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petra-creat0r · 5 months

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Annual Update 2024

Alright everyone! New year, new updates for all my stuff!

Starting with ...

AtDFF and AYC

(The new signatures for my main art, AtDFF, and AYC)

As some, and by that I mean most of you have probably noticed, I rebooted AtDFF... again. I technically started a revamp all the way back in 2020 where I was redrawing the older updates to better match the current style and reformat the asks and text for better readability, but that didn't impede on the main updates (well, besides putting more onto mine and the rest of the team's work load.)

The Reboot

This past year though, I made the decision to completely reboot the comic for a few reasons. One was an attempt to renew my motivation, another was wanting to rework some of the lore, yet another was being inspired by @askfallenroyalty to remake the comic and post to ComicFury, but I think the main factor was... I wasn't all that happy with it. I think I kept comparing it to other comics, especially Fallen Royalty, which is my own issue, please don't go blaming anyone else. I knew I could do better, especially after over 5 years working on this, but now looking back, part of me feels that, rebooting it again is, in a way, diminishing those years. Even with the 2020 revamp, prior to it you could go through the updates and really look at how my art has progressed, and though true you can still scroll and find the old updates, it's just... not quite the same. Same can be said for the 2023 reboot.

Does that mean I'm going back on the reboot? No. I already have the next updates planned (I just haven't had a chance to work on them that often) and I really like the new lore of the world that I've come up with. I just think this will be the last time I ever reboot the comic. Whatever happens, happens, and I need to just roll with it. Even if what happens is our little roadtrip getting derailed into a corn field again, lol.

Comic Fury and New Comic?

With that said, what do I have in store for the new reboots of AtDFF and AYC? (yes AYC got rebooted too, I just haven't posted the first update like I did with AtDFF) Well, I mentioned a Comic Fury, which surprise. Both AtDFF and AYC have their own Comic Fury pages now! Don't worry, I still plan on posting to Tumblr as well, but now you can also find them on Comic Fury. Along with another comic I'm planning to do (eventually), Undertale-ish: The Comic. Ever wonder what Ish Frisk's journey through the Underground was like? Want to see what happened in most (not all) of their 800 runs? Want to see this child grapple with their self insecurities, perfectionism, and the responsibility of having full control over time and an entire civilization's lives in the palm of their hand? Want to see Chara as a ghost? Well that's what you'll get with Undertale-ish: The Comic! Coming I don't know since I such at scheduling and time management for these things!

Schedule

Speaking of scheduling! When are any of these comics coming out? Well... I just said I suck with schedules, and I can't promise really... anything when it comes to release but like... I know I for sure would like to release things... regularly? Even with the start of the reboot, I started it in April, and that stuff extended until at least August. Every summer I naively think "Oh! I'm gonna have so much time to work on the comic!" and then I get a summer job. Because I'm nearly 20 and going to college and even if I'm still living under my parent's roof, I can't entirely rely on my dad to pay my tuition. Only for half the year. Then during the school year, I have classes, and I feel burned out by the time I get home, and- It's a whole thing I need to find someway to work around or else nothing gets done and my brain just screams at itself. So, I think scheduling is something I'm gonna figure out throughout January, and try and get a backlog of updates ready throughout February to April or May so maybe we can start posting again in summer. Does that feel like a long wait? Even being near a year from the first update of the AtDFF reboot? Yes. But also I'm trying to over estimate and give myself the time and space I need while still attending college, and I wouldn't just be working on one comic update, but multiple. I'm trying to give myself space and some grace instead of making promises that feel hollow after a while of being unfufilled.

Lack of Motivation and How to Fix

Another thing to address, is my motivation when it comes to these series. I don't think it's accurate to say I've felt completely unmotivated to work on either comic, I mean, I was motivated for some of the beginning of last year to full on overhaul them, but I will say that, these comics have started to feel like a job. It's been something I've felt for a couple years now, where I've been having less fun with the comic as it's begun to feel like actual work. Believe me, I'm super excited for some of the later plot points of both AtDFF and AYC, and I love Undertale-ish and these characters but to get to those points or character moments, it feels like I'm slogging through what comes before it, which isn't good. This is something that sure, rebooting helped for a bit, before I got caught up in school and other stuff, but it's not a permanent solution and I've felt myself slipping back into the comic feeling like a job.

So how might I remedy this? Well, I think the solution might lie in another series I started this year, Drawing Junior Secret Squad until Chapter 3. Even if DJSSuC3 is more Deltarune focused, I've enjoyed drawing Chicago and my other fankids pretty much daily as, there's not that much pressure on it. Definitely not like there is with AtDFF or AYC. I don't have to line, or even color them since, they're just little doodles. I don't have to worry about missing a day since, I'll just do multiple the next day. They're quick, they're easy, I can just draw whatever idea I have with the characters I want, I'm having fun. Back when Ask the Dreemurr-Font Family was nothing but an ask chat on Amino, that's what I did it for. For fun. I wasn't worried with popularity or being like other creators, I just did silly little character driven roleplays for fun. I think that's been my issue with the comics. They aren't fun anymore. They're work because, I feel it's my job to tell this story rather than just... telling it because I want to. So, I think going forward, I'm gonna try to have more fun with the comics and Ish in general. For you all, that's probably gonna look like more sketches and doodles getting posted and maybe even just sharing small comics based off ideas that pop into my brain or from roleplays that happened in my server. Little things to help me regain the enjoyment I had with these comics and world.

Deltarune: Fool's Fate

I think that's all I've got to say on the Undertale based comics, so how about now we move onto something Deltarune related? As I was doing DJSSuC3, I introduced an idea called Deltarune: Fool's Fate. Aka, Chicago and Co's adventures through the Dark Worlds after Kris denied their destiny. So far, this has just been little doodles, character designs, and a roleplay I've been doing in my discord server. I've been having quite a bit of fun with that RP, we're nearly to the end of what would be the first "chapter" and have been fighting Dorothy, the secret boss of the Attic Dark World and who some of y'all might recall I made a real life doll of when my old computer finally kicked the bucket earlier this month. (I've still yet to make her dress or crown) I think roleplays have always been the thing I find the most enjoyable when it comes to character exploration as, I don't have to spend forever drawing comics and I get to sorta live through the characters. It's something I've been doing for characters from even before I was in this fandom. With the Fool's Fate roleplay too, I've also got to come up with elements that could feasibly be in an actual video game without, you know, actually coding a video game.

I don't know where Fool's Fate will go from here, while it'd be cool to have it be an actual fangame, I don't have that sort of skill. Nor the budget to pay a team. (My team for the comics is really just a bunch of friends I convinced to help me out for free.) Even with a sprite comic, it'd be too much. So, for now, it'll likely just remain a concept and roleplay. But, who knows. Maybe someday I could make it into something. I mean, after watching this year's Underevent I wanted to.

Other stuff

With all the UTDR stuff out of the way, what about some of my other stuff? (Because, surprise, Undertale and Deltarune aren't the ONLY things I do. Just the things I hyperfixate on the most.) Well, I've got my Fakemon region, Azmayca, POW-R, Dragon Riders, and Kinder Eyes which I started last summer. I don't really have any plans for them, asides from bugging people for ideas and doodling whenever I'm in the mood. However I think starting this year, I'm gonna try to post more of the doodles I make. Either ones in my sketchbook since DJSS gave me the confidence to post sketchy silly little doodles like that, or sketch doodles I draw digitally as warm ups. Though who knows. Maybe a hyperfixation swing some time during the summer will cause me to actually try to do something crazy like outline the whole Azmayca region and hypothetical game. Hopefully not something like that though. Making the evolutions of my redesigns of the starters might be nice.

Commissions

Another thing I'd like to finally do next year is update my commissions sheet. It's something I've had in the work for a while now, and was working on along side launching the comic updates. But, like the comics, school and work got in the way so... I sorta forgot about it. Regardless! I'm gonna try to post my updated sheet some time within the next few months, it's mostly just been havin to draw or find recent examples of my work. Hopefully then I'll actually get some more commissions because, um *looks at the whooping $3.94 in my checking account* I could really use the extra money. I might work during the summers and get grade payments from my dad but, that stuff is to pay my tuition and some of my lunches during the semester, and even with lunches, 500 dollars is spread thin through 17, 16 ish weeks. That's like, only $30 a week, which is maybe enough to cover buying lunch at the campus food court like, once or twice from the food court. Maybe three times if I'm lucky and conservative with my spending. Not to mention that $300 of that went to my new laptop, and even if I should be getting $300 from a paycheck I was never paid back when I worked at Arby's 3 summers ago, I still haven't gotten that gift card in the mail so... Yeah. If I was living on my own, I'd be screwed. Which is why commissions and Patreon are like, my only source of income during the school year. (I still need to look into getting an on campus job for this upcoming semester but that's its own whole big can of worms.)

Patreon

Speaking of Patreon, that's another goal I want to set. Actually posting to it again. I had a burst early last year were I was regularly posting to Patreon with early access chapters of The Puppet and the Real Boy (before I retconned that with Fool's Fate) and thanks to my only Patreon ever @kierangecko, I managed to make around $50 bucks which ended up being used to help get blanks for some of my Christmas gifts for people (thank you Gecko. I know I did stop posting after like, May, but that money really came in handy.) So for this next year, I'm gonna try to post to that again. Be it WIPs of the comic, scripts, little doodles I don't post on Tumblr or whatever, I want to make Patreon another source of income. Which involves posting to it at least monthly. And even if I don't, then you guys won't have to worry about anything since I've got it set to not charge for months I don't post anything.

Resolution Review

So, to review some of my... I guess you could call them resolutions, though I'd rather think of them as goals I don't absolutely have to hold myself too but would just like to accomplish, I'd like to...

Have more fun when with AtDFF and AYC through drawing and posting more loose, silly comics and doodles

Try figuring out a posting and work schedule for AtDFF and AYC by then end of January

Hopefully get a back log of updates for both comics ready to release by summer

Start on and release Undertale-ish: The Comic sometime this year

Keep doing Drawing Junior Secret Squad until Chapter 3 until Chapters 3 and 4 of Deltarune hopefully come out sometime this year.

Possibly design hypothetical secret boss predictions for Chapters 4 and 5 of Deltarune before the next chapters come out.

Keep working on, designing characters for, and coming up with Dark Worlds for Deltarune: Fool's Fate. Perhaps even drawing some tarot cards with the chapter bosses.

Post more about my other projects, even if they're only sketchbook drawings or warm up doodles.

Update my commissions page and hopefully take more commissions to earn some extra money/save up for college or to move out.

Post regularly to my Patreon, also to earn some extra money.

Generally have a better year than 2023 and to find more enjoyment in my art and projects.

Closing

Ho boy! That was... A lot! This has turned out to be one very long post. Hehe. Well, should be over now that I've said all I need too. Also, if I haven't said it already, I'd like to thank all of you for supporting me and my art. Be it my comics, DJSSuC3, my other projects, or anything I've posted this year. It means a lot to me that people even like what I draw and you all mean the world to me. With all of that out of the way, thank you Creative Creators and I hope you have a Happy New Year.

#happy new year #update post #long post #petra's annual update #undertale ish #ask the dreemurr-font family #ask young chara #deltarune: fool's fate #drawing jr. secret squad until chapter 3 #djssuc3 #atdff #ayc #undertale-ish: the comic #azmayca #kinder eyes #pow-r #dragon riders #petra rambles

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theme-park-concepts · 2 years

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what are disney/pixar/marvel movies deserving of rides (or do any movies “deserve rides”)

Well first there's like the artistic question "which movies would make a really good ride" and then the separate question of "which movies when turned into a ride would really serve our business goals?

Cause like on the artistic side...you're looking for movies that have a moment that when people see they're just begging to experience it. Or perhaps stories that weren't a great fit for the screen, but would be great experiences. Like my ideal scenario is finding an overlooked bit of material that could be worked into something special, new, surprising. Because those to me are the ingredients of what great experiences are made of (Rohde has recently been on a kick talking about exactly why the surprising and unexpected are necessary to experiences, go check it out, it's basically because of how attention works).

But like all those things aren't really why a modern theme park or attraction would chose to use a movie as the basis for a ride. They're looking to increase attendance, generate new trips, and mitigate risk. They're thinking "what's a movie a lot of people like? If we know how many people are fans of that property we can do some math and have a good idea of exactly what impacts we can expect to our attendance and what ROI we can predict on our investment." Parks like that because otherwise you're building a big attraction and you don't actually know if it's something that people will like as much as that big tentpole franchise. It's riskier. Outcomes less certain. There's also exclusivity bit. Generally theme park rights are exclusive, if you have it in your park, no one else has it in their park, therefore another reason to visit yours.

So like to answer the question...there's stuff I'd like to see because I think it would make a great ride that doesn't have a chance in hell of ever happening. Bedknobs and Broomsticks would be a really fun ride. Candleshoe would make a great walkthrough experience. Even Mary Poppins, sadly probably won't ever see an attraction (if it does it'll be the more recent adaptation). But there's so much potential there.

And stuff with potential in the material? The love bug would be fun, escape to witch mountain is maybe a less obvious choice, but I mean magic is always a good candidate for a ride, Flight of the Navigator, The Rescuers, Inspector Gadget could probably make a good one, Around the World in 80 Days, National Treasure I think would be game as well. All of those could be mined for a really great experience. But the cultural power just isn't really there.

On the business side? What movies have the cultural power to mitigate risk but haven't yet been used? Not that many anymore. Inside Out and Wall-E come to mind. Wreck it Ralph. (I'm leaving marvel out of this because I've seen all of two of them, superheroes just aren't my thing). Moana, Coco. There's probably a few I'm forgetting.

One of the big problems I've been seeing though is that with the Renaissance of Disney animation and Pixar and honestly TV in general....the stories were getting these days are better than ever on the whole (the remake trend aside). Like look at Breaking Bad, and Better Call Saul - some of the best TV that's ever been made..., or look at Inside Out or Encanto - deep stories about what it means to be human and intergenerational trauma -but it's all because writers are really diving into what makes stories on screen good: character, relationships between them, our deepest-innermost worlds. Makes for fantastic TV...does not translate nearly as well to experience design. Even when a lot of these films have amazing worlds...there's not really ready made aspirational experiences baked into them in the way something like Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Jaws, or Peter Pan do.

One of the reasons Avatar worked so well in a theme park is that it had some ready made experiences built into the narrative AND the themes of that narrative were already built into the park. A real case of serendipity. But like a lot of other properties in translation to theme park make you choose between staying true to the themes of the film, or just picking a fun moment. Movies are allowed to make you cry, rides currently aren't. Like encanto had a fantastic setting and casita would probably make a great ride...but no one is going to let you make "inter generational trauma the ride". Vs Peter Pan has themes of childlike wonder and has a flying over London scene...easy to mesh those two together in a ride. Adapting the amazing TV and Movies we have today into satisfying rides because the filmmakers have gotten really good at creating content specifically for their medium. It's not impossible, but takes a lot more effort, and there's less time than ever. It could be made easier if ride designers had a seat at the table while films were being made, or the people in charge of parks and designing attractions were more open to a fuller exploration of human emotion.

Anyway this doesn't exactly answer your question, but maybe it still might prove helpful.

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lamlarson29 · 2 years

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Prince Of Persia Movie Review - The Sands Of Time

Whether you like it or hate it, the Twilight Saga is wildly popular and is attracting more fans to your series casual. Eclipse is the 3rd film on the series, after New Man in the moon. "Your people" is the Jews, but additionally included, as we shall see, is all of the people of God. Daniel's people definitely not include apostate Jews, but would encircle those like us Gentiles possess been grafted into the world of Israel. The Prince Of Persia just looked this year and there are some great costumes from the film. Prince Of Persia The Sands Of Time Remake Setup and adults could be the heroic Dastan. The children's costume any top seems like armor, an ornate chest emblem, black pants, and a thick clasp. The Dastan Boot Covers help much complete the looks. Just add the Dastan Sword and look for a real fighter! If market . to see a movie in the neighborhood . fun and full of action and adventure a person definitely need to go see The movie avatar. Prince Of Persia The Sands Of Time Remake Free downlaod crack is mostly about creatures called avatars that live in close proximity to a military starting. This base has vehicles called Avatars appear just such as the Avatar creatures and the humans go among the Avatars and check out to learn their suggestions for getting started. The military has another agenda they desire to destroy the Avatars home so could make money off within their resources. Its up to a select few to stop them and warn the Avatars before its too late. This was an excellent movie with a love story mixed on. As when he had lived on fundamentals as a little daughter man in Babylon a lot of years ago, so now he puts away everything but extremely first necessities of life such that he can wait upon God without distraction. First, go into Prince Of Persia The Sands Of Time Remake Crack , but beware of the fire-launching crossbow and pots of boiling oil! Should a chances look slim, the pegged walls make climbing acrobatics an incredible risky adventure for the "parkour" master, Dastan. Interchangeable walls sections change the style of the whole of the set, while climbing pegs can be placed anywhere. The level of difficulty for our hero can make at your personal personal whim, so two reenactments are never the old! Once you're inside, provide you with to navigate around the castle's tricky trap doors, moving stairs, and false walls. The castle also features balcony watch points, and working front doorways. I was looking forward to this game greatly once i loved the previous incarnation of your Prince, using new incarnation I am unfortunately unfulfilled. Its too simplistic and repetitive and no replayability on it. The other problem is it has the particular to turned into a much better game. Vendors . people perform it when they have been never played previous Prince of Persia Games, but to true fans among the series quote.

#PRINCE OF PERSIA THE SANDS OF TIME REMAKE

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flyinglotus777 · 3 years

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Netflix’s Squid Game

SPOILER ALERT! If you are interested in watching the series, I HIGHLY suggest you do so. This article will be an overall synopsis and my review of the show. For an in-depth analysis of the symbolism of the show and ending, scroll down to the fourth to last paragraph.

The Netflix show, “Squid Game,” written and directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk is a phenomenal Korean drama centered around our victor, Seong Gi-hun, played by Lee Jung-jae. Contestants were recruited to play in a life or death competition due to their lack of luck, financial knowledge, and influx of impending debt they have accumulated throughout their lives. We first meet Gi-hun as he is down on his luck. Living with his elderly, overworked mother (which in countries outside of the United States is not strange nor uncommon) Gi-hun was a friend to gambling, but that toxic love caused him to be in debt to a gang of (what seemed to be) loan sharks. When luck finally strikes him on the race track, life simultaneously decides to take an excrement on his reality. His debt seekers catch him on his hot streak and involuntarily sign him up to be a participant in the Squid Game.

Similar to many other of the 456 participants, they all shared a common denominator of being in situations it seemed only money could fix. Upon arrival the contestants were asked to voluntarily sign wavers in order to participate in the game, while unknowingly risking their lives, for the opportunity to win 456 billion won (which would be roughly over $3.5 million in US currency). The challenges were mostly based on nostalgic childhood games, both based in the United States and South Korea.

Now I knew due to the explanation in the introduction of episode one that if any player were to lose, they would die. So during the first challenge of red light green light, when players were bulletly penalized for losing I was not surprised. After the game, the players decided to rally together and quit playing. The influence of the cash prize split the decision down the middle, leaving the old man, player 1, to be the final decision. To my surprise he actually chose to decline, freeing all of the players. During the voting, many players screamed at each other as to why they would choose to stay in the hell hole as other players responded that the outside world was not any better if not the same as the harsh environment they were already in. This reality struck many contestants as they returned back to their reality of debt, dependents, and for some bounty hunts, thus resulting in them returning to the game.

During the whole season, I was trying to find the purpose of these games. We knew why the participants felt motivated to play, but I wondered what was the purpose of having them fight for their lives in the first place. When the PlayStation faced soldiers forced the doctor (player 111) to dissect the bodies for organs to sell at the black market, at first I thought that it was what the original game maker wanted which I thought was genius. Soon to learn that it was actually a violation to a code of equality that was placed inside the arena applying to all of those who existed, soldiers and participants alike. Which struck me as odd due to the soldiers being able to tote guns and wear masks based on their own hierarchy and the participants being collectively isolated and given numbers as if it was a remake of the Stanford Prison experiment. Nonetheless many soldiers faced the same fate as the players, and my pondering would meet the solution come the finale.

Let’s discuss players. I only favored Gi-hun because he was the protagonist, but throughout the story he grew on me as his big heart prevailed through the madness. I knew Choo Sang-woo, the embezzling business man and hometown friend of Gi-hun played by Park Hae-soo, was a psychopath when I saw him in a fully filled bathtub with his suit on. Running from the police, in debt or not, that’s just as much of a red flag for serial killer tendencies as sleeping with socks on or having too thin and highly arched eyebrows. The episode that he crossed Ali, the father of one from Pakistan with the missing fingers, made me hate Sang-woo for the rest of the series. I was infuriated and frustrated with Ali for being that naïve to believe that they could escape the round as a duo, but understood his perspective since up until that point Sang-woo was a dependable, trusted ally to Ali. However after that episode I didn’t care who won, I was just ready for Sang-woo to die.

Kang Sae-byeok, the skeptical and beautiful warrior from North Korea played by Jung Ho-yeon, deserves her own paragraph. Along with her beauty, her presence and demeanor was so bad ass. She was thrifty and intelligent, as her talent being pick pocketing. I was waiting for her to just be so bad ass. As the punk disguised to be gangster, Jang Deok-su, pushed her around which seemed to be normal behavior between the two, I was ready for Sae-byeok to twist his arm, send a plunging round house kick to his nuts, and cut his snake tattoo right off of his face. Although her exterior was tough, her heart was made of malleable gold which we got to see as she opened up to her female companion during the marble challenge and sobbed from her loss afterwards. Although she was not the killer bad ass queen I had wanted her to be, I still call her a warrior because of her resiliency throughout life’s and the game’s many obstacles and her drive to provide her younger brother with a better life.

Thankfully Deok-su got what he deserved as Han Mi-nyeo poetically decided to take both of their lives during the glass challenge. “You said we would be together till the end,” she said before diving into her inevitable death with her short lived lover. Mi-nyeo was incredibly annoying as I would often pinch the inside corners of my eyes and scratch my eyebrows when she would appear. However that crazy bitch served justice, and I love her for that.

I was highly disappointed by the demise of the detective Hwang Jun-ho, played by the handsome Wi Ha-joon. I was rooting for detective Jun-ho, as I’m sure we all were, on his pursuit to find his brother. I was not surprised that his brother was Front Man, as I had suspected that his brother must’ve died or been apart of the game making due to his absence in real life and the current game. After discovering his brother was the victor of his year, to me it only made sense that he would be apart of the game enforcement. As we saw from Gi-hun, a normal life is impossible to live after experiencing something so traumatic as a series of death ridden children games. However I was saddened and surprised that detective Jun-ho was unsuccessful in closing down the whole operation. I mean the man was close to performing forced, aristocratic fellatio in the name of serving and protecting the law. I truly thought because he had gotten so far and was so close to exposing the operation that the only choice he had was to be successful. At last he was shot and killed by his own blood, the one he had been looking for; providing us with a cinematic and heart jerking ending to detective Jun-ho.

Lastly lets discuss the old man, player 001 named O Yeong-su, whom I also nicknamed Poppy during the series. Deceivingly innocent and weak, I genuinely liked Yeong-su throughout the game play. I thoroughly enjoyed his relationship with Gi-hun and saw him as a valuable player in most instances. I believe he was one of the main reasons that Gi-hun continued to lead with his heart. Gi-hun claimed that Yeong-su was the reason he returned to the games and later found out that Yeong-su was the reason there were games in the first place. The climatic episode of the marble challenge was when their relationship had been defined as “gganbu” (which is a term for trusted, close friends in Korean, as explained in the series), thus Yeong-su establishing a special place in Gi-hun’s heart. During the challenge, Yeong-su begins to have an episode of what we all assumed to be dementia as the arena they are playing in is designed like his old neighborhood and he abandons the game to take a trip down memory lane. Gi-hun screams in frustration at the old man to play with him only to end up losing in their even and odd game and resulting in deceit, tricking the old man to let him be the victor. Now if I was Gi-hun, I would’ve convinced Yeong-su to let me hold his marbles for safe keeping and let him have a fun time reminiscing on his life while he ran down the clock. Then when it was time, I would’ve turned in all 20 marbles just as Sang-woo did and went about my business. It would’ve only been right for the old man to forfeit as he was already on his death bed, or so we innocently thought. Before I get into the ending, I want to talk about the last match between Sang-woo and Gi-hun.

Finally, the last game to see who would be victorious in a highly anticipated game of Squid between Gi-hun and Sang-woo. It seemed as if it were a battle between good vs evil; Gi-hun representing a more benevolent side as he would often optimistically look to help other competitors and extend the kindness he had been shown versus Sang-woo who represented a more vindictive and ruthless side, determined to hurt anyone in order to receive his highly coveted and long awaited prize in an arena that erased any foundation of morals or ethics as soon as the light turned red. Luck was on Gi-hun’s side as he had the opportunity to play offense. With a cunning mind and a vengeance for Sae-byeok’s death, Gi-hun delivered a can of whoop ass to his opponent. As the saying goes, the good shall always prevail. Perhaps his heart was too pure as Gi-hun halted from crossing the finish line and offered Sang-woo a chance to live, thus forfeiting the prize money. Needless to say, I applauded when Sang-woo committed suicide as it was the only right thing to do in his position.

A year passed by and Gi-hun seemed worse than before. Physically his style was bummy wealthy, a look pioneered by Bill Gates, but mentally he was in shambles. How could you blame him? Gi-hun discovered that the responsible party for these horrendous events was none other than his ggangbu, old man Yeong-su. The biggest, jaw dropping plot twist of the entire series. As they were joined on Christmas Eve and Yeong-su on his death bed, they placed one final bet on an assumed to be drunken, homeless man who sat on the streets as it snowed and waited for help to arrive. Yeong-su explained how he actually wanted to help people and give his money to people who needed it, but wanted to do it in an “entertaining way.” As Gi-hun flared with outrage towards the old man for finding amusement in killing people, the old man rebutted using horse races as an example of people’s amusement. Yeong-su also said he participated in the games because it was more fun to play than to be a spectator, which I had noticed him treating the competition as if it were adult summer camp. I had just assumed since he was old, he didn’t care if he had died or not.

I think most people will think that this show was a metaphor about how money and rich people are evil. However I think it can be seen as commentary on society as a whole, not just the wealthy. Yeong-su says on his death bed that it’s a test of humanity, and asks Gi-hun if he still has faith in humanity after what he has experienced. Although money was the luring motivator to win the game, people still chose to return to the competition to escape their problems. Sure, money was apart of their problems as all of the players (excluding Yeong-su) were in debt, but that was due to choices that they had made. Whether it had been through embezzling, gambling, lack of luck, or financial ignorance, it was the people who had gotten themselves into those situations. Money doesn’t have a personal vendetta against anyone nor does it have an inherent quality of good or evil. Money is a neutral energy used to be exchanged for goods and services. It’s people who designate that energy to their humane or inhumane desires.

Leading to the next point of the wealthy and how they are seen to be evil due to having wealth. Although I do believe that there are some wealthy people who act as villains, money didn’t create the villain inside of them. Those people were going to behave maliciously whether they have money or not. The VIPs, who were spectating the finale of challenges, were tied to a bank devoted to the wealthy and gambled on the competitors who played (and most likely helped subsidize the events). We place judgement on them, but as Yeong-su said, people gamble on horse races. Although people are not animals and by my knowledge I don’t believe most or any horses die during these races, it is still the principle of watching an entity being tortured for amusement, which is not only confined to the wealthy population. When the concept of killing and tormenting living breathing beings for amusement is normalized within society, the lines begin to blur on who is okay to perform and who is not. Take the audience of this show for example, we all watched a show where hundreds of people were mercilessly killed for the desire of winning a cash prize for our own amusement, thus making “Squid Game” the number one show on Netflix at the moment. Although the show is fictional and brilliantly written, this Hunger Games concept is not new. We come in contact again and again with the idea of people who are disadvantaged given an opportunity to better their lives through inhumane means, including risking their own lives or actively sacrificing the life of another, and being spectators on the edge of our seats who can’t seem to look away. It is no different than a Roman gladiator match in a grand colosseum, which in modern day would be a MMA fight at the MGM hotel. We blame it on the rich who are ridiculed for creating these events, but at the end of the day it is the people, rich,poor, and everyone in between, who continue to still go along with it and to some extent desire it. Which makes me question, what does that say about humanity, and do I actually have faith in us? Although Gi-hun went through hell and back, he still remained pure of heart and used his wealth to enhance his life and those around him; proving that wealthy people can still be benevolent and desire righteous good. Similar to Gi-hun, the optimist in me wants to believe that there are still people in this world with good hearts, but I guess we just have to wait until the time comes to see.

Ultimately the show was phenomenal, and definitely sparked a desire inside of me to watch more Korean dramas. I don’t think the show will have a second season. Simply because I think the story line would be better cut off there, thus leaving the audience always wanting more. However if season 2 ever comes out, I’m ready for Gi-hun to take a Liam Neeson approach to ending the Squid Game and hopefully with a beard. Thank you for reading my article. I know it was incredibly lengthy. I have just finished the season after a 2 day binge watch, and have a lot of emotions and thoughts ruminating in my brain. Let me know what you think of the show and what you think of the article. Did anyone else notice the paintings of the games on the walls of the dormitory?

God bless.

#squid game #netflix #review #korean drama #kdrama #series review #web series

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snowlily95 · 3 years

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Aerith in light of healthcare provider

So, I've wanted to write an analysis about Aerith in light of her medical viewpoint for quite a long time but only recently got the chance to complete it. It is well known in the game that Aerith is the healer of the story. She possesses a great MP with a limit break to heal and buff people which greatly affects your gameplay. Of course, you can equip others with Healing and Prayer materias to render them useful for healing as well. But story-wise, no one can take away Aerith's status as the healer. We know in canon that Aerith provided herbs to the Sector 5 slums doctor to create medicine. And if you finished the Corneo Stash side quest in Chapter 14, you can return to the church and see a couple of elderly sitting on the pew praying. And when you come closer to them you'll hear them talking about how they didn't see Aerith around and they're sure she's alright and probably be around healing people. You know, since the Sector 7 plate just fell. (Even though Aerith is not alright actually coz she was kidnapped by Shinra by this time) Point is, we are fed by the NPCs on how much Aerith had helped around as a healer. She had been doing this for years.

While being in denial about who she actually is, being a healer had always been implanted in her. She is used to it. When you're used to being a healer, there's a certain level when you have a different reaction compared to others. The way you think is different. Apart from that, she's also a Cetra. And we knew for a fact Cetra had a certain affinity towards souls who are returning to the Planet. Meaning, as much as she is used to healing others, she's also used to sensing death.

My whole point is that being a Cardiac Anaesthesiologist and Intensivist as I am, I can totally relate my position with Aerith, as we both have constantly helped people and encounter death on daily basis. While I'm pretty confident that the majority of these might be coincidences (because I'm pretty sure there are no doctors in the SE team), I thought the coincidences are pretty cool to ponder upon and I'm amazed at how the subtle differences between Aerith's reaction to events from other characters.

I'm gonna ignore the meta part of Aerith, mainly because I'm not discussing how much Aerith knew, and if there was anything in jeopardy of what she knew whatsoever. So we're gonna focus on the fact that she is used to healing and feeling people's death. People who are used to death on daily basis had a certain unique view on life and death. And that affects how we act upon facing them too. While this is evident throughout Remake, I'm gonna focus on the plate drop event to be more concise. I will also use Tifa as a comparison to make it easier to see the difference between the reaction of the two. Let’s start!

1) Aerith is quick in emergency situations.

When you are used to people dying, you developed a certain immunity and you are able to have a sound mind and composure at the sudden change of event. As healthcare providers, we face stable situations turning into critical real fast. And we have a switch in our minds that turns us from standby mode to rescue mode. This is exactly what happened to Aerith when Don Corneo revealed Shinra's plan to blow up Sector 7's support pillar. Tifa is part of Sector 7. It is her home. Which is why her reaction showed how she was super devastated, she slowly stood up and muttered "They wouldn't..." because she couldn't believe it. Aerith? She had that switch in her mind, and she immediately turned and say "Come on, guys! We gotta go!". She switched into that critical mode in a second. It helps that she's also not personally connected to Sector 7, and thus her judgment was not as impaired. Of course, they both switched into the critical mode in the sewer, but it was at the moment of revelation that made it different. Just like how healthcare providers switched at the moment of revelation that their patients are at the brink of death—you immediately jumped into rescue mode.

2) She plans for the worst.

Remember after they defeated Abzu and Tifa started to question Corneo's information? She didn't want to believe it, because it didn't make sense to destroy your years of efforts building the plate just to get back to a small group like AVALANCHE. Think about the money they put in to build it, they're gonna have to put them all again. In fact, along their way out of the sewer, Tifa voiced out multiple times how this had been bothering her. But I'm intrigued with Aerith's reply "If he's telling the truth, then we should go. And if it turns out he was lying, then so what?". This here is exactly what doctors do. We plan and prepare for the worst. And if the worst didn't happen, then so what? If you ever had life-saving surgery, your doctors would tell you "You need this surgery coz you might die. But if you do the surgery, there's a high chance you'll survive, but there's a small chance you'll die too". And we prepare for that small chance that our patients die. No, we don't let our preparations lacking because we hope they'll survive. We prepare for the worst outcome possible and get all the equipment ready in case they'll die. If they didn't, then so what? It doesn't mean our preparations were futile efforts. It only means we were prepared. And that line of Aerith seriously hits home to me.

3) She hopes for the best.

Before they crossed the water sewer, Tifa once again voiced out how she couldn't stop thinking about what Corneo said, and she was still hoping that he was lying. And then Aerith said, "The future isn't set in stone". (Again, I'm gonna ignore the meta part of Aerith) And then she proceeded to set up that small date with Tifa. Believe it or not, this is actually what we do during bad calls. We'd talk about what we would do after all this ends; we'd go out dining, or playing games/darts, or go drinking, or whatever it is that makes us happy. Just to keep our minds calm and to allow us to hope for the future, even if it's just a few hours away. It gives us hope and courage to go on. We plan for the worst, but we hope for the best. The more critical the situation is, the more you need to be level-headed. And needless to say, after this point onwards, Tifa is much more calmed down from her struggle to keep herself focus.

4) She follows orders.

This might sound weird to some, but the ability to cast away your worry and focus on what you can do, instead of what you should do, is important in emergency situations. You need to know what you don't know. You don't get in the way of your comrades. If you're not good at intubating, you don't insist to intubate in emergency situations just because you wanna help. Seriously, you'll just make things worse. When Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith were attacked before climbing up and out of the sewer, Cloud asked both Tifa and Aerith to keep going. Aerith immediately answers "Okay" and left—without a single but. This is significant because it shows that Aerith knew she'd be better off leaving. She doesn't need to offer help, coz her help was not needed. This is not the place where she could help. The ability to recognize this is very important for healthcare professionals. Tifa was a bit more reluctant to leave, but that's probably because she is a martial artist in-game. Also, the fact that Aerith could still joke "We're not delicious" is just so real lol! Yup, we joke sometimes when we're facing deaths—doesn't mean we lose focus in saving the dying person in front of us, don't worry. And then it happens again when they reached Sector 7 when Cloud asked them to stay with Wedge as he goes up, Aerith immediately answered "sure"—because she can "patch" Wedge up, it's where her abilities lie. This is even more accentuated when an injured Wedge argued that he can still fight when he clearly can't—making this point even more obvious. Aerith is someone with a healthcare mind, Wedge was not.

5) She supports her comrades emotionally even when she’s worried too.

When they reached the surface, they spotted a Shinra helicopter. Cloud assured them they're only on patrol. Aerith turned to Tifa and said, "Don't worry, we'll make it in time". This moment is also very iconic to me. As I mentioned, I'm an anaesthesiologist. We are the support doctors to surgeons and physicians. Those moments when we're operating on AAA surgeries and the patient is losing liters of blood and literally dying, we're pumping bloods in with our hands and get those Level 1 machines operating, and the surgeons would be panicking because it keeps bleeding? Yep, I did say it before. "We'll make it. Just concentrate on the surgery and don't worry about the bleeding", even though I'm sweating and dying here trying to keep the patient alive. But I pretended to be calm in front of my team and cheered them on. Because the whole team needs to keep calm. If one of the team loses hope, then bid your chance farewell. As an anaesthesiologist, we're almost like the anchor in the room. People look at us to know if everything's alright. I need to tell them it's alright, so they need not worry. Aerith knew Tifa is worried. And she tried to keep Tifa calm with reassurance. Even if she probably freaked out herself.

6) She doesn’t discriminate.

After they defeated the ghost at the haunted maintenance facility, Cloud tried to kill it, and Aerith didn't let him. When Cloud said that thing was dangerous, Aerith said she knows and added "but even so..." she didn't feel right about killing it. (Let's ignore the fact that the Ghoul was a lonely creature for now) It then goes to drop the train wreck which almost killed them had it not been for Cloud. Now this would have been avoided had Aerith let Cloud killed it—maybe. But here's the thing. When you're hyper-aware that people are dying left and right, you value life more. No one deserves to die, even the worst criminal in the world. You're a law-abiding citizen? You're a criminal? It doesn't make a difference to us. I know this is something super hard to comprehend. But technically only when the law subjects the criminal to the death sentence that a person should be left to die. I've been a doctor for eleven years, I was a prison doctor for two. I had the first-hand experience of dealing with criminals. It's not my job to determine whether they deserve to die or not. It's not my call whether they will turn a new leaf had they lived. I know this is something others find difficult to relate to and agree with—happens to my non-medical family and friends. The verdict to us is simple. It's a life. It's worth saving. Period. (Technically the ghosts are dead though but my point still stands)

7) She tries to her best abilities and lets go of what is out of her control.

Tifa's emotions are tampered with again when they confirmed Shinra was going to drop the plate when they overheard the Turks conversation. Her voice shook, we can literally hear it. Aerith's response was "all we can do now is keep moving". And she's right. When they reached Sector 7 and the Whispers were preventing them, she said "we have to get past whatever it takes". And later on, Tifa left to help Cloud and Barret, and Aerith agreed to get to Seventh Heaven to ensure Marlene's safety. Wedge had a short mental breakdown when he realized he was no good to anyone up or down the crime scene. And Aerith told him "We can still save a lot of lives", "That's no excuse to give up", "I need to know I did everything I could". Her encouragement helped Wedge save more people. Some argued, did she not care about the lives that already died? Now here's my point; no, we don't. Sorry if this sounds harsh, but really. What can we do for people who are already dead? Nothing. What can we do for people who are still alive? Everything. And this is the core of being a healthcare provider—we prioritize. Yes, we're also humans. We can get emotional when our own friends and relatives die. (Aerith might not be as calm had it happened at Sector 5) But when we put the healthcare provider cap on, we mean business. That is why when disasters happened, and we triage people with a black tag? That's when we know we couldn't do anything for them. We don't mourn at the black tags. We move on to the other tags instead. So that we know we already did everything in our power to help. And yes, it doesn't matter even if we lost more lives than we saved. It's worth it, even if we only saved one person out of thousands of deaths. Just like how Aerith saved Betty in Sector 7. That one life is worth it.

#Aerith Gainsborough #Aeris Gainsborough #ff7 aerith #aerith #aeris #FF7 Remake #final fantasy 7 remake #final fantasy vii remake #ffvii remake #ff7remake #final fantasy vii: remake #final fantasy vii #Final Fantasy 7 #FFVII #ff7

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rollflasher · 3 years

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Another Sonic ramble

So once again I’m here with one of my rambles about my incredibly subjective view of how the Sonic series should be handled! *Beat*

...anyway.

So, one of the more recurring opinions on the fandom is that Sonic games should be written by Ian Flynn, I have talked before about the gripes I have with his writing and why I disagree with this but this post is not entirely about him, but rather a more general topic that has been bugging me for a long time.

The other day I was watching a video speculating about the upcoming Sonic Rangers, there’s not much to write home since it was pretty well made but there’s a particular part that inspired me to do this post and talk about it with other fans to discuss it.

See, at one point the video critisized the fact that Sonic Forces was written by a Japanese writer because they have to re-write the script in English and that can cause problems with localization, and that it would be better to have western writers from the get-go since Sonic’s main demographic comes from there, while making an off-hand suggestion that Ian Flynn could be a main choice. While I can see where they’re coming from, my response was a simple:

‘‘Absolutely, not’‘

See, I have a lot of issues with this to put it bluntly and I’ll try to break them down and explain them the best I can since they’re pretty subjective in nature, but I’m bringing this up because I want you guys to share your thoughts as well.

So, why does it bug me so much the idea of Sonic being handled by western creators?

In my case, the main reasons are because Sonic loses a core part of it’s appeal because of this, the fact that SEGA of Japan seems to have a better grasp of the franchise’s tone and characters and there’s the very subjective point that, in my eyes, American versions of Japanese franchises were always nothing more than dumbed down products of the source material.

To start with my first point, whenever someone talks about Sonic’s creation, a lot of people are quick to point out that our favorite blue hedgehog and his games were inspired by western pop culture and cartoons, and that is true, however oftenly they forget to mention a core thing that not only inspired, but also formed part of the core identity of this franchise.

Sonic is very inspired on anime, and at heart this franchise is a shonen.

(This image by The Great Lange expresses more clearly what I mean)

Generally, the most acknowledgement anime gets on it’s hand on Sonic is the mentions of Sonic being inspired by Dragon Ball, particularly the Super Saiyan, but there’s so much more than that, as Sonic blatantly takes inspiration from Studio Ghibli films specially in games like Sonic 3, which draws a lot of inspiration from Laputa: Castle in the Sky, this great post shows proof that this is not a coincidence.

And it doesn’t stop there, Shiro Maekawa himself has stated that SA2′s story (and in particular, the characters of Shadow and Maria) draw a lot of inspiration from the manga Please Save My Earth.

Even Sonic’s character design resembles shonen protagonists moreso than the main characters of silent cartoons, don’t believe me?

Sure, Sonic has a cartoony anatomy, no one can deny that, but he also exhibits a lot of traits from shonen characters such as spiky hair/quills (?), dynamic posing, a confident, courageous and energetic personality and most importantly, fighting spirit.

If you compare Sonic’s personality and more specifically, his abilities and moves to, say, cartoon speedy characters like the Road Runner, there’s a pretty big disconnection between him and western cartoon characters. Hell, this disconnection is even just as present if you compare him with a character like The Flash from DC.

Simply put, Sonic acts, moves and more importantly, fights like a shonen anime character. He doesn’t just go Super Saiyan and that’s it. Here’s even a quick comparison if necessary.

And this is important because this doesn’t apply just to him, but the whole franchise as a whole and when it takes a more western approach, all of these details are kinda lost or more downplayed, of course this depends on the artists and there’s YMMV at hand, but I think my point is clear.

My second point is...SoJ has consistently proven they have a much clearer grasp on how Sonic’s world and characters are compared to SoA.

Hear me out, yes, Sonic 06 and ShtH exist and yes, SoJ is not perfect by any means. But hear me out...when did the characters start to get flanderized and turned into parodies of themselves? In the 2010s...and when did SEGA move from Japanese to western writers in the games?

Of course it was more then that since there’s a whole tone shift that came with this decade and the new writers, but it’s not a coincidence that when writing in Sonic started to decay, western writers also happened to get on board with the games.

Besides that, SoA has a wide history of not getting Sonic’s tone and characters, from how they made media without much of Sonic Team’s input, to altering how characters are seen in the west. (Such as how they amped up Sonic’s attitude in their media or how the English scripts of the games featured things like Sonic seemingly barely tolerating Amy while the JP scripts portrayed this as Sonic just not understanding girls all that well instead, or for more recent examples, the addition of the ‘’torture’’ line in Forces). Not only that, but even ignoring obvious infamous writers like Ken Penders, even the ‘’best’’ writers from the western side of Sonic are still not above of giving us Pontaff-esque gems.

Like this one.

Or alternatively, I feel like sometimes western writers on Sonic rely a bit too much on their personal vision about Sonic which may or may not be a good thing, clear examples of this are Ian Flynn himself and Pontaff.

By contrast, while SoJ has it’s own share of notorious inconsistencies when dealing with writing (The 2000s era is a big offender), it seems that for them Sonic hasn’t changed much and this is visible not only on the JP scripts of the Modern games which are for the most part better than the ENG ones, but also things like the Sonic Channel comics and the recent one-shots they made with Sonic interacting with the cast show that for all intents and purposes, the Japanese’s staff vision of Sonic is much more clear and consistent compared to the west. Because of this, I’d rather have a good Japanese writer on Sonic games with the localization being focused on being faithful with the original script than have a more western writers dramatically changing the characters. (I don’t mention the tone since either way, SEGA is the one in charge of that and the writers have to follow that)

My last and very subjective point is that, at least for me, everything SoA does with Sonic involving the writing and canon feels like a dumbed down version of the source material. One of the reasons it bugs me so much that in the latest decade Sonic has taken a more western direction is because a lot of what I pointed out gets lost as a result, even if some of those elements are still there, you can tell they’re more downplayed with products like the Tyson Hesse shorts having a more predominant cartoon direction. If any of you have been following my blog for a long time, you should be aware that just because I prefer the Japanese Sonic content doesn’t mean I won’t give the western products a chance, my enjoyment for Mania, the Tyson Hesse shorts and the movie should be a testament of that, but at the same time I can’t help but being sour about the fact that because of these products, we don’t have stuff like a new anime for Sonic or even a serialized ‘’main’’ manga as an alternative for the comics, and my hype for these products is generally more subdued as a result since I’d wish SEGA rather spent that money and resources on more Japanese content than just merchandise.

In particular, because Sonic is a Japanese franchise with a notorious inspiration from anime, what I get from this is a pretty big contradiction. I know Sonic is much more popular on the west but...is it really necessary for his game or products to be handled by western creators to keep their appeal?

For instance, imagine if Dragon Ball’s manga and anime got replaced by western comics and animated series because of it’s world-wide appeal, would that really be the same?

Or imagine the same thing with Fullmetal Alchemist, a pretty aclaimed anime that has a lot of western influence. Would it really not matter at all if it’s Japanese products were replaced with western ones?

At least for me, it wouldn’t.

And what I said about American versions of Japanese franchises being nothing more than watered down versions of the source material? I have that view because of countless examples.

Mega Man and how the English manuals removed a lot of important information about the story of the Blue Bomber’s game and world, causing a lot of plot holes in the process.

American remakes like Godzilla 1998 or Dragon Ball Evolution being an in-name only version of the source material.

Or the many censored anime English dubs from the 2000s, for instance, whenever I see the Yu-Gi-Oh! dubs, I only see a very dumbed down and childish version of a show that was originally a shonen.

And I know that all of these things don’t have to necessarely get lost since every creator is different and there’s franchises like Avatar which are made on the west but draw a lot of inspiration from anime and I’m aware of that, and I want to make it clear that I’m not trying to say that American writers are not allowed to work on Sonic, what I’m trying to say is that inevitably there’s always gonna be some culture dissonance and clash when writers from another culture handle a foreign franchise. And even with examples like ATLA, I think being made by one culture while being inspired by the other is actually a big part of these franchises appeal and it’s something that can’t simply be replicated by handing it to creators from that specific culture they draw inspiration from.

I think James Rolfe’s quote about the same thing with the Godzilla franchise sums up how I feel about this.

‘‘It’s like champagne, anybody can make their own and call it champagne, but unless it’s from Champagne France, it’s not real champagne’‘

So, this last part was very subjective, but I think this post in general sums up why I dislike so much the idea of Sonic having western writers specifically in the games or just focusing more on that side in general.

But what do you guys think? I guess I am too biased so that’s why I wanted to ask for opinions and discuss this topic.

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic musing #opinion

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nesta-stan · 4 years

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Acosf Theory: Nesta being kidnapped by the Mortal Queens will be a major plot point.

We all already know that the queens are going to play a major role from the synopsis. I think that specifically it will be the youngest Queen who will act as Nesta's main antagonist. She is the perfect character to act as a foil for Nesta.

Lets start with the younger queen herself.

"And the youngest two queens … One was perhaps a few years older than me, black-haired and black-eyed, careful cunning oozing from every pore as she surveyed us.

"The youngest queen, the dark-haired one, smiled slightly. Arrogant youth"

Here we see a few similarities between Nesta and that Queen. She is arrogant, "Cunning", proud, and about the same age as Nesta. They were both made into things they didn't want to be. To the Queen, Nesta has everything she wanted; she got the youth the power, and the money.

“The youngest one—that pinched-faced bitch—went into the Cauldron first. Practically trampled the others to get in after it saw what it did to you and your sister.”

Stone screamed beneath twin sets of talons. “But the Cauldron … Oh, it knew that something had been taken from it. Not sentient, but … it knew. It was furious. And when that young queen went in …”

The Ravens laughed. Laughed as the slope leveled out and we found ourselves at the bottom of the library.

“Oh, it gave her immortality. It made her Fae. But since something had been taken from it … the Cauldron took what she valued most. Her youth.” They sniggered again. “A young woman went in … but a withered crone came out.”

And from the catacombs of my memory, Elain’s voice sounded: I saw young hands

wither with age.

“The other queens won’t go into the Cauldron for terror of the same happening now. And the youngest one … Oh, you should hear how she talks, Nesta Archeron. The things she wants to do to you when Hybern is done …”

The Queen is angry at Nesta and Nesta is angry at the Queens. I'm going to be honest, when it comes to SJM's main villains like the king of hybern they seem to be one dimensional but this Queen's circumstances can be what forces Nesta to look further at her own. This Queen is what Nesta might have been. She might even be a deciding factor on who Nesta chooses to become.

Why this would make Nesta going to the Illyrian mountains make more sense

"She wasn’t stupid—she knew there had been unrest, both in Prythian and on the continent, since the war had ended. Knew some Fae territories were pushing their new limits on what they could get away with in terms of territory claims and how they treated humans."

These are Nesta's thoughts before going to see her sister in the sneak peak. I, and a lot of others, have never been able to wrap our heads around how the Illyrian mountains could ever be a good place for Nesta. Yes, a lot of people use the excuse "it's for her healing" but there is never any reasoning behind why illyria?

The mortal Queens know about Velaris. If Feyre and the inner circle have caught on to a plan to kidnap Nesta, than it makes sense that they would try to hide her away somewhere safe. Especially since she is basically helpless on her own. Cassian is the only character, besides Feyre, that cares about Nesta's well being and Illyria is filled with soldiers ready to fight at a moment's notice, while Velaris isn't. It is also where she can train. This threat has probably made Feyre realize how defenseless her sister is and to give her a fighting chance, she forces Nesta to train.

Now, let's talk about the "Ally" the synopsis mentioned. I think it's the Illyrians. That's how she still ends up captured. They betray Cassian and offer his mate to the mortal Queens. Though we all refer to this as Nesta's book, it's Cassian’s too. The Illyrians are closest to his heart. So it makes sense that they are included in his Arc. He has long been bad mouthed and treated as lowly for his status but he never stopped loving his people. Instead he internalized it, but what happens when the woman of his affections suffers because of that hatred? It would be the perfect tool to force Cassian to self-reflect on who he is and what he stands for. Can he choose between his people and his love?

This ties in with the snow queen theory

I actually first thought of this when reevaluating the theory that the story that will work as an inspiration for this book is the Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson. There are three versions of that story that all could potentially tie into to Acofas. The original, Frozen, and the 2002 movie remake.

Frozen because it is the tale of two sisters coming together after years of estrangement. (Feyre and Nesta obviously).

I put the 2002 version in their because in that version of the story has "Lady's" portraying and ruling over each season. Their is a spring witch, summer princess (cresseida) , Autumn thief, and then the snow queen(Vivian?). Meaning more characters might play more roles in this story. I did see alot of wanting Nesta to travel to the other courts.

Now for the original, which probably looks like it has the most connection to Acosf. The story is short and easy to find online. In short, it's about a girl Named Gerda who goes on a quest to find Kay, her childhood friend. A magic mirror created by the devil , that I'm not going into detail much but it's basically the Ouroboros, is shattered and falls into the eyes and heart of young Kay. (Snow Queen also speculated to have a shard in her heart) This makes him cruel to his sister like friend over the next year till he is kidnapped by the snow queen.

This story ties in for multiple reasons. I think hear the mirror is replaced by the Cauldron. Both the Mortal Queen and Nesta were made and neither or happy about it. This being the "glass shard that froze their hearts." And the Mortal Queen being the Snow Queen who kidnapped Kay, or Nesta. Also, Kay is cruel to Gerda for a year before he is taken and it's been a year since the war.

Now let's look at this Quote.

“Little Kay was quite blue, yes nearly black with cold; but he did not observe it, for she had kissed away all feeling of cold from his body, and his heart was a lump of ice. He was dragging along some pointed flat pieces of ice, which he laid together in all possible ways, for he wanted to make something with them; just as we have little flat pieces of wood to make geometrical figures with, called the Chinese Puzzle. Kay made all sorts of figures, the most complicated, for it was an ice-puzzle for the understanding. In his eyes the figures were extraordinarily beautiful, and of the utmost importance; for the bit of glass which was in his eye caused this. He found whole figures which represented a written word; but he never could manage to represent just the word he wanted—that word was “eternity”; and the Snow Queen had said, “If you can discover that figure, you shall be your own master, and I will make you a present of the whole world and a pair of new skates.” But he could not find it out.”

I always interpreted that if this was going to inspire something in Acotar it would be Metaphorical. That the injuries Kay suffers would be how Nesta let herself fall apart and the puzzle that he needed to spell eternity for could be how Nesta still doesn't know what to do with her immortal life.

But what if it's literally? What if the Queen captures Nesta and tries to use her powers to fix her. The Queen was also granted immortality. What if Kay figuring out how to spell eternity is Nesta figuring out how to fix the young Queen. And the injuries are of being black and blue are from the queens torchering her?

Sjm's habits.

Sjm always has a habit of making her characters go through even deeper shit, once they finally healed. It would make sense that she would throw us another curve ball like this. She did something similar with Aelin in Koa, and she has reused some points before. Like Aedion and Lysandra taking Nessian's "till the next life".

Also, alot of people don't like Nesta and having even worse charecters be introduced to make the others look better is so in Sjm style. Just in the way that Tamlin and Eris make Rhysand look like a Saint, having the mortal Queen be the "bad" version of Nesta would help people see her in a better light.

I tried to look at this in the way of, What will make these Charecters question themselves and their motives the most. This was my conclusion.

This is just what I came up with, if you have any differing thoughts or ideas I would love to hear them.

@heylittlemissy @sjm-things

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tcm · 4 years

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“Much More to Movie Monsters Than Meets The Eye” By Raquel Stecher

With his latest book Fright Favorites: 31 Movies to Haunt Your Halloween and Beyond, author and horror expert David J. Skal provides readers with the perfect guide for watching spooky films throughout October and the year. The book takes a look at 31 different horror films from NOSFERATU (‘22) to GET OUT (2017). Skal offers insights into how German Expressionism and WWI influenced early horror classics, how Val Lewton threw out horror conventions with CAT PEOPLE (‘42), how DRACULA (‘31) was a financial gamble and how more recent films like HOCUS POCUS (‘93) achieved cult status. If you’re worried that 31 horror films are not enough, don’t despair, as each of these films is paired with a bonus recommendation on a similar theme. Fright Favorites is now available from Running Press and TCM.

Raquel Stecher: Can you tell us a bit about your background as a cultural historian and horror expert?

David J. Skal: I was one of the original “monster kids” of the 1950s and ‘60s, who discovered the old Universal horror classics when they were first released to television, and for a while I couldn’t get enough of them, or of the fan culture they set in motion. I was an avid reader of magazines like Famous Monsters of Filmland, and when I came back as an adult to write about the history of horror entertainment from an adult perspective, it would never have happened without those photo-filled periodicals that engaged and obsessed me as a kid.

RS: In the book you discuss the connection between Hollywood and Halloween. Tell us a little about how that came about and how the two have become so intrinsically tied with one another.

DJS: In the golden age of American horror movies in the 1930s and 1940s, there was no supplemental merchandizing or other tie-ins to Halloween. It was still a pretty homespun holiday. The holiday’s potential wasn’t fully exploited by the film industry until after World War II, when we saw Universal franchising its monster characters as Halloween masks and costumes. In the ensuing decades, October became the major month for horror movie premieres, including studios other than Universal, and all the major theme parks got on the bandwagon, profitably extending their summer seasons with Halloween nights that are almost always tied in to some horror franchise or another, frequently of the slasher or chainsaw variety.

RS: What was the research process like for writing Fright Favorites?

DJS: Over the years I’ve done much more research for my books than I’ve been able to ever use, so Fright Favorites was an ideal opportunity to make use of information and anecdotes I’d never had room for in previous projects. As a result, it took about six months rather than the usual full year I most often devote to completing a book. Although the final selections were mine, the people at TCM are also—no surprise—very knowledgeable about movies with many favorites of their own that I was able to incorporate. There weren’t really any disagreements, just a bit of a juggling act to maintain a balance between the films included.

RS: In the book you wrote “Some early commentators on the medium worried that film might be nothing less than the arrival of living death. It is in horror movies that this pervading sense of the uncanny still speaks to us.” Were studios worried about making horror films? How did Universal's success with the genre affect the film industry as a whole?

DJS: In a way, the film medium itself is the very definition of the uncanny, bringing dead actors back to life, or its convincing simulacrum. This strange fact is always there, staring back at you. And remember, actors themselves have amounted to a species of shapeshifters, slipping in and out of identities in the manner of movie monsters. Film is a dream-like medium that has been irresistibly drawn to the fantastic and the bizarre from its very beginning, at least in Europe. American movies didn’t approach truly fantastic subjects until Universal took a chance with DRACULA in 1931. Previously, American films observed the tradition of explaining away any ghostly occurrence as a criminal conspiracy or ruse. But DRACULA, along with FRANKENSTEIN the same year, became two of the most influential and imitated films of all time.

RS: Stars like Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., Vincent Price, etc. became known for their horror roles. How did some of these horror stars embrace the genre or how did it typecast them?

DJS: By definition, any “horror star” is already typecast, although some deal with the pigeonholing better than others. I once had the privilege of sitting in on a classroom visit by Vincent Price with a group of acting students who asked him if he resented being considered a horror star and how they could avoid being typecast themselves. He told them in no uncertain terms that show business was already a difficult way to make a living and that being typecast would be the best thing that could ever happen to them professionally. Most horror stars I’ve met or interviewed are grateful for their fame and the attention of their fans.

RS: Many horror stories have been revisited in remakes, new adaptations and re-imaginings. Why has Hollywood been so keen to revisit horror classics?

DJS: Horror is a genre with financial profit baked in from the get-go—it’s almost impossible to lose money even on a poorly made scary movie, which is why so many prominent directors have gotten their start in the genre. It’s a fairly risk-free way to take a chance on new talent. In terms of remakes, if a formula has worked before, why not do it again? Fortunately, the remakes usually veer substantially away from the original stories in ways that keep the legacy of one monster or legend perpetually alive. Horror evolves the way anything evolves—through endless change and adaptation.

RS: What are some of your personal favorite horror films?

DJS: I don’t have a number one, or number two favorite. I admire many films for individual reasons: directors, scripts, actors. People most often ask me what my favorite version of Dracula is. I tell them that it doesn’t yet exist, but it would be a master version of the story edited together from all the major adaptations, with actors from different versions interacting with each other. It would be a huge job, but if done with the right flair would be hugely entertaining and probably bring out important aspects of each version that you wouldn’t notice watching them individually.

RS: Some of the films you feature in Fright Favorites are also considered science fiction classics. How do the two genres of science fiction and horror complement each other?

DJS: Literary horror and literary science fiction are fairly separate categories, but on screen the genres tend to blur together. For instance, ALIEN (‘79) is a haunted house story set in outer space. INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (‘78) is an alien invasion story that’s also about zombies. Being a visual medium, movies tend to spotlight science fiction’s bizarre and grotesque imagery and end up emphasizing the horrific over the cerebral.

RS: How do horror films tap into the pervading anxieties and fears of their respective eras?

DJS: This is the through-line of most of my books: that horror entertainment amounts to a secret history of modern times, with each new cultural upheaval or trauma setting in motion identifiable kinds of stories and characters. The anxiety and fear need to be processed, but it’s always easier to deal with real-world horror if you don’t have to look at it too directly. WWI tore about human bodies like no previous war, and all through the 1920s and 1930s we looked at one disfigured face after another, even though the films weren’t about battlefield combat. Unprecedented numbers of mutilated men were returning to society, and they were being shunned. Nonetheless, they popped up in our cinematic dreams. During the AIDS epidemic, there was an explosion of books and films about another mysterious, blood-related scourge: vampirism. Repress awareness of an uncomfortable fact, and it will always rise somewhere else in a different form.

RS: What do you hope readers take away from the book?

DJS: So far, the book does seem to be engaging readers who have a general knowledge of horror entertainment but are curious to know more. The most important thing a reader might take away is the simple revelation that there’s much more to movie monsters than meets the eye.

#Horror #halloween #Fright Favorites #scary movies #classic horror #old hollywood #old horror #Vincent Price #dracula #Bela Lugosi #nosferatu #cat people #TCM #Turner Classic Movies #Raquel Stecher

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scottymcgeesterwrites · 3 years

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Final Fantasy VII Review

Year: 1997

Original Platform: PlayStation One

Also available on: PC, PlayStation Store

Version I Played: PlayStation One

Synopsis:

The Shinra Electric Power Company rules over the city of Midgar, and the eco-terrorists AVALANCHE stop at nothing to try and prevent the life essence of the planet from being used as energy. Barrett, leader of AVALANCHE, hires a mercenary named Cloud Strife for their bombing mission on a Shinra Mako Reactor. Cloud doesn’t care much for the greater cause and only wants his pay. But then, after a mission goes awry, he meets Aerith, a flower girl who is the descendant of the Ancients. He quickly finds himself wrapped up in the greater conflict against Shinra.

Gameplay:

Final Fanatasy VII utilizes magic spells via Materia – little orbs that come in a variety of colors pertaining to the natural elements. You can mix and match them on your weapons and equipment, which gives you access to different spells and stats. All your equipment varies with the number of slots for how many Materia orbs you can put in. Leveling up not only upgrades the character but the equipped Materia as well.

Final Fantasy VII also uses an ATB system but is known for introducing Limit Breaks – finishing moves that build up after the character gets hit over time. Final Fantasy VI had a prototype called Desperation Attack – but it was very rare as it only appeared when your character had 1/8 of their total HP, and there was a 1 in 6 chance of performing the Desperation Attack after selecting Attack. I actually had no idea that was a thing until long after I finished the game, and never experienced it when I played Final Fantasy VI.

Graphics:

Out of all the Final Fantasy games, I have to say that this one has not aged well. It has the worst graphics of the entire series. The battle and cinematic graphics are passable.

(Most of the graphics power seemed to be put in Tifa’s, uh, bosom.)

But the characters in towns, the overworld, and in-game cutscenes are incredibly blocky. PC versions are supposedly sharper, but the PlayStation One version makes it nigh impossible to see any facial expressions.

The graphics are definitely a product of its time. I always say that the beginning of 3D gaming was essentially like puberty – awkward and full of zits. It wasn’t yet at that stage where it could be aesthetically pleasing. We marveled about it when it was first released, yes, but then we cringed in retrospect.

The environment backdrops however are probably the strongest points, where they capture the industrial nature of Midgar, the reactors and other such buildings.

Story:

Final Fantasy VII became legendary the minute Square released it. Every aspect was memorable. Part of it could be due to the fact that it was the first Final Fantasy game to enter the 3D realm. Another part was Tetsuya Nomura’s character designs, which hit the cool meter to the point of sub-zero.

The cinematics blew our minds. The opening action scene with Cloud, Barrett, and the rest of AVALANCHE attacking Shinra’s mako reactor is the most memorable opening to a Final Fantasy game. Period. Final Fantasy games really do know how to start at the right spot, no matter how good or bad the overall game is. The opening is always the best part.

Then there was the motorcycle chase. Cid’s airship. The gun fights. Battles with Sephiroth. The extra stuff to find, like summons and extra bosses. So much was jam-packed into the game.

But the story was the primary factor in making VII famous. It’s definitely one of the better ones. Man, the story became so famous that even gamers who haven’t touched a Final Fantasy game knew the major spoilers. It is the equivalent to knowing Darth Vader’s line, “I am your father” without having actually watched Star Wars.

Aerith (Aeris in the English releases) Gainsborough – the innocent flower girl who holds the secrets of the Ancients – develops a romance with Cloud and fucking dies at the end of Disc 1 by the main villain – Sephiroth. The scene shocked everyone and practically made headlines. Everybody has seen the horrible image in one way or another.

It seems to me that since Final Fantasy V, the stories have gotten more and more used to main character deaths, ultimately transforming into a heavy-hitting TV series rather than simply a video game series. In other words – it matured. Looking back, Final Fantasy IV appears to be child’s play and a prototype of later dramatic storylines with fully realized worlds.

Final Fantasy VII was also the first Final Fantasy game to create a world much like ours – one with cars and trains and airplanes and machine guns and even cellphones. The main city of Midgar reflects industrialization at its worst, with miles of slums and claustrophobic cities. Shinra Electric Power Company is a reflection of capitalism at its worst - a single entity in charge of so much that it’s pretty much the government. For the first time in a Final Fantasy game, you play as characters who dance between the morally ambiguous line of terrorism and activism. Funny enough, the theme of neglecting the planet resonates with us now more than ever. This game ended up being rather prophetic about the uncontrollable growth of corporations.

While the story is memorable with many intriguing elements, the plot itself is a tangled web. In my opinion, they really hashed in so many things that it’s easy to forget crucial details. It’s not straightforward, but at the same time everything does connect by the end. While Shinra is the driving force as a whole as the villain, Sephiroth takes over, then you learn about his backstory and then with the evil scientist Hojo and the extra-terrestrial Jenova and then “Weapon” and then the planet’s history and this and that and the other thing.

If I were to put Final Fantasy VI and Final Fantasy VII together and contrast them, as many gamers do, I would find that Final Fantasy VII is the summer blockbuster and Final Fantasy VI is the Oscar winner. Final Fantasy VII started introducing the sappy romance subplot to the series. A love triangle forms among Aerith, Cloud, and Cloud’s childhood friend Tifa. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with having a love triangle, the writing is like watching middle schoolers trying to express their feelings. Final Fantasy VI and Final Fantasy IV treated any romance with dignity and realism.

But maybe I’m being a bit harsh. After all, Cloud Strife did go through some suffering as an adolescent. His backstory clearly drives his antisocial behavior, so that becomes a good arc.

The goofiest but memorable part of the story deals with Don Corneo and Wall Market and running around store to store doing tasks in order to free Tifa from Don Corneo. It ends with Cloud needing to cross-dress as a woman to get inside Don’s mansion. Because, you know, it’s not like Cloud can just break in with his sword and Aerith’s magic or anything like that. But whatever. It’s anime.

The recent Final Fantasy VII Remake for the PS4 seems to streamline the story, and actually enhances the emotions they were trying to deliver in the original. I will be talking about the remake in a separate post altogether since I’m almost done with it at the time of this writing. But there’s a lot that I want to say about comparing and contrasting the remake and the original.

The latter half of the plot takes a couple weird turns. At one point, Cloud became catatonic and confined to a wheelchair.

That part of the game became the sluggish part for me. Sephiroth also tries to confuse Cloud, which confused me. Cloud apparently suffers from some alternate subconscious mumbo-jumbo and like. . .ungh. I get an aneurysm thinking about it sometimes.

Complicated plotlines like Final Fantasy VII start showing up from here on out in the Final Fantasy series. The trend of bishonen characters also begin here, bishonen being the Japanese term for “beautiful boy.” Cloud and Sephiroth have that look. The series starts hashing in sappier romances and much more of an anime feel.

Final Fantasy VII ultimately marked the start of a new era for the series – introducing both cool and overused tropes.

Music:

Hands down the best Final Fantasy soundtrack of all.

The entire soundtrack of this game is memorable. The opening tune, with its light twinkle when the stars show up, is enough to make any gamer know exactly what that’s from.

With a story set in a more modern world, we have music that is more modern. After Final Fantasy VI had a more serious and operatic score, Uematsu displayed his love of progressive rock here. The motorcycle chase incorporates a lot of synth, which was fitting for zipping through the streets of Midgar. However, Final Fantasy VII is the first Final Fantasy game without that familiar starting bassline for the battle them. The battle theme is instantly recognizable but also radically different from its predecessors. It’s dramatic and displays danger.

Meanwhile, the boss theme is one of the best boss themes in the series, or any video game really. It’s an electrifying progressive rock piece, and it’s my personal favorite boss theme.

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The more instrumental pieces are somber, given the dreary atmosphere of the planet. The world map music is very different from its predecessors. It’s romantic one moment, soaring the next, and then dips into foreboding terror. I guess that sums up the story of Final Fantasy VII.

And we cannot leave out One-Winged Angel, which I will talk about below.

Notable Theme:

Without a doubt, One-Winged Angel – played during the terrifying final battle against Sephiroth – is the most memorable piece of music in Final Fantasy VII.

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It may very well be the most popular song of the entire series. Nobuo Uematsu was inspired by Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. It’s a whopping 30 something minute classical piece. If you look it up on YouTube and browse through it, you can definitely note the similarities. However, Uematsu didn’t want some boring classical introduction to the piece. He wanted to add the destructive impact of rock. The theme has a very distinct stamping-your-foot-down quality to it.

I had noticed a certain piece-by-piece feel of the song and that’s exactly how Uematsu composed it. This is the only song that Uematsu has composed where he created several tunes in his head and then rearranged them to make a single comprehensive song.

If you want to get technical, One-Winged Angel is the first Final Fantasy song with lyrics. The chorus sings in Latin about Sephiroth’s burning anger, with some lyrics actually taken from the medieval poem Carmina Burana. It sounds fantastic when fully orchestrated.

In Advent Children, the animated sequel to Final Fantasy VII, the music is accompanied by hardcore metal. This new rendition really illustrates the destructive power of Sephiroth. Uematsu changed the lyrics for Advent Children. They are more original now. I specifically noticed the lyrics “Veni, veni, mi fili”, which translates to “Come, come, my son.” Sephiroth is inviting you so he can kill you.

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Uematsu has stated that the original orchestration didn’t sit well with him. As I suspected, Advent Children’s hardcore metal version is the one he preferred, the one he would have composed had he the technology at the time of Final Fantasy VII.

Verdict:

Another must-play for any RPG fan, even if you think it’s overrated. It’s a must-play because of its popularity, in the same way that people are wide-eyed when you say you haven’t seen Star Wars or such-and-such other popular movie. It’s a whole lot of fun, especially in the scenes that involve other forms of gameplay, such as the motorcycle chase and even a battlefield strategy game in protecting Fort Condor.

Direct Sequel?

Yes – first there was the CGI movie Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.

I actually watched Advent Children before playing Final Fantasy VII. I had already known most of what happened in the game and Advent Children became a monumental craze when it first came out. Everybody was talking about it. Watching the sequel before playing the game skewers your interpretation of things. My first impression of Cloud was that he was always whiny and angsty, and meanwhile Tifa kept nagging him to move on. I felt really bad for Cloud losing Aerith.

Then when I actually played Final Fantasy VII, I saw that Cloud starts as this badass mercenary. Tifa is spunky and clearly is the better choice (IMO) but Cloud is enamored by Aerith after only meeting her briefly. WHAT? Cloud. Bro. Make a move on Tifa, you nitwit. Tifa is AMAZING.

Square Enix then continued the story with Dirge of Cerberus – Final Fantasy VII. This video game sequel focuses on Vincent Valentine, a fan favorite of the original game.

Let me remind you about something – the original game revealed Shinra’s inner deep secret experiments, namely with Sephiroth and Jenova. Dirge of Cerberus introduces an even deeper research team within Shinra called Deepground. I don’t know about you, but it already sounds like the start of a terribly redundant string of sequels, like how the Jason Bourne movies keep revealing an even deeper level of conspiracy theories. Vincent’s mysterious background is now fully revealed. He is defined by – guess what? – another angsty lost lover story, this time with a woman named Lucrecia. Now, okay, look, maybe I’m just being a dick about these types of love stories. But when it keeps popping up within the same series in the same manner, I start asking if you have anything else to offer on your menu.

Lastly, there is the prequel for the PSP – Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. Of all the games in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core has received the most positive reception. If anything, play that after playing Final Fantasy VII before bothering with anything else.

Oh, and of course there is the Final Fantasy VII Remake, which we thought wasn’t going to happen for the longest time but they finally released it in April 2020. More on that later after I finish it, and after I post my entire series of Final Fantasy reviews!

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deathonyourtongue · 3 years

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Resurrection | 12

Summary: A ragtag team of Spec-Ops operators are brought out of retirement for all the wrong reasons. When the dust settles, only the best will be left standing. Pairing: Pablo Schreiber x OFC, Henry Cavill x OFC (listen, she gets with the whole team, okay? Don’t lie, you would too.) Word Count: 2K Warnings: Nothing much really. A/N: Sorry this took so long. February really is the worst month.

By the flight manifest, we’re half an hour behind Wallace, and I feel every minute of it on the plane ride from London to Benghazi. Prior to joining the team, I’d only been assigned to Libya once and it was from the comfort of the Whitney parked off the coast of Italy. This will be my first time with boots on the ground, and the history of spec ops in the country isn’t lost to me; it’s just one more reason why I’m glad I no longer have to wear a uniform.

“Ten minutes out,” the pilot calls over the comms, everyone prepping their go bags, ready to make up for any head start Wallace has.

Benina International Airport barely registers in my mind as we pick up two vehicles that were prepped for us courtesy of Uncle Sam, my mind’s sole focus being on saving the hostage and capturing Wallace. All of us want our pound of flesh, none more so than those he’s directly injured over the course of the last few weeks.

“I need everyone on their A game. We can’t afford to let him slip through our fingers again. His behavior is escalating and since he’s so well-connected to the who’s-who, it stands to reason, he’s going to throw everything he has at us. Above all else though, we leave no one behind. Understood?” Rick’s voice is firm but warm over our comms, making it clear that despite the gravity of the situation, he cares about our well-being first and foremost.

“Do you think he’s trying to do a shot-for-shot remake?” Jake asks as we roll into Benghazi proper, grateful for the tinted windows on the late model G wagons no doubt left over from Gaddafi’s rule.

“If you mean do I think he’s going to go to the same village we were patrolling? No. I don’t think he’s that sentimental about things. I think he’s going to pick a spot that’s overlooked by the country and blow it to high hell after he finishes reenacting his sick fantasies. Remember, had we not stopped him that night--”

“I know, he’d have committed war crimes,” Jake cuts Dom off, his sickened expression making it clear that he doesn’t need to be reminded.

“Has intel found him yet?” I ask, hoping we don’t have to waste any more time in tracking him down.

“They don’t have a lock yet, but they are tracking a BMW that came out of Benina half an hour ago. Reports of a blond woman without a hijab and a red-haired man poured in the second they landed.” Rick explains, all of us shaking our head.

“Muslim majority country and she already sticks out like a sore thumb by being blond, but he didn’t bother to make her wear a hijab? If we don’t get to him, the Libyan police will,” I snort, finding little humor in the recklessness with which Wallace treats the lives of others. Like any good narcissist, he cares only for himself and if others get hurt in the process of him getting what he wants, so be it.

“They’re going to attract attention no matter what. All of us are. Keep as low a profile as possible, and with any luck, we’ll be out of here by this time tomorrow,” Rick adds, all of us hoping for the outcome that’s eluded us since we reunited.

Our hideout in Benghazi is simple, yet beautiful. Like most places, it’s heavily fortified, a solid metal gate closing behind us and men standing watch on all four corners as we make our way towards something that resembles a Roman villa of old. Outside, the heat hits me and for a second, I’m brought back to the op that nearly took my life, hoping that this time, things will end differently, at least for our team. Max’s cologne brings me back to the present, and I fall in step with him as we make our way into the blissfully cool war room.

“Oh fuck yeah. Don’t mind if I do!” Jake enthuses as he takes note of the tea and finger foods laid out on the table. Shaking my head, but nonetheless pleased, I take a seat and let out a breath I don’t realize I’ve been holding. Max’s hand smooths over my hair as he sits next to me, his gaze still eyeing my bruise with concern. It’s endearing to say the least, and not the kind of treatment I’m used to in any part of my life.

“Okay, fuel up, but pay attention. Intel has an eye in the sky and they’ve found the BMW. We’re tracking him now. Gonna let him get settled in, then we’ll pay him a house call. He’s also traveling light; only two body men and paid local team which means--”

“Which means a bunch of teenage human shields. Fucking great,” I mutter.

Stephanie Pierce had been dumped half an hour before getting to the airport. Doing her best to save face, she’d made it through security and was intent on getting a little drunk before boarding, if only so she could sleep on the flight. American by birth, she had come to London for school, and had, up until the breakup, been having the time of her life.

Now it's all spiraling into a nightmare.

“Please, just let me get back to the airport! I don’t have anything to do with this! I didn’t do anything! I’m just a student! Please!”

“I can’t do that, darling. For one, you’ve seen my face, and two...Well, you’re my insurance policy. You see, the people that I’m after, they have a soft spot for those they consider innocent. Problem is, no one’s ever truly innocent, are they? No, not even you, dear Stephanie. It only took a few moments for me to do the numbers, so to speak. Young, parents are middle class at best, no real money for school, especially abroad, but here you are in designer clothing, taking vacations whenever it strikes your fancy, and not a dime in debt. Do your parents know what you do on the internet, my darling? Didn’t think so. No, that deep, dark secret won’t be revealed until after you perish, which...will be soon, I’m afraid.”

Her screams make her captor laugh, almost as though he’s delighted by the reaction. It chills her to the bone. Now she understands that this isn’t some wannabe who hijacked a plane and has no real plan; far from it. Whoever he is, he has calculated each and every move leading up to this point.

She wishes she could talk to her mom one last time.

“Night Train to Alpha, confirm visual.”

“Alpha to Night Train we have visual. We count 12 signatures, including the hostage. You are a go.”

We’re no stranger to David and Goliath fights, and 12 is on the smaller side of some of the groups we’ve taken on, but no matter the number, we approach this one with extra precaution, only because of Wallace’s M.O. None of us are looking to be anywhere near another one of his bombs.

The compound he’s made his hideout is run of the mill for this part of the world. Like our own, Wallace’s has high walls, a sturdy gate, and a simple floor plan. It leaves us with two options; come in with a bang, or creep in with a whisper.

“There’s two gates,” I remind the boys, knowing full well that while they all prefer coming in with as much firepower as possible, it opens the door for Wallace to get away in the commotion, and I, for one, want to end this once and for all.

“Alpha, how many signatures on the exterior?” Dom asks, all of us hidden in the shadows, waiting for the deciding factor on how we proceed.

“Looks like 2 on the south side, patrolling the far gate. If you’re going in quiet, now’s the time to move.”

We all nod and immediately get to work. Strapping on my gloves, I grab my wire cutters out of the pocket on my kevlar, and wait until Flip has gotten into position. The tallest of the team, he bends over, providing me with the flat of his back to stand on so that I can cut the razor wire off the top of the wall. Carefully, I peek over the edge, relieved when I find the courtyard empty. Though there are lights on in the compound, every window is covered with an opaque blind, making this way of entering far better suited to our needs.

I cut enough wire away to allow all the boys to climb over, making sure to throw it away from the compound not only for safety, but to reduce the chances of us being heard. Satisfied that everyone has clearance, I pocket my multitool and quickly hop over, landing softly in the dirt.

Rick and Benji are quick to follow, the three of us taking up post so that the rest of the guys can come in safely. It takes less than five minutes for all of us to breach the perimeter, and after a moment to regroup, we move towards our target.

“Alpha, we need your eyes,” Rick whispers, taking point as we position ourselves flush against the nearest wall of the compound. We could clear the place blind, but that increases the chance that someone will sound the alarm as they die, and we can’t take the risk. Though they said they had to wash their hands of it, after Rome, the DOD extended their resources; while they can’t send those currently serving, they can provide a helping hand to those who are willing to risk it all to capture one of our own.

“Two at 3 o’clock, in the first room. There’s two at the back gate you’ll want to handle first.”

Nodding at one another, we split up. Rick and Dom position themselves at the first room, Flip and Benji take up post across the villa in front of another room, while Max, Jake and I edge around to the back of the compound, intent on taking out the two men guarding the rear gate as silently as possible.

With Jake on one side, Max and I move around to the other side, all of us needing to get eyes on the men. As I predicted, they’re young, but I find cold solace when I see that they’re not teenagers, bought out to act as human shields. Checking my gun, I make sure the silencer is on tightly before leveling it into place to look through my scope. At less than 50 feet, it’s an easy shot; it just has to be timed correctly. Max counts us down using only his fingers, and when the time is right, both Jake and I take double-tap shots, killing the men before they have a chance to make a sound.

Over comms, I can hear Rick and Dom breaching their first room, and as we move back towards the center of the villa, Benji and Flip do the same. My relief grows with every room that’s cleared, the body count growing as we approach the spot where Wallace is holed up with the hostage.

“Last room has the prize. Good luck, and godspeed.”

The room in question lies at the heart of the villa. Protected on either side by anti-rooms, We have to work our way through two more sets of men before finally being able to come face-to-face with Wallace once again.

A bright smile is the last thing we expect when we finally level our guns to his head.

“Nice of you all to finally join me. Thought it would take much less time for Uncle Sam to track me down. No matter, you’re here now, we can get to it. In your haste, I’m afraid none of you noticed...” Wallace’s gaze goes to the floor, and as my own eyes follow, I can’t help but feel my heart sink. My eyes dart quickly to Max and Dom, nausea overcoming me as I find that every single one of us has stepped on a trip wire.

“It’s like Russian Roulette, except I’m the one holding the gun.”

Wallace’s laugh will be imprinted in my mind for the rest of my life.

#henry cavill #pablo schreiber #henry cavill x ofc #pablo schreiber x ofc #resurrection #deathonyourtongueoriginals

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birthdaysentiment · 4 years

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The music in wtFOCK season 3 - Bonus Song #2

Dinsdag 16.31 // "Collide" - Tiana Major9 & EARTHGANG

From the beginning of season 3, I had a feeling that Robbe's story would be very different from what we had seen before. From the start I didn't knew what to expect, and when I thought I knew what was happening, wtFOCK did something or changed something, that made me feel like I wasn't watching a remake, but a story I hadn't seen before. In my opinion, wtFOCK gave us some of the best original clips and scenes that just took you by surprise, because you didn't expect them to happen at all, and this clip was definitely no exception.

It made my heart break a little when we saw Robbe go back to the bike-rack, after Sander had made it clear that he wasn't interested in talking to him. Robbe looked so sad, so broken, but also mad at himself, as Sander's rejection was the only conformation he needed, in order to know, that he had fucked up everything between them. And for a short moment, it looked like there was a very little chance for them, finding their way back to each other, until Sander showed up and told Robbe that he had five minutes to explain himself.

By just looking at Robbe and Sander's facial expressions, you could sense the emotions between them. Sander was trying so hard to look cold and mad, because he was indeed hurt by Robbe's comment and the way he acted towards him, but he also knew that Robbe made him feel something he had never felt before, so in order to somehow protect himself, Sander tried to keep his distance, until he knew what Robbe had to say. Robbe, he just looked ashamed and so sad, because seeing Sander act so cold, made him understand how much he had hurt him, and I think that must have been very painful for Robbe, because he never wanted that to happen.

The tension between them seems to slowly disappear, as Robbe starts to explain. With a little gesture, he lets Sander know how amazing and mind-blowing their first kiss was, which makes Sander's cold and hard exterior crack a little, as a smile forms on his lips. Robbe then starts to explain what happened, how everything immediately went full on Chernobyl in his head, how everything seemed to come crashing down, and somehow Robbe doesn't need to go into details about what happened, because Sander seems to understand, maybe better than anyone. Just by looking at Sander's body language, you can see how he slowly starts to relax, as Robbe lets him know how he feels about him. Even though Robbe's feelings for Sander are new and a bit terrifying, they're also strong and intense, since he never felt anything like that before. And in that moment, all Robbe wants is a second chance, a second chance to proof to Sander that he wants him, that he really likes him.

When Sander walked closer to Robbe, I remember how my heart stopped beating, as the tension between them slowly started to rise again. They were standing so close to each other, almost able to feel each other's breath, and Sander just couldn't stop looking at Robbe's lips, as he longed to connect with them again. But he also needed one last reassurance from Robbe, that he wanted this as much as he did. So, when Robbe says "fuck chernobyl", Sander leans even closer to give him a small kiss, as a way to let him know, that he's forgiven.

Robbe has never looked so relieved, and you could almost sense how the tension, nervousness and anxiety left his body when his lips connected with Sander's, as a wave of warmth, love and happiness went through his body. In that same moment, as Robbe has his eyes closed with a little smile on his face, the music starts in the background, breaking the tension and silence around them. And in some ways, it felt like the music was indicating a change in their relationship, as Robbe and Sander, in that moment, chose to be with each other.

The song is such a good choice for this clip, because it provides the right feelings and atmosphere to the scene. It's a light song with a calm and relaxing melody, but there's still a beat to it, a rhythm that seems to go well with Robbe and Sander's kissing, as they completely forget the world around them. And with the song, when they start singing, the dark and deep voice is a strong contrast to the lightness and mildness of the melody, where the combination of these contrasts, gives the scene a soulful, moving and swaying atmosphere.

They keep kissing with so much passion, as they've been longing for each other's touch since their first one. Robbe puts his arms around Sander, in order to deepen the kiss, and he almost clings to him, as a way to let Sander know, that he doesn't want to let go of him. It warmed my heart so much to see them back together, to see the smiles on their faces, as they kept kissing more intensely, as everything was put into every single kiss, and it was so clear to see how they had been missing each other, longing to be connected again.

As their lips collide, as they seem to forget the world around them, their little bubble bursts, as Sander's ringtone throws them back to reality, and in that same moment the music stops, almost as a reminder of the existing world outside, breaking them free of each other's spell. It's clear to see how hard reality hits Robbe, when Sander says that Britt is waiting for him, which causes him to take a step back, as a feeling of insecurity seems to run through him. Robbe was so relieved when Sander showed that he still wanted him, and he thought that nothing could come between them, until he got reminded of Britt's existence, and just the thought of losing Sander scares him, because he knows what he wants, and he just hopes that Sander knows it too.

Sander can sense the self-doubt coming from Robbe, he can see it on his face, as his huge smile disappeared, only to get replaced by a feeling of uncertainty about the whole situation, but Sander knows that Robbe has nothing to worry about, because it's always going to be him. So, to remove his insecurities, to give him the reassurance that he needs, he lets Robbe know that Britt is history, that they (Robbe and Sander) are the future. It was everything Robbe needed to hear, because the meaning behind it was so strong and powerful, and it was enough to convince Robbe, that Sander truly wanted him, that now, it was going to be the two of them.

And in that same moment, when they start kissing again, the song fills the space around them, taking them back to their own little world, where it's just the two of them together. What I love about the kisses that they share, is how many emotions there's put into them. They're holding on to each other like their lives depend on it, they kiss with such a force, with so much passion, because they've been longing for each other's touch. They have missed the feeling of each other's presence, the way their heart seems to beat faster, whenever they were together, which only helped them realize, that something special was happening between them.

In the background, the chorus of the song begins, where the lyrics below blends beautifully with the melody, where both the voice and the sounds really get a chance to shine, since they don't dominate or overpower each other. The combination creates a beautiful harmony, that fits the situation perfect, as the beats in the chorus are a bit deeper and the melody a bit more intense, which helps emphasize the emotions in the scene.

When we collide

When we collide, it's a beautiful disaster

When I crash into you, you, you

Crash into you, you, you

The lyrics seems to describe what is happening between Robbe and Sander, not only in terms of this clip, but also in terms of their journey up until this point. How beautiful it was when they finally collided, as they kissed for the first time in a freezing pool, or how they crashed into each other after having spent time apart, after having told each other about their feelings, which made them realize, that they both wanted the same thing. And even though they sing "it's a beautiful disaster", I don't think it's necessarily meant as something negative, because as we've learned, it's still possible to find beauty in destructions and disasters. Because even though Robbe and Sander's journey hasn't always been pretty, they always found their way back to each other, and maybe their relationship became what it is, because of all the highs and lows they went through.

It's clear to see how none of them wants the moment to end. Sander doesn't want to let go of Robbe, he doesn't want to go and meet Britt, and Robbe doesn't want to stop kissing Sander, since he finally got him back. But eventually they untangle themselves from each other, but as the distance between them gets bigger, they do everything they can to stay connected, because neither of them wants to leave their bubble. It always makes my heart skip a beat when their hands cling onto each other, the symbolism of it, not wanting to let go, wanting to stay connected, to be able to feel each other's touch, because it means much more, than anything else.

As Sander walks away with the sweetest and most promising smile, Robbe turns around to his bike, but before he moves any further, he stands still and lets out a breath. In that same moment the song ends, where the three notes at the end, accompanies the breath Robbe has been holding, and they fit the situation perfectly, as the simple tones sort of emphasizes what Robbe is feeling in that moment. How relief he is that everything turned out the way he hoped, that he got a chance to explain himself to Sander, that he was able to tell Sander how he truly feels about him. And in that moment, I'm sure Robbe had a hard time believing that everything was true.

It's crazy how quickly things can change, how a situation can be turned upside down within seconds, but that's also what makes it so exciting, what makes our emotions run wild - the unknown. This clip definitely came as a surprise, it was something unexpected and I don't think a lot of us saw it coming, but it also proved how brilliant wtFOCK is at coming up with original content, how good they are at providing us with something that's so special to Robbe and Sander, something that's so symbolic for their story and their journey towards each other. Dinsdag 16.31 will always be a clip we'll remember.

#wtfock #wtfam #music in wtfock #wtfocksoundtrack #robbe ijzermans #sander driesen #sorry for the long post #one of the best moments in season 3 #I love them

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prosepeare · 3 years

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WandaVision Aftermath

Well, I had too many thoughts (and feelings) about this amazing show, so I’m just going to go in a list…

1. WandaVision was an amazing show all-around. I love it!

2. What it did with the characters, and their actors, was so great. Wanda Maximoff and the Vision had never really gotten opportunities to shine in the movies before, and thus, neither had Elizabeth and Paul, but this series took the chance to build on their characters so much, and give their actors real chances to display their ranges and tap into their characters’ emotional depths.

3. It was a real TV Show – in that weekly installments built on things more and more, suspense kept us going, and it really feels in hindsight like binge-watching after the fact might have taken away from the experience of watching it the first time. In some ways, it reminds me of The Good Place (which I’ve seen some of) – each episode built the plot/characters and kept things moving, while the show manages to achieve multiple genres at once.

4. Also, it builds up my personal hype for the next Disney Plus TV Shows – if the one people probably had the least excitement regarding ended up being so good/engaging, who knows what the ones we’re really pumped for will be like?

5. In a lot of ways, this show helpfully deconstructs some of the problems with Wanda’s breakdown in the comics, and the tropes which surrounded Daenerys in the GoT finale. Namely, “this woman has too much power and it’ll make her go crazy that needs to be full-on stopped, which is such a burden for our heroes.” Rather, it’s recognized that Wanda has very legitimate reasons for her feeling that way, and instead the other characters who are heroes try and support and reason with her, and she makes it out of the series on a more hopeful – if not happy – note. (But there are still aspects of this that have a whiff of white feminism, I admit.)

6. Arguably, Monica was the hero of WandaVision: she kept trying to reason with a person who needed it, she played a large role in saving a trapped town, she wouldn’t let someone with the wrong intentions disregard what her mother would have wanted, etc. And I’m so glad that she’s going higher places (pun intended). But I’ve seen more than one person point out a couple of racist problems regarding the character’s trajectory…and yeah, they’re on point.

7. One of the things that had me worried for a little bit after the penultimate episode was the possibility that Hex!Vision’s personality would go into White!Vision’s body – because it would sabotage so much of the emotional narrative and morals being built, regarding that it’s healthy to let go of grief and let memories live inside you instead of living in denial and escaping into fantasy. But instead, White!Vision’s story is (possibly) TBC, and Hex!Vision is understood to be created out of Wanda’s love for the true Vision, and ends up passing peacefully.

8. Though what Wanda did wasn’t okay, as several other people have pointed out in posts and reblogs, I think it’s understandable how truly tempting something like that would be: if you had the power to remake your world in a happier image, dismissing anything under the surface with excuses, living through lives of the things that brought you joy, wouldn’t you want to take it, at the very least? Especially those in a very vulnerable emotional position…

9. I’m glad we’ve finally gotten the Scarlet Witch in the MCU! The new costume looks cool – it’s in-keeping with her prior ‘official’ look, but it doesn’t have a ridiculously low neckline, and it’s got the headpiece. And the Hex was a great name, and a great shout-out to the comics with Wanda’s ‘Hex Powers.’

10. Another thing the series did for the MCU as a whole is built up suspense and excitement regarding a movie many people probably weren’t fully psyched about, Doctor Strange 2. Now we’re all going to have to see it, to know what happens next, the way this story ended.

11. OKAY GOD NOW I’M GETTING TO YOUNG AVENGERS THOUGHTS BECAUSE THE MCU WILL GET THERE IT’S BASICALLY BEING CONFIRMED.

12. First off, the twins were so cute!! Julian and Jeff did a great job portraying them, and if the rumors that they will appear in Doctor Strange 2 are true, then all the better (and I think it’s good for the original twins to appear so the audience has a preexisting connection). But though the ages across the spectrum for potential YA members – Cassie and Kate’s actresses are both mid-twenties, America Chavez’s actress is fourteen as I’m writing this – they’re too young, probably, to be full-on members. Which means we’ll probably see them age up again.

13. GODDAMN THAT LAST POST-CREDITS SCENE. Not only did re-watching it give me the willies when I later had to get up in the night (the screams haunted me…) but we have no idea what happened to the twins when they went poof. Wanda didn’t create the Vision out of nothing (her love for him and the Mind Stone that was in them both made it possible), and she warped reality in the Hex, and (yeah I’m applying real-world physics to superheroes but hey, they try to do it as much as possible too, these days) energy cannot be created or destroyed only changed…so they’re probably real in some way. Especially considering they were able to act independently, developed powers of their own, and had personalities…

14. I’m betting Hulkling will appear in Captain Marvel 2 or Secret Invasion¸ so then it’ll be Billy + Teddy 4Evah. Because, if nothing else, Hulkling’s required for the Young Avengers (and if anyone tried to outright erase the relationship between the Skrull Emperor and his mage, what the fans would do, would make 1/6/21 look like a tea party).

15. But I’m kind of curious…of all the Young Avengers members we know about (or can assume, in the case of Hulkling), none of them have ever actually led the team that I know about. So, is it going to be Young Kang as Iron Lad (because that can’t last), or will it be someone else (I still want Eli Bradley to show somehow, because he’s been so sidelined)? If it does end up being someone we know about, my money’s on Kate. (I’ll admit, part of me is worried about what might happen if they introduced too many, because I’m worried that Tommy – who hasn’t always been a member of the team – would have to go, but I don’t think they’d do that.)

16. I’m pumped for the show in general, and what might come next, so bring it!!!

#prosepeare #thinky thoughts #feely feels #wandavision #wandavision spoilers #wanda maximoff #vision #young avengers #marvel #marvel comics #marvel cinematic universe #mcu #a lot of other tags but I'm too lazy right now

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meangirlsx · 4 years

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your opinion on... musical theatre being adapted for film? which shows do you think are successful (favorites??) and which ones do you think really need to be told in their original format? which ones have not been adapted but you think would make a great film adaptation? (-phantomoftheorpheum)

OH YOU REALLY WANT AN ESSAY YOU GOT IT

I’m gonna put a divide here because I’m about to be my wordy bitch self to answer the first question alone

I have so many conflicting thoughts on this. I had the absolutely incredible opportunity to work in New York theatre before and as everything shut down (that was an experience but that’s an entirely separate story), so I’ve been able to talk to people who are more closely affected by the situation, too.

Overall, I think musical theatre should be adapted for film. Theatre is an art form with an incredibly unique and undeniable power when performed and experienced live. But it is not accessible the way it needs to be.

A show on Broadway is expensive in itself, and most consumers on Broadway are not living in New York, so they’re also expected to spend money on travel, lodging, food, and transportation around the city, in addition to presumably having to take time off work or otherwise away from their lives to make the trip. Seeing shows on Broadway are some of the most incredible things I’ve ever experienced, but I am very fortunate and these experiences come at a great cost to most people. So many people who want to visit Broadway are not able to.

There are of course tours and that’s great. But similarly, they’re not usually cheap, and they’re not always close to you. I’ve encountered countless people who drove and even spent the night in another city to see a touring show that wasn’t coming anywhere closer to them. You can always find local shows, too, and those can be so wonderful. But the fact stands that a majority of the theatre world is based in an exclusive area. The Tony Awards are a nationally broadcast and celebrated event, but so many people watching have never had the chance to see the shows the same way you’ve had the chance to hear songs before the Grammys.

So I think shows being adapted to film widens the audience in a very necessary way. But there are two ways to adapt to film. The first is the way we know many movie musicals, as a true adaptation, like Mamma Mia, Into the Woods, The Sound of Music, Annie, Hairspray, Rent, and Les Mis. I actually do really love these versions. (West Side Story is also iconic but they basically forced their actors into brown face so there’s your not so fun fact of the day.) I think it’s fun to see the show told truly inside the world that otherwise is at least partially left to the imagination in most cases. And being adapted in this way typically means that it will interest more of a regular movie audience, which is really great to help get the stories out into the world and get more recognition of these shows and the industry.

The other way to adapt to film is the way Hamilton and Legally Blonde did it, where they released a professionally recorded version of the original stage production. I think this needs to happen more often. The original team of a show deserves for their work to be seen as the original form of the show.

For example, I’m so excited that The Prom is getting a movie, and I think the star-studded cast will help it get a lot more attention and therefore help the story reach a lot of people who need it, and that’s wonderful. This story needs to be told and these characters need to offer representation to people who have never had the chance to see themselves onscreen like this before. But the original team deserved to be able to tell the story they’d been telling it. They were the ones who introduced the story to the world and they deserve to introduce it to the world on this bigger scale.

It would be wonderful to normalize that kind of adaptation, maybe even in addition to the total remake adaptation format. I don’t want to get rid of one in favor of the other. Both have their place and their purpose. I suppose it wouldn’t be very sensible to create two movie versions of every show, to capture it in both full adaptation and stage-to-screen format, but I would honestly be all for that.

Some shows have such important, beautiful, intentional staging that it couldn’t be translated any way other than a professional recording. (Some examples below.) So some shows might lend themselves best to only a professional recording and not a total adaptation, but while I would love for anything to have a total adaptation that worked well in that format, I would want the original production, too, because it’s what they deserve.

I think especially now as we adapt so much to virtual formats, we’ve stepped into a new era of theatre potential. Theatre can be performed live virtually, or it can be recorded and shared to be watched over and over again just like our favorite TV shows and movies. There is nothing like the intense, electric feel of a live performance, but that should not limit us from sharing the art in other ways. The argument that being able to see a show as a movie would make people less likely to go see it has frankly been proven wrong time and time again. People want to see the show live more and will if they are able. Otherwise, we helped someone see a show who couldn’t see it any other way, and isn’t that the point of theatre? Making a difference in people’s lives? Connecting people?

As for shows that would make great film adaptations...

Hadestown is one of the most popular shows, so I feel like people would love to see that. The original team deserves to have their version of the show immortalized and shared with the world. But I would also love to see what an adaptation could do with the set for the Underworld.

I would love to see Come From Away as a movie. I think the show is so so so so so well done in its format, I can’t even really imagine it as an adaptation other than as a professional recording of the show.

Similarly, If/Then is a story I think everyone could use but I can’t even imagine it outside of its stage format so I vote for a professional recording.

Spring Awakening could really be a helpful show for a lot of people to see, but hot take I want it to be Deaf West’s Spring Awakening. Michael Arden is an absolute genius and the whole world needs to see his version of the story told through the phenomenal team.

The Lightning Thief deserved to be nominated at this year’s Tonys and they deserve a professional recording to be shared with the world. And I mean if someone wanted to make a better version of the movie with this group, I’d be down.

Bandstand deserves to be shared with the world and actually was available virtually for a little bit and I want that to be true again. I can’t imagine that in any other form, either, because the staging of trauma is so powerful.

Waitress was a movie first but I want the stage version immortalized because we need it.

Not Broadway but I want Kerrigan-Lowdermilk’s The Mad Ones to hit Broadway and then get a film adaptation, too.

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go-redgirl · 3 years

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Eli Steele: De Blasio's shameful racial profiling of Asian students

I was setting up my camera to film a rally on the steps of Tweed Courthouse in lower Manhattan when a disheveled middle-aged man clutching an odd assortment of papers to his chest stopped and stared at the gathering of parents and community leaders.

They were there to protest Mayor Bill de Blasio’s ongoing attack on the Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT), the sole gateway to one of New York’s nine specialized high schools. Their hand-drawn signs read, "Stop picking on Asian kids!" "Fix failing schools!" and "Keep the test!" The disheveled man began to yell aggressively and I turned, to lipread him: "You Asians take all the spots at these schools! Only eight blacks got into Stuyvesant High, only eight! You gotta give us blacks a chance, that’s all we’re asking for, man!" I turned my camera to capture him but he saw me and fled.

Later, as I reflected on this incident, I thought of that frosty November morning in 2013 when I waited outside a Brooklyn voting center for the de Blasio family to arrive and cast the votes that helped elect the father mayor of New York City. I was filming my documentary on multiracial Americans, "How Jack Became Black." There was an excitement in the air as people around me praised de Blasio’s multiracial family.

They believed such a man was a harbinger of better racial relations and they loved his campaign stance against racial profiling. They could not have predicted that de Blasio would leave office eight years later as one of America’s most egregious racial profilers.

Why had de Blasio and his education administration racially profiled Asian children? Was it because these youths took the American dream seriously and burned the midnight oil? Was it because their parents — many of them immigrants and impoverished — squeezed every penny to see that their children were prepared to take the test? Or was it simply that they were different, Asian and an unpreferred minority?

If 54 percent of the 4,262 eighth graders that passed the SHSAT had been black instead of Asian, there is very little doubt that de Blasio would not have charged the test as "structurally racist." In fact, he likely would have praised the test.

Wai Wah, the charter president of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance Greater New York, and her friend, George Lee, showed me the tweet sent by de Blasio’s education chancellor, Meisha Potter, after the students received their test results. Potter found it "unacceptable" that so few blacks were admitted to specialized high schools and said that it was "past time for our students to be fairly represented." The implication was the test was racist. FLORIDA WILL REQUIRE SCHOOLS TO TEACH CIVICS AND ‘EVILS OF COMMUNISM’

Wai Wah and George pointed out that Potter failed to congratulate the students who had studied for years and passed the exam. They also noted that Potter had neglected to pay respect to the other 19,266 students who similarly sacrificed but did not pass the test. The only thing that mattered to Potter was "our students," a label that included only Blacks and Hispanics.

Potter was only following the path forged by de Blasio, who spoke of the need to "redistribute wealth." Like previous educators, she ignored the reality of favoring equity over merit, a reality that cost many black and Hispanic neighborhoods its gifted and talented programs over the past several decades. When blacks and Hispanics had access to these programs, they took the same test that de Blasio disparaged as racist and dominated Brooklyn Tech from the 1970s to the 1990s.

Not one of these bureaucrats from de Blasio and Potter to the previous education chancellor, Richard Carranza, asked the obvious question: why had "too many" Asians passed the test?

Asking such a question would have forced de Blasio to examine what influences and behaviors made certain students successful. He would have quickly discovered that there was nothing "Asian" about their successes — after all, far more Asians failed the test than those who passed. He would have also discovered that it was their steadfast belief in the American Dream that drove them to take chances on their talents, a path followed by countless successful Americans.

Also, to look at the humanity of these Asians would have forced de Blasio to look at the root causes driving the terrible inequities that plague the nation’s largest public school system. Instead, it was easier for him to racially profile and scapegoat Asians for these inequities.

The racial biases of de Blasio and the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) establishment, rarely got much attention in the press. These folks promoted equity to the level of a top societal moral virtue where representation by race trumped merit. Having lowered themselves down to the inhuman level of race, they see race in everything and therein lies their bias, a bias that extended beyond Asians to blacks and Hispanics.

Rather than empower these demographics with the tools of equality by strengthening the schools, de Blasio believed he could racially engineer blacks and Hispanics to parity at the expense of Asians. That is how little faith he had in these demographics to agent their own fates. At the same time, de Blasio derived enormous political capital for appearing to champion the downtrodden while conveniently ignoring the long history of horrific oppression suffered by many Asian communities in America. It was this bias that allowed de Blasio to racially profile an entire class of people for the way they looked.

I thought about how this ugliness was taking place in 2021 as I traveled to the far end of the Brooklyn borough to visit the Ni family. Sam, an immigrant shop owner, welcomed me into a home that married the American Dream with cultural memories of the China that Sam and his wife left behind. I asked their children, Zoe, a seventh-grader studying for the SHSAT, and Leo, a ninth-grader at Hunter College High School, what they thought of all this anti-Asian discrimination — a Brooklyn educator had recently called the people like them "yellow folks."

After several shy answers, Zoe answered with the truth ignored by many educators: "People aren’t numbers. There are real people in these statistics. There are real people who are losing out on opportunities. And it is upsetting to me to know the reason is merely race."

Sam, a reflective and thoughtful man, revealed later that he had heard of Martin Luther King’s dream in China and that is part of why he came to America. Through a translator, he said, "In China’s cultural revolution, students were classified as ‘being of red five category’ or ‘being of Black five category.’ Why? It’s not anything to do with the individual student, but with his family background, with other external factors. In New York, even the entire United States, education, concerning race matters, it’s actually like China’s Cultural Revolution, not looking at the student himself, on who studies well and who doesn’t, but throwing up a mess of race and family background identity, to judge what kind of person you are. I think this is going backward in history."

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Sam also had words for leaders like de Blasio: "What they want is to use their views to remake and control the world as they want, and not let us free people, competing freely, under a system of equal opportunity, create a brilliantly multi-colored world. So what they are doing, to take their ideas to control the world, that's, in a certain sense, actually very much like communism, totalitarian communism."

Sam revealed to me that he had recently thought of immigrating to another country. He left the paralyzing class divisions of China only to find his children on the wrong side of racial divisions in America. But then he seemed to let that thought die down — at least in America he has the unbridled right to fight the injustices affecting his kids and he has fought.

As I rode back into Manhattan, I thought of what George Lee told me on the issue of representation. He blamed the ongoing racial divisions on critical race theory that, for him, was a "political ideology of race war, racial hatred." He wondered out loud how one Asian could represent another Asian, or a black another black, for that matter. He explained that nobody looks like him or thinks like him so how can he represent another Asian? He then continued, "If an Asian gets into Harvard, does that Asian take courses on behalf of an Asian who did not get in?" He looked at me with the twinkle in the eye that one often has when revealing a racial absurdity: "There is no such thing as representation by race. This whole language of representation is basically saying that Asians or whites or blacks are mutually substitutable."

That was the very thing that de Blasio fought against when he campaigned for Mayor of New York. He knew the evil of racial profiling was that people were not seen as individuals but as members of a race. He had heard blacks complain that they should not fall under suspicion because they were black and lived in high crime neighborhoods. They protested that it was unfair and that they were more than their race. Yet de Blasio betrayed this lesson in humanity when he racially profiled the Asians his entire time in office, leaving many black and Hispanic students worse off than when he took office.

In many ways, the disheveled man who yelled at the Asians at the rally was a sad symbol of de Blasio’s education legacy. That man had been poisoned in the mind to believe that Asians somehow had monopolized all the power and that is why he demanded that they give blacks a chance. But there is nothing the Asians can give him. There is nothing a race can give. Only the individual can give or take. That man will sadly never rise above his current station as long as he thinks that way. And that is why de Blasio failed so miserably on his campaign promise to uplift the schools. Eli Steele is a documentary filmmaker and writer. His latest film is "What Killed Michael Brown?" Twitter: @Hebro_Steele

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thelastdragneel6417 · 4 years

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𝗗𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗧𝘂𝗯𝗲 𝗝𝗔𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 part 1

(Ok sooo here’s my first time trying to write something original and good god am I nervous soo I hope you all enjoy)

The sun has now just rose above beacon academy signaling the start of a new day, while many would view this day to train or study to improve themselves as huntsmen and huntresses. For the (SUPER AWESOME AMAZING AND SERIOUS) team called team RWBY their is only one word that they would call this day

...

𝗕𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚

*At Team RWBY’s dorm room*

Yang: *laying on her bed looking throw her scroll before tossing it next to her* uggg I’m booored.

Weiss: * gruntingas she stops working on next weeks homework* normally I would scold you on your bluntness I agree it is quite boring today.

Blake: * siting on her bed reading her por - u mm I mean Um her “high class literature” yeah I agree but what do you ya think we should do?

Yang: *in a thinking pose* ummm how about we got the club?

Blake: *shaking her head* seriously is that all you can think of?

Yang: *in a hurt tone* HEY!!!

Weiss: besides we can’t the bullhead terminals are shut down for repairs after YOU AND NORA ALMOST DESTROYED IT BECAUSE OF YOUR IDIOTIC FIGHT *glaring at Yang*

Yang: *waving her hand defensively* hey in my defense Nora started it server her right for saying that pancakes are better that wallfls and besides I won it in the end.

Blake: no you didn’t Nora clobbered you into the ground.

Yang: *angry* hey whose side are you on anyway!?!?

Blake: *rolling her eyes* anyway how about we head to the library?

Weiss: that’s an excellent idea Blake. I think some time in the library would do us all some good.

Yang: ugggg no not the library I though we decided to kill our boredom not to kill me!!!

Weiss: you can stand to improve your book smart you barbaric bimbo *glareing at Yang knowing fill well that she probably a single second in the library during the new semester*

Yang: hey I’ll have you know that physical strength and training are more valuable than reading a few book right sis?

*silence*

Yang: *confused* umm sis???

*yang and the girls all turn to look at Ruby’s bunk to see that she’s laying on her stomach kicking her feet in the air in a childish manner headphones on her head humming along to a song not paying attention to the argument going on*

Yang: Ruby? *no answer* hey Ruby?? *still no answer frustrated Yang walks over to Ruby lifts one side of her headphones and screams in her ear* RUBY!?!?!

Ruby: *leaps I. The air in shock before landing on her butt in shock* owww *rubbing her butt to suve the pain before glaring at Yang* why would you do that?

Yang: sorry sis but I could get your attention what were you doing anyway?

Weiss: yes I would like to know too? *internaly* probably reading on of her childish comic books uggg what a dolt?

Ruby: ohh I was just listening to JAGames *ploping herself off the ground before jumping back on top of her bunk*

Weiss: *confused having never heard of what that dolt they called a leader was talking about* JA who???

Ruby: *gasping in shock before using her semblance to bolt over to Weiss getting right up to her face* YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF JAGAMES!?!?

Blake: *anoyingly picking rose petals out of her hair and book* let’s assume we haven’t who are you talking about?

Ruby: *wipping her head around to Blake before screeching* HE’S ONLY THE GREATEST DUSTTUBE SINGER OF ALL TIME!!!!

Weiss: DustTube??? You mean that stupid website where people post those idiotic videos of themselves???

Blake: I wouldn’t say that DustTube it that bad you can make some serious money if you’re committed to it.

Yang: yeah but a DustTube singer is not a good thing to hear cause most of them are absolutely horrible *cringing as she remembers that Oum awful rap named “It’s Just Today Mate” by Ten Team*

Ruby *scoffs like she’s offended* ugh JAGames is nothing like them he’s a thousand times better than them his singing, his rhythm, and his music makes it look like all those other wanna bees are just babies playing with a baby piano.

Blake: huh seems like you know this guy a lot?

Ruby: of course I do I’m his number one fan after all I’ve listened to all of his music and bought all of his merch and all his albums JAGames’ music have gotten me through some tough times so I will always love him even though he has never shown his face.

Yang: huh soo that’s where all that stuff came from I’ve always wondered about that also *grinning* aren’t you already dating a certain noodle boy right now for shame Ruby how could you break jaunes heart by having an affair?

Weiss: I still don’t know what you see in that dolt *rolling her eyes back not truly understanding why ruby would want to date that idiot but nether the less grateful that he has stop relentlessly trying to ask her out*

Ruby: *beet red embarrassed* Yannng stop that it’s not like that all *blushing* even though I really like him and his music I will always love my sweet knight more.

Ruby: anyway I’ve got an idea since I’ve talked about JAGames this long *an ear to ear smile creeps up on her lips before shouting* WOULD YOU LIKE TO LISTEN TO SOME OF HIS MUSIC WITH ME!?!?

Weiss: *appoled* are you crazy!?!? No why would we ever want to listen to your stupid music!?!?

Yang: I’m in sounds like fun

Weiss: *shocked* WHAT WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO DO THAT?

Yang: it sounds fun anything to beat this boredom and besides I’ve been trying to find some new music for a while now.

Weiss: fine then be that way but know that Blake and I won’t be bothered to listen to your childish music.

Blake: actually I’ll join in too.

Weiss: *absolutly shocked* WHYYYYYYYYY!?!?!?!

Blake: same as Yang seems like fun also I’ve just finished reading my book so I e got nothing else better to do.

Yang: see even kitty cat wants to watch with us *blake glares at Yang for saying that* so whatcha say I’ve queen care to join us?

Ruby: *giving Weiss the worlds most dangerous weapon known to man the dreaded puppy dog eyes* plweeessszzzzzzzzzz?????

Weiss: *unable to resist the deadly powers of the puppy dog eyes* I— umm I ohhh alright I’ll listen to your stupid music what kind of music does he make anyway?

Ruby: *jumping up and down excited* yay thank you bestie ohh he mostly makes rock -metal songs some time a little bit of pop and always follows a certain theme.

Weiss: *annoyed by knowing that she’s going to be listening to that barbaric type of music* and that I is???

Ruby: *embarrassed* umm video games?

Weiss: WHAT THOSE STUPID IDIOTIC CHILDISH GAMES THAT ARE A WASTE OF TIME WHY DID I EVER AGREE TO THIS *exclaimed loudly but secretly at the same happy because deep down she is a HUGE gamer a secret that she will take to the grave* AND YOU *pointing to Blake* ARE OK WITH IT!?!?!

Blake: why not? I don’t have a problem with video games sometimes they can tell a story better that a book.

Yang: welp too late to turn back know soo sis what song are we listening to today?

Ruby: *excitedly grabs her scroll unplugs her headphones and sets her scroll near her freinds* how about his newest one it’s a remake of one of my favorites I’m sure y’all will love it!!!

https://youtu.be/wNI0VCRmQ0c

youtube

(Here’s the song if you want to sing along)

🎶following total atomic anihilation🎶

🎶the rebuilding our this great nation our ours my fall to you🎶

🎶that’s why we at vault-tech have prepared these educational materials🎶

🎶for you to better understand the seven defining attributes that make you🎶

🎶special🎶

🎶the future fotells a tale of when the world goes🎶

🎶BOOM🎶

🎶BOOM🎶 (when the world goes BOOM BOOM)🎶

🎶nobody prepared🎶

🎶don’t think anybody cared about the🎶

🎶SOLE TRUTH (nobody cared about the SOLE TRUTH)🎶

🎶oh the bombs🎶

🎶they rose🎶

🎶 now everybody knows the🎶

🎶DOOMS DAY DEVICE(DOOMS DAY DEVICE)🎶

🎶claustrophobia🎶

🎶autotrophic🎶

🎶catostrophic hell🎶

🎶will be soo🎶

🎶and be up in the sky🎶

🎶even when the world feels🎶

🎶lonely and cold inside🎶

🎶even when the heart feels🎶

🎶BLISTERED FORM THE SCENES🎶

🎶for they will fall🎶

🎶For they will rise🎶

🎶for they would tear apart the view 🎶

🎶from your very eyes🎶

🎶take your hindsight and Change the world🎶

🎶FOR A NEW BEGINNING🎶

🎶for its now your chance🎶

🎶to use your hands🎶

🎶descend through the cracked in the dirt🎶

🎶WHERE YOU STAND🎶

🎶take on the vast open🎶

🎶MASQUERADE🎶

🎶THIS IS ATOMIC RENEGADE🎶

🎶following total atomic anihilation🎶

🎶the rebuilding our this great nation our ours my fall to you🎶

🎶that’s why we at vault-tech have prepared these educational materials🎶

🎶for you to better understand the seven defining attributes that make you🎶

🎶resources are scarce prepare yourself for homicidal🎶

🎶RAMPAGE (HOMICIDAL RAMPAGE)🎶

🎶 claim you’re rightful place🎶

🎶mark the writing on your face turn a🎶

🎶NEW PAGE (WRITING ON YPUR FACE TURN A NEW AGE)🎶

🎶well the bomb🎶

🎶they took🎶

🎶your land and now you’re🎶

🎶LEFT ALL ALONE (LEFT ALL ALONE)🎶

🎶Thers masses of🎶

🎶rebellious🎶

🎶proposterous, demonical🎶

🎶CARNAGE READY FOR YOUR BONES🎶

🎶use your senses and you’ll🎶

🎶PROVE YOU’RE WHOLE AGAIN🎶

🎶you’re the hero of this🎶

🎶LAND DEMISED WITH PAIN🎶

🎶for they will fall🎶

🎶For they will rise🎶

🎶for they would tear apart the view 🎶

🎶from your very eyes🎶

🎶take your hindsight and Change the world🎶

🎶FOR A NEW BEGINNING🎶

🎶for its now your chance🎶

🎶to use your hands🎶

🎶descend through the cracked in the dirt🎶

🎶WHERE YOU STAND🎶

🎶take on the vast open🎶

🎶MASQUERADE🎶

🎶THIS IS ATOMIC RENEGADE🎶

🎶now let’s begin with some simple instructions on what makes you a

SPECIAL 🎶

🎶strength🎶

🎶build your ability’s to carry more🎶

🎶persecution🎶

🎶will keep your aim right where you want it to be🎶

🎶endurance🎶

🎶bronze will tackle foes but how long for?🎶

🎶charisma🎶

🎶socialize enemies are closer than you think🎶

🎶intelligence🎶

🎶outsmart your foes with gadgets capable of removing harm🎶

🎶agilety 🎶

🎶build your reflexes to defend from approaching scum🎶

🎶luck🎶

🎶Tatic and strength is one thing🎶

🎶but some times all it takes is good luck🎶

🎶now take your world and throw it upside down🎶

🎶one man pushes through🎶

🎶ONE🎶

🎶MUTANT🎶

🎶AT🎶

🎶A🎶

🎶TIME🎶

*insert guttiar solo*

🎶for you will rise🎶

🎶through hell and back🎶

🎶you fortell of time when you were under attack🎶

🎶put your hindsight and change the world🎶

🎶for they will fall🎶

🎶For they will rise🎶

🎶for they would tear apart the view 🎶

🎶from your very eyes🎶

🎶take your hindsight and Change the world🎶

🎶FOR A NEW BEGINNING🎶

🎶for its now your chance🎶

🎶descend through the cracked in the dirt🎶

🎶WHERE YOU STAND🎶

🎶take on the vast open🎶

🎶MASQUERADE🎶

🎶THIS IS ATOMIC RENEGADE🎶

🎶TAKE THE WORLD AND BEGIN🎶

🎶THE CHARGE OF THE DAMNED🎶

🎶BE SURE TO DEFENS🎶

🎶YOUR BRETHREN FRIEND🎶

🎶YOUR ARMY DECENDS🎶

🎶YOU SAVE ANEW RACE 🎶

🎶UNTILL THE END🎶

Ruby: *nervous* sooo what do you girls think???

Yang:That. Was. Awesome Sis that has got to be one of the best songs I’ve ever heard it was soo action packed.

Blake: I have to agree that was a very good song not my cup of tea but still very good nonetheless.

Ruby: YAY that two for three sooo bestie did you like it???

Weiss: *quiet as a mouse and as stiff as a board before throwing her hands up in the air and screaming*HATED IT THAT WAS THE WORST SONG IVE EVER HEARD

RUBY: *almost as pale as a ghost and on the verge of tear* W-w WHAT!?!?!?

(That’s all I can type was it good or shit (sorry if it was) this is the longest thing I’ve ever typed here I hope you all enjoy) (don’t worry jaune comes in next part with a secret)

#rwby #rwby lancaster #dagames #dusttube jagames #jaune arc

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