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new-arcadia-recaps · 2 years

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New Arcadia Recap: s01e01 "Pilot"

A shuttle arrives at a silent space station. It docks by itself, and a mechanical voice transfers control to the space station computer, Alpha Juliet. Four cryopods are unloaded and defrosted; as they come out, Alpha Juliet scans them and logs their permissions. Ophelia Singh (she/her) is second-in-command and navigation specialist. Echo Cardoza (she/they) is the communications specialist. Ves Park (he/they) is the engineering specialist. When they try to unload the last pod, there’s an issue—no vital signs. The cryopod failed, and Mission Commander Mitchell (he/him) is dead.

Ophelia wakes to Alpha Juliet providing her new credentials. “Mission Commander Singh, command of New Arcadia has been transferred to you.” She stumbles up out of the pod and over to Mitchell’s, hitting the buttons, trying to get it to wake up. Nothing happens; he’s dead. While she’s doing this, the other two wake up. Alpha Juliet greets them all, introduces themselves as the station computer, and then reports: the station systems are only fourteen percent online.

“Which fourteen percent?” Ves asks. Not the right fourteen percent. Ophelia sends Ves to repair life support and Echo to bring communications online. She heads to the command center. What about Commander Mitchell? He’s already dead; the priority is to keep the rest of them alive. He remains in his cryo-coffin.

At the comms station, Echo starts initiation procedures. They linger over the damage to the ship—odd damage, like pieces of it have been deliberately ripped out. They slowly put it together, bringing it back online, reporting the damage to Ophelia. Ophelia asks them if something’s wrong, but they hesitate and say no: it’s all normal disrepair, nothing to worry about. Echo appears to be hiding something.

Repairing the life support system, Ves chats with Alpha Juliet. He asks if he can call them AJ. AJ agrees. Ves queries AJ about the station; AJ reports that they’ve always been the computer at the station, but Ves doesn’t think that’s right—AJ asks who would know, AJ or Ves? Well, AJ, but that’s not what Ves was told.

At the command center, Ophelia activates all the computers with her status as Commander. We flash back to before the mission. We see Ophelia and Mitchell in training together, complaining about working opposite shifts. Mitchell says he’ll leave Ophelia notes so that it’s like they’re working together. We watch a succession of post-it notes stuck to pillows—“you’ll do great”, “don’t forget to get your laundry”, etc. Then we get to Ophelia and Mitchell are performing final checks. They’re both nervous, but joking about it. As Ophelia gets in her cryopod, Mitchell sticks a post-it note in with her, tells her it will keep her company while he’s not there. Back in the present, Ophelia brings the computers fully online.

Ves asks AJ to access prior activation records. AJ tries, but can’t find them for a minute. Bad file organization...oh, there they are. Suddenly, the life support system starts crashing. Ves can’t figure out what is wrong. He realizes AJ’s attempted memory retrieval triggered the meltdown. Someone REALLY doesn’t want them to know what happened before.

Ophelia and Echo come running. Ves asks Ophelia’s permission to wipe the prior records. There’s some kind of virus in there, Ves thinks. They apologize to AJ—they’re kind of their memories. AJ says it’s fine. Ophelia hesitates, but Echo pushes hard for it; they need to stay alive now. Who cares about the past? Ophelia agrees. Ves wipes the records, and the life support system comes fully online.

Back in the landing bay, they regard Mitchell’s cryopod. They could launch him into space, an astronaut’s funeral, but Ophelia rejects that; his family will want the body. They end up moving it to a storage area and covering up his frozen face. Ophelia lingers at the pod.

While Ves and Echo go to the galley and AJ offers them a selection of rations for dinner, Ophelia goes back to her pod and retrieves Mitchell’s last post-it note. We don’t see what it says, but when she reads it, she sits down against the wall and starts to cry.

#new arcadia #new arcadia spoilers #new arcadia episode 1 spoilers #new arcadia s01e01 #television #chime in if I missed anything! first time writing a recap like this #also pls let me know if anyone else is watching I'm clearly already hella invested

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episodeoftv · 5 months

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Prelims, Vote 1 of 8

The top 4 finales will move on to be included in the main bracket

Propaganda is under the cut, may include spoilers

Agent Carter - 2.10 Hollywood Ending

Just as Peggysous became canon, just as Jack is about to start his redemption arc, they cancelled the show and left all of us on a massive cliffhanger for, let's see, almost 8 years at this point. We need ANSWERS.

Daybreak - 1.10 FWASH-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

It was written as a cliffhanger for a second season that would never come, but it just felt flat. The one objective that our leading lad (Josh) had been chasing (saving Sam) was rendered pointless, because the moment the big bad was defeated she effectively declared herself the new big bad and everyone who wasn't a major character went 'hmmm, okay!' And accepted it! They didn't even address this all that well, just ended with a shot of the MCs looking shocked.

Doctor Who - 12.10 The Timeless Children

this finale is shit!! absolute ass! nothing happens in it for it to justify having such a cool name. the master captures the doctor, shows her a slideshow that amounts to ‘‘you’re adopted!! :)" doctor breaks out of her matrix prison thing by overloading it with memories when the matrix is The Supercomputer and it’s used to hold all memories of all time lords ever? you know, the species whove been doing their thing for a billion years and live up to 10,000 years? the doctors new memories should either already be there or make nary a dent in it. the doctor’s like ‘‘why would they do that! why would they lie?’’ girl they have been lying to you since forever. they killed you once. theyve tried to kill you so many times. they turned you into a fucked up anti time monster that one time. one of the doctors past past selves even told her it doesnt really matter!! what was even the point

Loki - 1.06 For All Time. Always.

The series was going downhill past Episode 3 tbh, but it really just was a load of crap only interested in setting up the multiverse

Tales of Arcadia - Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans

This finale undoes everything the show worked for. In order to give itself stakes it kills off a few characters, but in a way that only indirectly impacts the MCs (such as Jim's Mom's fiancé getting killed). Then, at the end of the special, the main character uses time travel to go back to the start of S1E01 and changed history so he never becomes the trollhunter. Instead he makes his next friend the trollhunter instead. In terms of anticipation it was not at all what anyone was anticipating. (I had assumed he'd go to the start of the special and defeat the titans without any casualties). Having undone time only he remembers the previous timestream and he makes no effort to engage with it outside of accepting his changeling principal far sooner.

Ted Lasso - 3.12 So Long, Farewell

This trash ass finale undid three seasons of character development for every single person involved (except Nate!). A long-distance parent returned "home" despite having no attachments besides his child and leaving behind his entire found family, an abused and neglected woman was left behind by the person who taught her she didn't deserve abuse and neglect, and two characters who spent the whole show learning to cooperate and care for each other got into a fistfight over the girl they both dated.

Torchwood - 3.05 Day Five

No propaganda submitted

#prelim #wfprelim #wfpoll #poll #polls #agent carter #daybreak #doctor who #loki #tales of arcadia #ted lasso #torchwood

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raining-dreams · 8 months

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My Top 15 Favorite Cartoons

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir

Miraculous is truly my favorite show at the moment. Avatar may be a bitter better in terms of quality (it's next on this list) but I always have so much fun watching this show. Miraculous gets way too much criticism. It's just a fun show about two dorks in love who don't realize it because of secret identity shenanigans. This show is at it's best when it's not taking itself too seriously. My favorite episodes are Evillustrator and Simpleman. Two of the funniest episodes!

Avatar: The Last Airbender

A timeless masterpiece. Avatar is one the best shows of all time. This was my favorite show growing up. Though I like to say Miraculous is my favorite show right now because I'm actively watching that one and participating in the fandom, Avatar is probably my true favorite. I would frequently pretend to be a waterbender when I played in the pool. And this was the first TV show I watched that got me interested in the behind the scenes of what goes into making a cartoon.

Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia

For the first few episodes of Trollhuntes, I honestly wasn't that interested. I actually stopped watching for awhile with no intention of continuing. I thought this show was a bust. But then, I had a friend convince me to give it another chance. And oh boy, am I glad I did. The show ended up being incredible!! It has the perfect balance of drama, action, romance, and comedy. And all of the characters are very likeable! Which seems pretty rare (except for Merlin. He sucks. Worst character. My favorite character is Steve). The others series in the trilogy, 3Below and Wizards, are great too. But Trollhunters is definitely the best one. (The movie sucked though. Worst ending....)

The Owl House

The Owl House was cut way too short. This show had so much potential. What we got was still amazing but it had the potential to be even better had it been given the chance. But despite being cut short, it was still an amazing show! My favorite character is Amity.

Gravity Falls

Mystery is my favorite genre and I wish more cartoons would have a little mystery in their plots. It's so fun to play along with the characters and try to solve the mystery yourself. It can be really satisfying when you get it right or it can be an exciting twist if you get it wrong! Gravity Falls gave me a new interest in codes and ciphers.

Steven Universe

I didn't like Steven Universe at first. Back when season 1 was airing and it would come on tv, I changed the channel. Season 1 was a bit boring for my taste. But I exposed myself to the spoiler that Garnet was actually a fusion all along which sounded really interesting to me so I thought maybe just one time, I won't change the channel. And the episode when Peridot first started staying at their house was on and I immediately fell in love with Peridot! I watched the entire arc of Peridot learning to appreciate Earth and by the time I finished watching those episodes, I was hooked! And of course, I love the songs!! No Matter What is my favorite one.

Adventure Time

Adventure Time is such a fun and goofy show. It always makes me laugh. But what I loved the most were the scenes with Marceline & Ice King. Their relationship was such a beautiful and tragic story.

Amphibia

I love Amphibia way more than I thought I would. I first started watching Amphibia during an Owl House hiatus because I needed something new to watch while I waited and I thought I'd give this a chance. I binged the entirety of season 1 in a day. Unfortunately I fell a bit behind and I still haven't seen season 3 yet (I've heard it's a sad ending! 😨) So I need to get on that!!!

Bluey

I'm honestly so surprised by how good this show is. When I first heard about it I expected it to be really cheesy and only enjoyable to really young children. But boy was I wrong. This show tells touching and relatable stories and reminds me of a happier time. My favorite episodes are Rain and Flat Pack.

Danny Phantom

Danny Phantom's ending was a bit rushed and they kinda completely forgot about Valerie's whole arc. I was looking forward to seeing where that would go but it ended abruptly. Like, the episode immediately before the final episode set up a whole story that we just never got. But other than that, I really enjoyed Danny Phantom. I love that they let Jazz discover Danny's secret so early on instead of dragging it out. (As many shows do now.) My favorite episode was Reality Trip.

Kim Possible

Kim Possible is always a fun watch. I love all of the characters! Shego and Dr Drakken are my favorite! (They're a bit of a package deal) and Rufus is a close second. And my favorite episode is Emotion Sickness.

American Dragon: Jake Long

Something about secret identities is so appealing to me. This is like the fourth show on the list, I believe, that involves secret identities lol. This is another show that had a bit of a rushed ending in my opinion. They tried to tie up too many loose ends in two short episodes it seemed (at least The Owl House did three long episodes) But still a great show nonetheless! Sometimes when I Jake talks, I can't help but hear Zuko 🤣

Teen Titans

I loved Teen Titans as a kid! (and still now of course). We were robbed of a Starfire centered season with this show!!! When I was a kid, Starfire was favorite character (I lean more toward Raven now). But every character got an arc that lasted a whole season long, except for Starfire. I kept waiting for it to come but it never did. Not only that, but the show ended on a cliffhanger! I think that's why I hate Teen Titans Go! so much. They could have brought this show back and continued Tara's long awaited story as well as finally give Starfire her season long arc! But instead they made a goofy parody of the show... I'd still really like to see this show come back some day, for real.

Lilo and Stitch: The Series

Lilo and Stitch was probably my favorite Disney movie growing up. So, naturally, I became a fan of the series as well! I always related a lot to Lilo. And Lilo and Stitch did a few crossovers with other favorite shows of my (such as American Dragon and Kim Possible) which made the show even more fun!

Winx Club

This was my all time favorite show as a kid before Avatar came out! I was obsessed!!!!! Winx Club made me obsessed with fairies. I wanted to be a fairy so badly. I always tried to make my friends play fairies with me. I tried to get all my friends like this show just as much as I did. Unfortunately it was very underrated. Now that I've re-watched a few times after growing up, I definitely understand why. Some of the dialogue is pretty cringy and the 4Kids dub changed a bunch of stuff for no reason. Although I will always stand by the 4Kids dub being the best one.

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zizz-asdf-re-r-o-u · 2 years

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LISTEN TO VACANT ARCADIA!

OK I found my new favorite underrated indie musical audio drama.

Did you like Ready Player One/Dramatical Murder/Augmented Reality games? Did you like Sayer, WOE.BEGONE, Penumbra Podcast’s Juno Steel, Dreambound, and Fall of the House of Sunshine? Do you like amazingly skilled Broadway-level vocalists? And do you want... clear anime references?

Well check out Vacant Arcadia. It’s set in a cyberpunk post apocalyptic future in your classic dystopian rich & poor divided city, where body mods/replacements and AI are a thing. There’s an illegal AR game that 5 people and 1 game master are plopped into in hopes to escape the city and reborn into better bodies.

That’s as far as I’ll go into the pre-spoiler section, but know that there’s some amazing themes around human condition, AI stuff, body and gender stuff, sex work, drugs stuff, politics. As a participant in another murder game podcast oneshot episode (Hubris “(Don’t) Escape”), there’s some writing choices in the “deadly reality game” genre that I think only queer creators would make. I mean where else would you get a Sayer from Sayer singing a gayer Wicked-esque love ballad with computer programming euphemisms to an otaku Ty Betteridge from Woe.begone?

The musical pieces are not what I would normally lean towards (I usually like rock or pop). Most of Vacant Arcadia is ballads, jazz, typical Broadway, and a few Studio Ghibli-esque songs. There’s songs reminiscent of Cabaret, Chicago, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Cats, West Side Story, A Chorus Line, and more. The cast/vocalists were so skilled that I didn’t mind at all and this isn’t a genre you’d expect to go along with a dystopian cyberbunk AR game-themed story, but somehow it works.

I will give a big warning that if you listen from Spotify on your phone speakers, the audio during songs is quite poor and not in the Sheridan Tapes/Magnus Archives “old cassette tape” kind of poor quality. If you can get your hands on good non-phone speakers/headphones or listen with a different platform, that may be a much better listening experience. Also to be transparent, you can binge it completely without interruption- there are no ads, no intro/outro/credits, etc.

So please please check it out and yell at me about it. I have no idea what happened to the show or its creators and there’s ZERO fan posts about it on social media.

WARNING MAJOR SPOILERS.

FUCKIN HELL MAN. These are my fresh thoughts as I just finished the final episode. I’m listening to the entire soundtrack here https://buff.ly/3BP5CDV and honestly if the my phone’s speakers were better quality, it would be STUNNING AMAZING PERFECT cause the skill of these vocalists? Those riffs? The harmonizations? The high notes? My god.

Ok so calling it a murder game is not quite right in that they’re not *supposed* to kill each other like other murder games are. But it’s heavily implied that the game is designed to fail/kill everyone sooo. Also the Sayer comparison isn’t right either because the AI in question is too submissive/obedient and is more like Jet from Under the Electric Stars.

So the show follows Machie (hikikomori hacker who creates the show’s Augmented Reality game), Max (a former teen genius turned dropout drug addict), Lil Tipsy (a trans sex worker who needs a new body to transition), Dr Lawrence (an aging morgue doctor whose body is also deteriorating from illness), Edward (a married businessman whose actually a spy that is Machie’s childhood friend), and Marx (a “cult escapee”). There’s also the city’s AI system “Rez”.

The game is an Augmented Reality overlaid on the city into a “fairy land” based off an anime that Machie is obsessed with. It starts out about solving riddles and looking for puzzles to find their way to a room that’s supposed to have the bodies. They would need to work together as a team to overcome Machie, but also compete against each other when they can’t trust each other. Things quickly go down, secrets are revealed, people sing about trauma, lives are threatened, and there’s the constant threat of a solar flare radiation warning.

As a side note, I think all the foreshadowing works really well. The characters are smart, flawed but not too annoying, and well-rounded with depths that are both expected and surprising. And as I mentioned, the voice actors are amazing singers that all harmonize together well, although some of the conversations and songs drag on a little too long. In these type of stories, sometimes the plots and subplots try to overcompensate... but thankfully there’s not so much going on that it gets convoluted.

Onto the queer stuff!

There’s a very interesting discussion about body replacements/mods/grafts and gender and I absolutely *love* the fact that the cisgender businessman is the character whose aware of his job privilege, and that the old man doctor has female & male body parts grafted onto him and agrees with the trans character on gender fuckery. In the same convo, Marx reveals that *they’re* one of the bodies that people upload into.

This eventually leads to an overarching theme about bodies, body ownership, the human condition, and what counts as humanity, especially once Marx and Rez are taken into consideration. This is a classic scifi question and I like how Vacant Arcadia tackled it without forcing a lesson down our throats.

Also Tipsy teaches Marx about consent & sex positivity, Tipsy fucks Edward, and Tipsy offers to have sex with Max. A+++. Also also Machie hacks into Rez to create the AR game, and they have 3 duets filled with smexy computer programming innuendos that start out about hacking only to end with them calling each other “love” and “darling” and then that ending happens.

Anyways, so having helped create a queer murder game podcast episode myself and listening to Dining in the Void, there’s something i notice when comparing to Battle Royale/Squid Games/Saw, other murder games. We’re more likely to create an alternate ending where everyone survives, but I’m not sure Vacant Arcadia qualifies as a happy ending even though it’s “optimistic”...ish.

Now about that ending...

So they wind up in the Upper City only to realize that it’s actually an abandoned tourist attraction. Stuff happens with the Worm and the roles those 5 are. My favorite tear-jearker trope happens- Marx realizes that they’re the body everyone is going after to be uploaded/reborn into & thus needs to sacrifice themself. More stuff happens, including a MacGuffen biochip. Then it turns out that the solar flare radiation is actually gonna kill everyone and sure enough it does, including our main cast. This would have been a good stop in my opinion. However Vacant Arcadia decided that in Machie & Rez’s final duet, they combined into 1 entity and revive the main cast into new Founder bodies that are tasked with revolutionizing the city... full of dead people and radiation.

Which is also a decent stop, but an ending that most deadly game storylines would not do. So it’s a rather bittersweet ending.

My final opinion: there’s definitely some things it could improve on, the music isn’t my personal taste although I think a lot of musical or jazz fans would like it. I loved the characters, was very impressed with the voice actors, the plot was pretty good, it was never confusing or convoluted, and i really did like all the themes it addressed.

Do I think it needs a sequel or a season 2? I dont think so- i think it stops at a good place. However, I do wish there could be some minisodes, spinoffs, or prequels. Or most ambitious of all, concerts/live shows. A TV or Visual novel adaptation would also be so cool.

#vacant arcadia #audio drama #podcast recommendations #review #personal #podcasts

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theyareweird · 2 years

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The Truth of Rachel From Life Is Strange: Before the Storm

The following is what Chloe Price wrote about Rachel Amber in her journal: “Rachel somehow is nothing like the privileged golden child type you’d expect. She’s not like any type— She’s probably the most surprising person I’ve met. It’s this feeling she gives off...”

Based on Chloe’s words, Rachel is a complex character. Despite this, clues can be put together through Rachel’s behavior, personality and how she treats others; to discover who she truly is as a person. Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers to the game.

Biography

Rachel is a fifteen year old girl who was born in Long Beach, California. She eventually moved to Arcadia Bay, Oregon, where she attends Blackwell Academy. There, Rachel is one of the most popular students and a member of the theater group. After saving Chloe one night, the two become best friends. She and Chloe dream of leaving Arcadia Bay together as, according to Rachel, there’s nothing keeping either of them there.

This isn’t completely true for either person; however, Chloe is another story. In Rachel’s case, she has a good life there. Rachel has an eye for images and art. She’s quite ambitious through school performances and her aspirations of becoming a model. Rachel is also friendly, outgoing and good with people. These traits lead to Rachel having many friends, admirers and students of any gender attempting to pursue her as a lover. It’s assumed she's always been this way based on people often describing her as “perfect”. Rachel says she has a good relationship with her mother, Rose. She also loves her father, James, who she trusts completely.

Highly Impulsive

Rachel appears to have a caring personality as she’s well-loved by those close to her. However, she's used to getting what she wants. Rachel is easily angered, especially when things don’t go her way. In Episode 1: Awake, Rachel admits to using Chloe to ditch school. She tells Chloe, “I suspected my dad was lying about something, but I didn’t know what it was”. Rachel then says she saw an unknown number on her dad’s phone with a message asking to meet him. Wanting to know who her dad was seeing, she decided to go to the park. There, Rachel sees her dad kissing another woman through a viewfinder. Upon discovering this, she makes some impulsive and destructive decisions, such as stealing wine or lashing out at Chloe.

Skillfully Manipulative

Despite Rachel’s reason for acting out, this side of her suggests she's used her acting skills to trick people before. Thus why Rachel showed no hesitation or sign of having a conscious when pretending to be sick to grab the wine. In Episode 2: Brave New World, Rachel and Chloe are in Principle Wells’ office discussing why they ditched school. Rachel says she was, “having a bad day and needed to blow off some steam”. But she then dramatically lies, saying Chloe was trying to stop her from leaving; only to insist she tag along for her safety.

Emotionally Aggressive

Towards the end of episode one, Rachel texts Chloe to meet her back at the park. She says, “Chloe, I love my dad— and I never want to see his fucking face again”. It’s possible, through these bipolar emotions, Rachel might be twofaced. In the same conversation, Chloe says, “What I wouldn’t give to leave this place and never look back”. Rachel then asks, “What’s stopping us”? Despite Chloe's surprised reaction, Rachel continues. “There’s nothing keeping me here. Not anymore”. However, Chloe still isn’t sure. This is due to feeling abandoned by her dad, but Chloe also knows she and Rachel are still teenagers. Meaning, feelings can come at a whim and change in the blink of an eye for them both. “If I came to you tomorrow and told you to pack your bags...” Chloe continued. “I’m serious. Let’s do it, Chloe. Let’s leave this place forever”.

As far as Rachel knows, her dad is only cheating on her mother with another woman. It’s despicable to discover her dad is a lying, cheating, scumbag; to a devoted and loving wife. However, Rachel’s mother isn’t aware of this information yet. Meaning, her parents have yet to fight or debate divorce over the matter, assuming the husband isn’t willing to ditch the mistress for their relationship and daughter. If Rachel confronted her dad, the typical worst case scenario would be her parents divorce. This would be tragic for anyone to endure, but Rachel has loving and protective parents who would undoubtedly provide for her. Noting this, the idea Rachel would be serious about abandoning her parents is cold. After all, there’s a chance her parents could work things out. If Rachel's parents did divorce, she would still have her family and a large support group from school as well.

Selfishly Dismissive

From this event forward, Rachel doesn’t care about the consequences of her actions or how they effect those within her life. In episode two, Chloe begins to fix an old truck in the junkyard. Rachel soon discovers her there and is amazed “she already found their escape car”, noting back to the conversation the two had the night before. In the same conversation, Rachel glosses over how she caused a forest fire. When Chloe addresses her “wild” behavior, Rachel defends herself saying, “I was angry”. In this moment, Rachel dismisses her parents again and ignores the damage she’s caused through her chaotic emotions.

Vindictive Prone

In Episode 3: Hell Is Empty, Rachel possesses vengeful behavior. This is displayed if Victoria takes her role in The Tempest school play. At the theater, Rachel will drug Victoria’s tea if Chloe fails to convince the latter to quit the role. Upon drinking the tea, the drugs will have a dangerously fast effect. Victoria will then immediately become high, act drunk and suddenly pass out into a deep sleep without warning.

Self-Beneficial

Later, Rachel’s dad explains why he kissed the woman, Sera, at the park. During the flashback of his love life, Sera is dancing in the same way Rachel did in the previous episode. James then explains while many people were looking for college, careers and families; Sera wasn’t. Instead, she was looking for an “escape”, like their daughter is now. Sera would often inject herself with drugs, seemingly heroin, to pass out and get high. Eventually, she started bringing thugs and drug dealers into their home. To keep Rachel safe, James ran away with her as a baby. Since Sera preferred money over her child, she receives $1,000 through $3,000 per check, once a month, from him. However, she now claims to have her life back together and wants to see Rachel. James says he kissed Sera ‘goodbye’ because he didn’t trust she was fully stable due to her past struggles with an off-and-on drug addiction. Thus, James denies Rachel the right to see her mother too.

Now, Rachel has a right to desire running away; however, she shouldn’t still be planning on running away. It’s understandable for her to feel betrayed and hurt, but Rachel also learned her loved ones aren’t going to divorce. Instead, she has a loving family along with a biological mother who loves and desires the right to see her once more.

Eventually, Rachel and Chloe decide to look for Sera. The next day, Chloe askes Rachel if she’s glad her dad is here for her in her time of need. Rachel says, “I mean, I’m still mad at him for everything he’s done, but... It felt good to lean on him”. For someone who’s set on leaving her parents, she sure has no problem changing her demeanor whenever she wants to use her dad.

Scheming

In the same conversation, Rachel asks Chloe to look for clues inside her house. Rachel believes Cloe can find her birth mother by using the code to her dad’s office and a spare key under the door mat. Later, Chloe breaks into James’s office. There, she discovers Sera voided the recent checks sent to her. In an email on James’s computer, it’s revealed Rachel’s dad sent a criminal murderer and drug dealer, Damon, to threaten Sera. This way, Sera would stay away from Rachel despite spending a year clean in order to see her daughter.

Afterwards, Chloe discovers Sera’s location. At the old mill, Chloe sees Sera being injected with a drug by Demon. After an event, Chloe wakes up to find Sera smoking. Sera then explains why James doesn’t want Rachel to meet her. If people found out he was married to a drug abuser because his daughter wanted to be a part of her birth mother’s life after becoming clean, it would ruin his reputation as the elected DA of Arcadia Bay. Sera then says James hired Demon to inject her with drugs to trigger her addiction and force her to drop the custody. Despite this, it’s hinted through Demon, James hired him to kill Sera with overdose for her to no longer be a reoccurring threat to his career.

Depending on the player’s choices, Sera will be able to see her daughter. The player must first ask for Rachel’s bracelet in the second episode. Rachel has had the item her entire life because it was an unknown gift to her from Sera as a baby. Second, the player must pick the correct responses for Chloe during her consultation with Sera. Finally, Chloe must return to Rachel and tell her the truth about her dad. If Chloe keeps the information secret, Rachel will continue having a relationship with her dad. If Chloe tells the truth, this will destroy Rachel’s relationship with her dad. However, in the end credit montage, Sera will meet Rachel by the lighthouse and the two share a hug.

Regardless of which ending is chosen, Rachel still has loved ones in her life. She has a family, friends and a fantastic social life. It may be a little dysfunctional, but nothing is perfect. In the end, Rachel has one of the best lives in comparison to many others. Yet, this is only the beginning of looking into Rachel’s character. The next article, ‘The Truth of Rachel From Life Is Strange’, will continue exploring Rachel and who she truly is as a person.

#life is strange: before the storm #article #rachel amber

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the-plural-of-cris-is-crises · 2 years

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A Very Trekful 10 Days: Day 0

IT IS HERE IT IS HERE IT IS HERE

New Episode - Star Trek: Discovery, S4E11 "Rosetta"

SPOILER ALERT

Main takeaways from Rosetta: This was a great episode. I really enjoyed it. I like the communicating from emotion idea. I did see each element before the characters got there, but they weren't far behind. I am really looking forward to meeting Species 10-C.

Picard S1 Rewatch - Star Trek: Picard, S1E9 “Et in Arcadia Ego Part 1”

Main takeaways from my Et in Arcadia Ego Part 1 rewatch: I have definitely been using the term "the calculus of life and death" since I first saw this episode for situations where it's sacrificing a life or lives to save another or others, so thanks Soji.

Star Trek: Picard, S1E10 “Et in Arcadia Ego Part 2”

Main takeaways from my Et in Arcadia Ego Part 2 rewatch:

*Excited humming*

New Episode - Star Trek: Picard, S2E1 "The Star Gazer"

Status: NOW WATCHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

New Release - Star Trek: Picard, "No Man’s Land" (not that new anymore, but I have half an hour left. Also, it's still new)

#A Very Trekful 10 Days #the day has arrived!#!!!#star trek spoilers #star trek: discovery #star trek: picard #picard #pic #discovery #disco

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tunafishprincess · 4 years

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so wizards happened, what did you think of it?

My Thoughts (Spoilers Ahead)

I enjoyed it a lot. Was it perfect? No, no show ever is perfect. I think one of the reviewers for it gave it a B+ which is what I’ll give it as well. The animation has greatly improved since Trollhunters and 3 Below and the magical parts were really well animated. The voice acting was also good. The new voice actor for Jim has improved a lot since Trollhunters season 3 and it shows. Claire’s voice actress has also gotten better I think. And hot damn, Callista? She’s one of my favorite characters now.

The designs for the villains were killer too. Also Douxie’s design and character during Wizards is just great, so props to the designers and writers for bringing him to life.

Some of the pacing was a bit off, but with only so much episodes they were able to produce they did the best they could. Overall, I think my main issue with it was the ending for Jim, but I also understand why they went with it? For me, when they said it was a permanent change in season 3 of Trollhunters that was it, so going back on that rule kind of made me turn my head and go wut?

But I get why the writers did it as well. Jim has always sacrificed himself for others time and time again, so giving him something back (returning him back to human) makes sense. I know a few folk are now freaking out that Claire will outlive Jim but considering the old knight dude was still on the floating Camelot 900 years later makes me believe that even if Claire did outlive others (because I’m assuming the aging thing is a choice) Jim would probably join her since they are together.

I do hope Jim takes up Excalibur in the movie, as that makes the most sense thematically for me. Because Jim didn’t choose to be the Trollhunter originally, Merlin chose him in season 1. He was pressured into taking it again in season 3 as well. But Jim choosing to take on Excalibur is different as no one is pressuring him. It’s his choice. It completes his character arc, going from protecting humans and trolls to protecting magic and nonmagic alike. Plus, all the symbolism of James LAKE taking up the sword that comes from a LAKE in a place called ARCADIA. Like, come on.

Plus everyone else has a weapon now. If you give it to anyone else Jim is gonna be stuck with his cooking knives and I’m not sure how much damage he’ll make on the villains with...actually, forget everything I just said, that would almost be amazing.

Jim taking down a villain with a steak knife would make the most sense thematically for me now.

#tales of arcadia #wizards toa #toa wizards #jim lake jr #wizards spoilers #spoilers #my thoughts on wizards

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toaheadcanons · 3 years

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General reaction time! Again, this will contain HEAVY SPOILERS FOR TALES OF ARCADIA AND RISE OF THE TITANS. SKIP THIS IF IT GOT THROUGH YOUR FILTER.

So, let's begin. Firstly, as beautifully visually executed as the movie was, I think we all could tell the full original team wasn't working on this part of the TOA project. Setting that aside for a moment though. Trust me on this.

I was SHOCKED at the animation quality this time around. TOA has almost always had pristine graphics, and a movie budget took things to a while new level. Well done, TOA animation team!! 🥰🥰🥰

The MagiScience Camelot. Can I live there? Also, do they live there?? It's sort of unclear, did everyone just decide after the end of Wizards to form their own little bubble or???

I'm curious as to whether the time loop could result in a sort of 'duplication glitch' for the Amulet. I'm putting my speculative stuff in yet another post, because WOW that ending gave my lil' brain a lot to work with

There were so many fantastic scenes intermixed with the not-so-great points. The Best Man scene. That whole sequence in which there's some Blaaarghy hinting sandwiched into the scene between the couples comforting each other. I just 🥺 I know there are a few dull points here, but that whole ten minute span is just so on point. I really wish that accuracy to the characterizations carried all the way through.

I really, REALLY need to know how much time passed between Wizards and ROTT. Really really. Like I know the kids were 15-16 at the start of season 1, and 16-17 by the end of season two, but from there time becomes quite nebulous. I'm speaking in age specifically for our human characters here, as we still have no idea about how the Akiridion, Wizard-Immortal and Trollish life cycles actually work. Like I get that now they're later teens to early adults in age, but considering some of the err, plot choices, I think it's important to know?

I'd love a series, a comic, hell a set of shorts even, where Steve gets some main character time. I really wasn't a fan of him being sidelined the whole time. Give me my Creepslayerz please, Mr. Netflix.

I've started to look at this less like a movie and more like Predacons Rising, a made-for-TV movie/special finale episode. Except, knowing DreamWorks, we also may be seeing the beginnig iteration of another "[name here] of Berk" style of different series, set in different points in time. ESPECIALLY with that ending.

Speaking of, I know a lot of folks were quite upset with the end. I was too for a while, but those braincells just keep on bouncing around, and I have an inkling that however they decide to show us the potential/alternate timeliness, we'll see them somehow.

I'm actually quite excited about the idea of Trollhunter!Toby. From the beginning, I always thought he'd turn out to unknowingly be half-Troll or a changeling or something. Boy has a natural inclination for stones and crystals, the teeth issues, his stature and body-shape, hell, he seems at home in the scenes in Trollmarket throughout the series.

Please, Mr. Netflix, show us what his armor looks like? 👉👈🥺

Okay, picking back up on this not being the original creative team. There were some significant missed opportunities here, not only to draw on previous character development [Steve is a knight, Toby could have used his hammer instead of the glowing sticky-magic, etc.] but also to draw on ideas from The Book that would have gone REALLY well here! Lol and here I was hoping for the "what counts as a bridge" scene. 🤡

For those who don't know, Trollhunters in its original form is a book that reads much like a movie. It features a much different Jim, a much different many characters in fact. There were actually a few references I did catch! If you haven't had a chance to read it and you'd like a palate cleanser, READ IT. Oh it's so good I so wish more people read the book-

Aaaaanyway, back to the topic. The reason I'm looking at this more like a special than a movie is because is feels like it should have been a special. Or a miniseries even, like Wizards. This was a bit much to pack into a <2h timeframe.

BUT, I also feel like they could have waited to spring a plot like this on us until they had a concrete "next steps" plan. If they had, say, separated the beginning of the loop from the film, and used it as the beginning of a Trollhunter!Toby [Insert media type here] teaser/trailer, I have a feeling I'd be more happy with it. Also, why replace Anton's voicework for the audition speech? That I am truly upset with. The loop itself is actually quite intriguing, though.

All in all, I'm honestly pretty satisfied with the film. It was brutal, don't get me wrong, and for future reference I'd like to know how much it cost Netflix to get it a Y7 rating. That said, the parts that were done well were done VERY well. Im interested to see, when the series crops back up, what the true plan is moving forward, but until then my name is my bond. I make TOA headcanons, and that's exactly what I'm going to do. Thank you all for getting on this roller coaster, it was one hell of a ride and I hope we get to do it again soon 😁

#rott #trollhunters #rise of the titans spoilers #rise of the titans #tales of arcadia spoilers #toa #tales of arcadia

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hotxhocolate · 4 years

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MY WIZARDS EXPERIENCE

A COMPILATION BC I'M TOO LAZY TO SEPARATE THIS SHIT

P.S. Spoilers(?) Ahead P.P.S. THIS IS REALLY LONG SO HONESTLY DON'T WASTE UR TIME JUST WANT TO GET THIS ALL OUT

Episode 1

Douxie is precious. I'd give my life for him love him.

Archie the little shit. I love him.

THE OPENING SEQUENCE!!! BROOOOO

Jim u unfotunate bb

GIVE JIM A BREAK!!!

Merlin ur so useless sometimes i h8 u

NARI BB I LOVE U I'M ADOPTING U U PRECIOUS CHILD

GIVE DOUXIE AND CLAIRE THE STAFFS THEY DESERVE!!!

THE END CREDITS!!!!!!!!!

Episode 2

FREE JIM!!!

DON'T KILL JIM!!!

SAVE JIM!!!

POWERFUL CLAIRE 😍

GLOWY EYES CLAIRE 😍😍😍

MORGANA I KNOW U TRIED TO KILL MY BABIES IN TROLLHUNTERS BUT I LOVE U UR GORGEOUS

Arthur u suck

... douxie that was yourself

douxie u suck at blending in but i still love u

oh God steve why

u fucking look alike ofc u'd say that

YES FREE JIM!

drunk steve :')))

rapper steve :')))

Merlin during that part when the trolls escape Camelot lol same

POWERFUL CLAIRE!!!

GLOWY EYES CLAIRE!!!!!

trollhunter squad -1 being saved by their enemies lol

Episode 3

I do not like glowy eyes jim

morgana gwen gay

HOLY SHIT POWERFUL CLAIRE 😍

i wanted u two (morgana and claire) to be friends :'(((

HOLY SHIT ARTHUR WAS THE ONE WHO CUT MORGANA'S HAND OFF

AHSAKAJSKAJ MORGANA DEAD???

Episode 4

AGAKAJAAJ BLINKY

NIMUE!!!

TIME TO SEE WHICH NIMUE THEORY IS TRUE

AAARRRGGHH!!!

WITCH CLAIRE! POWERFUL CLAIRE! U AMAZING GIRL I LOVE U! U CAN OPEN THAT SHADOW PORTAL!

TEACHER DOUXIE :')))) I LOVE U

no nimue theory is true (or maybe there's a true theory out there but the ones i have read aren't)

IT'S THE THINGY!!! (and by thingy i'm referring to that netflix screensaver?/sneakpeek?/thingy)

Douxie freeing Nimue and receiving excalibur

Ur an amazing person Douxie and i love u

Jim & Morgana parallel???

OoO IT WAS NARI WHO GAVE MORGANA THE HAND

history's going alright in my pov

Episode 5

MORGANA GETTING HER GOLD ARMOUR GEAR THINGY!!! (me: 😍)

MORE TEACHER DOUXIE HIHI!!!

SHIT CLAIRE GET OUT OF THERE

>:((( merlin listen to them

steve and food hihi (same)

oh God steve

steve calling for eli :'(((

IS CALLISTA GONNA BE DEYA?!!!

CALLISTA DEFINITELY IS DEYA

CLAIRE IS BEING THE AWESOME QUEEN SHE IS AGAIN I LOVE HER

U GO GIRL

creepslayerz :'))) i miss eli

past douxie u dork i love u

Episode 6

AAAAAAAA VENDEL

Jim & Claire reunion 😍

draal i missed u :'(((

TROLL DADS ORIGIN HIHI

IF THEY KILL JIM I SWEAR

THE AMULET OF DAYLIGHT ORIGINS HIHI

where's kanjigar?

decimaar blade >:(((

coach steve HIHIHI i love him

Jim and Claire date hihi they're so soft my bbs

:'((((

jim... claire's always been an awesome wizard

THE AMULET ORIGINS!!!

DOUXIE AND MERLIN WORKING TOGETHER TO CREATE IT :')))

DOUXIE FINALLY GETS THE STAFF HE DESERVES YIEEEEE!!!

CALLISTA TROLLHUNTER!

pre-trollhunters draal >:(((

THE TROLL DADS 🥺

BLINKY U GAY SHIT

ALSO AAARRRGGHH!!! HAD A NOSE RING WHAT A CUTIE

YIEEEEEE CAL IS DEYA I KNEW IT!!!

AJA MENTION!!!

Episode 7

IT'S THE BATTLE OF KILAHEAD!!!

PLS DON'T KILL JIM HUHU

gosh merlin u useless shit douxie's doing all the hard work

DEYA WHERE DAFUQ R U

OH NO LANCELOT

OH NO ARTHUR

OH HE ACTUALLY DIES HERE AND IT'S NOT GONNA MESS WITH TIME ALRIGHT NO PROBLEM

DEYA! TROLLMARKET! WHERE R U

THERE THEY ARE WHAT TOOK YA'LL SO LONG

WHERE'S THE DAYLIGHT ARMOUR???

OH THERE IT IS

DOUXIE TURNING HIS STAFF INTO A GUITAR THE ABSOLUTE CUTIE

don't worry doux i think it's amazing

DOUXIE U DORK I LOVE U

U CAN DEFEAT MORGANA WITH THE POWER OF MUSIC I BELIEVE IN U !!!

DOUXIE AND HIS OBSESSION WITH FIRE HIHI

IT'S THE QUOTE (ALTHOUGH JUST PART OF IT) BUT STILL !!!

IF U THINK I DIDN'T RECITE IT ALONG WITH DEYA

(disappointed she didn't get to say it so i'll say it for her) DON'T THINK !!! BECOME !!!

DEYA MY GURL I'M SO PROUD OF U

I LOVE MY TROLL DADS

JIM PLS DON'T DIE :'(((((

where's steve? where dafuq is steve? did ya'll leave him? HOY DON'T LEAVE HIM

oh jk he's there

hihi past douxie hihi

Episode 8

JIM NO DON'T DIE HUHU

NARI U PRECIOUS CHILD 😍

PROTECC NARI

DOUXIE AND HIS MAGIC GUITAR I LOVE HIM

WTF NO JIM!!! HUHU

NOOOO JIM

AYSJAHSKAHA IT'S KREL HIHI

her name's zoe !!!

soooooo who exactly is zoe

"we're closed to privileged arthurian toolbags" ok i love zoe

wizard underground hihi

HAVE I ALREADY SAID HOW MUCH I LOVE NARI HIHI

WTF DID THEY DO TO JIM GRRR

FREE JIM !!! SAVE JIM !!!

OH NO THEY FUCKING BROKE THE AMULET AGAIN

WHY DOES EVERYONE KEEP BREAKING THE AMULET

WHY DOES IT KEEP FUCKING BREAKING

MORGANA!!!

MORGANA JOINS TEAM GOOD ???!!!

HOLY CRAP WHO DAFUQ IS THE GREEN NIGHT

IS IT ARTHUR? BUT HE'S DEAD ???

PROTECT NARI HIHI I LOVE HER

but gdi merlin

YES!!! SAVE JIM!!!

so ... who is pretending to be nari

is it archie???

yep! it is archie

NARI I LOVE HER

PRECIOUS

gdi merlin we're not leaving without claire and jim

CHANGE JIM BACK FREE JIM SAVE JIM HUHU WTF DID THEY DO TO JIM

fucking shit morgana i want u in team good stop being team bad

IT'S ARTHUR HOLY FUKC

HOLY SHIT MERLIN DEAD ???

i h8 merlin but shit bro why'd u kill him huhu

GLOWY EYES DOUXIE 😍

POWERFUL DOUXIE 😍

GO BOI

MERLIN ALIVE ???

"i'll try to make u proud" "you already have" :'((( no i'm not crying u r

SON???!!! HAHA(?) I KNEW IT???

BUT WHY WOULD CALL UR DAD MASTER??? WHAT KIND OF MESSED UP KINKY SHIT???

Episode 9

hihi past douxie

douxie u cheater

AH JK FATHER FIGURE NOT REAL FATHER alrightz

doux :'((((

i mean i'm not super sad bc i don't really like merlin but still

IS THAT A GOOD MORGANA I SEE hihihi

FREE JIM :'((((

nari i love u

NO JIM'S ALIVE I BELIEVE

noooo don't bake douxie into a blood pie i love him

did charlemagne the devourer just make a pun

charlemagne is archie's dad lol i didn't expect that

charlie

lol this is gonna take a long time

TEAM GOOD MORGANA !!!!!

HIHI MORGANA I'M PROUD OF U

CLAIRE AND MORGANA BFFS lol

BB ARCHIE THAT'S SO CUTE

DOUXIE!!!

THE CLAIRE MORGANA DUO HIHI

Episode 10

Last ep huhu

krel my boi !!!

nari bb :'(((

krel precious

douxie hihi my boi !!! U SMART BOI I LOVE U

YES U ARE STRONG ENOUGH HISIRDOUX CASPERAN I LOVE U

he trapped them in a time loop i love him

douxie and his guitar i love him

NARI HIHI UR SO PRECIOUS I LOVE U

THAT'S MY BOI DOUXIE I LOVE U

OH NO DON'T KILL DOUXIE

DOUXIE PLS DON'T DIE

AHSKAJSKSJA PURPLE EYED CLAIRE OMG GURL I LOVE U

GLOWY EYED PURPLE EYED CLAIRE !!!!

OH NO DID THEY KILL MORGANA

DID MORGANA DIE ?????

OH NO DON'T KILL CLAIRE

CLAIRE PLS DON'T DIE

MORGANA DEAD :'(((

WHY DO THEY KEEP KILLING PPL HUHU

stop it

STOP BREAKING MY HEART

JIM ALIVE!!!!

IT'S MY BLUE EYED BABY BOI

OH NO JIM DEAD :'(((( i'm literally sobbing right now huhu NOOOO

U CAN'T DO THIS WTF HUHU

AHAAJJAJAAJ TEAR!!!

AHSKAJAKAKAKA JIM ALIVE!!!!

JIM HUMAN!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

OH NO DOUXIE NO

DON'T DIE DOUXIE HUHU

YES SAVE DOUXIE!!!! CATCH DOUXIE!!!

OH NO FUCK DOUXIE DEAD TT

DOUXIE ALIVE!!!

or douxie dead??? i'm confused

MHM DOUXIE WHY R U THERE GO BACK TOT THE LAND OF THE LIVING

LOL DOUXIE NOT FOLLOWING MERLIN'S INSTRUCTIONS I LOVE HIM

WTF DOUXIE DEAD???!!! I DISAGREE

YES!!! DOUXIE ALIVE !!!!!!!!!

JIM HUMAN I'M SO HAPPY!!!!

JIM EYEBROW SCAR??? OMG!!!

JIM WIELD EXCALIBUR???

OR NOT???

TALES OF ARCADIA: FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC

no douxie nari don't go away huhu i'm gonna miss u

DOUXIE AND NARI IN A BIG CITY IS THAT NEW YORK OR SMTH

WHERE R THEY???

BUT WBT EXCALIBUR???

AND THE ARCANE ORDER???

SEASON 2???

it's a limited series tho so maybe not huhu

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Marvel’s What If…? Episode 1 Review: Peggy Carter Changes MCU History

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This review contains spoilers for What If…? episode 1.

What If…? is the latest Marvel Studios small screen project to arrive on Disney+ after much fanfare. The animated anthology show, created by Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia writer A.C. Bradley and Marvel storyboard vet Bryan Andrews, aims to explore alternate timelines in the MCU multiverse. In order to fully grasp the basic premise of What If…? as a whole it helps to have watched Marvel’s Loki, which recently introduced the multiverse to the MCU.

What If…? episode 1, “What If… Captain Carter Were The First Avenger?,” focuses on a (mainly) WWII-era version of Peggy Carter who made a key alternate choice that affected the creation of Captain America in a major way.

It’s a fun episode! Your mileage may vary depending on how much you love Peggy Carter, but since I love her a whole lot I had a good time watching this. The main downside, I suspect, to any of these installments, is that they’re inherently redundant. As far as we know, none of the fantastical concepts here will bleed into the live-action MCU. But if you’re here for a good time and not a long time, What If…? should make for a neat weekly diversion.

Our What If…? reviews are going to adopt a different format. More of a “breakdown” that we hope will still satisfy regular readers but also help younger viewers and those less familiar with the MCU keep up.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at “What If… Captain Carter Were The First Avenger?”

Required viewing

In terms of understanding the central characters and how things changed inside the branch timeline featured in this first episode, we would recommend revisiting Captain America: The First Avenger, Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter, and the opening act of The Avengers. If you’re on a full Peggy Carter binge, why not add both seasons of ABC’s live-action Agent Carter series to your watchlist, too?

What’s different?

This episode explored what would have happened if Steve Rogers was unable to take the super soldier serum during World War II and Peggy Carter volunteered to become Dr. Abraham Erskine’s lab rat instead.

Peggy’s “what if…?” was deciding to stand her ground and stay in the room while the serum was administered during the iconic transformation sequence featured in Captain America: The First Avenger. She then had a chance to intervene in the Hydra bombing, but Steve got caught up in the action and was subsequently shot.

With time running out to perform the super soldier process, Peggy jumped into the machine and went on to become Captain Carter, having all the physical powers of Captain America along with a different costume and an altered shield with a Union Jack at its center.

Steve was badly injured and had to undergo intense physiotherapy while Peggy trained to be the best she could be. Their relationship blossomed and, thanks to Howard Stark, Steve took on the role of her sidekick in a Tesseract-powered Hydra Stomper – basically an early version of the Iron Man suit. Meanwhile, Peggy faced interference from Colonel John Flynn, who was regularly on hand to pour out a stream of misogyny regarding her place in the fight.

In a familiar First Avenger train sequence, Peggy went on an altered mission with Steve, Bucky Barnes and the Howling Commandos to take out the Red Skull, however it was Steve who ended up falling from the train in this timeline and not Bucky, so it stands to reason that Bucky wouldn’t then go on to become the Winter Soldier.

Other more minor changes include Peggy probably not making out with her own niece during any Civil War shenanigans in the future – and please do not direct me to any fan art depicting that scenario in the comments, I beg you.

In the end, the Red Skull used the Tesseract to summon a tentacled “champion of Hydra” and Peggy had to sacrifice herself to push it back back into the space portal from whence it came. She emerged from the portal pre-The Avengers’ Battle of New York.

Who are the voices?

Jeffrey Wright plays the show’s narrator, Uatu The Watcher, and he’ll be here for every episode.

Returning to voice their characters from Captain America: The First Avenger were Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark, Neal McDonough as Dum Dum Dugan, Toby Jones as Arnim Zola, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, and Stanley Tucci as Dr. Abraham Erskine. Other MCU actors joining in were Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye and Ross Marquand as the Red Skull, reprising his role from Avengers: Infinity War/Endgame.

Bradley Whitford may seem like a new addition as the arrogant Colonel John Flynn, but he previously portrayed the character in the live-action Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter released back in 2013, so even in the Sacred Timeline Flynn continued to be a thorn in Peggy’s side for quite a while.

The elephant in the room here is Steve Rogers. Chris Evans did not add his voice to the What If…? mix, so it was up to Marvel animation alum Josh Keaton to stand in for Evans, and he honestly did a really good job of it all things considered.

Standout moments

I gotta say it was truly wild for me to witness Captain Carter have adventures onscreen at all! It was obviously great to see Peggy kicking ass with her enhanced strength – the serum only beefed up her already brave and competent nature – but this version of the character has something of a unique origin, having been concocted as a kind of throwaway addition to the match-3 game Marvel Puzzle Quest in 2016. A couple of years later, Saladin Ahmed added her to the pages of Marvel Comics in Exiles #3, and it clearly didn’t take Marvel Studios long to figure out how to apply the enthusiastic Captain Carter fan response to an MCU project.

Peggy riding Steve’s Iron Man-esque Hydra Stomper into a dogfight during the WWII montage sequence was a delight, frankly. The animation in most of the fighting sequences was terrific and really took golden opportunities to reach for the kind of punching, kicking, shield-throwing ballet that the live-action format could never quite achieve with its restrictions of reality.

I found myself slowly warming to What If…?’s animation style, which I probably still wouldn’t describe as my favorite if I’m honest. I love the What If? comics, and this series felt like an opportunity to really push the weirdness envelope a little more. You only have to look at what Netflix accomplished with its anthology series Love, Death & Robots to see how differently a What If? series that embraced other styles and voices could have gone, but I grew up on Saturday morning cartoons, stop motion, Fantastic Planet, and Heavy Metal, so forgive me for briefly imagining the possibilities of this project in a wilder sense.

One of the oddest standout moments for me was when the episode subverted my expectations somewhat. After Steve was seemingly killed during the train heist, I thought the creators of the show were all set to explore him becoming the Winter Soldier, and I have to admit the idea intrigued me a little! However, it didn’t go down like that, and I was left to mentally wander down a different “what if…?” rabbit hole alone.

How does it work out?

In the future, Nick Fury used the Tesseract to transport Peggy back from wherever she ended up after she entered the portal, and it looks like she joined the Infinity Saga-era Avengers Initiative in Steve’s place. Whether it all worked out well for this episode’s specific MCU timeline remains to be seen, but it would be really fun to see if Agent Coulson had a pack of Captain Carter trading cards!

More to come

Episode 1 played like a pilot for an ongoing Captain Carter series for good reason: What If…? has been confirmed to include at least one Peggy Carter installment in every season going forwards.

“A lot of the season one episodes are riffing off certain points in the cinematic universe and maybe even delving in a certain phase, but we need to expand and explore more things, so we had to come up with other ideas that were a little further down the timeline,” director Bryan Andrews told us, later adding “Peggy Carter is pretty awesome; Captain Carter is pretty awesome, we’d love to see more of her.”

Marvel’s What If…? is now streaming weekly on Disney+ every Wednesday.

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The post Marvel’s What If…? Episode 1 Review: Peggy Carter Changes MCU History appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3AAseau

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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lifeisstrange-blog · 4 years

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‘Designing the Cast and World of LiS2′ with Rachele Doimo

At its core, Life is Strange 2 is a road trip game. Sean and Daniel’s journey from their home in Seattle takes them all across the western states of America: from the snow-covered gardens of wintery Beaver Creek, to the drifter camp under the giant redwoods in California, to the arid Nevada desert. Each environment adds something to the story and they are carefully crafted to feel unique but real: places you could almost go and visit in real life.

But locations only come to life when you put people in them. The biggest part of world building isn’t just where does this prop go, but asking yourself: why is it there? Who are the people that live there and what effect do they have on the environment, and the environment on them? Creating a world that feels lived in and is a place that makes sense narratively requires both careful environmental and character design.

To explore the creation of the memorable locations of LiS2, and the diverse cast of characters who live in them, we’ve sat down with Square Enix Art Director Rachele Doimo to discuss how the incredible art teams we work with at studios like DONTNOD bring everything to life

Let’s start with Environments first. And remember, as with our previous blogs: beware spoilers!

Can you tell us what research went into some of the environments covered in Life is Strange 2?

Everything started with a trip that the game directors did a few years ago across the USA. It was a journey through a continent that made quite a mark in their life and work. All the memorable places they visited and people they met have contributed to their vision of Life is Strange 2.

What were some technical challenges for the larger scope of Life is Strange 2?

Performance had to be monitored constantly from asset creation to final lighting pass on each shot. A high number of lights can significantly slow down performance, but at the same time, they can make a huge difference in the quality of each single shot so all assets in a scene, from character models, to props, to lights, to total number of polygons, have to be managed in order not to reduce the framerate.

Given the changing environments in each Episode of the game, were there any environmental assets you were able to re-use, or was it a case of starting with a fresh palette of trees, rocks, and ground textures every time?

Each location had to be bespoke. Only a small amount of props could be reused, which also impacted development time. Generic grass, for example, is used in multiple locations, but trees and specific flora needed to be consistent with the part of the country that each episode is set. Every asset and material contributes and builds towards the unique, captivating look of an environment in Life is Strange.

Into the woods in Episode 1 is the biggest environment to date. Do we see something similar in Ep4?

At the beginning of Episode 4, when Sean is heading to Heaven Point, the Nevada desert area is probably the largest location in the game, in terms of visible distance. Although not the highest in asset density, it hopefully successfully creates a sense of loneliness and highlights Sean’s separation from his brother: walking on a vast unknown road through an unfriendly territory.

With Life is Strange 1 we had a broad cast of characters but one that remained in a single location: Arcadia Bay. The town had a set number of inhabitants and wasn’t changing in the same way the environments do in LiS2. Though new characters were intermittently introduced, the cast broadly focused on a specific set of people. In Life is Strange 2, the boys are on the road, passing through all manner of towns and communities on their journey south, which, out of necessity, required a much larger supporting cast – from the handful of major characters Sean and Daniel each Episode, to the innumerable secondary and background characters needed to populate each stop on their journey. More characters were designed during the Episode 1 and 2 concept art stage than were designed for the whole of LiS 1. Rachele, with that in mind, we’d like to talk about how the art team develops characters that fascinate us, whether they feature in an episode, a scene, or are just seen in the background.

What’s the process of designing a cast of memorable secondary and tertiary characters? The art process starts when an approved character biography is provided by the design team. This is the foundation of what the character should actually look like, the details of which all have to speak about who this person is and what they went through in life before the player encounters them.

Facial features and body shape are extremely important, but clothes and accessories play a crucial role too. Even small details like a pin on a jacket can add a lot to the character’s “visual story”. Designing a character is a rather long process that goes through many concepts and revisions, from the mood board stage to digital sketches, to the very detailed in-game model, which can itself be revised multiple times – but it is extremely fun and rewarding when you see them being brought to life in the game.

The design process for Cassidy's tattoos went through a lot of development to make sure they represented her personality and character. No detail is too small!

Some characters obviously get more attention in the narrative of Life is Strange 2 than others. Do lesser-seen characters get the same special treatment in art and design as more primary characters? What does this process look like? The main cast obviously is where the art team has spent most of their time, especially at the beginning of the project, but secondary and tertiary characters are no less detailed or less looked after.

Main characters, in this case Sean and Daniel, are designed and created at the beginning and then serve as a benchmark for the rest. What is built during this process sets the style for the entire cast, the level of detail, the level of definition in the textures and the overall rendering style. In Life is Strange 2 there was a major need for extras and minor NPCs in every episode. While those didn’t need the same “uniqueness” as the leads, they certainly still had to be consistent to the narrative, place and role in the story.

Similar to the intricacies of her tattoos, Cassidy's overall appearance went through many iterations to get her style just right.

Who is your favourite character featured in Episode 3?

Very tricky question… I like all the drifters, of course! They are fun to play and watch. I have a particular soft spot for Cassidy – she is visually very interesting, without being conventionally dressed or styled, it really allows her personality to shine through. Her punk-inspired style, with worn-out clothes and purple hair, makes her a very iconic and memorable character. She is both contemporary and unconventional, both with her style and her charismatic personality.

Many thanks to Rachele for walking us through these elements of environment and character design. What were your favorite locations and characters on the journey so far – do you have a soft spot for a background character?

Join in the conversation, and stay with us all the way to #JourneysEnd!

#Official News #JourneysEnd #Blog

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taleoftalespod · 4 years

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Tale of Tales | episode: 1.03 “In A Dark, Dark House”

Once there was a house with something sinister inside it...

In this episode of Tale of Tales, we'll explore the ghosts of our folkloric past, the insecurities that surround new places and new responsibilities, and how best to survive dismembered body parts falling down your chimney (spoiler: it involves more bowling than you might expect).

https://www.buzzsprout.com/800948/episodes/2647366-1-03-in-a-dark-dark-house#

Tales on this episode:

“In A Dark, Dark Wood”, retold from memory from common variants (0:00:00-0:02:02)

Alvin Schwartz, “The Guests”, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, adapted from a report in Louis C Jones’ Things That Go Bump in the Night (0:03:35-0:05:55)

Alvin Schwartz, “What Do You Come For?” Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (0:08:33-0:09:48)

Alvin Schwartz, “Sounds”, More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (0:12:36-0:15:52)

Alvin Schwartz, “Me Tie Doughty Walker”, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, adapted from Herbert Halpert’s transcription of “The Rash Dog and the Bloody Head” (0:19:23-0:23:10)

Alvin Schwartz, “The Haunted House”, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, adapted from a tale reported in Richard Chase’s American Folk Tales and Songs (0:23:44-0:30:17)

Jakob & Wilhelm Grimm, “The Boy Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was”, Children’s and Household Tales (0:32:14-0:52:11)

Alvin Schwartz, “Is Something Wrong?”, Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones, adapted from a tale reported in Louis C Jones, “The Ghosts of New York” (0:53:51-0:55:22)

Alvin Schwartz, “Footsteps”, Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones, adapted from a Canadian tale reported in Helen Creighton’s Bluenose Ghosts (0:57:54-1:00:12)

“Reflection”, retold from several online variants (1:01:43-1:04:36)

All Music Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Track Listing:

“The Dread” by Kevin MacLeod (0:00:01-0:01:41, 0:47:42-0:50:48)

“Return of Lazarus” by Kevin MacLeod (0:02:15-0:03:11, 0:03:36-0:05:55, 0:08:30-0:09:46, 0:41:50-0:47:30)

“The House of Leaves” by Kevin MacLeod (0:13:18-0:15:49)

“Gathering Darkness” by Kevin MacLeod (0:19:24-0:23:03)

“Spider Eyes” by Kevin MacLeod (0:23:44-0:30:18, 1:01:43-1:04:36)

“Danse of Questionable Tuning” by Kevin MacLeod (0:32:14-0:34:17, 0:35:04-0:37:08)

“Wanderer” by Alexander Nakarada (0:38:28-0:41:34)

“Arcadia” by Kevin MacLeod (0:51:23-0:52:11)

“Unease” by Kevin MacLeod (0:53:51-0:55:20)

Show Extras: Poltergeists

This episode contains by far the most stories of all the episodes I've planned so far for the podcast's first few months of existence, but there were still a few that I wasn't able to include. Some of them will probably appear in future episodes, but this comedic extra from Alvin Schwartz's collection is probably too contained to this episode's subject matter to fit with any future ones. In his second book, More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Schwartz tells a story he calls "Thumpity-Thump", told from the perspective of a family that moves from Schoharie to Schenectady and rents a house "awful cheap 'cause it was spooked", though they themselves "didn't take no stock in spooks." Similar to in "The Haunted House" and Pliny the Younger's tale, they hear a commotion their first night there and investigate, following the sound down into their cellar. The story breaks tradition a bit in that in this case the noise turns out to be a chair hopping up and down on top of one particular spot on the floor. When they dig up the floor there they find a box containing "the body of a man all smooched with blood." The family, believing suspicion will be placed on them if they report the find, rebury the body and pack up to leave -- all while the chair, "awful mad", keeps hopping up and down insistently. The family reports being happier back in Schoharie, "where chairs stay where they're put and don't go rarin' and rampagin' roun', scarin' folks out of their wits, pointin' out murders and goodness knows what!"

In his notes, Schwartz explains that he adapted the tale from Emelyn E. Gardner, who reported the story in her book Folklore from the Schoharie Hills, New York as it was told to her by a New York woman in 1914. Schwartz identifies the haunting in this tale as a "poltergeist", or "noise ghost", an invisible entity that makes its presence known by moving things around and making noise, sometimes neutrally but also sometimes malevolently, smashing dishes, setting fires, and ripping clothing. Schwartz documents another poltergeist story, "The Trouble", in his third book -- this one far more harrowing, as Schwartz claims it is based on true events that may have themselves been inspiration for the eventual feature film named after the frightful spirits themselves: Poltergeist.

#tale of tales podcast #tale of tales #storytelling #haunted house #ghost #ghostlore #ghost stories #scary stories #urban legends #lore #folklore

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discotreque · 4 years

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Picard 1.08: Broken Pieces

I'm so tired, y'all. My cat ate one of my hair elastics, because she's an idiot, and she was up all night puking extremely loudly all over the apartment. I have reached the age where I can't just bounce back from a sleepless night with a couple of Red Bulls and sheer force of will, so I'm kinda wrecked.

But I don't think I've ever been so wrecked that I couldn't ramble about Star Trek for a minute, so—shall we?

Spoilers:

We open on Aia, "The Grief World," possibly the most extra name for a planet in all of Star Trek canon.

This flashback is set 14 years ago, and Ramdha is present. But when we met her as one of the disordered Romulan xBs, they said she and her ship were assimilated 16 years ago. Either I'm misremembering or that's an obvious error. Which happens—I'm not mad, just confused.

Speaking of confusion: we see only female Romulans experiencing the Admonition (cool name btw), and Oh mentions a tradition passed down from their "foremothers." Are the Zhat Vash a female-only sect like the Qowat Milat? If so, what's Narek's deal? Or are only women Admonished, and male Zhat Vash agents just have to take their word for it?

None of this actually matters. I told you I was tired.

I really liked the scene with Narissa and Ramdha, mainly because I like Peyton List a lot and she got to show some complexity for a change, but Narissa remains an uncompelling villain to me. Even if she thinks she's working to save trillions of lives, she's indulging in an awful lot of sadism along the way; you get the impression she'd be torturing and murdering people even if she weren't an anti-android crusader.

They told us up front that Rios had a tragic backstory, but wowwwww. Two weeks in a row, this show gets us grieving for a character we've never met—impressive.

Prop watch! The phaser Raffi pulls on Soji looks more like a 21st-century firearm than any weapon we've ever seen on Star Trek, which added some possibly-unintentional heft to the scene. You just don't get the same visceral reaction seeing someone held at dustbuster-point.

The return of Admiral Fucking Bongwater! I worry Oh's going to get her before this is all over, though.

More infinitesimally tiny nitpicking: the JJ Abrams movies introduced the idea that phaser bolts on "stun" are blue, and ones on "kill" are red, and as far as I could tell, the first two seasons of Discovery used the same convention. (Which is a retcon I'm fine with: it makes fight scenes more visually understandable.) We've seen both red and blue phaser fire on Picard, and every confirmed phaser kill has been from a red shot. This episode, we see Seven shoot a bunch of Romulans with blue bolts, but later Narissa says they were killed by phasers. I don't know what to believe anymore!!!

I have literally never been more attracted to Jeri Ryan than in this episode. What a babe.

Every conversation about Data on this show ends up making me weepy. "He loved you" was the heavy hitter line, of course, but Picard saying that he felt as limited in his own emotional capacity as Data also had me reeling.

I totally called the engineering hologram being Scottish. Is it a terribly clever joke? No. Did I know they would be powerless to resist it anyway? Yes. Did I laugh my ass off when it finally came to pass? Absolutely I did.

Moving stars around the galaxy is pretty cool, but I read a novel once where some hyper-advanced aliens were moving stars back in time. Way cooler.

The physical comedy in the scene with Mr. Hospitality the close-talker and Raffi, who has a basic normal sense of personal space, was hilarious.

Rios is a sad boy who listens to sad songs on vinyl records and reads sad philosophy books. So basically he's every guy I knew in my 20's, zing!

Say what you will about the writing on this show, but the acting is almost uniformly phenomenal. I've heard more than one actor say that being on a show with Sir Patrick Stewart makes you instinctively up your acting game, and honestly, I think it shows all over the place, even when P. Stew's not in the actual scene.

All of that last point was basically to say Jeri Ryan is also acting her ass off this episode. I always thought she was a great actor, all the way from her debut on Voyager, but she is taking it to another level here and I cannot look away.

Can't decide who's showing off more in the scene with all the holograms: Santiago Cabrera or director Maja Vrvilo. Standing ovation to them both.

Raffi calls Rios's record player a "Walkman," which is adorable.

I will literally bet money that, had we seen Beautiful Flower (RIP), he would have been played by a relatively makeup-free Brent Spiner. Furthermore, I predict we're going to see another android from that line (i.e. Spiner returning sans the Data makeup) before the end of the season. And if it doesn’t happen and I remember to, I will call myself out.

Agnes is like "I promise I won't kill you," and Soji's just "Like you fucking could."

There was a cute moment on the Ready Room this week when Wil Wheaton mentioned seeing an early cut of this episode without most of the VFX, and Jeri Ryan's immediate reaction was "Oh, so I looked like a total idiot!"

All those Borg being vented into space was rugged as fuck. This show has gone to some lengths to establish individual Borg drones as not only victims, but victims who can potentially be saved. On TNG and Voyager, you cheered when a Borg cube blew up. On this show, when thousands of drones are unceremoniously killed, it feels like the massacre it is.

Everyone who's been whining about the nasty, nasty language on this show is going to have a fucking field day with this episode.

Speaking of f-bombs, I get the feeling Picard should have called Clancy back with the news that her head of security is a Romulan agent. Seems like information she should have, um, ASAP?

When Soji took over La Sirena with zero difficulty I burst out laughing. Like father, like daughter!

I am extremely interested to see what happens next with this Borg cube.

Picard's speech to Rios feels like the thesis of this whole show. I like it.

And fuckin' Narek is still around. Ugh.

Next week is Part 1 of the two-part season finale: "Et in Arcadia Ego." How's that for a title?

#star trek picard #star trek picard spoilers #picard spoilers #amy's episode notes

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stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale · 4 years

Text

An Explanation of Why Louis and Violet are Both Terrific Love Interests [1/5]

+Why both romantic routes are not only amazing but better than other games I’ve personally played in the past.

+Why some people are idiots and get off on picking stupid fights.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Grab a beverage and sit down, I’m about to weave you a tale.

A long time ago, I made an Instagram account. I did this so that I could have another place to intake TWDG content. I got to see lots of artwork and watch fun little videos and edits and it was all great.

For about an hour before everything went downhill far too quickly. You see, I rarely go on that Instagram account anymore because no matter what tag I look under to search for content, a good 60% of it is all the same: hateful.

Hateful towards Violet, hateful towards Louis, hateful towards each other. I can’t tell you how many posts I’ve scrolled past with the title “TELLTALE AND SKYBOUND HATE LOUIS AND HERE’S WHY” or “VIOLET IS THE WORST AND HERE’S WHY” or “WHY VIOLENTINE IS CANON AND CLOUIS IS NOT” or any other nonsense along those lines.

After that, I quit going on Instagram.

Until one day, I thought to myself, “Well, maybe now that the game is over, those dingdongs have moved on and I can look at the twdg tag in peace!”

And to be fair, it wasn’t as bad, but it’s still actively being made. Along with other questionable content that I think has taken hours off of my life just by witnessing it but we’re not going to dive down that rabbit hole right now.

Anyway, after glancing over another “SKYBOUND HATES LOUIS” post, I couldn’t help but think, “Y’know, either y’all don’t realize how lucky we were to have gotten a bisexual lead with not only one great romantic option but two amazing romantic options, or y’all are just a bunch of idiots who get off on fighting. Maybe even both. I mean, sure, they’re not equal in every single way possible and there are a lot of things that I wanted, but it’s a helluva lot better than what we’ve been given in the past with other games.”

The thoughts kept building up as I recalled previous games that had optional romances that left me underwhelmed or downright disappointed. Neither Louis nor Violet have perfect romance routes, each with things that we wish we had more of, but we’re lucky to have gotten what we did, and because I haven’t written a post like this in a long time, allow me to break it down for you.

Keep in mind that this is just my opinion and how I see things. I’m sure there’ll be a point where you say “Well, CJ, I beg to differ on this particular topic and/or idea-” and that’s fine.

Hell, maybe you have a game with a disappointing romance that I didn’t list here because I’ve yet to play it. That’s great, feel free to share! This post is for fun but also because I need to vent some frustrations towards a fight that is 100% unnecessary but continues regardless.

Beware of spoilers for the following games:

Life is Strange Persona 4 TWDG: A New Frontier King’s Quest [2015] Catherine

[both Louis and Violet are great!]

all y’all on instagram are just idiots

Now, in case you couldn’t tell from my blog, I love Louis. When it comes to my personal canon of TWDG, clouis is my endgame. Louis is my favorite non-playable character of the entire series, if not my absolute favorite. I love him.

You know who else I love? Violet. She’s great. I found myself relating a lot to her character and I wanted to see her make it to the end okay. I was pissed when she was pissed at me, but in the end, I was more pissed about her treatment regarding her blinding and how easily she and Clementine made up.

But you know what I really, truly love? A great bisexual protagonist: Clementine.

Clementine’s the lucky one here in that she has the choice between sweet, charming, loyal Louis and witty, strong yet sensitive Violet. This is the definition of “bi panic” because really

I do want to add that I haven’t played Violet’s romance route, but I don’t need to to know that it’s great. There are a thousand and one blogs who can explain her romance with Clementine 100% better than I can, but I will try my best within this section and my conclusion since I’m mostly talking about them together.

Now, why is it great that Clementine is a bisexual protagonist? Well, there’s obviously the representation which was more than welcome in this case, regardless of what some idiots will say.

Not only that, but it allows the player to romance a boy or a girl, which again, is obvious but I have some points about this that I’ll bring up when I talk about other games, like Life is Strange and Persona 4, so put a little pin in that for later.

Both Louis and Violet are presented as loving partners for Clementine, and they’re both people who Clementine cares about. Based on your choices and how you play her, you can be as affectionate with them as possible and help them better themselves over the course of the game.

Louis and Violet have different but interesting backstories, they have different ways of communicating their feelings, they both deal with their own struggles [internal and external] and open up to Clementine in different ways.

Yes, there was plenty to be desired within the routes. We’ve talked about that before so I won’t go into great detail about it, but in conclusion: Louis and Violet are great.

So why do people argue about it?

My scientific conclusion states that they’re idiots who get off on picking fights over the internet.

And that they don’t know how good they got it because we could’ve gotten so, SO much worse.

At this point, I will be comparing the Louis/Violet romance to romances found in other games I’ve played, starting with a game that I liked very much, but was ultimately disappointed with, well.... everything.

[life is strange and imbalance]

every choice matters except not really until we hit episode 5: bae vs bay

Life is Strange is an episodic game that released in 2015. It follows Max Caulfied, a young, aspiring photographer attending Blackwell Academy who learns that she can rewind time after witnessing a girl being shot in the bathrooms.

I was pretty into this when it first came out. I played each episode as it came out, I read stuff on Tumblr and watched every theory video on youtube I could find. It had a likable and relatable protagonist, a pretty cool missing person mystery, cringy dialogue, and cool rewind powers.

Let’s talk about Max, our playable protagonist.

She’s shy, awkward, nosy, and she wants to be a photographer but lacks confidence when it comes to putting herself out there despite having the talent. She goes through a lot of grief and betrayal through the game, but ultimately learns more about herself and how her choices affect everything around her.

She’s also bisexual, and like Clementine, she can romance a girl or a boy.

Love Interest #1: Chloe Price

Chloe is the deuteragonist [secondary main character] of Life is Strange, and Max’s old childhood friend. She’s also the girl who gets shot in the bathroom, and the girl whose [girl]friend, Rachel Amber, is missing.

Over the course of the story, Max and Chloe reconnect and grow closer as they try and find Rachel while also trying to figure out Max’s powers. We spend most of our time with Chloe, going to diner’s and junkyards and what have you.

We learn a lot about Chloe’s home life: Her father died in a car accident, her mom owns a diner and remarried an asshole who smacks Chloe around when she smokes weed in her bedroom. We see Chloe as her most vulnerable, we save her life numerous times because she just won’t stop getting herself killed.

Hell, we do this to the point where it begins to physically hurt Max and makes her bleed. We do this because Max claims that Chloe is the most important person to her.

The most important person in Max’s life.

Now, spoilers for the ending, but it turns out that the storm that’s come to destroy Arcadia Bay is all because of Chloe. So, the final choice Max has to make is to either go back and let Chloe die in the bathroom or let the storm destroy a town and kill nearly everyone there.

Either you sacrifice an entire town of people or you sacrifice Chloe.

Bay vs Bae, as the kids dubbed it.

Romancing Chloe isn’t exactly full of fluffy smooches, though. You’d think it would, but considering that the girl we’re looking for is Chloe’s girlfriend who Chloe loved very much, it’s mostly Max saying how much she cares about Chloe and then Chloe turning around like “Boy, I wish Rachel was here...”

Then we find out Rachel’s fucking dead and that’s a real romance killer if I’ve ever seen one.

Hell, the only time you get a real smooch from her [that we see] is if you sacrifice her! If you sacrifice the town, the game’s like “Really? Okay....” and you watch Max and Chloe drive through a wrecked town and into the sunset together.

There’s a lot of different factors to it that you don’t get unless you’ve played it, but for me, it was disappointing. I didn’t even romance Chloe the first time because I didn’t even really like her, but when I did romance her, I felt cheated!

I only get to be happy with my girlfriend if I can live with the blood of an entire town on my hands?? And odds are, fate’s gonna keep trying to kill her, so I also have to hurt myself and numerous timelines to keep her alive until I eventually explode????

Man, I don’t know if I want to commit to that, y’know? Thankfully, there’s another romance option I can look at, right?

....Right?

Continued in Part 2

#twdg louis #louis twdg #twdg violet #violet twdg #twdg clouis #clouis #twdg violentine #violentine #twdg clementine #clementine twdg

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airbending-bean · 4 years

Text

Thoughts on Wizards

SPOILERS because I’m about to spout out every thought and/or question I have after watching Tales of Arcadia: Wizards.

1. IF WE DON’T SEE DR. LAKE/JIM REUNION IN THE FILM I’M GONNA CRY

1.5. The gang had also better get tacos (Jim DID tell Toby that he’d be back one day, and that they’d get tacos)

2. WHAT HAPPENED WHEN THEY WERE SEARCHING FOR THE NEW HEARTH STONE??? When did the Arcane Order become a thing? Like, we know enough to figure out how the spike got lodged in Jim, but what about that fight scene we see in 3Below??? I WANNA KNOW WHAT LED UP TO IT

3. How did Claire’s tear heal Jim? Is it a “true love” trope, or something more? It gave me Tangled vibes, so maybe it’s a sign of how powerful Claire is becoming without her staff? Will that magic play a role in the movie?

4. Was that a painting of Guillermo del Toro in Arcane books? Did Merlin purposefully pretend not to know who Steve is in the book store, since he had not met him in the present till now? Was that his sign (along with Troll Jim & Claire) that a time jump would occur soon?

5. MASSIVE lol @ “Ship just got real.”

6. Is flying Camelot hidden from radars? If not, what does the military from 3Below think of it? Also, how do the Arcane Order and aliens mix together? I’m guessing/hoping info on that comes with the film.

7. When Camelot is invaded, is that really the first Changeling? We know they were created by Morgana, but how are they truly made? How did they all escape the Darklands? Did they all start out as small as Not-Enrique and grow from there? ALSO WAIT: HOW DID THE CHANGELING EXIST WITH NO TROLLS IN THE DARKLANDS IN THE FIRST PLACE???

8. Was that Angor Rot we see dragging in the dead body of Morgana? “Poor girl...”

9. Janice Order: how did they organize? Was it all Morgana speaking to them from the Hearthstone? And flashback to question 7: HOW DID MORGANA CREATE MORE CHANGELINGS WHEN SHE BARELY HAD TIME TO MAKE ONE? Did the Arcane Order accomplish this? Or did she just turn a bunch into changelings before the battle?

10. In Trollhunters, Blinky was unaware of Merlin’s role in the Battle of Killahead & astounded to meet him, yet he had previously been in his presence when Merlin presented the amulet, and knew humans were fairly involved in the beginning of the battle. Also, where are Arthur’s soldiers in the flashback? And the gang? Did Merlin reconfigure the memory on purpose so they wouldn’t have too much info revealed?

11. The fact that Killahead Bridge was an actual bridge over a river... For some reason I didn’t see that one coming. Got too used to seeing it in non-bridge locations, I guess.

12. How come none of the trolls recognize Jim when he transforms??? They literally met, fought, and shunned him while he was back in the past. Was the possibility of him being the same troll simply too impossible to consider?

13. Wasn’t Morgana imprisoned with her helmet? Because when Douxie & Claire send her away, her head is showing. Also, Merlin originally insinuated he knew little of Morgana’s origins, even suggesting she may be more ancient than him, which we now know is definitely not the case. He even reintroduces her in the first episode as his old student, different from how he described her in Trollhunters. What happened there?

14. There’s also no mention of Douxie in Merlin’s flashback. Was that on purpose, since he knew that THAT Douxie had come from the future?

15. Why doesn’t Morgana remember Claire & Steve in Trollhunters? Or Douxie when she possessed Claire??? Like, based on Wizards, she’d be WELL AWARE of who he is and his wizarding nature. And wouldn’t it have made sense for her to call Claire “handmaiden” in Trollhunters? I feel like we wouldn’t have really questioned that at the time.

16. Does Douxie not remember meeting his future self because of putting himself to sleep so many times? ”[casting that spell on yourself can cause memory loss]”

17. After typing all this up, it feels as though Merlin is very vague in the information he gives out due to his time-oriented behavior. We always get frustrated with him for his actions, but what if it’s all from his motivations to preserve the timeline? Since, you know, giving too much information to people in time-twisted situations typically causes more chaos than good...

18. Lastly, not a question, but some fun answers to past mysteries!!! - Douxie made the tomb! - Merlin’s expectation of Jim being taller and older, and putting horns in his helmet. - Claire getting special treatment from Merlin in the beginning (?) might have come from previously meeting her & knowing how powerful she’d become. - The mystery of Morgana’s hand = ANSWERED! And I feel like that’s proof that the timeline has ALWAYS consisted of the gang traveling back in time. - His insistence on turning Jim into a troll. I saw someone else point out that his insistence likely came from preserving the timeline, making him less empathetic and more likely not to listen to anyone’s suggestions. - DEYA THE DELIVERER ORIGIN STORY!!! WAS!!! SO!!! GOOD!!!

TLDR: WIZARDS WAS SO GOOD AND I’M SO EXCITED FOR THE MOVIE!!! Hopefully it answers some of the questions above?

#wizards talesofarcadia trollhunters spoilers 3below douxie trolljim claire merlin morgana

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quarterfromcanon · 4 years

Note

1-4. For the asks

Thank you so much for sending these! <3

Once I started to answer them, I realized there were comparatively few recent television shows appearing on the list. I seemed to keep gravitating toward older ones I remembered from years ago. I took a handful of days to mull it over in case I was forgetting something, but nothing else comes to mind. Maybe my ongoing list of Shows to Watch During Quarantine will turn up some fresh results but, for now, it looks like I’ll be taking a little trip down memory lane. :)

This turned out to be a pretty long and rambly post, so I’ll stow it under the cut!

Top 5 TV Shows

1. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - I can’t imagine this surprises anyone who has been following this blog for the past two years or so. It brought fellow fans into my life, got me back into writing fic, and prompted countless tags of meta. It’s the show my mind drifts to on a weekly basis (if not daily) even a full year after the finale. Just when it seemed I’d reached an age where that level of intense fandom involvement and character attachment might be fading, it proved that quite the opposite was true. I’m very thankful to the series for that, and for the people whose paths have crossed mine as a result.

2. Schitt’s Creek - This is my #1 Feel Good show and, though I’ve been dodging spoilers for the final season until it gets uploaded to Netflix, I get the impression that it will remain in that top spot. The world feels softer and more hopeful there. It’s healing for my soul. I’m going to have a dreadfully difficult time saying goodbye, but I’m glad there are six season to revisit whenever I want.

3. Stranger Things - The theme song alone sends such a rush of excitement through me. I love the aesthetic and the atmosphere. I sometimes have mixed feelings about the romances but the FRIENDSHIPS sure do have a direct line to my heartstrings. I think the way they’ve combined media influences into their own story is really neat. You get something that’s new and engaging, but you can also go back and enjoy the sources of inspiration with fresh appreciation.

4. Joan of Arcadia - I can’t help it. The snark, the jackets, the early 2000s songs, the performances -- the nostalgia for this show is so strong. It’s not without its problems, but it did have some really good things to offer as well. I remember an episode that was one of my earliest introductions to the concept of a trigger, and the effect it could have on a person if exposed to one of theirs. The series dealt a lot with grief and the many forms it can take (I STILL can’t hear Fiona Apple’s cover of “Across the Universe” without getting misty-eyed). I’m also surprised, looking back, at the somewhat positive way I recall them discussing homosexuality on the several occasions that it came up in the show. Not to give too much credit since I don’t think there were recurring canonically LGBTQIA+ characters but, for a kid who spent most days around closed-minded people of a certain religious leaning, it was meaningful along my individual journey. I’d like to provide the several examples that are most vivid in my memory:

A. A girl with short hair, short nails, little to no makeup, and a bulky leather jacket is generally assumed to be a lesbian by the bullies at school. The show directly confronts the fact that “gay” should not be used an insult, that identity should not be assumed without the person telling you so, AND makes sure that the character in question never pushes back by saying harmful things about lesbians despite not actually being one herself.

B. A boy who is questioning is able to confide in his big brother and have a fairly calm conversation about it; the awkwardness mostly comes from neither of them being accustomed to openly discussing emotions, not from the possibility of a negative response regarding the subject matter.

C. Another character is accidentally discovered to be gay (he only appears in the one episode, if my memory serves), and some of the leads have the opportunity to share that for personal gain. However, even though he is a popular jock who is a bit of a jerk in the hallways, the show makes it clear that the right choice is still to leave the telling of that information up to him and him alone.

Like I mentioned, it can’t be said that representation was in abundance here - for instance, I don’t believe anything other than straight or gay was presented as a possibility - but any accepting acknowledgement in a faith-centric series was something for me to hold on to in my still-deeply-closeted days. As a final Very Important personal side note, this show brought Judith Montgomery into my life (pictured below on the left), and that feels like it merits a shoutout for being what I consider a rather significant marker in my awakening.

THE OVERWHELMING CRUSH I HAD - and still have - is one for the books.

5. Pushing Daisies - This is another show with an aesthetic I adore. The series has such a fun, whimsical energy. The crime-solving! The clothes! The cast! There's a lot to love. It’s the kind of world I wish I could visit... well, minus the evidently rampant murder rate.

Top 5 Overrated TV Shows

1. Once Upon A Time - *deep sigh* I tried to stick with it for so long. I think I’ve seen five out of the seven seasons in their entirety. It just felt like everything got mired down by excessive (and increasingly convoluted) subplots, often for the purpose of tossing in as many fairytale and/or Disney characters as possible. Plus, quite honestly, there was too much emphasis on romantic love. For a show whose first season involved a curse being broken by [potential spoiler, I suppose] a mother kissing her son’s forehead, I ultimately found myself up to my ears in romantic ships. It reached such a stifling extent that, if you were not particularly attached to those pairings, there wasn’t a whole lot else to entice further viewing.

2. Under the Dome - I don’t know for certain what the general public opinion of this series was, but it felt like the commercials always featured alleged rave reviews, so I figured I could include it here. I was vaguely interested in Season 1, mainly as a fan of Rachelle Lefevre’s work. Season 2 pulled me in with the introduction of a new townsperson and I threw WAY too much of my heart into that attachment, which backfired when that character was killed. I made quite the spectacle of my heartbreak, so much so that my family doesn’t let me mention this show around them anymore. :P Season 3 was, to phrase it delicately, not a great time. The series did introduce me to a few new-to-me actors, though, so that was cool.

3. Bates Motel - Even the incentive of learning that the two characters I liked most share a lot of screen time later in the series hasn’t been enough to call me back to this one. I don’t know if it was the pacing that put me off or what, but the prospect of finishing the remaining seasons feels so daunting. There are evidently five seasons in total and I believe I’ve only seen two of them thus far. I will probably muddle through it someday just to see how it goes, but the fact that I am so disinclined to prioritize it made this feel like a fair addition to the list.

4. Lost - My interest in this series unfortunately waned right before fervent fandom spiked. I don’t have any specific complaints that come to mind about what I saw; I just sort of drifted and then stayed away. Teachers I liked and peers I spent time with were starting to latch on to the show and I couldn’t find even the slightest inclination to give it a second try. However, did I still dutifully read all the latest installments in my friend’s Sawyer Ford and Kate Austen fanfiction when she passed me handwritten copies at lunch? Sure. I was glad it made her happy, even if I was no longer a viewer.

5. Hemlock Grove - I say this as someone who still mourns the fates of some characters in this show, so I wouldn’t go so far as to claim that the series stopped being able to make me feel anything. I’m just of the opinion that, in some ways, it might’ve been better off stopping at one season. That’s where the book it was based on ends, and things just didn’t feel as cohesive after that. Season 3 especially was - borrowing from my above review of Under the Dome - not a great time. That being said, there are also certain elements from the book that I could’ve done without in the Season 1 adaptation but... well... here we are.

Top 5 Underrated TV Shows

1. Picnic at Hanging Rock - Another one that won’t surprise followers of this blog. I have rhapsodized about it quite frequently since I found it a little over a month ago. It’s a period piece mystery miniseries with LGBTQIA+ representation, gorgeous costumes, and Samara Weaving. This felt specifically designed to wedge its way into my heart, and I’m quite content with the space it now occupies.

2. Dark - I’m so intrigued by the overlapping timelines with all of the morally gray characters. It’s possible to like one of these people in the timeline where they’re young but dislike them as adults, or vice versa. It also makes me think of Rant by Chuck Palahniuk a little tiny bit with the idea that time travel, specifically tampering with your own timeline, might make you physically and behaviorally unrecognizable to yourself. And the SONG CHOICES! I have gotten some solid new music selections from this series.

3. Sense8 - I still need to watch the finale. I really do. But I knew it would make me sad so I’ve avoided it for... two years now? Pretty close, I think. The concept is fascinating and the cast is so strong. Plus the cinematography! They came up with some of the coolest ways to depict the link these characters share and what it’s like when they connect over distance. The planning and careful editing it all must’ve taken... I remain in awe.

4. Penny Dreadful - There were definitely some story/writing choices I didn’t particularly like along the way, but I did get engrossed in the creepy goodness and the performances -- Eva Green’s Vanessa Ives most of all. It left me wishing for more period piece “monster mash” stories, because having all those classic characters in one place was a blast. It also helped me understand why Helen McCrory was once slated to play Bellatrix Lestrange because she can be terrifying. Oh and Sarah Greene in her Wild West outfits? Perdita Weeks with short red hair in fencing garb, and later in all leather with boots and a long jacket? I WAS NOT PREPARED AND I HAVE STILL NOT RECOVERED. I NEVER WILL.

5. Wonderfalls - There’s some cringe-inducing handling of certain representation in the series, but I have such a weak spot for quippy outcasts who become reluctant chosen ones (Joan Girardi in Joan of Arcadia, Wynonna Earp, Jaye Tyler in this series, et cetera). I also really love the sibling dynamics here. They bicker, tease one another, help each other out of trouble, and have rare but genuine heart-to-hearts. Caroline, Lee, and Katie all did such a great job blending their characters’ adult personalities with certain childhood attributes that rise to the surface in the presence of family.

Top 5 Movies

1. Addams Family Values - I’ve rewatched this movie at least once annually since I found it in Media Play at age 13. Usually, I’ll play it around Halloween or, at the latest, Thanksgiving. It’s mouth-along-with-every-line level ingrained in my memory. I find myself leaning forward in my seat before favorite parts because I’m still that excited to relive them. Why this movie, and why this devotion to such a degree? It’s hard to explain, even to myself. I can tell you, however, that I hold up every other portrayal of the Addams characters to the versions found in this. Everybody in the cast just feels that perfect for their part.

2. Clue - I was already pretty fond of this movie to begin with, but then my sister got older and claimed it as a favorite of her own, so now she just supplies me with further excuses to watch it repeatedly. It’s also been a bonding piece of media with a couple of close friends and such through the years. It’s incredible to think not everyone in it was the first choice for their roles; what everybody brings to the table is so top-notch that I wouldn’t have it any other way. I also LOVE knowing that it originally went to theaters with different endings depending on which showing you attended. I gather people weren’t terribly thrilled with the stunt back then, but I kinda think some moviegoers would be into that approach these days? Then again, one hit that tried something different tends to start a fad, so maybe I’d end up regretting the suggestion after a while. :P

3. The Craft - This. Movie. Yes, Act III is a major bummer even though I know it’s coming, and I’ll always wish it ended differently. Even so. This. Movie. I tend to headcanon mostly for shows and sometimes books, but The Craft is a beloved exception. I love so much about it: the magic, the music, the clothes, the settings, the dynamics within the friend group, the performances. I had no idea when I first got the DVD at 17 that it would become such a part of my life, but I’m so glad it found its way to me.

4. Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion - The soundtrack is a glorious ’80s and ’90s treat for my ears. The colorful costumes are perfectly suited to the main characters’ version of the world. There are so many great lines and it feels like everyone is having a lot of fun in their roles. I LOVE HEATHER MOONEY SO MUCH. She’s my awful, scathingly sarcastic, little grungy grump and she fills my heart with joy.

5. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - I was pretty sure at least one of the three had to appear on here. I think, if I were to tally them all up, The Return of the King features most of my favorite moments, so it wins the spot. “I can’t carry it for you, but I can carry you!”, ‘Edge of Night,’ Éowyn in battle, The Army of the Dead, ‘Into the West’... I end up crying during the end credits every time. So, yeah, ultimately, I would choose the third part of the trilogy if I could only watch one.

Phew, that’s it! All the questions answered, all the shows and movies listed! Thank you to anyone who takes the time to read it all, and thanks again to @monaiargancoconutsoy for sending in the prompts! <3

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