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bansheeoftheforest · 3 years

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Transfem/Enby/Genderfluid gang Jekyll au:

(Unrelated, but I once I had a daydream au like this. Except minus the gang and just Lucy)

Does Rachel find out? (because I suppose it's a bit hard for her not too) she'd happily try to make dresses for Jekyll to wear when going out on heists

Also, you ever see those dolls where like uh a tutu would spin into a full dress? Like the dolls with the gimmick of "two in one outfit" and itd change somehow to a completely different look? (Usually a dress) I keep imagining that. Like exactly that. Hen presses a button on their suit and it spins into a dress. Is it impractical? Yes. Literally Impossible? Absolutely. But it's fun to imagine

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Update on my game progress: I killed springhill jack and was deeply disappointed to find that isn't an unlockable outfit, I mean come on! That evil lair literally had two mannequins wearing it, and you're telling me Jacob didn't yoink one? Smh 😔

In terms of main story, as of writing this I have received the Hallucinogenic(?) Darts and got the cargo cables, also got poisoned. Now looking in a pirate basement

Also, hatred towards B button ended. "Follow this 50km/h vehicle with your wimpy human legs" quests are my new worst enemy

And! I was looking through the dlc and saw some individual outfits were free! I dont use the Evie one due me thinking her original is better. But Jacobs outfit "The Creature's Rags" looks v good! And I get to keep my hat <3, a bit sad to discover both cant be colored though

I greatly appreciate the fact that Jacob and Evie sorta level up together, so you can just decide to play as another when you usually play one, and the other wouldn't be horrendously underleveled!

Also! I forgot to acknowledge it but Rexford Kaylock being somehow related to Jasper sounds very fun. They've probably never met and never will, as I simply enjoy the thought of him being related

Oooh! And now I'm imagining Lucy agreeing to help the Rooks at some point, she walks onto the train to discuss plans only to immediately stop. Because there's Dr. Henry fucking Jekyll. Just causally lounging on a couch wearing clearly too big clothes (he stole them from Jacob) and sipping tea. Jekyll is in too much panic and shock to say anything so Jacob just slaps his shoulder and says "Henry here makes some of strongest and most useful poisons! He also helps fix some of our real bad injuries AND He gives us information on people from the aristocracy if we need it! <3" but all in like a tone of sheer affection and "look at my person, hes so talented, I recruited him myself, be jealous of how good he is at everything"

Robert circus man keeps reminding me of Robert Lanyon, and before I even knew his name, just how he acted and what clothes he wore

Ned! Ned my beloved <3. At first I was confused on why the game felt the need to mention that it was made by people of many gender identities and etc. But then! Trans character! Canonically trans character! I dont really play video games that much, and certainly not recent ones, so this may be a decently common sight, but it made me really giddy and happy to see <3

Rachel would probably find out immediately. She goes to Lucy's house to visit her brother on a surprise visit, is very surprised to see her boss drinking tea with Patrin and Elise, in the most fancy and most lacy dress she has ever seen. Hen would be absolutely horrified to see Rachel, Patrin/Elise/Lucy would probably start bubbling about how they started to work for them and how good they are at the job and doesn't that dress just suit them perfectly and Hen would look like they would want to sink into the couch and disappear. Rachel would probably only need a moment to realize, then she would be Hen's biggest supporter and make SO MANY DRESSES for them <3

I know exactly what you mean and I want Hen to have at least 10 of those. Maybe not a suit but more like a short dress like Evie wears that turns into a longer dress, just yes pls <3

Oooooh I just did the sequel mission for that one yesterday! It's really annoying with he just poofs away like that but i still think it was v fun. Maybe there is a mod that adds that outfit? XD

...Y'know you can just steal a carriage and go after them most of the time, right? At least unless they specifically state "follow x by doing z" and stuff, so XD

I really like that outfit but I like Jacob to be a fancy fancy boi. I also have yet to find an outfit for Evie that I like, the only one I have found so far was the military outfit but you can't unlock that until you have done the WW1 missions and I promised to save those so my friend could watch me do those missions, you get to play as Jacob's granddaugther, I believe <3

Yess, only thing is you have to decide where to spend the points but eh, its just takes a minute or so XD

I like to imagine Rexford being Jasper's kinda-odd-but-also-very-protective uncle, prepared to beat anyone up who lays a hand on his nephew... Too bad Jacob killed him in cold blood lol

I love that point and I especially love the thought of that, too, being Jacob x Jekyll bc I have been having that brainrot for a fucking week at this point. I just... Adore the panic. Like, Henry just chilling, taking a break from the Lodgers, just getting to go on a lil vacation seeing the train move past London, catching up with friends and shit and flirt with Jacob, and all of a sudden Lucy walks in, they both stare at each other for such a long moment, Henry chokes on his tea, Lucy just goes like... "Uh... Dr. Jekyll? What the hell are you doing here?" bc lets say that they have met before, Jacob just being so proud of Henry and all he has done for them like look!! This is my person!!! He is so good for us and he is really just awesome!!!!!! I recruited him myself aren't I just the best!!! meanwhile Henry is just like... 👉👈🥺 XD

Man do you know how much I can relate to you rn. I love the thought of Robert being the one holding the fight clubs. I love the fight clubs but I absolutely hate all the races. The Lambeth Lap Race can go and die </3

Yess!!! It has always been really important for the team of AC to make sure to keep a diverse developer team and especially since they are working with history, it's important to have many different perspective on things, and it actually isn't until recently that they added sexualities and gender identities to that little pre-note on the loading screen! It was first just about races and ethnicities but I'm glad they are keeping it diverse and aren't afraid to show it. Jacob technically has a male love interest later on but... Spoilers <3

#ask #darling-dolly-darlene #banshees au #syndicate crossover au #trans!jekyll au

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todaydreambelievers · 5 years

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The Newdie Awards!!

So, now that TDB is winding down - and in honor of the final podcast, I decided to hand out a few awards for all the people who’ve helped me along the way. It’s a lot like The Office’s Dundie Awards! (only nicer).

First of all, though, I want to shout a huge thank you to all the people who’ve donated so far to the TDB Pool - to keep the podcast hosted for years to come, so new people can listen, even if we’re not producing new content. I’m amazed at how much we’ve raised so far. Thank you so, so much for all your contributions!

Secondly, a shout out to @seeroftodayandtomorrow - who diligently watched the show every week with me for the last two years. That’s quite the feat and shouldn’t be discounted. You guys try doing anything for two years straight! <3

Thirdly, not sure how many of you realize this but @nikkisrandomthingsfan has been modding @todaydreambelieversfic for years now, and does an amazing job of it. I can’t thank her enough for taking that over for me - and agreeing to continue to watch over the fic blog even after the main TDB blog ends. In addition - to all the writers, including those who did the Author Spotlights with us back in the day, and to all the artists and creators out there - I hope you keep on doing your thing. We’re blessed to have such creative talent in the fandom. Thank you, thank you <3

The Newdies!!

The Matt Rutherford: Not Here but Not Forgotten Award goes to...

All of my lovely guests who weren’t here in the finale. I’ve had the pleasure of discussing the show with so many wonderful people - and I’m grateful to all the people who took the time to be on the podcast an share your thoughts. Thank you for being such wonderful guests <3

The Blaine Anderson: Biggest Stan Award goes to...

@thedorkmark There are plenty of Blaine stans around, but I haven’t met any that have surpassed Izzie’s passion and willingness to die on any hill. And like Blaine, Izzie’s a sweetheart and a kind soul. Thank you for bringing such joy and fire to the podcast <3 <3

The Mike Chang: All Around Awesome Award goes to...

@somewhereonlyino Like Mike, Lauren’s sometimes quiet, but always brings a fun and warm attitude to the podcast. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and being such a team player. <3 <3 The Tina Cohen-Chang: Don’t Cut Me Off Award goes to...

@carojane - I’ve never met a person who stans Tina harder than Carly, someone who shares Tina’s strong will and ability to push through the hard parts with sheer determination. You’re sweet and sensitive and kind but also won’t back down from a fight. Thank you so much for everything you’ve shared over the years <3 <3

The Sugar Motta: Sweet’n’Spicy Award goes to...

@coming-up-rosie - Every time Rosie pops on to the podcast, she’s sweet’n’spicy and always knows how to liven up the conversation. While not around a lot on the podcast, like Sugar, whenever you were on you brought joy and enthusiasm - especially lovely since I kept placing you on such random podcasts. Thank you so much for your ability to go with the flow and have fun while doing it <3 <3

The Sam Evans: Always Lending a Helping Hand Award goes to...

@klaineship2 Over the years, Carmen has been such a hard worker! She’s done the entire rewatch with me, continues diligently to keep track of fics, and has even translated my and other’s fic into another language for more people to read!! Like Sam, you’re kind and dependable, and great friend who’s always there to jump in and help out. Thank you so much for everything you’ve done over the years <3 <3

The Adam Crawford: Cutie Across the Pond Award goes to...

@perfectanomaly The thing about Anny is that she’s always coming at me with an unexpected, but welcome, new point of view, and challenging me on how I see the characters. Like Adam, she’s sweet and friendly (and also European!) and reminds me that these character’s don’t always have to live in the boxes we sometimes place them in. Thank you so much for keeping me on my toes all these years, and giving me new perspectives to think about <3 <3

The Santana Lopez: Tell It Like It Is Award goes to...

@honeysucklepink - Pink, you’ve been such a firecracker over the years! Your deep love of music and glee and Darren Criss has driven your passion, and like Santana you’re never afraid to shy away from your opinions, even if they’re different from everyone else’s. But also like Santana - you care deeply about the things and people are important to you. Thank you for always bringing your massive knowledge of music and crackling stories to the podcast <3 <3

The Sue Sylvester: Kicking Down the Fourth Wall Award goes to...

@slayediest - No one on the podcast has had an insider view of production quite like Slayediest, so it’s always fascinating to hear your stories about how things probably happened on the show. But also, like Sue, you don’t really give a shit about all the nonsense going on around you, and think that most of the drama is ridiculous and silly (and it is!) and I really appreciate it about you. You have a great sense of humor, and are always reminding me to sit back and enjoy the craziness in the world. Thank you for letting me drag you on all these years, I’ve always valued your input so much <3 <3

The Marley Rose: Most Precious of Precious Muffins Award goes to...

@sleepdeprivedmind - Connie, hands down, is one of the kindest, most positive, purest people I know. I’ve never heard her say a bad word about anything, and even tries to bring a positive on some of the most negative subjects (like Will!!, lol) Like Marley, you have such a big heart and warm soul and radiate joy whenever you come on the podcast. I’m incredibly thankful to call you my friend, thank you so much for all the great conversations we’ve had <3 <3

The Mercedes Jones: Oh Hell to the No Award goes to...

@black-john-lennon - Kay was the first guest I recorded with on the show, and I’m so grateful for that first conversation, because it helped me gain the confidence that this project was something I could accomplish long term! Kay’s never been one to back down from a fight - but doing so from a place of passion and getting to the heart of the matter. Like Mercedes, you do have a sassy, won’t-back-down attitude, but I think you also share her vulnerability and big heart, and I don’t think that’s appreciated enough. Thank you so much for so many fantastic conversations, and becoming someone I can call a good friend <3 <3

The Emma Pillsbury: The Gingers Always Know Best Award goes to...

@redheadgleek - Oh, Julia, so calm and wise in her ways, she’ll always be there to lend a listening ear or be of service in whatever way she can be! Like Emma - I think you’re smart and on the nose about a lot of things, but also incredibly kind and caring. And, many people may or may not know, the backbone of keeping a lot of fandom things afloat. (She has every Klaine fic ever stored on a drive somewhere in case the apocalypse happens guys, lol <3) Thank you for always being so sweet, and listening to me ramble on with an open mind and an open heart <3 <3

The Kurt Hummel: There Are More Than Four Sides to Me Award goes to...

@kurtmckinnon - Kelley helped me redefine what a Kurt Stan could be. Believe it or not, being a Kurt fan myself, I always shied away from the term - but Kelley’s love and passion for the character, and the show, helped me be secure in my identification of being a Kurt Stan (lol). But more so, like Kurt, there are far more sides to you and you’ve always come to the podcast with a new perspective and a way of thinking that I might not have been privvy to. I appreciate so much that you kept challenging how I saw the world. Thank you so much for being such a huge, positive champion of Kurt, and always pushing me to think outside of the box <3 <3

The Finn Hudson: The Show’s Gonna Go All Over The Place Aware goes to...

@notthatbea - My dearest Bethany, my goodness where do I even start. Always there when I needed her, Bethany’s never been afraid to back away no matter what kinda crazy scheme I’ve got going on. Like Finn, she’s sometimes bumbling along with me (in a good way!) but has a huge heart and always willing to go with it now how matter how crazy and out of control things get. Thank you so, so much for becoming my good friend, for letting me take you on some of these insane adventures, and solidifying yourself in my heart - so much love <3 <3

The Brittany Pierce: Special Unicorn Award goes to...

@slayerkitty - No one has a laugh quite like Kitty’s, and it’s a delight to hear it, even when it’s for the most randomest of things. Like Brittany, she’s a little bit sweet, a little awkward, a little odd, and a whole lot wonderful unicorn - all of it wrapped up in such a delightful way. I’m sorry I cancelled your contract so many times - know that I couldn’t really imagine doing the podcast without you there. Thank you so much for your fountain of knowledge, your great sense of humor, and your deep love of all fandom things - you’re unique and wonderful in your own special way, and I appreciate that about you <3 <3

The Cooper J Anderson Emotional Tornado Award goes to...

@ckerouac - I mean is anyone really surprised by this?? RB is the ultimate emotion tornado, swooping in and creating a great time like like none other. Like Cooper - your enthusiasm never wavers, your energy is inspiring, your sense of fun is endless, and you’re always pointing me (ha) in the right direction, and I’m guessing you probably have really great hair.

Thank you for the phrase - ‘I wanna lick him nipple to navel’ and your vast knowledge of liquors, and the bangity-bang song, and the 2 out of 3 podcasters joke. Thank you for jumping in on a podcast as a pinch-hitter even when you didn’t even know what the topic was. Thank you for all the laughs and the sometimes tears and the driving me crazy but not really. Thank you for becoming one of my greatest friends - I value your friendship deeply. Just - thank you <3 <3

And one final thought - Iron Man’s better. He just is, RB, I mean really ;)

The Elliott Gilbert: Glitter Rock Vampire Award goes to...

@snarkyhag - I’m not really sure I have words to express how I feel about the one and only Le Diva Hag. You are the Glitter Rock Vampire of my world - always there, always helping, always being a life coach and a wonderful friend. I can’t tell you all the things she’s done for me over the years - because if I did it’d take up another post entirely. But know that sometimes you come to a fandom just wanting to hang out and enjoy the silly world that is your favorite story, and you walk away finding someone whose become one of your closet friends. I have nothing but gratefulness for everything she’s brought into my life.

I love you, Snarky, you are the Elliott to my Kurt, and I promise I’m never saying good-bye to you <3 <3

and finally...

The Rachel Berry: Greatest Star Award goes to...

YOU!!!

To all my listeners, and all the people who’ve contributed to TDB over the years, taking polls, giving prompts, writing stories, doing art, joining in on the conversation, or just hitting like or reblog. This blog has been made special because you were a part of it. To my real Daydream Believers - thank you for bring such joy to my life and others. You all are the greatest stars <3

Congratulations!!!

#tdb podcast #tdb rewatch #tdb rewatch finale celebration #oh goodness #i'm tearing up as I finish this post #you were all so amazing #and i'm so so grateful to all of you #i'll miss tdb - but i'm so glad i've found all of you in the process

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annakie · 5 years

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Thoughts on a DW Rewatch & Mass Effect replay.

So I’m in the Eleven / Clara half-season now.

Also I’m now replaying Andromeda. I have thoughts, about both. I’ll start with Doctor Who then label it when I get to Mass Effect stuff.

Oh my God this gets long and rambly. Apparently, I have a lot of thoughts.

So, season 702... I’m ready for it to be over. I miss the Ponds. I felt like most of the first half of this season was pretty great, honestly. I’d forgotten how fun some of those episodes were, I think at the time we were anticipating a new companion so heavily that it was harder to appreciate those episodes? I feel like there was a lot of criticism levied towards them that now I felt like was a bit too much. The western episode was kinda meh but still not bad.

I’m not sure what exactly it is about these Clara / Eleven episodes that I’m still not connecting with but I’m in the middle of the Crimson Horror episode (which is a Vastra/Jenny/Strax heavy episode and enjoying it more than anything else so far this half-season.

*edit later* NOPE NOPE NOPE I’D FORGOTTEN HOW THE DOCTOR FORCES A KISS ON JENNY. GROSS. SUPER GROSS. SHE’S A MARRIED WOMAN, A LESBIAN AND DID NOT CONSENT TO ANY OF THIS. BAD DOCTOR, BAD.

Honestly even with some excellent guest start acting, the Russian Submarine episode was STILL a slog and the ghosts in the 1950′s episode no better. Like they still weren’t ridiculous and unwatchable but... just didn’t feel fun or interesting at all? The Journey to the Center of the TARDIS episode was decent, and I felt like that wasn’t nearly as cool as it should have been..

I remember reading a criticism of these episodes early on where they said that the biggest fault is that they failed to give Clara any real characterization or solid personality other than “girl the Doctor is obsessed with”. She’s SUPER IMPORTANT but not only do we not know why at this point but it really doesn’t feel... earned? I don’t recall it ever feeling earned that Clara was supposedly always so important? “The most importantest companion EVAR!”

And as someone who stanned the hell out of a character who was hated in the fandom for “replacing” a previous companion I’m checking myself to make sure it’s still not because I Miss the Ponds. Like, I don’t HATE Clara, I just, at least at this point in the rewatch, can’t find any reason to really LOVE her? She’s there, she’s fine, Jenna-Louise Coleman is doing a great job with what they’re giving to her but... I don’t know. It all feels... off.

I had forgotten all about the “the Doctor rides a motorcycle up the side of a skyscraper” moment and something hit me in that moment that made me remember that wow people hated that moment. It felt really... shark-jumpy somehow.

I love Eleven, but this half-season isn’t connecting with me, AT ALL. It feels like the writers just went and dug through a bunch of rejected script ideas, polished them up and were likle “let’s just do this until Matt Smith is gone.” I’m anxious to get to Twelve.

Mass Effect Stuff

OK TECHNICALLY I haven’t finished ME3. I still need to do the party and the goodbye scene, (Citadel Epiloge Mod installed) but I’ve gotten all the Stuff and done all the missions in the arena. I just wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye yet, so I started Andromeda a bit early.

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OK look I had a point I wanted to make and never quite got where I wanted to go with it right here. I’m too tired of trying to fix it, so this stands as written.

This playthrough had me ruminating a lot on Kaidan and Garrus. I really love both of those characters, though in my heart I’ll always primarily love Kaidan, I’ve done the Garrus romance and wouldn’t mind playing that character again to see the romance one more time. In ME1, I bring Kaidan everywhere all the time, and pick which other companion I bring to the story-based missions based on what I know is gonna happen like I’m sure most people do. Wrex for Therum, Tali for Feros (though I REALLY wish you could switch before going to see the Thorian), Liara for Noveria, Ashley on Virmire, Garrus for Ilos/Endgame. I rotate through all five for sidemissions.

In ME2, Garrus is my always-bring companion, with Garrus + Miranda being my favorite team. Except after the Omega relay, where characters with Throw really shine with all those husks running at us, Jack holds the bubble, and Miranda and Thane, who both have Warp to help take down the Reaper Baby, are the preferred team. Also so Miranda can tell TIM to fuck off.

Then in ME3, once the game opens up, Garrus is back on the perma-team, with a preference towards bringing Liara along... until we get Kaidan back. And then I realized I didn’t bring him to a single thing except a side mission or two until Earth. Mostly, this is because I’m following the Kaidan Banter guide and it turns out Garrus is a real banter hog for most of the missions. At leat he’s not James, who I literally never use unless I’m going on an N7 mission and feel bad that I haven’t taken him off the Normandy in awhile. I mean, even Javik gets more play. Also EDI doesnt leave the Normandy til near the end when all of a sudden she gets real important.

But Garrus is always on the team for Priority Earth. And that always felt like the way the main game should end, with your two favorites. (Also what kind of monster wouldn’t bring Wrex to the combat-centric areas of Citadel DLC? I keep thinking I should have runs where I bring other people but... Wrex is my other fave and we don’t get him with us AT ALL since ME1.)

I love Garrus, so much. And I was thinking with this whole parallel DW rewatch / Mass Effect replay think I’m doing right now how both Rose Tyler and Garrus Vakaraian are characters that were ruined for me for awhile due to their respective... overly enthusiastic fanbases who a small percentage of were dicks to people who loved other characters. The Kaidan tag (and from what I understand Thane got some of this too, but not nearly as bad) was a pretty hostile place for awhile (and yeah I used to check the Garrus tag too and there was a small amount of tag-invasion there but uh, like 5% of what the Kaidan tag got) which made loving the character of Garrus a lot harder for awhile. But when actually watching seasons 1 & 2 / the end of 4 of DW, or actually playing the games, those characters are awesome.

Fanbases can be amazing or terrible, and time and time again I think you start to realize that no matter how great a fandom is, there are going to be a few people who can only enjoy themselves by feeding on drama, or on lifting up what they love by stomping on other people/characters/plotlines. Going back through my blog reminded me that even the TAH fandom had some of this, with a small percentage of fans being real dicks to two prominent female characters in favor of their favorite ship, which soured even that just a tiny bit.

It’s not fair to characterize everyone who loves a popular thing as someone who does this. It’s also hard to avoid completely because there will always be jerks, or young/new people who don’t realize what bad form they’re showing. I did learn by trying to fight it for a year or two, that responding might help that one person not do it again, but it’s not going to stop overall. Maybe yelling a lot about Martha Jones did change some people’s minds. It still isn’t that good of a look now, even knowing that in general I was pretty polite and logical about it. I might respond to an odd comment now and again in some favorite character tags, but in general, turns out that kind of fight just isn’t worth it.

And those fights seem so stupid in the light of everything else happening in the world today.

Anyway, don’t be a dick about the things you don’t like.

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I also wanted to say, and I know I said it in a few other posts about this ME3 playthrough, but seriously I cannot believe how much ME3 is a changed game because of the modders. I cannot imagine ever playing ME3 again without these mods. There were so many small things that I kept thinking I should take note of to talk about and I’m sure I forgot 90% of them, but there’s things like... adding in mentions of the Andromeda Initiative, closing a few plotholes, mentioning Emily Wong, adding in many more Spectre console options which end up having their own plotlines, adding in an entire plotline about the VI civilization that had previously only been talked about in like, social media or Cerberus News Network posts, having the Normandy be so much more populated, seeing so many more other species on the Citadel with more variety in clothing for those species that have clothing / could have more variety, way more female Turians.... every time I play ME3 the game is more and more like the game we wanted when it came out.

I am kind of itching to go back and replay it even now.

But hey, instead, its time to talk about Andromeda.

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So first of all, yes, mods for Andromeda. A few appearance mods, a lot of convenience mods.

After having recently played DA:I and I think Andromeda and DA:I are a lot more similar than Andromeda and the previous trilogy, I had decided it was time to cut down on the stupid stuff Andromeda does, like “Oh, you want minerals? Spend 10 minutes in each mining zone finding the PERFECT place to gather materials or you’re fucked” No, thanks. I’ll mine but give me that “one probe placed anywhere and you’re done” mod.

Make the modifications and crafting materials I use actually matter. 2% damage increase is nothing. Make my squadmates not suck because I remember doing 90% of the work myself before and that got exhausting with the number of spawns.

I tried to not go overboard so things feel like cheating, but there’s enough out there to just get rid of the stupid stuff, and it’s nice. And works together a lot easier than the DA:I mods did.

One thing I did do was install the Multiple Romance Mod. I enjoyed it in DA:I, even though ultimately I only did 2 full romances. I am **NOT** romancing Gil or Cora with the mod, I just wanted to experience all the content available for female Ryders at once, since I’m not going to have the energy to replay this 100+ hour game enough times to see every romance on its own. So I am poly-romancing Liam, Jaal, Vetra, Suvi, Peebee, Keri, and if it lets me, Reyes when it’s time.

I’ve only gotten all the way through Andromeda once (where I romanced Liam) My second playthrough was right after my first and stalled out about halfway through (was romancing Jaal.) It was one of those “I’m totally gonna get back to this! (She didn’t.)” things. I’m gonna be honest, I enjoyed the Liam romance and was enjoying the Jaal romance, I’d done a fling with Reyes but not the full romance my first time through and the fling with PeeBee on my second. Reyes was probably my favorite out of all of them. So this time I decided.. let’s see which I love the most, all at once. I don’t know if I’ll do this in the future, but this game is too long to not see all the content I wanna see, TBH.

And you know, I still really do like Andromeda. It’s a GOOD game. And I’m forever going to be mad that we’re not going to see how this story ends. This story deserved to finish being told. Like, there are a lot of very legit criticisms about Andromeda, but it didn’t deserve the harshness it got. And the worst thing about it, and DA:I both is that... there’s just a little TOO MUCH of it. 100 hours is an amazing amount of game but... it’s also just too much. For now I’m not trying to 100% this playthrough. My plan is on each planet to get the planet to 100%, take out the Kett or whatever major base, the Remnant Architect, and yeah probably clear out the sidequests that show up on the map, but fuck quests that are like “visit random Kett camps until you find the right datapads that don’t show up on the map!” or “scan random blobs in the forest that don’t show up on the map!”

So like, do the content, not the filler.

I still hate the vaults. The first one is cool. The rest are tedious. But they’re mandatory.

I love everyone on this spaceship though. They did the Tempest stuff SO WELL. All the companions I think are... good? There’s no one I don’t like, even the non-squadmate shipmates ship have so much interaction and so much to do/say. It’s not like “a bunch of randos and Joker, with occasional appearances by Chakwas and the Engineers” There’s no randos, it’s just a few people you have real interactions with, and its great.

The lack of enough beds in the bedroom will never not annoy me. There’s 4 beds for... Lexi, Liam, Cora, Suvi, Kallo, Vetra and Gil? Even if Liam slept on his couch, and Vetra put a bed in her supply room... still doesn’t add up. What, do Salarains not sleep or something? Does Lexi sleep in a medical bed?!? Peebee sleeps in the escape pod, Jaal brings a bed with him, and Drack’s like “Eh I’ll just sleep in the kitchen”. WHAT? THE KITCHEN?

I mean sure there weren’t enough beds, even with the sleeper pods, on the Normandy either, but somehow that was less disturbing.

Also, I know you’re supposed to HATE Director Tann but I love Kumail Nanjiani so I find it hard to be a total dick to him, even if he usually deserves it. If he wasn’t an anti-Krogan racist I think it’d be easier to like him. He was thrown into a pretty shitty situation and... did actually hold things together for some time. He’s not doing anything out of malice. He’s a dick, but also doing what he needs to do to keep the Initiatiave going. Oh, except for being a anti-krogan racist. (Honestly, I also think “until he turned Cerberus Udina was just doing his job pretty well” too, so...)

Taking some screenshots as I go. I mostly just take screenshots for me now. I have a few thousands screenshots from a dozen or more games rotating through my desktop background, and I keep adding to it, and love it.

Anyway, I’ve gotten Eos, Voeld and Havral to 100%. Time to go save the Moeshe. I’m having fun.

*edit from later* I’d forgotten that... idk if the dialog they recorded for Jaal was the first thing they recorded for him or they used a different VA or what but on the Save the Moshe mission his voice is VERY DIFFERENT and oh man, that is still bad.

Might take a break for when Onslaught comes out for SWTOR, though. I haven’t really played SWTOR in months. Oops.

#personal post tag thingy #annakie's mass effect stuff #doctor who stuff #hey this gets REAL RAMBLY sorry not sorry

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taikureviews · 2 years

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Taiku Reviews: Metal Gear Solid

Well this is certainly a game.

I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting to replay Metal Gear Solid this year. I'm not even sure what I'd want to say about it. I guess I can start with the basics?

Metal Gear Solid was the first breakout hit of Hideo Kojima, released in 1998 for Playstation. This game also got a PC release in the year 2000.

I played that version.

That's not really anything special nowadays, since you can buy it from GOG alongside its sequ- oh...

Prequel, I guess?

Anyway, you can play the PC version a little bit easier now than you could before, so I gave it a whirl.

How's that sneaking suit working out?

I didn't take screenshots myself so I'm pulling from MobyGames. Be warned that some of these may be modded.

Metal Gear Solid is a stealth game. Rather than gun your way through every obstacle, you're encouraged to hide and go unnoticed; not letting anyone know you were there. It's fairly basic as stealth games come; stay out of an enemy's line of sight, and navigate your way around predictable soldier patrols. I think it gets a free pass for simplicity though. Not only because it's a Kojima game, possibly the only one where the hardware was telling him no instead of his development team, but also because Metal Gear was essentially the original stealth game. If you wanted a game centered around evasion and non-combat, your only other option at the time were Thief and Tenchu.

It's also essentially a remake of a remake; with Metal Gear 2 just retelling Metal Gear 1, and Metal Gear Solid recycling almost all the beats of Metal Gear 2.

So I've heard, don't quote me on that.

A square peg in a round hole

Being a PS1 game, Metal Gear Solid is janky as hell; especially in the movement. If you've ever played a Rockstar game and tried doing a 180° turn, imagine every degree of turn feeling that way. There's no true analog, which is common for a lot of PS1 titles, but coming out almost a year after the release of the Dualshock kinda stings. It would've made an excellent last-minute inclusion.

Aiming weapons is equally rigid, stopping Snake in his tracks just to fire a gun. I don't expect him to run & gun obviously, and it's common for stealth game combat to be imperfect. The easiest way to encourage stealth is to make non-stealth options not as fun. But another common trait among stealth games is there are points where combat is forced. So having combat suck is a real downer.

That's not to say the forced combat sections are bad, but I'll get back to that.

The most frustrating aspect of Metal Gear Solid is the radar. Don't get me wrong, it's useful and does its job, but there are several points where it'll be jammed so you can't see what's coming. And the game uses this to employ really frustrating gotchas. Radar jammed? Let's put a security camera around a corner you can't see. Or claymore mines, since you can't use your mine detector. How about if you play on Hard or Extreme difficulties your radar gets disabled entirely? It doesn't make the game harder, it just makes it frustrating.

I'm sure someone will tell me to git gud for that rant, but do know I have beaten the game on Hard. And I'm never doing that again.

So is there anything good about the game? Well, it has some damn good level design.

Mini Metroid

It's not obvious at first, but Metal Gear Solid is fantastic as a small-scale Metroidvania. It makes sense being a Konami game, but it's something that not a lot of people mention when praising Metal Gear. Paths from one location to another are mostly linear, but there's a lot of backtracking that makes you familiar with the layout of Shadow Moses. It's also easy to miss certain optional items, which combined with two endings and a relatively short playtime gives it a decent amount of replay value.

Also I know I said the combat's not great, but one way it makes up for it is some awesome boss fights.

Every boss fight in Metal Gear Solid either has a fun gimmick, or is a visual spectacle on top of being well designed. The first boss for example, Revolver Ocelot, fights you in a tight square with a barrier in the middle; forcing you to run around the edges in a claustrophobic showdown. Other bosses include two hand-to-hand throwdowns, two sniper duels, three pieces of military equipment, and one fight that I dare not spoil.

If you've played it before, you know the one.

PC/PS1 differences

I've covered about all I had to say about the game itself, but the last thing I should mention are differences between the PC port and the original PS1 release. Despite what many people say, I don't think either one is better or worse, but there are some notable differences. So here goes:

The PC port feels just a little bit better to control than on PS1. There's still no true analog movement, but it feels like there's less input delay than on console. I also kinda like its aesthetic more, being able to run in Direct3D for less jagged/wavy edges. It also lets you play exclusively in first-person (why would you use this?), has a Very Easy mode that gives you an infinite ammo MP5, has Extreme difficulty unlocked right away, lets you save anywhere without taking to Mei Ling (you monster), and includes VR Missions as a separate exe.

However it's got some noticeable audio problems. The sound quality is a lot worse on console, with one music track just flat-out missing, and the voice acting isn't changed to reflect being on PC; so characters will still talk as if you're on console (yes, including for that one boss fight). The codec calls also have some noticeable desync with the subtitles, and all of the stock footage cutscenes don't have subtitles at all. It's a bit of an accessibility nightmare.

I ultimately ended up playing the PC port solely for the better controls, but if it's your first time through I'd recommend the PS1 version first.

Final Verdict

Metal Gear Solid's a true classic. It's definitely got some age, but to this day it's still my favorite in the series, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone.

#metal gear solid #metal gear #hideo kojima #review #taiku reviews #game review #stealth #stealth game #stealth games #playstation #ps1 #psx #psone #playstation 1

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nightcoremoon · 3 years

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I love horror, I just have impossibly high standards

anyway some of my favorite is the kind that is totally normal from the start, there's nothing off kilter or weird, everything is fine. it's mundane. but then maybe something strange happens and it's less mundane, maybe it's more colorful or lively. but it's not like it's scary or anything. maybe it's a little left of center but it's still fine. life goes on as normal.

but then suddenly it's not fine.

and it recontextualizes everything up until now and you realize oh my god it wasnt mundane at all, it was just pillars of foreshadowing and you realize this is the most terrifying thing you've ever encountered.

maybe it goes on with the weird scary shit and things resolve themselves later, but that gives you time to breathe and get accustomed to the horror.

maybe it just ends. maybe it's just suddenly "surprise, shit is fucked!" and then ~fin

that would be ideal. like, in the sixth sense, you find out Bruce Willis was dead the whole time, you see him making peace with his death, and then the movie ends. except without all of the overreliance on shock horror and the visually disturbing (for the 90s) shots of the entire rest of the everything.

but if the twist happens at the halfway point and things stay absolutely horrible for a while that's also good, like coraline. started off pretty normal, got a little weird, and then suddenly boom ITS HORRIFYING OUT OF NOWHERE.

a perfect example of the last line twist would be the girl with the green ribbon on her neck. aww the boy likes the mysterious girl and they fall in love and get married, really normal the entire way. and then oh surprise HER HEAD COMES OFF. simple yet effective.

I don't mind if it starts out the gate with being seven levels of fucked. dead space 2 opens up with nicole, narratively speaking just moments after she end jumpscares you in the first game, so we're already off-put. then 60 seconds in we see isaac in a straitjacket being questioned and in the background there's flashes of being on the ishimura and nicole's ghost walks up to you and slavsquats and her eyes light up and she whispers, then SUDDEN WHITE oh cool it's ok look it's franco from dead space ignition that's cool aww he's saving Isaac oh wow it's a really creepy atmosphere OH MY GOD IS HEAD IS GETTING STABBED AND HIS FACE TURNS INTO A GODDAMN ZOMBIE HOLY SHIT THEYRE EVERYWHERE RUN BITCH RUN CHAOS LOUD MUSIC BLOOD GUTS FEAR QUICK MASH THE A BUTTON OR DIE!!! oh everything is quiet now. good job you survived, now walk down the corridor to the next intense scary part. lather rinse repeat.

I like horror when it's well executed or creative and not schlocky and relying solely on savini's gore or unnecessary carnage.

friday the 13th is like, oh wow that person just got an axe in their forehead, I sure am quaking in my boots. oh wow the tall stuntman picked up a sleeping bag and slammed it into a tree, this sure is realistic. oh the scantily clad teen girl is running slowly through the forest while cain hodder slowly walks towards her, and he somehow catches up and stabs her with the machete. wow the effects sure look like foam core and wax got cut in half and is squirting ketchup everywhere. the music is sonically engineered to force my pulse to increase and I guess this is horror? oh look someone else got murdered. oh look another murder. I'm sure glad we spent the first 45 minutes of this movie getting to know the shallow garbage characters before they all get merced. wow crispin glover sure does know how to shake his head when a prosthetic attached with fake blood is on his head. oh look a dead body with arrows in it, the scream queen is piercing my eardrums, I guess this means I should be scared too. yawn. it's so fucking boring just watching people die over and over again. at least the later installments were either hilarious or batshit crazy. punching a dude's head clean off was the funniest thing I've ever seen in a movie given the context, and JASON GOES TO SPACE is the dumbest shit in any film but that's what makes it awesome. it had a stupid fucking robot fight. yet everyone hated it, so they rebooted it and surprising literally nobody it was the same shit but with more cgi so it looked even less real (not that it did in the first place). yet this franchise made hundreds of millions of dollars in ticket sales alone. nowadays there are people who see hockey on tv and ask "why the fuck is that guy dressed up like jason voorhees".

tell me why a free swedish gold source mod with blocky graphics and muddy textures and the worst lighting engine in 20 years and some bad questionable design choices in an almost direct ripoff homage to silent hill 2 and resident evil 2, crammed with bugs and bad collision and hard crashes if you die in a specific level while holding a flare which you literally need to always have lit because that's the mechanic the entire level was built around, by a team of like 6 people (half of whom were the voice actors and navmesh modelers), is still one of the best and well-crafted pieces of horror media I've ever consumed, while trash like the fucking craven-less elm street remake gets its dick sucked by everyone else because OH WOW ITS SO SUBVERSIVE AND EDGY AND GORY WOW COOL THIS IS REAL TRUE HORROR!

of course I'm approaching this from a purely american lens. japan's horror is phenomenal. mainly because it's not built around buckets of blood and literal pig carcasses and abusing actresses and actual rape scenes (although it's funny that people are totally okay with all of the graphic murders because killing people is okay and indulging in torture porn is fine but oh, god forbid a film shows something skin-crawlingly uncomfortable for the sake of making you feel disgusted and wanting a cold shower, no, the line is drawn there, you can stab a naked girl with a power drill or drop a chainsaw on her body and that's fine but if a snowman slams her body into a wall while his carrot nose is inside her hoohah that's when it's going too far? seriously? whatever I've beaten this dead horse). but eurocanadamerica's obsession with gore porn in horror and blumhouse's shitty jumpscare factories have reduced it to just... loud noise, stabbing, loud noise, stabbing, lather rinse repeat. this is horror now I guess.

nobody takes coraline seriously as horror. nobody takes the green ribbon seriously as horror.

the monster chasing you isn't horror. it's terror. horror is when you step on a bear trap while the monster is chasing you. the monster chase without the bear trap has no impact, it's just "watch this person fear for their life and die". yeah, if I wanted to watch a snuff film I'd look outside of mainstream markets. "oh but if it's just a movie it's not real" so says the people who suicide bait cyber bully and harass teens who ship a 17 year old with a 19 year old, or two people who work with batman, all over fictional alleged pedophilia and incest. because it's all bad unless it's violence. only sex is bad but not violence.

the violence cannot stand on its own. it needs to have narrative purpose. resident evil, all of the zombies and monsters were bioweapons being manufactured by a corporation. silent hill and cry of fear, all of the monsters are just the embodiments of the protag's inner demons. dead space, the batshit crazy religious cult wants to turn everyone into the undead since that's their idea of heaven, and you have to fight them and stay alive so you can prevent the universe from getting omnomnommed by the blood moons. f.e.a.r., a little girl with some psychic powers is studied, tortured, abused, and :/ raped (at least you don't see it) and she naturally responds by lashing out at the ones who hurt her and trying to reunite with her baby, who is... you! (spoilers).

what is the plot of friday the 13th? dumbass kids get drunk and have sex and let a little kid go missing and his mom has a psychotic break and starts killing them all, then they kill her and the kid kills more people and then he kills more people and then he dies and comes back and kills more people and then he dies so someone else starts killing people and then jason comes back again and kills more people again and he gets arrested and they try to execute him but he won't die so they cryogenically freeze him until he kills people in the future, and in a different timeline he kills people and fights freddy krueger. it's pointless. popcorn. drivel. there is no narrative purpose, it's just murder for murder's sake. and that's scary???

like I said. impossibly high standards.

I love horror. but holy shit is a lot of horror bad.

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mutinouscaptain · 6 years

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@gameunjang / @yeomrah / @kkamakwi → positivity for the first person you remember shipping with, in general or on this muse.

i’m about to write a small book about this nerd so get ready.

my first ship partner in general is my Main Meme and one of my oldest writing partners, kaitlyn. we first met over a decade ago on a kïngdom hėarts / organizātion xiii-based rp forum where we were both mods and self-proclaimed elitists. she wrote axėl and I wrote larxėne, and of course my feeble mind only shipped marlūxia / larxėne at the time and had not considered All Ship Possibilities, so she opened my eyes to the beauty of larxėl and tbh the rest is history. it was a great ship, I loved writing it with her both on the forum and privately. over the course of the 900 years that we’ve been friends, i’ve written other ships with her as well, most notably / presently with her frėyja and óðinn over on lōki. she was also the first, and i think only person that i ever wrote out a sibling relationship with, which was awesome as well.

now it’s time to PREPARE FOR THE SAP because naturally with a bff / rp partner that’s been so important to me both during my rp career and in my actual, non-internet life, putting some mushy stuff in here is extremely necessary.

kaitlyn is truly an inspiration when it comes to writing, not only because she manages to weave words together in a way that’s enjoyable, descriptive, and easy to follow, but because she’s immensely dedicated to portraying the characters that she takes on as best and as factually as she possibly can, whether they’re canon or oc. when she takes interest in something new, her quest for the cold hard facts about that character / mythology / concept, even when resources are limited, is relentless ( in the good way! ). she isn’t satisfied until she knows her characters and their stories inside and out, and then some, and doesn’t tolerate them being disrespected or misinterpreted. she values their integrity, and i think that’s really badass.

as a writing partner, she’s one of the easiest people to work with when it comes to plotting, discussing headcanons, ships, or what have you. i’m sure that our long af friendship has something to do with it, but there isn’t another person on this planet that i feel so comfortable bouncing au and plot ideas off of. we can have a plot thrown together in literal seconds, maybe not always from start to finish, but it’s always exciting either way. the amount of off-tumblr writing that we do is insane because she’s up for just about everything you throw at her. if you want a partner who can essentially pull inspiration from anything and make it work to fit your characters’ dynamic while simultaneously discussing how we all live in a simulation, kaitlyn is the one for you.

on to the personal friendship stuff: not only is she dedicated to her characters, but she’s dedicated to her friends, and there’s never a dull moment. when you find a friend in her, you’ve found a friend for life. she has been there for me through thick and thin. she always does her best to comfort me in times of need and i can only hope to do half as good of a job when trying to do the same for her. she remembers details about things and events that i could never hope to recall and is genuinely hilarious.

kaitlyn is the peanut butter to my jelly, the óðinn to my lōki, the mar to my lar, my #1 choice when i need to team up with someone for catchphrase. she’s my best friend and the sister i never had. i go and visit her, her family, and her friends multiple times a year because i seriously love spending time with all of them so much. i have never felt unwelcome in her home, in our friendship, or in our writing partnership, regardless of any turmoil our relationship has gone through. she’s my cosplay buddy. we fuel one another’s obsession with backwoods horror films. she is the only person on earth who can convince me to rub snail mucus extract on my face. she has helped me carry a giant air mattress from her living room all of the way upstairs to her bedroom after we watched the strangers and i decided that i couldn’t sleep down there out of the irrational fear that a man wearing a sack mask would murder me. she willingly traveled across the united states to come and visit me in san francisco while i was doing an internship, just to hang out ( king of thai noodle 4 lyfe bruh ). i even owe her for introducing me to one of my favorite restaurants of all time. together, we’ve contemplated deep shit, such as the existential dilemma and viking history, but also things like the nature and consequences of sharts, if left unattended to. we’ve had so many irl adventures, even though we always end up riding the struggle bus at some point or another, but it’s still always worth it.

i am constantly amazed and thankful that, through rp, i managed to find such a loyal friend, and that i still have the opportunity to write with her and make memories ( both online and irl ) with her so many years later, across so many different platforms. i appreciate every conversation i have with her, every plot we do, and every picture of mcu lōki she hides under my pillow when i come to stay over. the list of good things that i could say about her and inside jokes between us is practically endless, so realistically this post could very easily go on forever.

everyone deserves a friend and writing partner as great as her. ♡

@dxdger , JANUARY POSITIVITY / ACCEPTING .

#dxdger #gameunjang #yeomrah #kkamakwi #YOU MUST HONOR THE CALL. ( answered. )#anchored. ( ooc. )#* positivity.#* meme response.#i'm not putting this under a cut because this memer is important af.#long post //#let her run straight and queue! ( queued post. )

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team-crtq · 7 years

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Volume 5 Episode 1 Review

Helllllo, RWBY Fandom! I’m Mod Quartz of the CRTQ Blog! The blog dedicated to actually critiquing RWBY!

For Volume 5 we’ll be reviewing each episode. And no, I won’t be the only one reviewing. My fellow Mods Cobalt, Regalia and Tangerine will also be reviewing alongside me. We each take an episode from the first twelve episodes and divide them between us! As for thirteen and fourteen: Well, Good ol’ Quartz managed to snatch them up so you’ll be getting a special helping of mineral this year!

But enough chit-chat: Let’s go!

First up we have the introduction to the Volume 5 which also serves as the establishing shot of Mistral. The build up with the ominous underground hallway was rather good, the detail on the bricks was pretty good, the lighting has improved immensely since before and considering all the crap that people have gone through with Volume 4: the light hearted banter before we see Mistral was relaxing. However, I do think that Ruby should have been called out for almost dying since she almost got caught by Tyrian and Jaune of all people shouldn’t be joking about death.

Then was have the heroes (and Jaune. No offense to Jauen fans, I just love making jokes about him.) actually seeing Mistral for the first time. The actual shot we get at first really captures a look of “ancient but noble Eastern city” with the beautiful but worn building sprouting out of gorgeous mountains with winding path ways and even more mountains in the background. However, I do have a small issue with the waterfall in this shot because, judging by how the water is flowing and falling, it can look like it is falling onto the walkway below and even so, I must criticize that said water would be splashing in the faces of people walking down it I know this seems nitpicky but tiny details like that can throw people off (plus I can’t spend this whole review praising RT.)

Next is the views of the city through 2-D shots. I’m pretty neutral on the whole 2-D aspect as while it’s jarring what with the establishing shot of Menagrie was in 3-D: We seem to be having longer episodes as well as two extra so this is certainly not jarring enough that I would demand resources to be moved. As for the shots themselves: They are well made still shots with plenty of detail and stuff going in the background to entrance the audience and make Mistral feel alive. I am getting a distinct The Last Airbender vibe from these shots which I must commend RT for being able to at least be reminiscent of such a beautiful show without insulting it. The character designs all follow RWBY’s rule of at least trying to make people seem distinct and unique, with hairstyles or facial features only being repeated a handful of times (one time I believe to denote familial ties) and for 53 people: that’s pretty good.

(PS: Huh. Two guys with one holding bamboo heart. ... Neat. They look nice enough together that I’ll ignore the cartoonishness of the bamboo heart.)

The dialogue in this scene mostly consists of Team RNJR making comments about Mistral while Qrow pulls a WOR and describes Mistral to them. Considering the fact that I love WOR, this works very well for me and I think Qrow did a good job of giving an overview of Mistral’s culture and functions. Of course, this isn’t enough for Mistral as a whole so I do hope we get more.

The next scene is introduced with a rather nice transition by Nora. Not too much to say about this one due to the fact that it takes place mostly inside a single room inside of a ship. It’s nice to see Weiss again and in a nice contrast to her Volume 1 self, she tries to apologize in case she’s been trouble to the pilot which is a great show of humility on her part. To also show off her development from being the selfish brat she was: Weiss hears a distress signal and asks to help them. This would normally be the part where the pilot heroically goes off to help Weiss save these people in some awesome action scene but I have to commend RWBY for doing the opposite and having him try to avoid the ship in order to just get home. I know this seems cowardly to us but that’s actually how a normal person would react to deadly monsters nearby, showcasing the difference in mindset between a Huntsman and a normal person.

The next scene focuses on introducing Lionheart. First we had a bit of build up with an empty looking Haven as the heroes relaxing as they finally make it to their destination. However, Qrow does point out latter that there is a disturbing lack of students and teachers which causes everyone to go on edge. So everyone rushes to the Headmaster’s room, with all of them preparing for battle in a pretty cool sequence of everyone drawing their weapons. Then Qrow kicks down the door and reveals...Leonard Lionheart, startled as hell. The reactions from RNJR were honestly pretty funny due to the unison scream but Qrow’s reaction was...too Looney Tunes for me. I dunno, probably just me.

Anyway, Qrow and Lionheart recover and banter a bit and afterward Team RNJR introduces themselves and I gotta say, RWBY has done a great job at body language. Lionheart gives an air of constant fear in his body language due to him being tense all the time and his actions constantly tells me “I’m afraid!” which suits his design as the cowardly lion. Meanwhile, Qrow gives off an air of easily created anger with his slouching back, fisted hands and slight leaning. And with RNJR you could get their base personalities just from hwo they move when introduced: Ruby being happy but slightly professional showing her idealistic view on being a Huntress, Jaune not moving much showing his status as the normal guy, Nora being very cheery showing her to be the energetic one and Ren putting his arms behind his back and bowing his head showing him to be the calm, collected one. Very rare you get that level of communication in simple actions.

The final part of this scene consists of Lionherat trying to shoo Qrow and RNR away by informing them that his staff is gone, Qrow getting up in his face while we have another example of good body language (IE the sudden widening of eyes the instant Qrow yells) and Qrow revealing that he filled RNJR in on the relics and maidens, which seems to disturb Lionheart. A nice little exchange to show the dubiousness of Lionheart.

The next scene is introduced with a few shots of the outside of the Belladonna household which...confuse me. they don’t really do much for the scene and the build up they offer is minimal at best. They should have cut the shots and saved the time and money.

Anyway: the true scene begins with Ghira and Sun bursting into the house yelling about how despicable and deplorable someone is. Kali makes a small comment about how they are finally agreeing on something, which causes Sun to get embarrassed and Ghira to, I’m assuming, snapping Sun in two to avoid the embarrassment when Blake comes in and tells them that everything will be alright. Between her soft but firm force, the dramatic lighting and her confident and assured stance it does give off a feeling that Blake would be a good leader so if this is build up for her taking control of the White Fang-Kudos.

Then we have Blake walking onto a balcony and dismissing a guard from her duty. ... Why we didn’t see any guards before is beyond me: this is just a mistake from the CRWBY. Then we have Illa appearing and attempting to talk with Blake. We get a bit of exposition as to what had happened before hand as Balke and her family went to try and arrest the twins from EPisode 5 but they managed to pin everything onto Illa and escape scott-free Interesting to note that Illa turns her head away when Blake mentions her taking the fall, as if she was ashamed for it. Then Illa tells Blake that she doesn’t have anyway of proving anything was true and Blake retorts by planning on showing the information to the fanaus of Menagrie to sway them against the White fang.

What comes next is a very moving scene where Illa removes her mask as she warns Blake that her plan will fail and then begging her to leave before it’s too late. This works on three levels: the first one being the most basic, the eye to eye contact in order to convey the message she is trying to get across not just to Blake but to the audience as well. It helps her face express even more than before and it touches people more easily. The second is symbolic: The White Fang were the masks because they are acting like the Grimm as they commit crimes in order to force equality. With Illa removing the mask but not tossing it away as she pleads with Blake, it enforces that behind her actions and behind her allegiance: there is a person who truly wants to help Blake while also showing her loyalty still to the White Fang. And third: it’s easy for people like us to hate the White Fang because most of them don’t really have faces. Just as we feel no empathy for the Grimm because of their disconnect from humanity, we feel less inclined to side with the White fang because without a face, we see them similar to the Grimm. By removing her mask, Illa and the writers force us to acknowledge that she is a person, just like we are ad her reasoning behind her actions is just as complex as ours are.

Sadly, Blake refusing by stating that illa will have to make her, which causes a great amount of sadness in Illa as she says “I know” before leaving: Again, enforcing she is a person. Then we end with a shot of Blake looking angry before her expression breaks and she just looks worn, showing that she can’t stay mad at Illa.

The upcoming scene is an exposition based scene with Lionheart and Qrow tading information. Usually I don’t like exposition scenes because it’s mainly just two characters talking plainly to each other (Hence why I enjoy the history lesson style of WOR) but there is enough personality in this scene to keep me interested. Lionheart goes on about the troubles that Mistral ahd to face due to the Fall Of Beacon (with a nod to Penny in there), the people they’ve lost and the difficulties they are facing now with the Grimm and the Kingdom of Atlas due to Ironwood’s actions from before and finally the issue with the Spring Maiden. Qrow retaliates and probably tried starting a fight but then Ruby comes in and shuts them down before they can fight and reassures them. Again, showing that she is deserving of the title of leader.

We then get something that many people were hoping for: An explanation on the connection to the Maidens and Relics. Apparently the relics are sealed away onside certain chambers and only a specific Seaosnal Madien can unlock it and get the relics. Now I might have been upset about such a blatant grap to connect the two but A.) This is the norm for gods, they pull this shit all the time and B.) This explains why the Maidens are so important, why Ozpin and Co. needed to protect them, why Salem is so focused on them and why Cinder is needed. SO yeah, I understand.

We also get some info on the Spring Maiden: Apparently she ran off ten years ago due to the stress of her powers and the weight they carry and seeing as she is a living key for a godly power: Yeah, that’d happen. Lionheart claims that he doesn’t even know where she is and Qrow reveals that he knows. And the news isn’t good: She’s with Raven.

(PS: Okay, what is with high tech wooden desk? there was no foreshadowing for that and Qrow just flings his scroll onto the desk as if the desk knows what is going on. Seriously man, cut out the Belladonna house shots and have Qrow type some stuff into the desk.)

Also, apparently RNJR knows who Raven exactly is as Yang’s mom. I’m guessing Ruby told them but how did Ruby know? Did Taiyang tell her when he told Yang? Did Qrow blurt it out while drunk? Did Raven try kidnapping yang when she was a child and Ruby saw it? I really hope this gets answered.

Anyway, Qrow tries to convince Lionheart to go get the Maiden from Raven but eh refuses on two fronts. One is that the Council of Mistral won’t devote resources to fighting bandits (and the whole Maiden-Relic business is very hush hush) and considering the strength of Raven and the Spring Maiden alone: Qrow can’t just rush in by himself and RNJR. He emphasizes the importance that they wait for the right time. He and Qrow trade a few verbal blows before the subject changes to that of info about Cinder and her little group which Lionheart tells that they can’t find anything valuable, just fakes and forgeries. The group of five leaves and Dr.Watts informs Lionheart that he needs to work on lying. That brings everything the Headmaster said into question as he could be a liar and trying to stall for time but due to Lionheart’s resigned expression, I also question if he’s on either side really. All in all: This keeps the audience on it’s toes.

The scene shifts to a remake of the final scene from Volume 4 so I’ll just skip that. All I have to say is; Oscar looks better this time around.

The next scene takes place somewhere else in Mistral where yang is getting a glass of water and taking a break before continuing her journey. While this happens, some really skeezy looking guy starts hitting on her, apparently missing the definition of “personal space”, “tact” and “no.” We get a nice little Goldilocks reference before he tries touching her hair and he promptly gets smack out the rest stop. The act of Yang smacking a gross perv out was damn awesome but the guy pinballing around was just terrible. It could have just been the guy landing right outside and it would have worked so much better. The owner thanks her and hands her a drink. Yang reaches out and her hand, the one that punched the guy, starts shaking and freezing up so she has to stop it. While I think this is a hint that her PTSD isn’t away yet: I can’t say for certain. But I am thankful if it is a hint that she’ll be dealing with it.

So we get a little talk from the owner about how far out from the Kingdom they are and how the only person he really sees is Yang’s mom, to which Yang replies that she knows. The owner warns her that bandits are dangerous, Yang brushes him and prepares to leave when the guy from before stops her and talks about how he heard she was looking for someone. How the guy heard her is a little dubious considering eh only just then recovered but I’m more concerned with the implication that Yang is looking for Raven than Ruby, which is what we’ve been lead to think. Yes, RT could have been misleading people but it just kind of invalidates her build up. However it can be forgiven if this road yields results.

The final scene shows us with Ren, Nora and Jaune all looking exhausted as someone knocks on the door. The three person team exchanges looks before Jaune walks up to the door and slowly turns the knob to open, building up the tension due to the rising foreboding music and the slow movement, to reveal the newest member of the cast Oscar standing there, looking rather nervous. He asks for Ruby, which makes Ren and Nora suspicious as Nora asks him why he wants to see her. Oscar stays silent for a bit until Drunkle Qrow, blitzed harder than Poland in 1939, stumbles in, mumbling about how “he found him” until he slips onto the couch while Oscar tells them that he might need some help.

Ruby storms out, apparently reading comics as she sees her uncle drunker than the country of Ireland as she facepalms and asks if he got drunk again, showing us that this is apparently a common occurrence. Oscar jumps in and seems surprised as he says that she has silver eyes, a call back to what Ozpin said when they met face to face. Ruby asks who he is and Oscar nervously explains who he is but who they probably know him as while Qrow makes drunk commentary in the background. The episode ends with Qrow triumphantly yelling “I did it!” before passing out on the floor while Nora winces. Honestly, the only way this could have gone better is if things cut to Patch with Taiyang saying “Qrow just passed out again, didn’t he?”

All in all, this was a very good beginning. There were a few missteps here and there but overall I think it was an amazing start to Volume 5!

Now I’ll see you all in Episode 5!

#rwby #rwby5 #rwby review #rwby spoilers #ruby rose #weiss schnee #blake belladonna #yang xiao long #jaune arc #nora valkyrie #lie ren #crtq #volume 5 reviews

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fureniku · 5 years

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The return of my blog or something idk

Looks like in my last blog I said I’d not post my semi-private stuff here, only to a private blog.

Honestly, I can’t remember the name of the private blog; let alone the login/password. I think I only made one post there, to zero followers, and kind of lost the point of doing it. So fuck it, lets just go back to being here.

Days since last post: 614 Todays date: 30th September 2019 Start time: 20:39

Well, I guess we have some catching up to do.

I don’t know how many people on here were following me before. So, I guess I’ll start with a sum-up. My previous blog was just me ranting about anxiety/depression related things. It was a good platform for me to vent my thoughts without real life friends knowing; I had a few RL friends who followed it which was great as they could give me some support, but most of them didn’t know about the blog, which was also great as they then didn’t know a side of me I’d generally prefer to keep private. That blog was deleted in early January 2018, when the drummer from my then-band found it. I had made some comments about my frustrations in the band which were true, and I stand by them - but naturally it caused drama. I deleted the account, and instantly regretted it - I only had maybe 50 followers, but now I have two, so yeah. Life since then has been... chaotic. Not specifically in a bad way, just a lot of things happened. When the blog ended I was; - Single - Playing guitar in a band - Working a dead-end job in a Warehouse - Had no ambition/drive to progress life

Three of those things have since changed; I’m still single (not for lack of trying but whatevs). I guess I’ll cover a timeline? Jan 2018: I deleted my old blog, and made this one, and a second one with a more secretive/anon name. I made a couple of posts on each, then abandoned it. Instead, I started relying mostly on just one friend to help me. May 2018: I got a new job, working for a games developer. It literally changed my life. Anxiety/depression started to clear up a lot, things just generally improved. June/July-ish 2018: I left my band. There was an argument about the fact another band was using our space for free, after we had offered it to them at a split rate and they declined. I instigated the argument, other members didn’t see eye to eye with me, so I quit. It was a final nail in the coffin kind of thing, but it was certainly the healthy thing to do. The whole situation had been kind of toxic for a little while, but I now get on just fine with all of them - I think if I had stayed much longer, that might not be the case. Our vocalist left very shortly after me as well - I don’t know the reasons why, but it seems the terms were... less happy.

September 2018: I started taking Japanese classes. Met a girl, had a crush on her for a bit, it didn’t go anywhere as usual. No biggie.

December 2018: Depression came back a bit, as it always does around then. Not much I can do about it so I just power through.

February 2019: I got made redundant from work. I was cool with it, I could see it coming for a while and there was like 12 other people too, my boss had fought hard to keep me but the game wasn’t doing so well, so I totally get it. I got a nice redundancy pay (which they by no means had to give me, so I’m super grateful). I applied for a job with another studio; quite a big one called Jagex. They were far from me so it would’ve involved moving and stuff, so quite scary. I made it to the final stages, but didn’t get it.

I now had a fair lump of cash (I had been saving for a house anyway), but not quite sure what to do with it. Followers of my previous blog can probably guess what I decided to spend it on...

April 2019: I went back to Japan! My mental-health-reset trip mark 2. I spent about two and a half weeks there (despite fucking up and accidentally buying a ticket to return mid-may... whoops). I got detained in China on my way home too but that’s a whole other story (it was all sorted and fine in the end).

While in Japan, I had time to clear my head and think. I decided I wanted to go back to university, so started thinking about how that would work. Here in the UK, we get a student loan to pay for university. It’s a bit complicated, but the way it works is you get your course length plus one year of funding. The day you set foot on campus, you use one year of funding. Now, I had already been to university previously - I studied music production. Totally dead industry, I dropped out about three weeks into my second year. That meant, I only had course length minus one year’s funding left available. So I have to pay the first year of university myself. At a cool £9,250.

My dad agreed to pay one term, so one third of that. I managed to save up another terms worth by working over the summer. I’m sat in my uni dorm right now, still not quite sure how I’ll pay for the third term... but I’ve got 6 months to figure that one out.

May 2019: I returned to my original job, back in the warehouse. Picking and packing sacks of bird food, so much fun. My mental health naturally slipped again, although everyone was really friendly to me while before it was kinda like I didn’t exist, so that was nice.

Around this time, I also joined an Overwatch team. It was a pretty big team with maybe 14-15 members, it was cool to make some new friends. Except one guy, was a dick. This OW stuff is like a whole side story from hereon... Anyway, I said to my squad leader (We’ll call her SN) that this guy is a dick. She said ok and she’d go talk to him. She said do you agree you’re being a dick, he said no. She said do you acknowledge one of the squad members thinks you’re being a dick? He said no again. Some other stuff I don’t know happened, and he got kicked off the team. He turned a load of people against her, caused loads of drama, and everyone blamed her when it was 100% my fault. So that was fun. The only reason I didn’t leave the team right then is because if I had, the entire drama would’ve been for nothing.

June 2019: My old boss who didn’t work there appeared at the end of may. I have a job for you. Ominous... but ok. Turns out, there was a new system being implemented on another contract. As I had experience with QA, and had done some IT stuff for them before, they wanted me to help with the testing and implementation. It was a job that would test my brain, while requiring little physical work - it was perfect for me. I really enjoyed it. It was supposed to be a four week thing, but we found lots of niggly little problems in the system... as far as I know, it’s actually only just gone live - but may have been delayed further.

While working up there, obviously there was downtime while waiting for fixes to be implemented. “What, you want this label a different size? oof, that’s gonna take about three weeks”. However, I got to stay in the office, doing odd jobs and stuff. One of the “odd jobs” ended up being a full on Android app, that my boss and me developed together. It was super fun to work on and really rewarding. That was worked on on-and-off between June and August.

July 2019: an interesting month. There was a major incident at work where a shelf holding very heavy metal shit stirrers collapsed. (The contract was a water treatment etc company, who provide all the clean water and water recycling for my local area. The things on the shelf literally stirred shit.) No one was hurt but it was a lot of drama, which was kind of entertaining to me as I was totally bunking off for the whole week where it happened. Not just the occasionally check Facebook on your phone at work kind of bunking off; I literally just messed about on Discord and worked on Minecraft mods for about two weeks straight. They had given me quite a big project to do, I automated the process... gg ez.

Around this time, the game I had been a part of before was to be officially cancelled. My old work invited me down to the studio to be a part of the formal funeral for the game, which was a big honour. I even got to fly the sky-whale which was awesome. It was bittersweet though, as the game meant a lot to me and had literally changed my life.

August 2019: haaaaaa august was a meme. I’d gotten kinda close with a girl (we’ll call her AP) in my Overwatch team. Like, we’d arranged to meet up at the end of August anyway but yeah, she was the first crush in a long time who actually knew I liked her. And she had certainly implied she felt the same way... like she’d been sending lots of hearts and stuff and talking to me 24/7, tagging me in “X has to take you on a date to Y place” memes and so on. Anyways, so SN had apparently picked up on the fact I liked her, and started getting super pissy with me. I was pretty good friends with SN and we got on well, but in August she suddenly started getting crazy angry with me over tiny things. It all came to a head when I let AP kill me in a game (long story). Turns out, SN was like in love with me... despite breaking up with her boyfriend of over a year like 2 days before this conversation. So yeah, she told me to fuck off and that was that, she left the team etc, which thanks to chain of command meant that I was then in charge. fun.

Anyways, get to the end of August, and I was due to meet AP. We met up, it was pretty cool. We hung out at a gaming festival, then suddenly like half way through she was like “lets split up for a bit” and I was like ........ok thats weird but alright. We didn’t meet up again until literally when she had like 2 mins to go, but it seems like she had a lot more fun without me being there. Clearly I’d done some major fuckup, which I still don’t actually know what it was. I had an anxiety attack before I even reached my car... and not a little one either. It’s quite possibly the biggest anxiety attack I’ve ever had, I barely made it to my car before having a total meltdown. It was the first one I’d had for about a year and it hit hard. It took me about 30 mins to calm down, then I headed home.

I messaged her that night and asked her what happened, and she replied with “oh I never said I liked you”. It hurt a lot, like I’d been totally lead on. But hey whatever, that’s my life in a nutshell right? “Oh you want this happiness? this happiness right infront of you? HA nah”. She said in the same message that I “seemed cool” and she’d like to hang out again sometime. But literally within a week she was clearly interested in another guy, so yeah whatever. We’re still friends and play games from time to time but I know she likes this other guy, so yeah. I still like her but whatever, not much I can do about it.

Work was a meme as well. I got taken off the fun and interesting projects to do paperwork. Literally, my job was to scan 35,000 documents because they couldn’t find a couple of bits of information. I suggested much better and more efficient ways, but the boss of the contract was like “no thats bad do it this old fashioned way we don’t want any fancy apps or anything” (I had suggested a spreadsheet or database). It took me about 3 weeks of just standing by a scanner which would jam up every 15-20 sheets in. It was mental health hell, especially in the last week after all the AP stuff had happened.

September 2019: I had one week left at work. I finished the hellish scanning project on Monday afternoon. “Oh as a thanks for your massive hard work we’ll make sure to find you things to do for the rest of the week” No it’s fine, I’m happy to just finish a few days early so I have more time to prep for uni. “No no no, we’ll find you stuff to do” They did not find stuff for me to do. I literally sat there, with nothing to do bar a few odd jobs “hey can you fix this printer”, for four days. It was incredibly mind-numbingly dull. The only thing ticking me over was “hey, maybe they wanna give me a card on my last day or something to say good luck and bye and thanks for doing this literal £20/hr job for half that because you’re agency staff”. But nah, a few people said cya later, but a lot forgot I was leaving entirely. So that was a fun way to finish what had mostly been a decent job...

I then had two weeks of freedom, before moving to university on the 21st. I was nervous; who wouldn’t be? but it was cool. I finally moved out of my house, and had a place where I could make a lot of new friends (LOL). On the day I moved in, I met up with someone I’d spoken to online a few times who was living in the same building as me, we’ll call her S. She was nice, we got on well, and it was kinda cool to have a friend who was a girl that for once I didn’t have a crush on (coz I’m still totally hung up on AP). We ended up going to a club in the evening which I’ve literally never done in my life, and she brought me out of my comfort zone a lot. She was great for my anxiety and really helpful. We’ve hung out a few times since, but I kind of feel like I was just a “filler friend” until she made new friends. She actually totally blanked me when I walked past her today, so that was fun. She has my Switch atm too coz I let her borrow it, I’ll probably just get it back later this week and then be done, its like I put in all the effort to be a friend and she couldn’t care less.

Anyways, so as I said I moved in on Saturday. I met one of my four flatmates on Saturday and another on Sunday, but hadn’t seen the other two at all. It gets to Thursday and I’m tidying the kitchen a bit, my mum’s about to pick me up so I can move in my last few things, and one of the mystery people appeared - she hadn’t actually moved in yet and was just unloading her stuff. She had loads of kitchen stuff, seems she’s really into her cooking.

Anyway, mum picks me up, we go to get my stuff, then we’re driving back, and my phone starts blowing up. S: Are you in? Me: No, why? S: Your building’s on fire. Me: lol nice joke S: no really *picture of everyone evacuated with fire engines outside* S: It’s your floor too, idk which flat. I wasn’t far out, so found her outside when I arrived. I’ve seen people going in, not being funny but one of them looked like [one of my flatmates]. Shit. A few mins later, the girl who had just moved in came over. You know it’s our flat right? Shit. Turns out the extractor fan on the cooker malfunctioned. I won’t share the video itself coz one of my flatmates is in it, but yeah it just started spraying molten something all over the hob and surfaces. (They said it looked like molten metal, and they were there - but I don’t see how it would’ve gotten hot enough to melt any metal. My best guess is fat that hadn’t been cleaned from last years tenants)

So yeah, we got moved into another flat. The open cupboard right there was my one - I rescued my custom cup from it that the games studio had given me. It’s no good to drink from now, but it still looks ok so I’m glad I can keep it for decorative purposes at least. The rest of the food is waste, and I have to wait for the plates etc to get cleaned. I’m currently eating ready meals out of their cook-in containers, because I don’t have any plates, and only one fork and spoon. I bought some paper plates today though so I’ll use those from tomorrow, but I still don’t have any saucepans or anything.

I wasn’t around when they sorted out the replacement accommodation. Because of that, the other four from my flat went to the same new flat together, with one new person. I was put into a different flat which also had one other person in, my building manager assured me they’re “really nice”. I asked if they knew I was coming, BM said “they’ll know when we get up there :)”. That was Thursday, today is Monday. The only food in the kitchen is mine, I’ve not seen anyone. I’m 100% positive I’m alone in this flat.

And so yeah, that’s my uni experience so far. I had my first lectures today, it was cool because I already knew all the stuff so I got to feel smart (I’m doing computer games programming, and it was mostly about design docs which I read through extensively while working at the studio, so I knew exactly how they worked etc). But, I didn’t really make any friends. I kind of joined in with a couple of other people in each lecture, but it seems like they weren’t really interested, so whatever. I had an anime society taster this evening as well, and it was when I was on my way to that that S blanked me and I just got hit my like a wave of loneliness. I didn’t make any friends at the anime society, so I kinda just gave up and came back to my flat, and started writing this. As I was getting the fire picture from above though someone asked me if I wanted to hang out, so guess I’ll see how that goes. Not holding out much hope tbh and I’m at the point of becoming a full on hermit... I mean hey, at least I’d get a perfect score on my degree if I just focus on that and eliminate any social aspect right?

Finish time: 21:38 Length: 3,302 words/16,759 characters

#depression #anxiety #new start #moving #relationships #friendships #friends #tw #trigger warning

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dccomicsnews · 7 years

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Stephen Amell is the star of the international smash hit TV show, Arrow. This is the series that launched the DC TV universe, which is now collectively and lovingly known as the Arrowverse, the Flarrowverse (Flash and Arrow) or the Berlantiverse (After Greg Berlanti – executive producer on Arrow, and on all it’s various spin-off shows: The Flash, Vixen, DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow and Supergirl, as well as the forthcoming Constantine Animated Series and Black Lightning.)

Mr. Amell is also an athlete, fitness guru, philanthropist and co-creator of The Heroes & Villains FanFest.

DC Comics News, and our sister site Dark Knight News, were on location, at the Kensington Olympia in London, reporting on the convention’s first foray overseas. Whilst there we were fortunate enough to secure six exclusive one-on-one interviews with some of the cast of Arrow, Legends, Supergirl and Gotham. We also covered many of the excellent Q&A panels.

DCN is now proud to present to you, our readers, some of the highlights from Stephen Amell’s sold out session. You can catch the whole panel on video too. It’s here in print form for those who can’t stream video on the move, and for our readers who may be deaf, or hard of hearing.

For those who may not have seen any, or all of Arrow season five, please be aware that this article contains some huge spoilers. You have been warned.

American Arrow Warrior

Stephen Amell: My goodness! Good morning! Wow! This is, if not the prettiest crowd, also the prettiest venue that we’re ever gonna be in. It’s fantastic!

Moderator: You guys have been fabulous, by the way. This is an amazing first time event, the energy is just… it’s like nothing else. Thank you, London. That says a lot for you guys.

(Massive round of cheers and applause)

American Ninja Warrior – the Red Nose Day… That’s been a long time coming. Talk about that, and what it was actually like to run that course.

SA: So, running the course for (American) Ninja Warrior… if you haven’t seen it, it aired this past week. We raised some money for Red Nose Day, which I know is something that originated here, in the U.K. which is very cool. Running the course… it’s terrifying! All the lights… when you see it, they put everything over water. Walk across a balance beam that’s two inches off the ground, but it’s solid ground underneath you… you’ll zip across it. You won’t even think about it. Do the exact same thing, exact same width, and do it over water… and you panic! Immediately, because you think you’re gonna fall in.

SA: Ninja Warrior was great! I got pretty far, but after the second obstacle – if you see it – you’ll see me, before the third obstacle, go (touching his right arm, like in pain) like that to my arm. It’s because I thought that I’d torn my bicep off of the bone, on the second obstacle. I couldn’t feel anything from (my shoulder to my forearm). So, all things being considered, it went pretty well!

(Applause)

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Mod: Did you make it as far as you thought you were going to? As far as you thought you were gonna go?

SA: I made it as far as I thought I could go. I was really worried about those blocks that rotate when you run past them. They say, don’t worry if they’re tilted off to the side, or if they’re level. Just hit the middle, and go as fast as you can. Which, again, is a great idea, except for when they’re tilted in a weird way… and they’re over water!

(Laughter)

So, you’ve just got to get over it. Just… charge ahead.

Fan: Which obstacle did you find the most difficult?

SA: The one that I fell on. I saw a guy do it, and how they do it, and what you have a tendency to do – if you’re inexperienced with climbing, and you’re used to utilizing your upper body – you make everything very tense, and you make it all about your arms. When, in actuality, you’re just supposed to hang there. It’s supposed to be your core that helps you sway… which is much easier, because then you’re just basically hanging.

That was obviously difficult. I think I could learn that one… but the most difficult one is those floating blocks, that you have to run across. It’s just like (he crosses himself, like saying a prayer to keep himself safe from injury, then points forward)… and zoooooom!

(Laughter)

Which is, basically what I did. That was definitely the most challenging.

The Magic Of The Arrowverse

Fan: In season four you became the “Magical” Green Arrow. Do you think that was really the greatest thing? You would have thought that they would’ve brought back Constantine, or maybe Zatanna… or someone like that. But they had you as the magical person, to take out Darhk.

SA: Yeah. We tried magic on the show, and you have to try things… We’re gonna try things in season six that maybe are going to work, or they’re not going to work.

I was reading a review about season four – and there were lots of parts from that season that I loved that people didn’t like – and there are parts that I dislike that people enjoy, from every season. That’s all a part of viewing a television show. The reviewer said something that I really respected, he said that the most Arrow part of season four didn’t even happen on Arrow itself, it happened in an episode of Legends of Tomorrow, where they showed the older Oliver. I read that, and I thought… s#!+, he might be right.

I just loved having Neal McDonough on the show – so I thought I’d have him back in a second – but I thought that going back to what we’d cultivated in the earlier seasons was the way to go.

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Arch(ery) Nemesis

Fan: Who is your favorite villain on Arrow?

SA: (After a very long pause, and looking around him) Is Josh (Segarra: Adrian Chase/Prometheus) right behind me?

(Laughter from the crowd)

By the way, just quickly. If we get a chance to come back to London, and we’re in this venue… next year for my panel, you have to just let me just rappel down from my booth.

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I thought that Manu Bennet in season two did a marvelous job. I don’t think of John (Barrowman: Malcom Merlyn) as a villain so much… maybe because I know him. I didn’t really know about reaction videos, and then I ended up on a big deep dive on them – after I had an email telling me I needed to see some – and every person, to a man and to a woman, while watching the final scenes of this season were all like, “Full circle… OMG, full circle. It’s season one!” That really meant a lot. So, I think that the personal element this year, between Oliver and Adrian… that Josh as Prometheus probably fit the very best into a season.

From an iconic standpoint, then it’s certainly Deathstroke.

A very young fan: When I’m older I want to be an actor. What do you suggest I do to become one?

SA: The awesome thing about acting is that you don’t have to wait ’til you’re older… you can do it right now! Do you own a phone with a video camera? Yes? Do you have internet access? Yeah? YOU can be an actor!

(Huge applause)

What I mean by that, is in this day and age there’s nothing that can keep you from practicing, and creating content, and putting yourself out on platforms that allow you to get real time feedback. As long as you can differentiate the positive feedback from the people that are being mean for no reason, then you can start to move in the right direction.

I would then find classes, find movies and television shows that inspire you. Then try to emulate that, and from that experience you’ll start to find your groove.

Smoak And Mirrors

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(At this moment the crowd goes wild, as Emily Bett Rickards – Felicity Smoak herself – walks onto the stage)

Emily Bett Rickards: How does one crash a panel effectively? (Stephen greets her with a huge hug)

Fan: You’ve both done a lot, when it comes to Arrow, Flash and Legends. What’s been your favorite part, over all three series for the two of you?

EBR: I fondly remember when we introduced to the universe The Flash as its own show. That was a big change in where we were going, or at least where we thought we were going. It gave us a new bookmark, a new chapter… whole new novels! It’s been awesome.

SA: I like the quieter moments. Emily and I had a lot of fun shooting the episode where we’re trapped in the bunker.

(Huge applause)

The only part that wasn’t fun, is that we filmed that episode right around the time that I shot American Ninja Warrior

(Cheers from the audience)

Where I badly injured my bicep. I had to keep picking up Emily…

EBR: And I couldn’t help, because I wasn’t supposed to have full use of my legs, so I was just dead weight! (She laughs) And he was injured.

SA: Yeah… It was good, though! That was fun… climbing ladders.

In general I like when we have the quieter moments. We’ve all done action scenes, and Emily’s coordinated the team in the field, and been in the field a thousand times. It’s when you stumble into an episode and you find a three and a half page scene that’s just between two people talking… that’s really exciting. I like that.

Fan: After seeing the musical crossover episode of Flash, would you be interested in doing one of your own in Arrow?

SA: No, no, noooooo… (to Emily) I recently just found out how good a good singer you are!

EBR: Oh, well…

SA: People need to know these things!

Fan: Will you sing for us, a little bit?

SA: You want the musical episode now? You’re pressing your luck!

(Laughter)

You should just Google us singing at Comicon last year… it was a one off.

EBR: Nooo waaayyy…

SA: (To Emily) If you were asked to appear on one of the other shows to do a musical episode, would you do it?

EBR: Yeah! As long as John Barrowman was there, I would do it.

SA: As long as John was there, I’d do it.

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Arrow, The Movie?

Fan: If you made a feature length, big budget episode… who would you like to team up with, who would you like to go up against, and why?

SA: If we were going to do a feature-length film, what I would like to do is… I would actually use every single important character from the history of the show that people thought were really important, I’d like to put them all in a situation where they’d all have to work together, and I would like to put the entirety of the amount of money that we put into an entire season into, like, 98-minutes of screen time and see what happens.

EBR: And Batman!

(Massive round of cheers and applause)

SA: (Nodding and giggling) And Batman… played by Robbie Amell.

EBR: I’ll take it!

SA: It’ll be great.

Mod: Could I have a big hand for Emily? Thanks for crashing in.

EBR: Thanks for having me!

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Amell v Arrow

Fan: Have you ever wanted to slap Oliver in the face, and ask him “What are you doing?!?”

(Huge chorus of approval from the crowd)

SA: I do like playing a character that has flaws, for sure. Flaws are what make us interesting. I haven’t talked with the producers a lot about season six, but one of the things that I did say is that – based off of everything that has happened this year – everything about the introduction of a team, and relying on other people, not just getting yourself into a predicament, and immediately drilling down and saying I’ll handle it by myself… I said Oliver has to have learned that’s not the right way.

If we’re still doing that, after everything that happened this year… people are gonna be, like, he’s never gonna learn and they’re probably gonna change the channel.

(Applause and a roar of approval from the audience, as Robbie Amell takes to the stage)

Amell v Amell

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SA: Oh, my God… Did you hear Batman, and just come to the stage?

(Laughter)

Robbie Amell: I was wondering where everybody went! I was standing at my table and… (Spins around, as if searching for somebody, anybody!) I was wondering if you’ve told anybody what you’re doing on Thursday?

SA: Yes! At long last, Thursday is the first day of principal photography on Code 8 (A highly anticipated sci-fi project starring Stephen and Robbie).

(Robbie raises his arms and the crowd goes wild)

RA: That’s all I’m here for, have a great panel.

SA: Thanks, buddy.

RA: Bye!

Mod: Back to slapping Oliver in the face…

SA: As I was saying that, and everyone started cheering… I’m like, Oh my God, does everyone agree with me that much? That timing made me feel awful for about four seconds.

(Laughter)

I think it’s very important that next year, he learns those lessons. It would be nice to see someone being irrational, and brickheaded, and have Oliver go, “You know…maybe think about this one a little bit, for the following reasons.” I think that would be a more interesting thing to play, going forward with the show.

The Arrow Of Inspiration

Fan: What was your inspiration to be an actor?

SA: Inspiration comes at different times. My inspiration to really get on the path that I (am) on now came after being in Toronto, and being in the business for a good 8/9 years. I hadn’t really had a lot of success, and I’d had a really awful year.

I just started thinking about the things in my life that made me happy. Family was one of them, friends, my dog – Louie – was in there… I kept coming back to acting, and how happy it made me. It’s when I started doing it for those reasons, that a lot of the elements of my career that you guys have seen, and that have brought me to a spot like this… that’s when they started to happen.

Fan: What’s your favorite thing to do in your free time?

(The crowd erupts as Josh Segarra – Prometheus himself – walks up on stage behind Stephen and puts him in a headlock)

SA: He actually was right behind me!

Josh Segarra: He lets me do that to him right now, but in real life he’d kill me. It would be the fastest death ever!

(The audience laughs, and while the moderator helps find a seat for Josh, Stephen goes on to answer the question he’d been asked, before the latest surprise guest appeared)

SA: What’s my favorite thing to do in my free time? What’s your favorite thing to do in your free time?

Fan: I just play sports.

SA: OK! My favorite thing to do, right now with my free time, is to hang out with my family. There’s lots of times where – my daughter’s a champion sleeper – and there are lots of times where I have to leave in the morning before she gets up, and I’m back at night after she goes to bed. So I wanna make sure that I’m spending as much time as I can with them, when I’m free.

(To Josh) What about you? Free time?

Prometheus Unbound

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JS: The same, bro. I’ve got an 8 month old son at home, and he’s a pretty hilarious cat! So when it’s not with him… I watch a lot of professional wrestling.

(Cheers of approval)

We’ve connected on that… I’m a big WWE mark.

Honestly, I’m a… we talked about it right before we got up here – we’re geeks man – so, I read a lot, I like to watch my TV that I enjoy and, just kinda, hang out. I eat a lot of food, eat a looot of food.

Very young fan, in Green Arrow costume: (Who’s) your favorite superhero?

SA: Who’s my favorite superhero? The Flash!

(Laughter, cheers and applause)

(To Josh) What about you?

JS: The Flash.

(More laughter, cheers and applause)

SA: Dumb question: Who’s your favorite superhero?

Fan: The Green Arrow!

(Applause from all round)

SA: Is it? Or did your mom tell you to say the Green Arrow?

Fan: My mummy didn’t.

SA: She didn’t?

Fan’s sister, who is dressed as Rapunzel: No, (he) really is his favorite superhero.

SA: He is? I appreciate that very much. (To the sister) Who’s your favorite superhero?

Fan: Supergirl.

(Cheers)

SA: OK! A more important question; who’s your favorite Disney Princess?

Fan: Rapunzel.

SA: OK… I like Rapunzel too.

Fan: What’s the hardest stunt you’ve had to do on set?

SA: I was saying last night… I don’t know if it was the hardest, but (gesturing to Josh) our day on the boat was exhausting! It was really… We were out on a boat for an incredibly emotional scene, that was very delicate, very tricky, and had so many moving parts to it; everyone was worried about the weather, and I was really worried that we would be so caught up in getting the “Cool” shots, that we would miss the important ones, which are the ones that are right there (drawing a circle with his hand around Josh’s face), and right here! (Doing the same around his own face) That’s what the scene was about.

The last thing that we shot that day, before we lost the sun, was a drone shot of the boat… so, it didn’t require anything from me and Josh. It just required us to be in our positions. It was just gonna show the size and the scope of everything. In between those takes – where we had to stand up – the two of us would just be sitting there, like (hangs his head low, looking exhausted… Josh does the same). It was a hard day.

JS: Let me tell you about this guy (gesturing over to Stephen). Do you guys remember that episode in the cell, where I got to torture him a little bit? This man was shackled to the ground! Those were not fake shackles, they were real shackles. We were in that cell for 12 hours! He would take them off, and you could see the marks on his wrists. It was a pretty cool day, and my respect for this guy grew a whole lot… because those were the days that we knew were really important. Those were the days where we were starting to get into the guts of these guys, where you’re starting to see what they’re made of. Those were some fun days, for sure.

Wrestling with your conscience

Fan: You’ve touched on this one already, a bit. I know, Stephen, that you appeared in WWE, and it was one of the better celebrity appearances (they) had.

JS: It was the best one, bro. It was the best one! The man hopped the ropes, dude! He hopped the ropes… OK?!?

Fan: Is that something we can expect to see ever again? Maybe bringing in someone else? Maybe a bit of a villain?

(All the while, Josh is doing his best Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan impressions. Flexing, pumping up his muscles and grimacing, and the crowd are loving it.)

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SA: The worst thing that I had to do to Josh this year, had nothing to do with what happened on screen. It had to with with when he couldn’t join me at Wrestlemania. It was so sad.

JS: So sad, man… we’d been planning this for about a year. He’s, like, next year, April 1st/April 2nd, we’re going. Cool, man. Two months out we’re like, two months, we’re gonna go! A month out, oh my gosh… we’re gonna go! Literally, two weeks before, he texts me… “Have you heard?” Did I hear what? He’s, like, “You gotta work on Monday, bro!” I was, like, Nooooo… Man! So then on (the) Tuesday before I get a text from him, with a giant cardboard cut-out of my head. It said “Don’t worry, homey… you’re coming with me!”

(Huge laughs)

That day, every hour on the hour, I got a text from him smiling… my head smiling, and the wrestling. Just all day, tracking the day. “Me” in the front row, my head… and I was, like, getting to meet guys. I had the best time, I met so many wrestlers that day, bro…

(Lots of laughter)

SA: I would love to do something in wrestling again… but I don’t know what that’s gonna be. I think that being with the WWE would be really cool. Cody (Runnels/Rhodes), who I worked with… is doing such great stuff with Ring Of Honor and New Japan. That would be cool. I need to get back in the ring one more time! The first time I was so… the second that I stepped outside of the curtain, all the moisture zapped from my entire mouth! I was so nervous! I was so nervous that I literally forgot to get in the ring!

(Laughter)

Fan: We couldn’t tell.

JS: You wanna know a funny story? So, like I told you, I’m a big WWE fan. I was at that Summerslam, where he had his match with Neville, as a fan. So, I became a big fan of this guy, no lie – because I’ve watched a couple of celebrities trying to get in there and do their thing – and, all of a sudden I see this guy, who fits perfectly in there, and I’m fangirling, you know? My hands above my head and (in a real fangirl voice) “Oh, he’s doing amazing! I’m so proud of him!” (Stephen is cracking up, along with the crowd).

Fast forward, I get to work – the first day – and I met him, and (in a serious business voice) like… hey, good to meet you, “Good to meet you” (back to fangirl voice) So… I saw your wrestling match, man… Oh, it was awesome!

(Big laughs)

SA: That’s really how that went, too.

JS: Legit, man! (Fangirl Josh) And I saw Ninja Turtles! You were so good in that, bro! (Stephen and the crowd are laughing).

Looking To The Future… And The Past

Fan: Can you tell us what the theme for season six is?

SA: The theme of season five was legacy. From what I understand, the theme of season six is family.

Fan: So we’re gonna see William again?

SA: (After a long pause)… Sure.

(Laughter)

Fan: What’s your favorite Flash crossover?

SA: My favorite Flash crossover, was when I appeared in the very first episode, of Flash… for a variety of reasons. It was really cool to say a line like, “Saving people… in a Flash!” You live, as an actor, for that moment. The cooler part about it was that – this was during the second season of Arrow – it was an opportunity for me to go back to do a pilot. To, basically put together the exact same crew to do the pilot of The Flash, and just to think back to that moment, and to be a small part of it happening all over again, for someone else – someone else being Grant (Gustin: Barry Allen/The Flash) – that was really cool. That will always be very special to me.

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Changing The Script

Fan: Stephen, we know that you and Emily do a lot of improv, and (they) did release the script for (episode 20 of season five). In the salmon-ladder scene, how did it go? Because it’s nothing like (what) you shot. Did Emily and you just come up with something better, and everyone just went with it?

SA: No. I always explain this… if you come by table, you will see this really awful drawing of a tree, which I was trying to use as an analogy. The script is like a tree. You don’t want to poke a hole in the tree, but you can add additional stuff around it that they can take, or they can leave.

A lot of things that happen on the show that are ad-libs, are not me creating lines. A lot of times that stuff is written, it’s written like speeches, and not like conversation. I think this is a commonality through all of television and film. Just occasionally it’s honest and truthful to react to something, and they can take that reaction, or they can leave it.

Emily and I just had fun with that scene, and I’m sure that there was a version that was close to exactly what was on the page, and we leave it up to the director, and the editors, and the producers to pick the moments that they like. Sometimes they do, more often than not they don’t, and it more closely resembles what you see on the page.

I like playing red wine, drunk Oliver.

JS: Yeah, that’s a good Oliver. Hey… I’m outta here, I’ll see you guys later.

(The crowd cheers and applauds, as Josh Segarra makes his way away from the stage.)

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Sneak previews

Fan: Do you get to see the completed episode before it airs, and if not, do you watch it at home?

SA: That’s a great question. I watch the network cut; (this) tends to be somewhere in the area of 45 seconds to a minute longer than what you guys see, so that they’ll take a minute out of that. Generally that’s not by taking out a scene, it’s more you sort of pluck the air out of things, where you condense something.

The network cut is the equivalent of… do you remember that trend of people that were taking selfies of themselves first thing in the morning with no makeup on? That’s what the network cut is like. If you like the network cut, you’re gonna love the episode. It’s not color corrected, the sound mix is not done, it has a temporary score in it, and it has temporary visual effects. So you really have to focus in on the performance, and the story, because all the other bells and whistles aren’t there.

I watch that episode. That episode is the proper litmus test of; are the performances on point? Do I like the story? Also, at that point too, if i have a note or I find a glaring omission… I can pass it on.

Mod: Do you find yourself too critical of your own acting, or are you somebody that can look past it?

SA: Yeah, I feel like if I notice a tic, I’ll try to deal with it. It’s mostly… if I’m ever upset about something, it’s mostly that I know – due to the nature of our filming – that even if (the first) take is terrific, we’re probably gonna do two or three. So, occasionally, they pick a take and, selfishly, I wish they would’ve picked another one.

My Name Is Oliver Queen

Fan: Can you do your little speech? You know, from the beginning of the episodes where you say. “My name is Oliver Queen”?

SA: I totally forgot it, I swear to God! I don’t even remember what it was this year. Again, I never watch the episode that airs. I record it in August and then I never think of it again.

Fan: From season one, maybe?

SA: Oh, I can’t remember that one! I tell you what… when the next one comes out I’ll Tweet it. I’ll Tweet that I’ve just done what they call “The saga sell” and I’ll make sure that the next con that I go to someone will ask me, or I’ll have James (the moderator) remember to ask me, we’ll do it and we’ll put it on the internet.

No Man Is An Island

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Fan: We saw in the season finale how everyone seems to have (been) killed off on the island. If something was to happen to Samantha, how do you think Oliver would cope with being a full time dad, being Green Arrow and the mayor of Star City?

SA: That would be a very interesting story, I’ll tell you that much. I think Oliver is more equipped to be a father than maybe he realizes. I hope that he’d do a really good job. That would certainly create an interesting dynamic. It’s too bad that at the end of the season everybody died.

(Nervous laughter from the audience)

Fan: If you could get rid of any (of Oliver’s traits) what would (they) be?

SA: Eye shadow?

(Laughs)

No… Oliver is a very linear thinker. He’s a very task oriented person, and – based on the nature of our show – he doesn’t take a lot of time to stop and relax. In our penultimate episode this year Felicity says to Oliver, “How’s this going for you? Kinda relaxing”… and he’s “It’s torture, it’s awful, I hate it!” It would be nice if he didn’t need conflict, and strife, and adversarial people in his life in order to feel normal. That would be nice.

Variety Is The Spice Of Life

Fan: If you could play anyone other than Oliver in Arrow, who would you play?

SA: Diggle!

(Huge applause)

Look, I’m not telling you how to live your life, and enjoy the show… but if that’s not your answer you should rethink your position! I get why other people may be picking someone else, but… Diggle!

Fan: I know that you and John (Barrowman) are good friends, but what was your favorite scene to play with him?

SA: That’s tough to say. I didn’t have a favorite scene, per-se, to play with John… but, when we were filming in the first season they didn’t even tell me that he was the dark archer. No one told me! When I found out, it corresponded with our ninth episode, which was his reveal, our first big fight, and our first time spending all night shooting together.

It also corresponded with Friday October 12th, when the show premiered for the first time on October 10th. I had so many thoughts, and so many questions, and the premiere had been a success, and John with all of the knowledge that he’d derived from his career, from Doctor Who and from Torchwood, from all the different shows, and from everything that John does… I was just able to pepper him with questions. Just like Josh Segarra peppering me with wrestling questions.

(Laughter)

That was one of, if not the most, valuable nights and experiences I’ve ever had shooting the show.

Fan: Would you ever do a charity campaign along with Emily, so we can have both your faces on a t-shirt, and not just the one?

SA: The only t-shirt that I own with two faces on it is Jared (Padalecki) and Jensen (Ackles: Sam and Dean Winchester, from the CW’s non-superhero hit show Supernatural).

(Massive cheers and applause from the crowd)

I think that would be fun. Teaming up for a charity campaign would be fun. If we found the right cause, and the right time, and the right design… I think that would be great!

Fan: I recently had the experience of going for a drink with my hero. Who would yours be, if you could go for a drink with someone?

SA: Can they be a fictional person?

Fan: Fictional, alive or dead.

SA: I’m gonna go with John McClane! (Bruce Willis’ legendary hero from the Die Hard franchise)

(Huge round of applause)

Seems like he’d be a good guy to have a drink with… as long as he was super pissed off about something. I’d love to hear late eighties, still rated ‘R’ John McClane just bitch about politics, or something. Or just aaarrrggghhh millennials, stuff like that. That’d be great!

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Ladies’ Night

Fan: I have two questions. Of all the girls that Oliver’s been with, who would you choose?

(The crowd erupts with laughter)

SA: It’s Sunday morning, and what do you mean “Been with?”

(More laughs)

Do you mean been with, been with?

Fan: Love interest been with.

SA: Oh! You mean like, had a meal with.

(Even more laughs)

What’s your next question?

(The crowd is now cracking up)

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Fan: If you could be in any of our British programmes, which one would it be?

SA: You mean other than Loose Women? (The UK chat show similar to The View) I was on Loose Women on Friday with John, and I found out about the British term for… never mind.

(The laughter continues)

I would love to be somebody in the original UK version of The Office, which is one of my favorites of all time!

(Appreciative applause)

I’d be like the stupid copy guy who’s from Toronto, who speaks super Canadian. I dunno… That’d be fun.

Fan: Concerning Earth 2 Oliver. Do you think he would have treated Laurel better than Earth 1 Oliver?

SA: I think that everything is different for Oliver if he doesn’t get on the boat. There’s a version there… there’s an Earth where it’s Oliver and Laurel forever. But I think that the Queen’s Gambit, Sara and a variety of other things – almost all his fault – sorry, no that’s wrong – all his fault – made it so that it wasn’t meant to be.

And that’s it! We hope you’ve enjoyed the coverage from London’s first ever Heroes & Villains event. Please, as always, leave us some feedback.

The show will be back in the UK next year, so hopefully your mild-mannered British DC Comics News correspondent will be on hand, to get the low-down.

Until then… take care y’all!

Right On Target – Live In London With Stephen Amell Stephen Amell is the star of the international smash hit TV show, Arrow. This is the series that launched the DC TV universe, which is now collectively and lovingly known as the Arrowverse, the Flarrowverse (

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classpects-for-dummies · 7 years

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Hello I was wondering if you guys aren't to busy if you can tell me how a Fansession with a Heir of Time, Sylph of Space, Page of Life, Prince of Heart, Maid of Hope(Leader) and a Rogue of Blood(2nd in Command) would work out together and maybe (if you want to) what kinda stuff they'd get up 2. Thanks in Advance

Two canon classpects? Nice.

Maid of Hope: creates and restores Hope, and through Hope.If you say this is the leader, then so they are. To me, it seems like they don’t really like being the leader though.

Maids tend to start off rather submissive in their aspect, letting it walk over them while relying on others to use their aspect for them. This Maid is no different, and as a result, they are likely to start their journey in a dark place. They may suffer from depression, but they certainly need other people to give them Hope. However, as they develop, they grow into their aspect, and learn to find it in themselves more than others, which is just what this Maid will do; they will switch from needing to be inspired all the time, to being the beacon of optimism, faith, and joy in their session.

This player, despite their own difficulties with themselves, is kindhearted and genuine. It is against their nature to lie or be deceptive, and they find it hard to hurt people. One of their greatest joys in life is helping people - however, this leads to their greatest weakness: being overly optimistic and gullible.

Despite this, the Maid is great both as a big hitter and a support class, and with the session you have, I see them more as the latter: going around and creating Hope in their teammates where there may be none.

Rogue of Blood: one who steals and redistributes Blood.I hope your players like each other, because either way, they’re going to very soon.

The Rogue of Blood is an incredible player at bringing together teammates and helping to defeat an insurmountable enemy. Thanks to their ability as the passive relocation class, the more the enemy bands together, the stronger their powers will be. They can steal the bonds tying enemies together and redistribute them to teammates, making them stronger together, and helping them to fight as a unit.

This player being the second-in-command is a fantastic idea, as not only this player but Blood players, in general, are great at pulling people together to a common cause. The challenge for them will be devoting themselves to the cause and not pursuing their own agenda at the cost of the goal. (see: Kankri.)

They give good relationship advice, as well as general emotional advice, making them a good moral support player, even if most of this job will be performed by another player.

Though their powers seem support-y, they are likely to be one of the sessions real offensive players, alongside the Prince.

Prince of Heart: one who destroys Heart, and destroys through Heart.We have a canon Prince of Heart, meaning we have a lot of information to go on here.

The Prince, as with both destructive classes, begins by rejecting their aspect and leaning on the opposite as a crutch: in this case, Mind. They will be cold, calculating, and blindingly efficient. They do their best to be completely rational and purge themselves of all feeling, for whatever reason. However, as long as they maintain this facade, they will not be in tune with their aspect, and therefore, their powers.

Unlike the Bard, who will have a sudden trigger pulled to unleash their powers, the Prince’s journey to accepting their aspect is slow and gradual. The more they progress, the more they unlock, and boy, do they have some serious power to release.

The destructive classes are notoriously powerful by themselves, and the Prince of Heart does not change this at all; they can literally destroy the souls of the enemy: their existence, their image, their feelings and emotions, all gone. This player is your main offensive player: when powered by support players (your Maid, Rogue, and Page) there is very little they can’t do.

With the strength of their powers comes the difficulty of their challenge; they must learn to accept their aspect in a safe and natural way while maintaining the common goal of the session. Princes do have a tendency to pursue their own personal plans, valuing them more than the session. The aforementioned support players will help keep them on track.

Page of Life: one who invites exploitation of Life, and through Life.You feel like you need support, but you can make it on your own.

Both exploitation classes are about development. But while Knights take rapid evolution, Pages are about slow, subtle improvements over a long period of time to unleash awesome power. They will start their journey, even before the game, with a deficit of their aspect: in this case, a lack of ability to grow due to circumstances beyond their control. As they keep moving through the game, they understand how to take back their aspect and use it for good, instead of the way it was used to taunt or otherwise hurt them or others.

This is another support class, and their biggest strength is arguably their ability to inspire. Life is about energy, force, movement, and above all else, screwing the rules. The Page can supply all of this in excess to their teammates, as well as general healing. Although, as a passive class, their healing specifically will not be as potent as it could be, they can keep a steady flow of Life dripping into other Players, topping up their health and keeping them fighting at maximum strength. They are also going to be the team’s counsellor: giving the energy back particularly to the Maid and the Prince.

I’ve said it before and I will say it again: keep the Page away from the Sylph. A Sylph’s natural tendency to fix things and meddle in matters beyond them will mean that the Page doesn’t develop naturally and will never realise. Their challenge is to make it on their own, without being guided every step of the way.

Sylph of Space: one who invites creation and restoration of and through Space.Another canon classpect. Off to Kanaya this time.

The Sylph of Space naturally begins as a creative in one way or another - be it art, music, fashion, fiction - and as quite intelligent.Sylphs are naturally quite focused on their aspect: they can talk about it at great length and will tend to see any lack of their aspect as a fault and fix it. This makes them efficient, but also tends to make them nosey. They use their aspect in their free time, a hobby of sorts that pertains to their aspect.

They will find the task of breeding surprisingly easy, if not long and menial. The Heir will be their companion in this, and they are likely to get along very well. Thanks to their affinity with healing and creation, they will be able to easily create frogs with the genetic code they need and breed the Genesis Frog with little to no difficulty. However, while their powers will help them with breeding itself, it will not help with actually collecting the frogs, which is what will make the task long. Again, the Heir helps here. So overall, their challenge is to focus: to focus on their own task instead of coddling, and to focus on their task no matter how long it takes.

Combat-wise, this player is a support/healer: they are great at creating tools and items to help support their players such as medicine and stat boosting items (think Pokemon vitamins) although they can also heal innately. This healing is much more powerful on inanimate objects than people, but it is useful regardless.

Heir of Time: one who invites manipulation of and through Time.Heirs have two distinct features alongside their designated verb: they are protected by their aspect, and will eventually embody and become their aspect.

Heirs instinctively use their powers without even noticing, so even before they realised - even before the game - this Player is protected by Time. They always end up where trouble is… just a little before or a little after everything goes pear-shaped. Or you can see this from the point of view of destruction: they are saved by things being destroyed around them - but I think personally this is more a Bard of Time’s behaviour and am leaning toward the former.

As they develop, they will begin to realise that Time has always been on their side, and will begin to influence it, subtly at first, but constantly growing in magnitude until the Heir *becomes* the timeline. At this point, doomed timelines and broken loops are no longer a problem: the Heir can simply shape the timeline around issues, effectively eliminating them from causing trouble.

Once they reach this level, assisting the Sylph in breeding will not be an issue at all, and will complete it with relative ease.

The Heir’s problem lies in being consumed by Time: as they become the timeline more and more, they also become Time, and all that comes with it, including destruction. Given the chance, they may completely snap and turn murderous, becoming the embodiment of death and destruction. Page and Maid, if you don’t help them it will spell the end of your session.

In conclusion, I really like this session, a lot. You have some really complementary classpects and everything seems to work together well! You have a 2/4 active/passive class imbalance which could be a problem, and a 4/2 +/- aspect imbalance which could also be a problem. However, given that your active classes include a Prince, I don’t think this session will have a problem with getting shit done, nor do I think they will be overly optimistic, with the Prince and the Heir keeping everyone grounded. Every single player has a vital role in this session, and it would probably fail without any one of them, which I think is the best way to show you have a successful session.

Good luck and have fun!

- mod Aaron :B

(p.s. You may have noticed that while the other mods keep session asks nice and concise, I tend to ramble a little and write sometimes upwards of 2000 words. If you specifically want a nice concise session ask, please stick “short ass session” on the bottom of your asks! If you want a long rambly infodump, please stick “long ass session” on the bottom! Or don’t write either if you don’t mind. Thanks!)

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proud-lathyrus · 7 years

Text

ME: Andromeda - So far

So, I’m feeling pretty gross, couldn’t sleep much last night. Tum pains, super dizzy. Don’t eat three brownies in one go, guys. Especially if they’ve been sitting on top of the microwave for like, three days. Do not recommend.

Anyways, I kind of wanted to share my thoughts on Mass Effect: Andromeda so far! Since it’s been out for a week and such. I’m ~50 hours in, with 40% of the overall game completed.

Some spoilery content ahead, so I’m going to put all my thoughts under a read more. I’m not going to be harping on the animations, though (I’m not having a problem with them?).

Character Creator: I figured I’d start here! To be quite honest, I was a bit disappointed. Playing on console, I don’t really have access to mods and whatnot, so I can’t enhance the CC with custom content. I guess I just expected more (hair. I expected more hair). It is a huge upgrade from the original trilogy, though, where I usually played as default dude Shepard. I commend that! And have made my very own Ryder. I’ll probably show him off later. I originally wanted to play as sisRyder, but I didn’t really like any of the hairstyles (I want/ed Cora’s hair haha).

Ryder Personality: Can I just say that, I am head over heels for broRyder’s personality? Because I am. I think he is my favorite character of the game so far. I know that’s weird to say, because you control Ryder, and how he/she acts, but I can’t not choose the more loose, sarcastic conversational options (using logical/emotional options when dealing with issues and species like the Angara because I want to make a good impression). I’m just in absolute love. Cayde Ryder, please marry me even though you’re super gay for Gil omg

Tempest Crew: The Tempest and her crew is certainly not the Normandy and her crew, and this is a problem I had earlier on in the game. I loved the scenery, the design, but I wasn’t really feeling the crew or the vessel at the time. They’re not my Normandy crew, and it took me a few hours of gameplay to understand this. Drack isn’t Wrex, Vetra isn’t Garrus, Peebee is no Liara, Kallo is not Joker, and so on. They’re not coming back (although Liara is still around via Alec’s audio logs!!), and I know this now. I’ve gotten to know my crew a lot better! And I love them, especially Jaal and Liam. My bros! My team until our adventures in Andromeda/with the Ryders ends, probably. They are all very different from each other, but I’ve come to really enjoy them for their own qualities. I still have trouble navigating the Tempest, but it’s otherwise a gorgeous ship!

Combat: I’ve got a few complaints. My game is super bugged (I’ll talk about this next), so maybe it’s just me, but I find the combat a bit difficult, and I’m playing on the normal difficulty so it shouldn’t be this hard. I think the gunplay is fun, but what I have a problem with is the enemies. The hard hitting guys, such as the Anointed, bosses, and Observers, don’t focus on the teammates. They focus on me only, and it makes it difficult to fight them. It’s so bad, I actively try to avoid fighting while exploring. I’ve gotten around it, and I deal with, and I kill them, but it’s kind’a hard. I don’t think I should be spending nearly a half hour trying to clear out a Kett outpost while exploring because there’s two Anointed Kett guarding it. I’m not dying, I’m pretty careful and have an incredible amount of patience, I just don’t think they should focus only on me. Also, is it just me, or does aim assist not work at all? It’s not working for me, that’s all I know. When I play a game with aim assist, of course I’m going to use it. Because I’m lazy! Haha! But aside from that, I think it’s fun. I like the jump jet and the boost. It’s fun, and I like hovering and shooting when I can.

Glitches: Not like rubber banding characters, disembodied heads, or characters walking around like crabs. I’m talking about mission-breaking glitches. Like, trust me. I would much rather have immersion breaking glitches as opposed to the glitches I’m having now. There are several missions I cannot finish/progress with that I have started in the beginning, simply because the characters I need to converse with do not present new dialogue options, and so I can’t progress or finish certain missions. There’s a few like this. Otherwise, my game runs perfectly fine! I just wish I could finish these missions. In case anyone is asking: why not just start a new file? Because, my game didn’t start having these glitches up until I was ~22 hours into the game. That’s a lot of progress to throw away. It doesn’t currently affect the main quest line, but I’m afraid it will down the road, with the way these missions are breaking. Scanning is also very finicky which is sad because I really enjoy using the scanner and it’s my favorite mechanic/tool by far. Anything clipping through a wall, cliff, or the ground, is nearly impossible for me to scan, sometimes making missions difficult to complete, too.

Graphics: I am absolutely amazed by how beautiful ME: Andromeda is. I see people complaining about how it doesn’t look like the cinematic trailers, and, yea, while that would be nice, I can understand why the exact graphics won’t transfer. I’m pretty blown away, to say the least. I wish there was a photo-mode, because I’d love to take scenic pictures and try to capture the cool alien wildlife and flora. It’s all very beautiful, I think they did awesome! :]

Story: I will be honest. When I heard about what the baseline for the story was going to be about, traveling to a new galaxy to make home for people coming from the Milky Way, I asked myself: how are they going to make this interesting, and not like a sim? Let me tell you, I’m impressed. I hadn’t really thought about there being any sort of enemies in Andromeda, let alone a whole new species like the Kett and the Angara. I hadn’t watched any of the story trailers, or read much on Andromeda as it got closer and closer to release, so it was all very much a surprise. Definitely a good one, too. There are some twists in the story that were unexpected. Being an observant person, I can usually guess how a movie, show, or game is going to end, and possibly figure out any twists along the way. I like to be surprised! And I don’t know what to expect as far as the end of Andromeda goes. It’s great so far, I am truly engaged.

All in all, I think Bioware did a pretty good job with Andromeda. I’m not finished with the game yet, but I’m always eager to play more. There’s so much to explore, and I am absolutely loving it! I actually think I’m going to turn it on right now and play a little bit. :]

#Thoughts by Vick #MEA #text

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heretherebedork · 3 years

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And the battle goes on: "Friends will be Friends" edition! Who are the truest friends? Friends that support and connect with one another?? A protective friend?? When he's in need of love they give you care and attention?? aaanndd the contestants are:

Puth vs. Thurs

Miriam vs. Yihwah

Fong vs. Ni (TonChon)

Tum vs. Hin

Fujisaki vs. Pang (TonChon)

Two vs. Tul (ATOTS)

Tsuge vs. Rokkaku

Kao (Oxygen) vs. M (SOTUS)

Man vs. Bone

Waan vs. Pond

Duean vs. Ram

Mueang Nan vs. Longtae

Mark vs. Ming

Win vs. Team

Manaow vs. Tiffy

Khiem (HCTM) vs. Jack (Nitiman)

Na vs. Boss (2gether)

Zhao Zi vs. Mon

Jack vs. Inspector M

Oat (MoD) vs. Ai

BoXiang vs. ZhiGang

Shou Yi vs. MuRen

Zon vs. Champ

Saifah vs. Pearl

Kit (Gen Y) vs. Beam

Goodluck!

Puth vs. Thurs

Puth wins this because he's been such a supportive friend to many of his friends. Also, the stupid way he helped Sun and Nuea get together? Adorable and stupid and that special kind of manipulative that only friends get to be.

Miriam vs. Yihwah

Miriam is just amazing, okay? She stood up for Chon on so many levels and helped out Ai and Ni just... she was basically an angel and supported all her gaybies and made sure everything was okay.

Fong vs. Ni (TonChon)

Look, this at least partially because I liked THCT way more than 2gether. And also because Ni was an amazing friend and supportive and there and patient like a saint. So... yeah, he takes it.

Tum vs. Hin

Hin stood up for Gene. Hin risked his job for Gene and he did it in front of the world. Tum did as well but later and behind closed doors and while I do respect him as well... Hin put so much more on the line. And he did it so, so well and with tears in his eyes and I love him.

Fujisaki vs. Pang (TonChon)

We stan Fujisaki in this house. No questions, no substitutions allowed. Pang is awesome and she does her best but does she go on a roof and set off fireworks after the show was canceled to insure that her friends have a good date?

Two vs. Tul (ATOTS)

Tul is a great friend. Absolutely fantastic. But Two stands beside Third with such willingness and such openness and takes his side so thoroughly... He wins by the tiniest bit.

Tsuge vs. Rokkaku

Rokkaku was ready to throw down Tsuge for the sake of thinking he had hurt Minato. Like, I can't pick anyone over Rokkaku. Tsuge is amazing but Rokkaku would do anything for a friend. Also, he's adorable beyond measure.

Kao (Oxygen) vs. M (SOTUS)

M is such a good friend but Kao scales the side of a building to rescue his friend from being held hostage by his father. Like, M, love ya but you can't compare.

Man vs. Bone

I just love Man. He's the best part of 2gether, okay? So he wins this.

Waan vs. Pond

Pond is fun but he's more comedic relief than good friend. Waan really does his best. Though I do think he should have talked to Pai more rather than keeping all the Itt stuff secret. But whatever. At least he really tried.

Duean vs. Ram

Ram is willing to get into a boxing match for his friends. Duean is a good brother and a good friend but I think Ram edges him out simply by being a bit smarter. Duean might have him on loyalty but Ram can solve an issue with thinking.

Mueang Nan vs. Longtae

No one from FUTS is gonna win, okay? Also, Mueng Nan is a good wingman but that doesn't mean he's a good friend. A good friend would be talking to Mork about how stupid he's being. Longtae listened and learned and opened his heart and seriously he was so, so good and so understanding and so supportive.

Mark vs. Ming

Honestly, I think part of this is when the shows aired? The friendships in Thai BLs have been increasingly important and Gen Y did come after 2moons/2moons2. But also Mark just gets some of the absolute best friendship moments with Yu so he's gotta win.

Win vs. Team

This one was HARD. They're both amazing friends and exactly what their friends need them to be... but I think Team's support edges out Win just a little bit in terms of friendship.

Manaow vs. Tiffy

Tiffy kinda got fucked over by the show so... gotta give it to Manaow. I think Tiffy had all the potential in the world but the show just kept pushing her in the wrong direction.

Khiem (HCTM) vs. Jack (Nitiman)

Both fantastic hetero buddies! But Jack and his adorable willingness to play wingman despite being in the love with the girl he's pointing towards his playboy friend? So sweet.

Na vs. Boss (2gether)

I had to pick Na. I love Na. And his willingness to sacrifice his love for the sake of friendship? And then everyone joining him on the beach and the sheer comfort there? Ughhhh so gooooood.

Zhao Zi vs. Mon

ZZ is just an angel, okay? I love him dearly. And get this one because Mon is adorable but he's also so, so sassy and maybe not always the most supportive. He has good friends, though. But ZZ? ZZ was ready to throwdown just at the thought of someone judging ShaoFei for being gay.

Jack vs. Inspector M

Jack wins this because he's got his scary switchblade tricks. Also he's a friend the entire time. Inspector M is close, though. No denials. But there's something about Jack's support and the way his friendship turns to love as well... he wins.

Oat (MoD) vs. Ai

Another hard one! This one is so, so hard. I don't wanna choose. Whyyyy. But Oat helped cover up deaths and saved people and I just had to give it to him. But it was close! I've gone back and forth over and over again. Because they're both amazing friends.

BoXiang vs. ZhiGang

Honest statement, I feel like I haven't watch either of these BLs recently enough to tell you. Sorry.

Shou Yi vs. MuRen

MuRen is just such a soft, sweet friend. And then the occasional little snarks as he takes care of them? He has to win. What a darling.

Zon vs. Champ

This was also a challenge. But I feel like Zon had more good friends than he was a good friend for the most part. So it goes to Champ. Who was a very good friend as well.

Saifah vs. Pearl

Pearl's own show might have been a little fucked (which is sad because it was GL and it had potential but just went nowhere) but she was an amazing friend at all times. So she takes the gold here.

Kit (Gen Y) vs. Beam

I just adore Kit. Beam as good and he did his best and he was a good friend but Kit nearly destroyed his own romantic relationship to help a friend. Was it a good choice? No. Was it true friendship loyalty? Yes.

#make me choose #make me choose anon #ilu anon #holy fuck so many #thaibl #thai bl #thai bl friendship #thaibl friendship #bl friendship #holy shit so many #ahahahah #did it though

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