun to show the basest level of respect and humanity for us.
I'm watching our rights being taken away day by day, and people like this just want me to keep producing my worthless little game theory posts.
Trans people don't owe you our "content" or our passion, particularly not when we produce it for free in the face of eight years of a deeply transphobic audience that we are expected to either beg for the most basic respect or to turn our heads down and hide away from so they can continue either hating us or pretending we don't exist or that that part of us doesn't matter.
"Who cares?"
When people ask this in response to talking about being nonbinary or respecting pronouns, they know transgender people care.
What they're saying is, who cares about transgender people?
For this reason, I'm requesting people not archive anything I've written, though I know I can't enforce this. That includes the Character Analysis and the "(Characters) are nonbinary why it matters" post, which I wrote in such profoundly naive good faith. For every "who cares" I have received over eight years of being transgender in this fandom.
If my identity as a nonbinary person doesn't matter, if nonbinary people don't exist, then neither does the content I made which they feel so entitled to, even while misgendering me.
I can't even think about this series without becoming angry and miserable anymore. That is the lasting, final impression the art has had on me. I can't think about it or the characters without remembering how little transgender people matter to most of the world. I've had to completely cut it out my life. There's no rage as potent as the helpless one. "Who cares?" I can't make people care.
You can't have the creations and art and "content" made by transgender people and our destruction at the same time. And maybe you can't prevent our destruction either, but you sure as hell can use a damn pronoun.
281 notes
·
View notes
Note
would you ever consider translating sasara and rosho’s new duet? i’m sure it would be a real undertaking what with all the manzai, but i’ve always loved your style of localizing jokes! hope you’re having a great day!
You're very kind. Just for you, anon, I'll brave the horror of Dotsuhon lyrics translation.
Under a cut for length. This post is so long Tumblr won't save all of it, so it'll have to be done in two goes.
Notes about style: No attempt to preserve rhyme or rhythm. Likewise, no attempt to match the vocal tone/line delivery/line length of the voice actors. (Ie, I'm not writing subtitles, so it might sound odd if you try to listen to the song at the same time as reading this.) The primary focus is on written tone, including wordplay, so strict adherence to literal meaning is not observed. In particular, since this is supposed to sound like a (radio?) comedy sketch, I'm trying to write it with the generally jocular tone such a performance would have in English. Some notes on jokes to follow for those curious.
Sasara and Roshou: Hey, folks!
Sasara: You're listening to the one and only Dotsuitare Hompo from Osaka.
Roshou: Thanks for having us tonight!
Sasara: We're Sasara Nurude and...
Roshou: ...Roshou Tsutstujimori.
Sasara: We usually have a third guy with us, our older buddy Rei Amayado, but he wasn't able to make it for some reason or another. So, you're stuck with the two of us today.
Roshou: Sorry, sorry, and thanks again for having us.
Sasara: Anyway, things sure are tough out there these days, huh?
Roshou: You're telling me.
Sasara: So I'd like to get on the mic and say a couple of jokes, cheer folks up a little bit in this whole mess.
Roshou: You? You're the biggest mess there is. [1] But you're right. All anyone needs is a good, hot meal and a couple of laughs, and they're set.
Sasara: Yeah! A good, hot banquet or three and a personal comedian. All a person needs in life!
Roshou: A tad more expensive than I'd intended, but sure.
Sasara: And then if you get a good night's sleep with a warm futon riiiight on the floor, then you're in heaven!
Roshou: Wait, hold on. You'll catch a cold sleeping like that! You need a quilt or something at least.
Sasara: But then what if I overheat? I'd rather quilt while I'm in bed.
Roshou: ...Wait, you messed that up. It's supposed to be "quilt while I'm ah--" whatever, let's move on. [2]
[Chorus]
Sasara and Roshou: We'll keep our chins up and get through this bad time. And we'll set the whole city laughing until even Tsuutenkaku cracks up. [3]
Sasara: Don't worry, everybody. I know things are pretty turbulent right now, but it won't last forever. And hey, at least the state of the world right now is like okonomiyaki, and we all know how much I love that! [4]
Roshou: In what sense?
Sasara: It keeps getting flipped upside down! [5]
Roshou: Oh my god, Sasara. Well, at times like this, it never hurts to have seafood...
Sasara: I see food, I eat it!
Roshou: ...or anything fried...
Sasara: After all this chaos, I know I'm fried.
Roshou: ...not to mention smothered in sauce.
Sasara: You getting saucy with me, mister? [6] But now you're talking my language! And also, the other day I sewed a--wait, did someone say soda? [7]
Roshou: Yes, yes, we all know you love cream soda, but you don't need to bring it into every conversation!
Sasara: OK(nomiyaki), that's fair. [8]
Roshou: Same goes for okonomiyaki!
Sasara: Geez, Roshou, what's your problem? Work with me here; commit to the bit.
Roshou: Bit of what? [9]
Sasara: The routine! That's my motto: always commit to the bit.
Roshou: Well, maybe you'd finally get somewhere in life if you tried committing to the whole thing. [10]
Sasara: Hey, low blow. We don't all come with your level of ginger.
Roshou: No, but you know what does? Okonomiyaki! [11]
136 notes
·
View notes
Text
TGCF donghua Season 2, Episode 11 thoughts
This episode was amazing alkdjlada. Spoilers for the book and donghua below.
Ah Fangxin in the coffin T-T Xie Liannnn... It's interesting they're... setting up for Hua Cheng's birthday? O.o Are they that confident they'll get to that (please be that confident, please!!)? Or just thinking "we get this in while we can in case there isn't enough"? Or just explaining why Xie Lian isn't getting out? It's a pretty (and sad) scene. And another Xiao Mengyou scene!! I'm so grateful for all the time we get alkdjaldj But also sad to think of how Lang Qianqiu thinks of him after saying all friends are false T-T
Xie Lian is so sad T-T Hua Cheng trying to comfort him. They're so cute together T-T Hua Cheng holding back so hard from hugging him.
Xie Lian destroying his statue T-T And then worrying about saving people. Hua Cheng wanting to say Something and being like... no we do what gege wants. Always.
Distracted by Xie Lian's poofy sleeves. I'm a poofy sleeves girl 4ever.
I'm a simple woman. I just like Hualian walking around together. Bein cute. Chattin. Saving people but not being in danger.
Xie Lian giving the "don't put me on a pedestal" speech T-T Love it so much. Hua Cheng being like, "yeah but idc, I'm right, you deserve to be there, no matter what others say". This man put a ring on it long ago, he ain't goin back. He Knows Things, Gege. He Knows. Things. Even more things you'd rather he didn't :/
Xie Lian's heart going doki doki
Sorry the eye swoosh made me laugh aldkjaldaj WHO ARE YOU SAN LANG TELL HIM alkjdaldkjal
Shi Qingxuan T-T And Xie Lian is so happy to see Wind Master :3 His bestie :333
Feng Xin lookin sexy with his spirit bow. I've loved spirit bows since I was like 6, okay???? I know, Fall coming out with the Hot Takes TM of "spirit bows are cool" aldkjaldaj For more Hot Takes TM, like "I just love Hualian", read more alkdjalj
Hua Cheng yoinking Xie Lian behind him made me laugh so hard alkdjalkdjaldja YOINK A GEGE
Xie Lian's FACE alkdjaldaj "omg" aldkjaldja There's a line from tagteamme's wonderful Mobei-Jun/Shang Qinghua fanfic AN IDIOT'S GUIDE TO A HAPPY MARRIAGE that describes a flabbergasted/upset Shang Qinghua as a "wronged chicken" and that's all I can think of here alkdjaldaj
AND XIE LIAN JUST GOES WITH IT ALKDJALDJA I LOVE THEM ALKDJALJ
Shi Qingxuan and Feng Xin confused at The Gay: ???
Hua Cheng: -satisfied smile- Yes he is Mine
Shi Qingxuan subtitling this book: "Good intentions can easily be misinterpreted when passed around. Better to start with bad intentions, and they'll believe it!"
Feng Xin not compelled by the Gay Married Couple. He protecc Dianxia. He left and failed so many times to do just that, after all. Not like Xie Lian told him to get lost out of fear or anything <;.< Oh no I be havin Feng Xin and Xie Lian feelings, as I do every day T-T
alkdjalj Poor Feng Xin. He's so terrified of women. He's just completely gone. Just nope. Cannot do anything. No function. Goodness I feel bad for every female heavenly official having to interact with him.
Hua Cheng is so handsome this episode, honestly. Every frame of him is gorgeous. And male Wind Master is back!
asldakjdladj the little ding that plays when Feng Xin notes that Qi Rong's tactics are ridiculous. Translating the ding: duhhhhhh
Nothing about Xie Lian phases Shi Qingxuan. A true friend.
I love them so much T-T
adlkajdlkajda Hua Cheng is Xie Lian's "sworn brother" I can't with Shi Qingxuan I can't alkdjaldjaljk (yes I know this is the line in at least the English translation but I just alkjdlajda it kills me alkdjaljda). Hua Cheng is so unimpressed alkdalj "You disrespect my relationship with gege???" (I don't think he cares, but I do love that he's slightly more chill with Shi Qingxuan because Shi Qingxuan is one of the the only other people who supports Xie Lian)
I love Shi Qingxuan so much alkdjlaj He's your friend Xie Lian T-T You have a frienddddd
Hua Cheng like, "I'm better besties with gege than you are, Feng Xin >:3 Oh right you're not friendssss anymore are you >:3 Cause you abandoned himmmmm >:3" He's not mad about it. Nope.
Feng Xin covered in blood is pretty >.>
The soft Xie Lian thank you. The happy Hua Cheng acceptance. I love them so much T-T
Hua Cheng: "Overthinking. Just focus on doing what you need to do." He always reassures his gege. He wants his gege to do whatever makes him happy.
Ahhh what a good episode T-T So much Hualian. Feng Xin angst. So pretty. So good. And hey, the subs were decent! There's already been a preview for episode 12, so we know there's at least one episode left! I feel like they'll probably end the season either right before the switch to the past or right at the beginning, which is sad, but it makes sense. I just want more T-T
Other episode thoughts for season 2 (didn’t start till episode 3):
S02E03
S02E04
S02E05
S02E06
S02E07
S02E08
S02E09
S02E10
S02E11 (you are here)
S02E12
#Heaven Official's Blessing#HOB#TGCF#Hua Cheng#Xie Lian#Hualian#Hua Cheng/Xie Lian#Hua Cheng x Xie Lian#spoilers#good fucking food#shi qingxuan#feng xin#qi rong#xiao mengyou#xiao shiwei#fallfthoughts
27 notes
·
View notes
Note
do you think andalites would consider needing glasses a disability?
Okay, this question is fascinating because it really gets at the what the Social Model of Disability means by disability being situation-specific and society-constructed.
The Social Model defines disability as any bodily difference that is treated as abnormal, undesirable, and incorrect by society. For example, some types of facial scarring fit, and others don't. Harrison Ford and Jason Momoa likely don't count, because their facial scarring is widely considered normal or neutral. Seal and Kane Hodder might count as disabled, because Seal has endured many rude comments on his appearance and Hodder has been barred from a lot of roles due to his. If this seems arbitrary and cruel, then that's because discrimination is, in fact, arbitrary and cruel. A person with a cast on their arm is treated as infirm and needing help, albeit temporarily; a person with a compression brace on their arm gets the prosthesis ignored or othered. Deafness is a disability if no one around knows Sign and assistive technology is stigmatized; it stops being a disability the moment 3+ Deaf people hang out together. It really is that arbitrary, whom society treats as being disabled.
Anyway, within that framework, I would say that needing glasses used to count as a disability, but doesn't anymore.
Glasses certainly used to be stigmatized, because that's ableism for you. I have two loved ones (spouse, high school BFF) who A. can't read the top row of an eye chart that's 3' away, B. love learning and school, and C. refused to wear glasses in the 1990s even though it made learning impossible, because of the bulllying they got for needing lenses. And those are just the ones I know. I think about both of those kids, voracious learners who sacrificed their ability to read the board in order to avoid stigma, and I compare them to the (at least two) kids I know today who endure unneeded pain because they're too ashamed to use their canes in public.
However, there was a change in the mid-naughts. More and more TV characters had glasses, and not just the socially incompetent nerds anymore. Harry Potter becoming the icon of the naughts with glasses (and facial scarring!) probably helped. Fashion models wearing those black plastic frames certainly helped. A critical mass of so many young people needing corrective lenses (because of increased screentime in childhood) definitely helped move glasses away from "abnormal".
One signal for me that glasses no longer count as a disability is It (2019). The It novel and 1998 movie portray Richie Tozier's needing glasses as his qualification for the Losers Club — a group of kids who are friends because for various reasons (fatness, minority status, poverty, etc.) they're not allowed to fit in and will never fit in. The 2017-19 It movies give Richie glasses, but make it clear that he qualifies for the Losers Club not because he's myopic but because he's queer. (For example, he's chased by a living eyeball in the book, but the movie instead has him attacked while carving his initials next to another boy's.) A related example is the subtitles for Ouran High School Host Club; Honey's line from the scene where Kyoya gets hit in the face was translated in 2006 as "Bully! You can't hit someone who wears glasses!" but in 2022 as "Bully! You knocked his glasses off!", which suggests glasses are no longer viewed as an infirm condition.
So. I think an andalite would have to have any disability explained to them before they started stigmatizing it, because wheelchair use only counts as a disability because people make rude comments and refuse to build elevators. And I think that an andalite who arrived on Earth in 1996 might develop a different view from one who arrived in 2022. But it'd also depend on what part of Earth they explored, who they talked to, and a million other horribly arbitrary factors that determine whose body gets counted as being "wrong" by society.
#animorphs#disability#ableism#stigma#glasses#andalites#social model of disability#accessibility activism#fantastical discrimination
227 notes
·
View notes
Note
I wanted to ask you something, reading your posts, I really liked what you say about Munch, I wanted to ask you some curiosities about them that you have in mind - Ex: What do they like to do in their spare time? What hobbies do you think they would develop? Would they be the type to go on family outings with Dot and Scotty? What do you think? I loved your headcanons about them, Munch could go to a therapist, to better deal with themselves and their surroundings :D How do you imagine them adapting to technology? Using mobile phones ? Learning to use computers ?
Imagine Munch trying to understand Scotty playing video games lmao 🤣
ahh i love these questions thank you 🥹 answers under the cut:
munch is 110% a bookworm. reads quickly but voraciously, no preference between fiction & nonfiction, but you will see him more often with the latter.
for more hands-on hobbies, probably knitting at first. he clearly knew how to sew before meeting the lyons so this just gives him an outlet completely divorced from survival techniques. he gets super blushy & smiley when he completes his first sweater for scotty.
i think he'd love to go on family outings, but depending on where they're going, it'd be tough for him to illustrate his boundaries & fears. im thinking more along the lines of county fairs, amusement parks, farmers' markets, & basically anything with huge volumes of people combined with constant noise. i dont think he'd be one for amusement park rides at all, but thats ok bc i totally see dot as the one who goes with scotty on everything, while he & wayne wait behind like the worrywarts they are. i think he'd be good at the carnival games, though. like if scotty wants a big teddy bear he'll be like "ugh fine" & then john wick his way through the shooting games. im not sure about others where he'd be the complete center of attention, like the strength mallet thing, even though he'd get a ridiculous score since i think he's a lot stronger than he looks.
one of the first things dot gets him to help him adjust is noise-cancelling earplugs, which are especially necessary since munch doesn't react well to music or electronic visual media so irt scotty playing video games i dont think he'd have any idea what he's looking at. if he finds the willpower to sit through a movie, subtitles are an absolute must, & even then i think he can only handle old movies for a while since they aren't as demanding on the senses as contemporary cinema.
i dont think munch would go to a therapist, or that the lyons would want him to anyway, being that his bond with dot is bone-deep and, for lack of a better term, supernatural. modern medicine is just not equipped to handle a 500 year old living body that's presumably developed immunities/resistances well beyond the limits of a normal human. dot & munch learn to heal while in each other's company simply because they are the only other person on earth like the other. obviously dot is not a sin vampire but its my headcanon that she & munch share a strong psychic bond, too.
aside from the basics he learned as a hitman (operating vehicles, using phones), i dont see modern technology having any place in munch's life. its not that he can't learn how to use it, but he doesn't see how it would add or subtract anything to the way he lives. i think at most he'd have like a basic smartphone to keep in contact with the lyons, but its strictly a phone & not a multimedia platform.
7 notes
·
View notes
Text
Square Enix Should Apologize To Deck Nine - And By Extension, Us - For How Terribly They Squeezed On the Life is Strange Remaster
youtube
Okay so I know it's old hat to say that the Life is Strange Remasters are… not good.
Everyone and their dog knows that at this point.
But I want to talk a bit about WHY they're so bad. And how it isn't Deck Nine's fault they are as bad as they are.
I've just finished my playthrough of Before the Storm on the Remaster, and while it is definitely a downgrade from the original release, it wasn't terrible. The new character textures are fantastic, the new meshes are impressive, the lighting changes are… fine. I only ever had one or two audio lines drop per episode, and the subtitles would commonly lag behind a full sentence but it was never too bad and was always worth a laugh.
But then I got to the Farewell DLC, and oh my god. It is just unplayable. Like, I straight-up gave up and just bought the Farewell DLC for the base game.
At the top of this post is a video excerpt of the straw that broke the camel's back.
I regret throwing Deck Nine under the bus in the video's editing. I was so frustrated at the time, though!
So let's talk about how we got here.
The development of these remasters was done while True Colors was still in development. They released 4 months after True Colors' release, and I have heard that the original goal was to have them all release at the same time.
Which is an absolutely absurd mandate for Square Enix to push. Like, just think about it for a minute.
Life is Strange 1 is about double the length of True Colors. Before the Storm is about the same length as True Colors. And while Deck Nine didn't have to write and build the games from scratch, the remasters still involved engine upgrades (Life is Strange is a heavily-modified UE3 game; Life is Strange Remastered is on UE4.23; Before the Storm was similarly upgraded to what was at the time the latest version of Unity for the remaster).
Beyond that, Deck Nine also upgraded character face textures and character outfit meshes (and for some reason remodeled the characters' noses; I don't know why…). None of which is to mention how, in order to apply the mocap facial animation upgrade to the base Life is Strange, they had to effectively rerecord all of the dialogue for the game - and then throw out the audio, to keep only the facial animation data.
Top is Life is Strange Remastered, bottom is original. Note how much higher-poly the outfit is, and how things like Chloe's tear or her bra are actually fully modeled now.
All of which is to say, they had to do a lot of work for these remasters.
And Square Enix expected them to do all this work while working on True Colors? For games that equate to 1.5x the length of True Colors? Effectively working on 2.5 games within 1 dev cycle?
When playing through the remasters, you can clearly see what Square Enix's priorities were. Life is Strange is the star child, the one that launched this whole franchise (read: money machine for Square Enix) and is the fan-beloved. It very clearly got top priority from Square Enix, and Deck Nine very clearly spent the most time and money on it.
Next up was Before the Storm, and by the time you get to Farewell, it is clear that we're scraping the bottom of the barrel. Farewell was Square Enix's last concern, and Deck Nine had to work with the dregs of what was left of their time and budget to remaster it. And it very clearly shows.
The absolute worst part of this all to me, though, is that of these three games (I am counting Farewell as its own game, given how it is a DLC expansion that was made in a separate development cycle from the rest of Before the Storm), two of them are Deck Nine's own babies. And of these three games, only one of them was given priority by Square Enix.
I can't even imagine how terrible it must've felt for Deck Nine, being forced by Square Enix to release their own games in Before the Storm and especially Farewell in such a broken state. To have to effectively cripple their own children, while fawning over their step-daughter brought into the marriage that is Life is Strange (developed by dontnod).
Obviously we're not going to actually get Square Enix to ever apologize to Deck Nine, and I doubt Deck Nine will ever be given the resources to properly fix Before the Storm and Farewell.
But dammit, the injustice on display is so apparent and so egregious, I just have to scream about it.
I hope I'm not alone in feeling this way. That the terrible state of the remasters is Square Enix's fault, not Deck Nine's. That Deck Nine deserved better than how Square Enix treated them on these remasters. And that, through extension of the sorry, broken state these remasters were released in, we the players and fans of these games deserve better than what Square Enix forced out the door on us.
Fresh out of giving up on the Farewell Remaster, I was upset. But now, thinking about it, about all the things that had to go wrong to get us to this point?
I'm just disgusted.
Shame on you, Square Enix. And I'm sorry, Deck Nine.
#life is strange#life is strange remastered#square enix#shame on them#deck nine#deck nine did nothing wrong#the terrible state of the life is strange remasters is all Square Enix's fault#Youtube
7 notes
·
View notes
Text
Ni Bu Pei
Here we have the famous "You're not worthy!" scene from Episode 27. Every time I finish watching this scene, I just end up shaking my head and muttering, "this is such a good show" over and over again. This happens with many scenes throughout Word of Honor, but this is definitely one of the ones at the top.
Here's the clip from Episode 27 that inspired this fig:
Sorry these have no subtitles. That is way beyond my rudimentary video clipping ability. I have to say that watching it without understanding the words (except of what I have memorized, of course!) is still enjoyable since I can really focus on their faces and their acting.
Of course, whenever I clip anything from the show, I end up losing time since I'm forced (forced, I tell you!) to re-watch the entire episode. These posts would go a lot faster if I simply made the video clip! But what can I do...this scene is so good, it makes me want to watch everything else in the episode.
I got these figures a long time ago, but it wasn't until the box had arrived at my house that I realized the Ye Baiyi standee was missing. I tore the rest of the box apart looking for it, but no luck. This set really needs the standee!
I talked to the seller, and even though it had been much longer than the standard after-service period, they were kind enough to go ahead and forward me the standee.
I would really, really love figs of the rest of the characters in the show - how great would it be to have Chengling, Gu Xiang, Cao Weining, and Ye Baiyi? But none of them exist. I feel lucky I have Ye Baiyi here in standee form and Chengling in standee form as well (from the previous New Year Wenzhou figs in this series).
Here's a close up of the boytoy old monster Sword Saint Immortal himself.
You can see their relative sizes here. Ignore the line going through Ye Baiyi's face, that is just a reflection from the window!
Alright, thanks Ye Baiyi, we're going to just our two heroes wanderers right now!
Like the other figures in this series, these are all slightly less chibi and a little more "grown up". But only just! They're still very small and cute.
Lao Wen's purple cape and A-Xu's puddle of robes do a great job of keeping these figs completely stable and steady. This will be one of the few sets I don't put on fig stands.
Nice detailing on the hair here. Lao Wen's hairpin is a spectacularly long one. Some hairpins escape the shipping process undamaged while others snap right off - it all depends on how well that polystyrene cut out is designed and how securely they're squeezed into it.
A-Xu's studded hairband seems to be missing a metal stud! Well, I mean, you did see how hard Ye Baiyi hit him, right?
I'm really tempted to paint the missing stud in his hairband. I didn't really notice it before, but now that I'm looking at these up close pics, it just jumps out at me!
Did you notice how the blood splotch on Lao Wen's face is in the shape of a heart? Not to, err, romanticize battle wounds, but now I can't unsee it! If you've been reading this blog, you know I love battle-damaged figs anyway. And aww, the tears welling up in his eyes.
These expressions are gold. We have A-Xu looking fierce and protective, and Lao Wen looking emotionally overwrought, and the both of them are just as cute as can be. Lao Wen has of course sustained the worst of the battle damage, but A-Xu sure didn't go down without a fight.
Here they are in their pose. The figs actually fit together nicely - Lao Wen's knee on the ground goes into a slight curve in A-Xu's robes. I tried to take some pics that show this, but it was really hard to get down between them in any way you could actually see.
You can kind of see what I am talking about with Lao Wen's knee here...
...and a little bit here where their legs are touching.
The bottoms-up view on this set is particularly cute because you can see the detail on how they are sitting, along with some great detail on their different colored pants. Like the fig maker could easily have designed this to be a solid bottom, and not made this so complicated (and perhaps a few RMB less), but I'm really, really glad they didn't. Everyone loves this level of hidden detail and fine fig engineering!
Our protective shixiong from the top front...
...and the top back. Another great view of that gorgeous long hairpin, too!
This box card art is officially TOO CUTE. These are some of my all time favorite outfits in the show too.
Alright! We've now done three of the four sets listed here - just one more to go. Come back tomorrow for the last one!
If you missed any of the previous ones, you can read them here: New Year Wenzhou and Good Sword, or just click on the master link at the bottom.
Material: Resin
Fig Count: 413
Scene Count: 29
Rating: Two very worthy figs!
[link back to Master Fig Index for more posts]
19 notes
·
View notes
Text
Cryptic: Generosity
Hello fellow military spouses, have there ever been times when you've listened to conversations that BTS had and wondered what on earth are they talking about? You sort of got it, but at the same time had a nagging feeling that you didn't.
Don't fret for the solution is simple.
As it turns out all you have to do is to start appreciating the exclusivity of Jinkook's bond. (Yes, ship them) What was once puzzling and veiled will transform into loud af/TMI overload/guns ablazing/zero filter conversations. It truly opens up the third eye.
Cryptic is going to be a series. These are harder to churn out and hold up the line but they're too fun to not write 🔥
Previously in the last exchange covered, Hobi was side eyeing the lovebirds (esp JK) for being too loud on camera.
This time around it's Jimin - fearless and unfaltering - standing his ground in the face of Jin's feeble attacks.
Overall, this little argument affirms an unspoken dynamic of Jijinjung off-cam as well. And if I were to pick sides.. point to Chimchim.
Before getting into it, everyone please take a moment to appreciate RM's styling 🌈
Not exactly fashionable but very forward.
This episode is brought to you by Jinmin🌙 with a special appearance from Hobi
Esquire Magazine Making Film (2020)
All was well on an early winter day as the boys dressed up as big cats, in cropped blazers, under a thousand layers and one for the Esquire magazine photoshoot. It was noticeably overcast on location outside the stout, brutalist factory, which mayhap set the right mood for the impending tiff.
JK was done with his styling first for their second group shoot, so he was waiting around for the others and exercising by himself.
Shortly after, Jimin entered into frame and began imitating JK's arm moves, directly opposite him.
Working the arms expressionlessly.
There wasn't much else to do, they're bored and had to pass time while on standby, so it's by no means Jimin's fault for wanting to get playful.
Because after a few repetitions, Jimin was aiming right for Jungkook's nips with his fingertips.
Not even half a beat passed before we can hear Jin, out of frame, going, "DON'T-
-joke around."
The speed of Seokjin's reaction - he was either watching like a hawk or has a build in radar. And by how quickly his guard broke down after seeing his beloved getting touched by the angel.. our cryptic study, it begins.
Jin didn't stop at just one warning but instead was rattling off, "Don't joke around, we're in a shoot. Don't joke around x4, focus on the shoot. No no, don't joke around.."
Like two bumper cars in the night, they made contact again and again. Jimin pushed Jin away but Jin was constantly coming back, trying to increase the distance between him and Kookie.
As it were at that point the spotlight had shifted over to Jin and Jimin, because JK had taken a step backwards and looked simply in dire need of a nap,
eyes half closed, warm and sleepy
✨
Jinmin's petty debate soon began with Jimin's opening line, "And you think you are generous? Don't you feel small?"
Which prompted Jin to emit a sheepish laugh.
Gotta hand it to the English subtitles for making the conversation more cryptic than it had to be. A better word for 'generous' could be 'tolerant', and a better word for 'small' could be 'shabby' in the sense that Jimin was saying.
So Jimin actually said to Jin, "Saying you are tolerant.. don't you feel shabby?" Petty much sir?
Right after Jin stepped in to usher him away from Jungkook.
Fellas, is this even cryptic? 😗
To clarify, Jimin was also referencing something Jin said during their interview earlier. The captions read [Jin said he is generous in the interview] so despite the part not making it into the final print, the editors and the members did hear him say so.
"I am pretty generous," Jin retorted feebly. Jimin went "EH?" at this reply but Jin did not give him a chance to retaliate because he threw the conversation to Jhope, who was resting on the sidelines.
"Ya Hope-ah, tell me honestly, aren't I more generous?" Help me bro
Jhope went, "Hyung is cooler (more laidback)."
He cleverly stood in the middle ground by using another term. Hm, but this 'more'...more than who? (war flashbacks to somebody physically edging everyone out of his way to stand next to yeobo)
+ points to BH's DP (cameraman) here because they panned to Hobi for only a sec and quickly returned to center on Jinmin. They knew where the main arena was✨
As Jin was just thrown a lifeline from Hobi to save him from his embarrassing show of petty jealousy, he was not about to let go of it.
"Right, cool! Generous, that's it!" That's what I meant by tolerant. Yes, I'm really tolerant.
However Jimin, a man of principle, wouldn't let Jin get away with it that easily.
Btw this DP is really doing some of their best work. That back and forth panning between Jinmin - excitement levels ⚠️⬆️
"Brother. Haven't you ever considered that your beloved younger brothers have become more generous because of you, brother?" He said with the poise of a seasoned lawyer.
Yeah, these are real subs. I just used the raw video to make the visuals look cleaner.
"Ha, what are you talking about- You towards me.. Because of you I-!" -fumbling-
"-Not considering others, you and Jungkookie..."
...aand I wish he finished his sentence but alas, Jin trailed off. If he did, maybe we would have reeled in a whole school of Jinkookers the day this video was released.
And Jungkook came back into focus in this fierce debate because yes, it had been about him this whole time. He started it and never left. I'd like to also pause for a second here to leave for pondering: how common this kind of argument could be between Jin and Jimin.. because JK wasn't even a little bit motivated to intervene. It's happened before? Many times? He's over it.
Ball was back in Jimin's court and he continued the relay with ease:
"Is this being 'generous'?" came Jimin's scoff. Look at yourself bro. And Hobi in the back, looking thoroughly entertained.
Jin's still trying to save his pride, "I...! Oh...!? Hey, you..." @%!$@!&
He's going down.
Jimin went in for the final kill. "Even your clothes don't look generous-
Teasing his Jin hyung is so fun
"-I can see into your heart." Reaching out, touching Jin's lapel while Jin was warding him off, bravado shrinking, clinging onto the last shreds of his ego.
Now at the very end there was nowhere else for him to run, so almost like a last resort Jin decided to exclaim,
"You look shabby!"
LMAOOOLJLHJJ Seriously what kind of a random attack is this..? Terrible, Seokjin, what happened to your eloquence 🙁
The verdict was basically set but Jin will still not admit defeat (even if battered).
"This, what is it? Is it gold?" Jin said finally as he tried to change the topic and move it along.
Jimin laughed while answering, "You have nothing more to say. This is gold."
K.O. He won. ✨
To summarize, Jinmin just had a very honest conversation about Jin's pettiness - specifically about how much he minds others getting too close to Jungkook.
In this instance, Jimin was just playing around and barely did anything (in addition we have to admit that these guys are known for excessive touchiness and affection). Therefore I'd say Jimin did not cross the line and Jin overreacted a bit. Especially since they were being filmed.
But I don't know :/ maybe some of you guys would side with Jin more..
Because it's hard to even stomach the thought of him peeling perilla leaves for another friend.
Overall, very on brand as the two archangels argue over their favorite shaggy coconut.
#jinkook#kookjin#jinkook cryptic#Jijinjung#jinmin#bts#i swear jin is my bias#but jimin is playful by nature and he doesn't ever truly overstep#if he did the sleepy one would be the first to respond
12 notes
·
View notes
Text
'34 pt. II, thoughts:
Gaby Triquet is, ah, a child actor. She's doing her little best. Baur is fantastic opposite her, all his gruffness gone gentle. (Andrée Rolane in '25 has utterly outshone all other child Cosettes for me, to be honest.)
Thénardier puts the bowl of his pipe in his mouth. I'm weirded out.
We don't see Valjean's recapture or escape from the Orion, but ten months have passed since part I. If I understand correctly (by which I mean, per the Wikipedia article), there's possibly 25ish minutes of film missing—not sure how much info we have on that, or on the content of the original release, but maybe relevant to this gap. Alternately, it's another moment where '34 forgets itself in conforming to the Brick.
The scene in which we are introduced to Cosette and Valjean's "mature" (she's sixteen!) relationship feels like walking into the middle of an argument, one to which both parties are accustomed yet neither has tired of, and which has no rancor. Cosette argues that she remains & will remain the daughter he rescued in Montfermeil even as she reaches new milestones, while Valjean believes instead the change of her beauty and maturity (! such as the latter is!) makes an essential alteration that will leave him behind. This is to some degree the argument that Valjean believes himself winning at the end of the Brick (a "winning" which kills him), debuted in '34 rather early in the narrative. Cosette is sweet and willful—I wonder whether Josseline Gaël didn't read at least some of the Brick for this role, as it's a very close adaptation IMO of the character's book portrayal (the film makes me think of what Cosette's dialogue would've been like in the Brick after her marriage if she weren't so afraid). There's a line of dialogue here—"It's like a chain that binds us, M. Fauchelevent"—that startles hell out of me, given what chains signify and evoke in this film, but—OK, sure, Cosette might not precisely know what the associations are, but while she's playful she's not playing and her language says as much.
The age gap is squicking me out in this version. No deep thought just squick. Go away and come back in a few years, Marius.
Javert is at the Musain investigating political dissidents. He takes one look at Marius and facepalms. They have never met before. Is he having a presentiment of how much trouble this boy is going to cause him? Meanwhile the Amis have terrible opsec, there's a copper at the door and they're in back politicking boisterously. Maybe they are banking on Javert being as unable to tell them apart as I am.
'34 anticipates Schönberg-Boublil with its musical Amis—we have a singalong, "Si César m'avait donné/La gloire et la guerre" etc.
The subtitles for the version I'm watching misspells Lamarque's name as Lamarck throughout, making this the very dramatic funeral of—uh, a biologist?
When Marius is begging for permission to marry and exclaims "mon père!" I don't entirely buy the flow of conversation, but his "aw, shit" expression afterwards is excellent (in any case, I'm not sure I've bought this exchange in any version, including the Brick's). This Gillenormand is an awful little man who I suspect I'm meant to find funny.
Éponine, what are they DOING to you? I couldn't even tell you how I feel about this portrayal as it relates to the novel or to other adaptations—it's the uncovered cough by Florelle all over again, I can't focus on Demazis' performance past my cringing. The insult culminates with Éponine being turned away at the barricade in part III, but it starts as she tidies up Marius' room on his behalf.
Marius informs Cosette of the Gorbeau ambush in a deviation from the novel—and I don't think the reordering of events is actually the most important aspect here; that's a simple storytelling choice, not having the time to have their courtship on-screen but still wanting the drama of the ambush to happen. Rather, it's one of the moments when Cosette is kept informed, and another instance where her demands are met by the men in her life (in the way they aren't, in the Brick). I wonder if this isn't so much the adaptation where everyone communicates more clearly as it is the one in which they communicate more clearly specifically with her. (An aside: she divulges the address on the Rue Plumet, which she has previously withheld, which she, uh, might best still do? Whatever, her past loyalty to Valjean is sweet.)
Marius then informs Javert of the Gorbeau ambush, gifting us with the seed for '34's best moment of comedy. Unfortunately we are also given this, Javert speaking: "Ah, yes, Fauchelevent. An old carter from Montreuil-sur-Mer. He finished his days as a gardener at the Picpus convent." This, here, is the worst dialogue in the film. It's doing two things: trying to inform the viewer why Valjean is going under the name Fauchelevent—asking us to tie this to Cosette's mention of a convent and draw a conclusion (seems to me what it's really doing is relying on us knowing the novel already and only needing a reminder of some details, which is cheap). It somewhat functions to demonstrate why Javert is drawing a connection to Valjean, but it's not the most salient detail for him to blurt out. Vanel tries so hard to pull this off as a thoughtful, ruminative statement, like it's something any normal human would say out loud, and fails; Servais stares at him with a flat, fixed expression—might've been better to look irritable, responding to this as the weird digression it is. If I treat this as anything other than a narrative failure, it's as more evidence of the way in which Vanel's Javert's primary trait is awkwardness. Like when you've got a hyperfixation, have a great deal of knowledge about anything connected thereto, and will infodump at a nudge.
Éponine is granted one (1) dignity during the ambush as she questions Marius for not alerting the police to the ongoing old man assault happening next door.
Criminal that Criterion will not let me screenshot this Javert gang. There's something to be said about these adaptations where he is visually interchangeable with other police—where he is only one member of the authority that threatens Valjean.
I do not mind how drawn-out the fight is between Valjean and Patron-Minette, watching Harry Baur beat the shit out of people is good fun.
Javert turning up at rue de l'Homme-Armé, playfully pretending there's any question of Valjean's identity (he smiles a great deal in this scene, he's having a great day, until—), being whupped in the face with a tablecloth, and then somehow losing a foot chase to a man who has lately been beat to hell—*chef's kiss* Comedy. Also, despite the lack of any comparable scene in the novel, retains the spirit of the way in which Hugo undercuts Javert's dignity. (Subtitles indicate Valjean identifies himself as "Ursule Fauchelevent"—the sound quality and my ears are both bad, is this accurate...?)
There's something to be said about the meaning of the chaîne ending part II but it will have to take someone with more brain than I currently possess to dig it up.
3 notes
·
View notes
Text
ok this has actually been bothering me for a while. Note that everythign I say is my own opinion and while I do think what I have to say holds merit, I do not claim to be an expert in any field I am mentioning here and if you see innacuracies in my statement, feel free to kindly let me know in a reblog and I'll reblog the corrected version. When we discuss ai art, (usage of the word art being left to open ended interpretation and debate since that isn't my point at all), I wish we could kind of section off the areas of artificial intelliegence we're actually talking about and SAY ai ART or ai WRITING instead of ai as a whole (though I understand its shorthand usage, that leads to conflation of it as a whole). Because AI, while very questionable in its usages right now, is more than art and writing.
AI is the screen reader I use in classes to help me read. AI is eye trackers people use for computers when they're immobile. AI is google add-ons that block certain things for visually sensitive people like epileptics. AI is medical pattern collecting and identifying in at-risk populations (which does have implications which I will mention more later). AI is auto captioning services, though they kind of suck half the time and give you very funny but innacurate youtube subtitles (shoutout to 'palkia you son of a bitch', though I think it's edited). It's voice commands for devices for people with limited hand mobility.
I am NOT an AI bootlicker asskisser whatever. I have opinions on ai art and artist ownership, but here's the thing: we can't condemn the term ai in its entirety when it's been such a huge acessibility thing. We can't immediately see someone use the word ai and immediately put them down as a crypto finance nft ai art bro. because GOD i hate nft bro ai whatever nonsense, the people who steal artist's work to put through their algorithms and create copies of it, but ai is also used for so much more and I feel like the current climate around ai is very pinpointed negatively at one aspect of it, but brings down other helpful aspects of it in the process of pointing out the very valid flaws with it. So, if someone skims this and sees me saying 'hey, can we please use some nuance here', I'm just waiting for the 'why are you on their side, ai is terrible, it steals from artists' or 'why do you hate ai, stop being a sjw whateverthefuck' thing when my entire point here is that we need to be able to separate what we're actually talking about here in a meaningful way. You can condemn negative parts of ai that are genuinely concerning for creative folk everywhere WHICH I FUCKING AGREE WITH while also saying that we need to be mindful of the fact that AI also means screen readers, translators, epileptic flash blocker add-ons, and so many other things, and by condemning anyone who uses ai as a whole you are bringing down SO many people with that in the area of effect of your sweeping statements.
TLDR the internet is doing that 'you're either with us or against us' thing and as usual it's marginalized communities, disabled people this time, being used as talking points and what-ifs on both sides instead of our actual input being valued as people who do use other forms of ai.
And we can talk about aspects of accessibility and medical ai in a nuanced way, too. there's definite data collecting implications in medical use of ai and machine learning. There's definite demographic collection and pattern recognition that can be used by medical professionals to misattribute things with more of a focus on data and statistics rather than on how medical statistics are skewed by sociological factors. (for instance, are southern 'people of walmart' rednecks all fat, or is it more in line with impoverished rural communities and food deserts leading to a link in demographic and weight?) There's negativity and hesitation and issues in all branches of AI and this isn't saying medical use AI is perfect because honestly, I'd argue there's more to be worried about with that than creatively used ai. BUT my point stands: you cannot use the term AI as an immediate marker for who's a bad person for supporting it and who isn't, because they very well may support ai as accessibility and condemn ai as an art tool.
10 notes
·
View notes
Text
Cult theory updates 1
thinking about the cult theory, I believe that I'll probably try to explain first the most controversial and confusing aspect. This is going to be hard but I'll give it my best shot. Still me not trying to justify but give a much cleared reason based on the others interactions.
This probably will go after the basis of what makes them a cult. I do believe I have an explanation to what Mortimer called Nick during tape #7 (I believe)
I decided this since, it is better to approach the elephant in the room rather than ignoring it until the end. That might explain much better my intent to reference a documentary that does give a lot of inside in some cult "Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey" which can explain a bit the logistic in what I believe was Nick's OG idea in the last tape
as
It appears he knew Riley was coming but was confused about the others as he says "Riley, What are the others are doing here?"
I noticed some subtitle error in a video called "Rosco's origins explained" it actually shows the scripted version of what was going on and I noticed a line (that was not said. I am not sure if it was recorded but unused.) It said something like "This was totally why I was here. Definitively nothing else to look into" I do believe this was something that Nick was going to say. It does goes along with the idea he originally had in plan
I also believe that perhaps Nick leaned into his dramatic tendencies and build upon his head a huge drama that could resemble a Shakespearean tragedy when in reality it was not a big deal
That does sound like something Nick would do since sometimes he can be way self-absorb in the worst times and make huge deals about petty little things.
I'm just showing this as a recent observation.
-----
Now to some actual updates.
While talking with a good friend of mine from AO3 (They sorta believe the puppets are in some sort patriarchy cult, and the puppets are like a twisted "Family") brought up the Riley and Owen's relationship and the whole "Riley is an atheist" but they said they believe that Riley has some conflicted feelings about the religion as, according to my friend Stitch, she believes Owen is "A False God"
That made me realize that this could lead into something considering that canonically Owen is some sort of Puppet God (Mortimer and Riley confirmed this in the game and tapes. Owen is considered their creator)
I also remember reading somewhere in one of the articles I was reading for my investigation, that one of the "steps" or things related to cults is the rejection of god.
Now as far as I remember on how cults work (based on my high school assignments on true crime and cults which involved a podcast, hearing about real life cults, and listening to what makes cults a cult, ect.) Cult leaders aren’t necessarily worshiped (this is my take), but they're consider the ones who hold the true answers and the true leader that would lead them.
This does seem to reflect a lot with Riley in a sort of way. She refuses to believe Owen is her god and creator, but canonically established that she believes Mortimer is their true "Father" (whether she refers to this as Father in the sense that "oh he's dad" or father as "Father of creation" is debatable) and that she considers Mortimer "As their true leader"
I do believe it has to do something with what my friend Kris (Dreamlandcreations said) about Owen creating Riley but not being the one that brought her to life (Andrew Allen did comment on that by saying things like this are what make writing games worth it)
What I found interesting is that Riley genuinely follows Mortimer and still respects him even thought she believes he has gone mad with power but it appears she sees the puppet Rebellion as something for the greater good of what the puppets want rather than their well-being.
Why?
She puts more emphasis and her desires for the puppets to grow and advance instead of poking some looser guy and wanting to bring a show back to life after many years.
And I just realized that Riley complaining with Mortimer going mad around power is more about him become careless with what is going on and thinking more about his wants other than why the puppets are uniting.
This goes along with them not really being concern about their well-being but rather accomplishing one goal. One mindset.
Riley does seem to confirm this as she refers to the rebellion as "The puppets needing a new leader on their path of Glory."
---
Another observation, is Mortimer despising Nick.
Maybe Mortimer despises Nick so much is that whatever he is doing that involves Mortimer is always about how Nick can get off or get a reward whether Riley who is canonically considered "Mortimer's favorite" does things for being in service.
Mortimer does say Nick would rat out his own creator if it means he'll get something, which does goes with my observation.
This probably adds up to the cult theory as cult members are predetermined to follow a role and to serve for the greatest of the cult. Something that could be the reason why Nick is considered the black sheep of the clan and why Riley's first natural response is to get suspicious of Nick.
In comparison to Mortimer's "Favorite" and his "Hated" members of the Handee clan (I'm calling it that) is, like I said before, Riley does things to be on service and somewhat to keep the order as Mortimer would want it. Nick only seeks to benefit himself, and it appears Riley does notice this and is very much annoyed that he's not doing things for a greater good.
That's why she would become suspicious of whatever Nick has done.
And maybe she'll have some suspicion about Daisy as well since Riley has done everything in her power to keep things as Mortimer ordered them to be.
So, what if Riley's intentions into helping Daisy was because she felt guilty that Daisy would face a consequence that wasn't even fair because she could not control her danger mode, and decided to help Daisy control her danger mode as a way to kill to birds in one shot.
She's not very sure as its a concept she doesn't understand (empathy)
To help Daisy avoid slipping into danger mode again (and perhaps clear her guilt over blaming her over)
To make sure the problem is avoided next time and keeps things the way Mortimer wanted so they can focus again on their plans and Mortimer not to get mad again.
I do believe Riley's mentality in doing things is as a way to not only benefit herself, but the others, and to make something that Mortimer will approve.
Kinda fits into her role of second in command (which was something both games imply, and Owen confirms in a tape)
---
Those were some of my observations and progress I have so far.
I'm still trying to figure out to what extent the parallels to actual religion go which I do think there are a couple of ones. I don't think they go far into religion, but it appears the game plays with the idea of "Being created similarity and resemblance" which is a belief in Christianity (and I believe other religions too. Not sure, but if you know feel free to comment) that we're reflections of our creator uniquely.
I was also talking with my discord sister @dolly-royal in the possibility of Mortimer and Owen having some sort of inverse situation of Jesus and God (mostly on Jesus prayer in Gethsemane, which is about Jesus asking God if he could avoid the unavoidable: his death. In the end, Jesus does end up accepting his fate)
@dolly-royal asked me if the possibility that Owen's conscience being transferred into different hosts could be a way of reincarnation, and we did agree that this could also be revolving in the puppets trying to find a way into Owen accepting them since It does seem it is something they need.
Maybe this is what Mortimer referred in "No one can succeed if their god doesn't want them alive" in the game. Not sure.
Other things that I need to get into, is once again the story of the book and the implication that a greater evil was in the book based on the tape where the book dealer seems possessed. This is more related to the lore, but I do think everything is connected.
I do intend to check the first game again for some clues or things I can pick up. I just realized that during the tapes' timeline, Anthony was most likely around as there's a picture in the first game of Riley experimenting on trying to bring Rosco back to life. That is a cool detail.
I still need to look back at the tributary meaning, which I do believe I saw through the wrong POV considering Riley is more based on facts. Maybe I can break it down to what Riley meant during her conversation with Daisy.
The tapes revolving Mortimer to pinpoint his descent into paranoia, and perhaps things I never noticed before.
And finally I intend into learning more on one of the most important relationships in both games: Mortimer and Riley.
I do believe we all got the wrong idea after watching and hearing the tapes on what their relationship truly is after I gave it some thought and rewatched some of the tapes.
I've noticed that:
Mortimer and Riley have some unspoken level of trust with each other
It appears that both work extremely close to each other to the point of a personal level. I mean it in the sense like both could randomly enter each other's offices and be all like "Oh, hi, sir/ma'am (I do believe Mortimer was unfazed about Riley coming to his office uninvited, but "questioned" why she brought the others)
They do seem to know each other better than anyone else, and have a better understanding of what goes through each other's mind. It's like a non-romantic bond within the two that does seem to reflect in the first game.
There could be implications that a small (a very tiny) side of them genuinely care about the other. Like I noticed Mortimer sigh in a peculiar way and chose to at least pretend that he gave it a thought before telling Riley he was denying her request instead of just telling her "I said no." It almost felt as if he was unable to do that and decided to ease the hit. Still that doesn't change the back that he is willing to do horrible things against her.
This is more of an idea. I do believe Riley is aware that Mortimer genuinely does seem to have a like of her (in the no-romantic sense) as she does seem to return the feeling towards him (I don't think necessarily she sees him as a dad, but rather a figure she looks into to grow. Like some sort of mentor) I do think that is the reason why Riley never thought about the idea of treason + Mortimer being quite soft and almost humorous about Rosco. It is almost like him telling her in a matter she would only understand: "You know very much that I genuinely find you competent and likable, to the point that I am not joking when I say you're my favorite. That's the main reason why I spare you a severe punishment, but remember that I won't always be this nice to you."
I do believe this is a key relationship in understanding how Mortimer's mind and decisions work
Anyways, this is my long ramble. Feel free to ask questions or add anything to this.
16 notes
·
View notes
Note
"#do you read a video game?#read a TV show?#that makes no sense" um.....yes? video games usually have written dialogue that is not always voiced, or only voiced for key lines, or it's a visual novel and only character's statements are voiced without a narrator for the rest. in fact, a game having absolutely nothing written at all, being free of language entirely (or at least within gameplay) is something to be advertised as the game's key feature because of how unusual it is, and the entire gameplay loop will be designed around that, as most game tasks will need to give some amount of written instructions to teach the player the mechanics.
TV shows, while having voice acting, can still have subtitles that many need to understand the show, be it bc it's not in their language or they're deaf/hard of hearing/have an audio processing disorder and need the subs to fully understand what's being said.
I fully realize this is very pedantic and very much a Tumbler Moment of splitting hairs, but if the point is "physically reading is a cognitive function in the brain that is not present in other forms of story consumption and therefor doesn't count as reading" then every single individual word counts, be it a book or news article or social media post or restaurant menu, and you absolutely do, or at least can, read a video game and TV show/movie.
if you disagree though I'd love to hear your reasoning.
Hi anon I can’t really say I disagree with the literal truth of what you’re saying. Really what I meant by the comment is that reading is not the integral means by which story is conveyed in those media, in general, on average, with a very specific platonic ideal of how those media are constructed in mind.
I recognize that has some loaded assumptions about how those media exist and how individuals interact with them, but I also recognize that in my intentionally flippant tags I don’t have time to account for everything lol. Anyways I think I cede my point on games a bit more than on TV, where reading is genuinely an optional choice OR necessitated by disability that fundamentally alters one’s relationship to media in general and needs to be accounted for separately. Story is conveyed primarily through physical action, emotional expression, and verbal dialog far more than it is through text in television. Reading in a video game often occupies a much more prominent place - though not always!
I think my point overall was more on the central verb to how one consumes each medium, even if there are secondary verbs at play. One plays a video game to experience it, one watches a TV show, listens to an audiobook, reads a physical or electronic book. There are secondary verbs involved in those processes - one watches cutscenes in a game or reads an in-game lore book. One listens to music and reads on-screen text in shows and movies. But why I brought that up in the tags at all was because those are sublimated to the primary verb set. I wouldn’t say you *read* a video game, you read *while* playing a video game etc.
Ultimately this is as you say pedantic lol, and I was absolutely being pedantic in my own way when I brought up those examples haha.
#I’m a bit rambly right now due to sleep deprivation and it being the end of the work day and I’m ready to go home#but I hope that clarifies what I mean a bit lol#it’s really not that important a point to how I feel tbh I was being a touch flippant#anyways hope that helps
3 notes
·
View notes
Text
#licensedRPGs2015
Mutant Chronicles: Techno Fantasy Roleplaying Game - 3rd Edition
The first 2d20 game, drawing originally from a miniatures property. Of course Mutant Chronicles is more than that with board games, miniature games, a CCG, a not great film (one of seven Ron Perlman films with rpgs associated), and two previous rpg editions.
I love the phrasing of this subtitle, "Techno-Fantasy Roleplaying." The last Mutant Chronicles came out in '97, an almost twenty-year gap. It can trace a line back to the original Swedish Mutant rpg. In 1993 the company dumped an explicitly cyberpunk version, Mutant RYMD, and republished with Mutant Chronicles. Instead of the noir and street cred of cyberpunk, they delivered an ass-kicking, testosterone powered rpg that smells more than a little like Warhammer.
At the beginning felt like a 40K clone, but that has changed and now it feels really distinct. It has elements of Judge Dredd, cyberpunk, Firefly, and (to be sure) 40K. It is grimdark but not nihilistic. Like in WH 40K everyone feels like a statistic and a future casualty– they don’t really matter individually (I say that not having read 40K novels, this is just based on the games). But Mutant Chronicles feels like people, with names, in a damn big struggle.
In the bleak future of Mutant Chronicles, a dread supernatural force known as the Dark Legion has been unleashed. The battle with these corrupting, undead and demonic legions has devastated the solar system. Humanity itself splintered into distinct factions- each with agendas and secrets. While it might look as over-the-top as Rifts, Mutant Chronicles has a strong central setting and premise. It is a gonzo military rpg. While other missions are possible, the presumption is a team of hardened heroes waging war on corruption (either human or Necrophage). Later books open that up further.
This edition of MC moves slightly away from a purely military focus for play and also presents three different time periods.
Mutant Chronicles has a wild and distinctive art style, though you can clearly see the influence of Games Workshop on presentation and design. The new Modiphus edition keeps some of that, several covers come from older products or the original artist. You can spot those. They're the ones where everyone looks about to go into full 'Roid Rage. The newer covers are hit and miss, with a couple of different looks.
There’s an interesting choice the core book makes early on. Role-playing systems with lots of backstory and secrets have to figure out how to handle GM vs Player information. Traditionally that’s material relegated to a GM section or separate book. MC instead flags material throughout as GM eyes only.
There’s a lot of technofantasy elements present here: tons of strange tech, weird powers, and new options. Each of the sourcebooks adds another piece to that. Overall Mutant Chronicles 3e feels like a solidly built game. I like that we get female representation on the core book’s cover, but the boob plate's a bit much. Modiphus expands the original setting by including material for play during the emergence of the Dark Apostles. The publisher also strongly captures a dieselpunk look without making the pages muddy and unreadable.
Modiphius produced a ton of material for this line– but since they’ve stopped selling Mutant Chronicles, it has become more difficult to find. There are sourcebooks for all of the factions, campaign & sourcebooks for all of the eras, card decks, GM screen, plus other miscellaneous sourcebooks and adventures. The sourcebooks include new lifepaths for the group.
1 note
·
View note
Text
I had to read a shitty take about how bad the german FFXIV localisation is so as its Number 1 Fan have my favorite german translation detail:
The german version of Scholar's Expedient is called "Sturm und Drang" (which grants the buffs "Sturm" and "Drang") which was a historical german cultural movement (which fits Scholar really well) and is often translated to "Storm and Stress" (Drang can also mean "urge" but in this case its more often translated as stress) which fits the skill really well - It's such a good name for that skill in particular I was genuinely shocked to learn that that's a DE only thing
hiding this below the cut but i genuinely feel defensive over this game's DE localisation. and i don't want to put down the EN team, they're doing amazing work obviously, but it feels shitty when FR and DE are constantly treated as if they don't exist while EN is praised for things any other localisation would be hounded for.
like any other game wouldn't hear the end of it if they dared to change the writing to the degree that EN does it - but it's fine, no actually it's better that they do their own thing! something something but actually koji said that one time they write the game in english too so EN is its own thing, they are allowed! But when DE dared to change Zenos final lines? Prison. How dare they change the source material so much?! Don't they know that only EN gets to do that?? EN players could be missing out?!
Let's just say it: It sucks that I have to learn this game in two languages to talk about it online! EN people generally don't have to know the names of skills I don't even know in my language in two languages to talk about them. And they probably don't even know that the planet is only called Etheirys in EN! It's 2.5 versions against 1 for Ætheris(DE)/Ætherys(FR) (JP is Aaterisu, which I award .5 points for using an A even if Æ is not a japanese A sound). I guess EN was embarrassed to use the Æ all of a sudden even though they're the ones who decided to write the game in olden speak. (btw DE is not written in old speech (and thank the twelve for that i (personal opinion alert) can't even stand hearing it in trailers))
And no 'but the german voice over is bad!!' isn't a rebuttal to any of that. There's a lot of german self-hate in english speaking online spaces where any kind of german VO is automatically bad because it's not "as good" and I don't support that line of thinking - German VAs work just as hard and deserve our support! It's just that german gaming/anime VO (compared to other german VO genres where (when they don't hire youtubers) the quality is perfectly fine) is in a similar position as EN was five to ten years ago when Sub vs. Dub was still a thing and people absolutely hated any EN anime voice over:
All german gaming/anime VO is kind of meh and unnatural sounding because there's just not really a fully grown industry behind it in the way that even just other entertainment genres in german have it. Because you can't really release a movie or a TV series in Germany without german VO and expect it to sell well. Aside from special screenings with subtitles basically everything in cinema and TV has german voice over. The thing is you can do that with video games - as long as you provide subtitles it's perfectly acceptable to ship them even without translated VO! And even then it's already getting rare for games to receive german translations at all btw - compare that to the increasing drive of english speaking audiences to complain about the lack of complete voice acting for every single line in a game.
All of that to say I will protect the DE localisation with my life even if actually it's not all that good - which it is, they're doing a great job! I know it's different enough to actually be off-putting if you're used to EN's style, but I think it's a little more whimsical and cute :) I love the ways they translate job titles and stuff like that (we even have our own official job abbreviations!!) and they more often than not actually go back to older titles' official translations for recurring things!
But also enjoy what you enjoy. If it's not for you then move on, you have a broad array of choices to make your own fun without having to put people's hard work down. I personally always watch the german trailers at least once but even with all of the things above I am a JP Subs child at heart and will take JP VO whenever presented with the choice.
1 note
·
View note
Text
Scene analysis – Lan Wangji’s iconic love confession: differences in meaning and impact in the novel vs the show.
(This post has been sitting in my drafts forever, but I’m finally, FINALLY here to deliver! It is a monster.)
The main difference that people point out about this scene is that after Lan Wangji drops the iconic line 我想带一人回云深不知处...带回去，藏起来 / I wish to take someone back to Cloud Recesses. Take them back, and hide them away*. Lan Xichen gets the line "他不愿 / but he is not willing", whereas Lan Wangji is the one to say the entire line in the book.
For precision’s sake, the text in the novel is 他不愿 / he is not willing, while in CQL, Lan Xichen’s full line is 只怕他不愿吧? / it’s just that he would not be willing, right?
(*I’m using my own translation of the line - you can read my full translation notes here. But just for ease of reading the screenshots have the Netflix subtitles.)
On the surface it seems to be a negative change, as it detracts from Lan Wangji himself being the one to acknowledge the importance of consent.
But the thing is, this scene happens under a very different context in the show vs the novel. 1) Wangxian's relationship to each other is completely different when LWJ makes this confession, and 2) the information that Lan Xichen has coming into this conversation is very different. And that fundamentally changes the meaning of the words and the purpose of this conversation.
(Full analysis under the cut, ft: translation notes, more screencaps of LWJ’s beautiful face, Wangxian pining, and me losing it by the end)
–
Remember, prior to Wei Wuxian's death in the novel, Wangxian really don't interact. All of their public interactions have been bordering on unfriendly (e.g. the teasing at Cloud Recesses, WWX pulling off LWJ's headband, their falling out over WWX's demonic cultivation). Even though Lan Xichen picked up early on that Lan Wangji was interested in Wei Wuxian, he has no way to know how deep Lan Wangji's feelings really go.
(In the version of the text I’ve got, which I think might be a super old edition, it is very clear that LXC has no clue who LWJ is even talking about.)
So in the novel, this scene is Lan Wangji’s moment of confession to his brother of his love for Wei Wuxian. When he says, "I want to bring someone home and hide them", referencing their parents' 'love' story, he's saying, "I have someone that I love", in a language only his brother would understand.
Crucially, he then follows that confession of love with: "but he is not willing". With this, Lan Wangji separates his love from his father’s. This highlights the theme of consent in Wangxian’s relationship, and tells us what's on Lan Wangji's mind in his tense interactions with Wei Wuxian during this time. He's convinced that Wei Wuxian would never love him back, and Lan Wangji refuses to be his father.
This is the central dilemma of Lan Wangji in Wei Wuxian's first life. So yes, it's important that he got this line in its entirety in the novel.
But Wangxian's relationship in the Untamed is completely different. In Wei Wuxian’s first life, they're not strangers or enemies, they're best friends. They ditch parties together. Wei Wuxian swoons on the battlefield into Lan Wangji’s ready arms. Just a few minutes ago Wei Wuxian called them soulmates while they stared into each others eyes for a solid 30 seconds.
In this version of the story, it's no a secret that Wangxian love each other. Lan Wangji telling his brother that he loves Wei Wuxian wouldn’t be the earth-tilting revelation that it is in the novel. When he says, “I want to bring someone—” there’s only one someone that he could be talking about. The consent issue isn’t really relevant here*.
Instead, the show turns this line into a different sort of admission.
At this point in the story, Lan Wangji is increasingly desperate to get through to Wei Wuxian. He’s trying to help him, but Wei Wuxian keeps pushing him away. We just saw him hit a breaking point when he confronted Wei Wuxian directly during the Baifeng Mountain hunt.
So when this Lan Wangji, in this context, says to his brother, "I want to take him home, to hide him away", he takes the same reference about their parents, and shifts the focus to a different part of the story – the fact that their father hid their mother away to save her life. He's saying, "I love him, and I'm afraid for him, and I'm desperate to protect him. I want to run away and hide him, so that he can’t get hurt."
Here, it makes perfect sense for Lan Xichen to respond, in essence, "But the thing is, he would not agree."
And he's right, because Wei Wuxian has been vocally defensive against any criticism. Lan Xichen is bringing up the obvious point that Wei Wuxian would likely reject Lan Wangji's help.
And Lan Wangji knows his brother is right.
It’s painfully timely for Lan Wangji’s fears to boil over at this moment, because Wei Wuxian is about to walk in and catapult himself right into danger and rejection.
The chronological timeline of the show really works to build this tension, because you’ve spent the last few episodes watching Wei Wuxian fall apart, and you’re just waiting for the moment it all comes crumbling down.
What made me want to analyse this scene was the huge disparity I saw between novel and show-only fans’ reaction. Because it’s such a huge central moment in the book, but for those who only watched the show, it hardly clocked as anything special. I had a few friends who didn’t even remember it after finishing CQL.
And that makes sense, because while the confession in MDZS is one of THE highlights of Wangxian’s love story, CQL has plenty of other romantic moments which slap harder. This scene is literally sandwiched between “I thought of you as my soulmate” and “If I could be killed by you, it would be worth it.” hello???????? No wonder Lan Wangji’s quiet moment of confiding in his brother would go unnoticed. I do still adore this scene in the show though, particularly because of how cleverly the show managed to make this line still work in the new context.
Ultimately, this scene is just one which demonstrates clearly the monumental shift that the show made from the Wangxian of MDZS to the one we have in CQL. It’s just a fascinating topic with a lot of interesting potential for analysis, that I hope I can get around to doing some day!
-
*Note: The theme of consent and the comparison to his father is still absolutely relevant to LWJ in the show though, this post by @pumpkinpaix goes into a lot more depth.
#the untamed#the untamed meta#cql#cql meta#mdzs#cloud recesses#lan wangji#lan xichen#grandmaster of demonic cultivation#wei wuxian wangxian#mdzs meta#meta#writing#analysis#scene analysis#twin jades#meta stuff#this post was in my drafts for MONTHS#thank my newly settled job situation and my adhd meds#that it finally got done#hope yall like it!!!!#the long awaited wo xiang dai yi ren meta#what is this scene even called???#jin ling tai love confession????#it's not even that bc theres a BETTERE jinlingtai love confession#thats the whole thing tho the show is STUFFED with so much wangxian#some other possible analysis ideas#is a comprehensive breakdown of the changes to jiang cheng's character
177 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
makeboom
♛
playmatenextdoor
yaya ★
valthorvictus
Valthor's Labyrinth
0613340681
Untitled
frosinapopovskigrad702
Frosina Popovski