#the reviews are fairly mid and i do not care
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So there was a french animated film about the friendship between Icarus and the Minotaur last year and I was supposed to hear about it on the bird app?
I mean it’s literally not streaming anywhere yet nor does it have a home media release at this time but I would like to get hyped in hopes of one of those things happening eventually.
It has a good style! I would like to see the tragedy!
#icarus#the minotaur#minotaur#asterion#king minos#french film#movie#icare#theseus#ariane#the reviews are fairly mid and i do not care#let. them. be. friends.#greek mythology#if they're both doomed by the narrative then let them serve their time together
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December 2023 Reading and Reviews by Maia Kobabe
I post my reviews throughout the month on Storygraph and Goodreads, and do roundups here and on patreon. Reviews below the cut.
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
Despite how much promise there is in the premise of this novel I was ultimately fairly disappointed by it. I'll start with the positives: it's set in a diverse and creative fantasy world with multiple different countries and cultures. It has several queer characters, including one of the four POV characters. It has dragons, even though I think they were severely under-utilized. It is also far too long, and astonishingly, nearly every scene in the book felt rushed. I think it actually had too much plot; if I had been editing this book I would have suggested the author cut one of the POV characters and use the freed-up space to flesh out the queer love story, which was the emotional heart of the book. This book is marketed as adult fantasy, yet whenever a character is in serious danger they are nearly always rescued by a talking animal with super-speed abilities. Choices like this book made the book read younger than I expected. It also suffered, perhaps unfairly, due to the fact I read a book with a much smarter and more interesting use of dragons, human/dragon cultural tensions, and dragon politics earlier this year: Seraphina by Rachel Hartman, which I would recommend over Priory any day of the week.
Red Paint: The Ancestral Autobiography of a Coast Salish Punk by Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe
Sasha taqwšəblu LaPointe is a Coast Salish poet and punk who digs deep into the lineage of women in her family searching for connection, strength, and healing. While writing a Master's thesis, LaPointe opened the door to memories of a childhood sexual assault, precarious runaway teen years, and the intergenerational trauma that affected all of her family after the colonization of the Pacific Northwest. The memories that surfaced shattered her life. The path to picking up the pieces was slow, and involved traditional healing ceremonies, friendship, writing, music, and multiple journeys to places where her female ancestors once lived. I found this book very quick and easy to read despite the often heavy subject matter (it also includes a divorce and a miscarriage). Some passages are quite beautiful, but the author was an emotional mess for most of the time period she recounts and behaved in some questionable ways towards many of those around her. It ends on a hopeful note, and I would recommend it, especially to people with connections to the PNW area, while keeping the content warnings in mind.
Golden Fool by Robin Hobb read by Nick Taylor
I hardly even know how to talk about this book because I loved it so much. It's a rich, nuanced, painfully human follow up to the earlier Farseer trilogy. I am amazed at how deftly Hobb wove the narratives of her characters across three decades of their lives and counting. There's Fitz, the royal bastard and reluctant assassin, who we first met at age six. Now in his mid-thirties, he is finally exploring his magical talents, teaching, learning, and taking more and more misfit young people under his wing. There's Chade, who we first met at a mysterious and wise teacher- now he's a royal advisor, and his hunger for power and influence might yet take him down a very dark path. There's Kettricken, who as a teenage princess was engaged to a stranger, now grown into a powerful queen bent on changing her kingdom for the better. There's the Fool, whose multiple identities are threatening to collapse as more and more of his prophesies come true. And Burrich, Fitz's adopted father figure, who in his anger and grief disowns a son who reminds him too much of his past. All of these characters feel so deeply rooted in their own histories, traumas, choices; I care so deeply about their lives and see so clearly how the twists of fate led them to where they are now. This is seriously one of the best fantasy series I have ever read, and I highly recommend anyone who loves long form fantasy to go back and pick up book one, Assassin's Apprentice.
The Well by Jacob Wyatt and Choo
Lizzy lives with her grandfather on one of many small islands in an world plagued by mist and monsters. Her mother, father, and grandmother all died fighting against the leviathan that used to threaten the seas between the islands; Lizzy has heard the stories, but never knew any of them. Her daily concerns are with goats, the market where she sells their cheese and milk, and her crush on a girl who works the island ferry. Magic doesn't regularly touch her life, except when she foolishly steals three coins from a wishing well, and is then tasked with completing the three wishes that are bound to them. This story has much the feel of a fairy tale with it's orphaned protagonist, three wishes, three tasks, and characters who are often more archetype than fleshed out people. But it manages a sweetly emotional ending and simple but lively and effective illustrations.
The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles read by Martyn Swain
Set in England during the reign of King George the third, this historical romance delivered a satisfying amount of plot along with the spice. Gareth is the son of a Baronet, but grew up with none of the privilege of that position having been send away from home after the death of his mother during his childhood. He works as a law clerk in London with few connections, no friends, and nothing much to recommend him. He seeks companionship at a tavern that turns a blind eye on the illicit sexual activities of men in the upper rooms. There he meets Kent, a working class man from Romney Marsh, with whom Gareth sparks an intense and intimate connection. Then it falls apart. Gareth is sacked from his job. He fights with Kent. His father dies unexpectedly, and Gareth is summoned to a manor house he hasn't seen in years to take on the responsibilities of a title, including the care of a teenage half-sister and his father's mistress. And by chance, the house Gareth inherits is in Romney Marsh, home of many waterways, pastures, smugglers, and also Kent, his former lover. I enjoyed the dynamic between the two romantic leads, and the crime plot which entangled both of them. If you are interested in R-rated M/M romance with action adventure and danger, I'd definitely recommend this series and also KJ Charles' Will Darling series.
Subtle Blood by KJ Charles read by read by Cornell Collins
A very satisfying installment in the Will Darling adventures! If this is the final book, I am happy with where it's left the characters, but it does also leave the door open for more. If you enjoy spicy M/M romance with a hefty side of action/adventure, this is a great series. It kept me company through a week of holiday cleaning, cooking, and baking, and I think it's my favorite yet from the series.
Death Strikes: The Emperor of Atlantis by Dave Maass & Patrick Lay
This comic is grim, funny, gory, and darkly poetic. It's impossible to read it without an awareness of the history of the script, which is based on a suppressed opera written in 1943 two prisoners at the Terezín concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. The authors did not live to see their play performed. Maass and Lay have done an impressive job transferring a story meant for the stage into a comic. The stars of the show are the characters of Life and Death who narrative and frame the story of a paranoid dictator in the fictional nation of Atlantis and his reign of terror against his own citizens.
The Cliff by Manon Debaye
This was beautifully illustrated but too sad and violent for me to enjoy reading. It's the story of a dysfunctional middle school friendship between two unhappy girls who make a suicide pact. This story will really hit for some readers but it wasn't for me.
Walkaway by Cory Doctorow
I really enjoyed this book, even thought I think it's more interesting as a collection of ideas than as a novel. The characters in the first third felt somewhat flat, and the dialog is often delivered in hefty paragraphs with minimal dialog tags. But the story picks up in the second half and by the end I was reading it daily in big chunks. The concepts this book explores are what really shine, especially the idea of walking away from capitalist society and living in self-sustaining communities without formal governments or laws. This novel contains some future technology which we don't currently have today including 3D printers which can print food, clothing, and building pieces for vehicles and housing and also internet interfaces implanted into people's bodies which allow them global network access from anywhere almost all the time. The nation state of Canada also seems to have fallen before the start of this novel, as most of the characters end up walking away from the US into northern Canada to find these alternate communities. I liked seeing Doctorow play out the clash between on faction wanting to run a group house as a meritocracy versus another group committed to allowing all members to work as much or little as they want to or can, for example. The book does not shy away from showing the violent crack down of the existing governments on these alternate communities. There are major character deaths. But the other big theme of the book is exploring the digital scanning and uploading of human consciousnesses to the web allowed people to walk away from death.
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Tag to make sure I don’t forget: @alliered asked for my review of Harvestella [so far] and I didn’t want to write a whole huge long scroll monster for those who want to skip it. So for those who don’t care about videogames, here’s a readmore
I’m about halfway through the first season (I think? This will be a point later) and mid chapter 3 of ??? so keep in mind I am pretty early on in the game still.
As said in my original post about the game, it’s not really a Stardew clone, so anyone expecting that going in is inherently going to be disappointed. I did not see any advertising for this game (intentionally- as stated I prefer going in 100% blind if possible) so I don’t know if it was advertised specifically as a Stardew clone or if it was just supposed to be a farming sim with Final Fantasy elements. Which personally I would say it’s a Final Fantasy game- and a FF offshoot game at that- with farming elements. Think Crystal Chronicles and Tatics when thinking of the tone and “feel” of the game, with gameplay more akin to CC or even some of the Mana games.
It has a fairly robust job system which, so far, is mostly a stance dance. Mage is good against some enemies and bad against others. Lancer is better for these enemies but Fighter’s better for those. And so on. I haven’t really seen any indicators to tell me which job is best for which enemy but you can switch on the fly (you’re supposed to switch on the fly) and your appearance and weapon change accordingly. Kind of like how in X-2, the different costumes gave you different abilities. I’ve been defaulting Fighter/Mage because those are the first two classes and they give you pretty beefy hits for many of the beginning enemies, but I’m sure as the game rolls on I’ll probably find something I like better.
Farming is fairly simple, and this is where I think a lot of people were disappointed. You’ve got a house and a field you can upgrade and put stuff on, yes. But those used to the level of customization found in later Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons/Rune Factory games, and even Stardew Valley, are going to resent the fact that there’s nothing really to mark it as “yours”. There’s a set number of places you can put things and a set number of things you can put. You can upgrade the house but so far I’ve not found any fun decorative options and it doesn’t really seem like that’ll be a thing here. It’s much more early Harvest Moon in that way, actually as I’ve been playing I’ve been thinking about how similar it is to Innocent Life, which I thought was fun enough but a lot of people really didn’t like it. That game’s sitting at a 5-6/10 even nowadays, and it came out in 2007 [in the US].
Anyway, the farming aspect is mostly just so you can make money. On one hand they do flat-out tell you that (”but you must make money somehow, so why not grow and sell vegetables”) and plot-wise it makes sense in the grand scheme, but I do think at the current moment you could take out the farming elements and it would play mostly the same with little detraction of quality, and that kinda sucks for a game marketed as a “farming sim”, you know? It’s just a chore to do so you don’t run out of money while you’re off adventuring every day. In fairness, that’s also what crops turn into towards the end of Stardew, where if you’re doing it right your farm is mostly automated and you’re fucking off 99% of the time to one of the dungeons or running around after villagers or chasing elusive difficult-to-catch fish.
Speaking of- villager NPCs. I understand why they made them this way but I do think that it will put a lot of people off. The vast majority of NPCs are nameless, with no portrait or unique quality whatsoever, and there is no relationship/friendship system with them. Important NPCs are named, have a portrait, and also have a serious case of Main Character Syndrome where they stand out from everyone else. These are the people you can build social connections with, not the others (outside of cute little sidequests that are 100% optional). This is in part because there are multiple towns and giving each of these 20-ish person towns unique, fleshed out characters is, well... super fucking annoying and a waste of time especially knowing that many of these characters are gunna have maybe 3 lines. Also, gone are the days of memorizing your future spouse’s daily routine just so you can chase them around and throw a turnip at them every day and making sure you enter a map by the south exit at exactly 3pm on a sunny day (yes I’m looking at you, Kai romance in FoMT)- you level up your social connections via doing quests and completing the story.
Fishing is: buy book about fishing, select “fish” when at a designated fishing area, wait, press “A” when you hear a big splash, ta-da you have a fish. So there is no fishing minigame which I know some folks were sad about but also that is more or less how fishing has worked in the various Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons games for decades so... Also I distinctly remember when Stardew first came out everyone hated the fishing minigame because it was poorly explained and also super hard, and there’s still mods to make fishing easier in Stardew to this day, so maybe the lack of a minigame is not such a bad thing.
Plot is pretty standard fare Final Fantasy shenanigans. The crystals are Being Weird and You Have Amnesia But Seem To Be Connected To It All and The Religion Is Heavily Foreshadowed To Be Bad. I do like that your friend Aria has a backstory so far that’s pretty much I’m The Main Character, but she’s not the main character. I thought that was an interesting subversion of the isekai trope where someone else was brought from our world into this one and our job is getting her back [heavily implied that we, also, don’t belong in this particular world, of course].
Combat... well. This is actually a pretty legitimate problem- we’ve established that it’s not really a farming game, it’s a Final Fantasy game with farming elements. Okay, so we’re fighting monsters and going home to water the turnips got it. Except... the combat system is... incredibly simple. Press button, hit monster. Press button a whole bunch of times to hit monster until it dies. But without a dash, dodge, or combat roll (there is, technically, a dash if you tap the “run” button but I found that by accident, no tutorial told me that I had a dash) that means that you’re mostly standing there getting wailed on by a monster and trying to out-HP the damned thing while shoving food in your face to keep yourself from dying in the mean time.
Your NPC buddies are often not incredibly helpful- they don’t aggro enemies on their own but that also means that if you aggro an enemy by accident, they’re not helping until after you hit it for the first time. Enemies usually target the player character, so the option of running up to something, hitting it, and retreating so your buddies can absorb the damage while you whittle down their HP is not readily available either. I’ve only died once and it was because I aggro’d a level 9 enemy while I was level 3 (oops) so it’s not unworkable, but it is annoying. The folks on Steam complained about the lack of haptic feedback, meaning that the feel of the hits don’t really feel like you’re hitting anything, and while I do agree that on Switch at least it’s not as good of a feel as other games (AC Valhalla and that bow tho...) it’s also not the worst I’ve experienced either. I will say that it’s much better now that I’m in chapter 3 and have a third party member, rather than just having a singular partner, but still.
Time... so remember the “I think I’m halfway through the first season”? There is no calendar I can find so how long do the seasons last? Well I don’t have any idea but I’m on day 16 so clearly longer than 15 or 7, both of which have been season limits in other farming games I’ve played. I’m assuming either 28 or 30 now but, genuinely, I just don’t know. This is kind of a problem in the first season because without knowing how long the season lasts, I can’t determine if it’s a good idea to grow those crops that are high valued but take 6 days to grow, over crops that are low value but are ready in just 1. Again, this is an important factor in the farming aspect, so while I’m sure I’ll be just fine once I hit summer because I’ll have an idea of what the change of seasons looks like, right now I have absolutely no clue what’s ahead of me. What happens when I run out of time? Are we talking Rune Factory 5 where all crops grow in all seasons but some crops grow extra good in certain seasons? Or is this a Stardew hard limit? What about crops that say they can grow in both spring and summer, will they die or will they continue to grow if I plant them in spring but they’re not done til summer?
A lot of people complained about the clock being way too fast and, maybe it’s just the seasoned farming sim player in me, but I think it’s fine? You don’t have a lot of time to fuck around but I cleared the first dungeon in a single day and that was even with me taking the time to do the time-penalty repairs on shortcuts etc. At first I thought maybe it was a holdover from people who’d played the demo, because apparently there was a day-one patch that lengthened the day timer, but there’s folks with 20 hours on record on Steam saying it’s too fast and I just don’t agree.
Similarly, initially the game starts pestering you to go back home at 6pm, and the first day it forced me to go home and sleep at 9pm, and that was very jarring. I understand that it’s trying to teach players to watch the clock and not get caught out past the day-end timer, but I can see why someone would dislike that. But that was just the first day, and it didn’t force me home after that, and after I cleared chapter 1 it stopped pestering me about sundown at 6. It does still poke you at 9pm and 10pm by chapter 3 but, again, other farming sims do warn you albeit less blatantly as you get close to the day-end timer. It’s also an earlier time- midnight- than a lot of the competition which lets you stay up til 2-4am depending on which one, but I never understood that since I literally come from a farming community and there is absolutely no way someone can continuously go to bed at 2-4am and wake up at the penalty 10am (instead of regular 6am) and feel rested enough to do it again the next day when it comes to farms.
The stamina system also pisses people off which I don’t understand because a lot of them are Stardew players and Stardew has a stamina system. And, again, I’m coming from the oldschool Harvest Moon games where you took a stamina penalty for fucking running in the rain. Long story short, everything except walking and talking costs stamina. You do have a lot, and the game also tells you first thing that you need to eat in the morning so you can recover stamina as you work throughout the day. I eat a single sandwich in the morning and I have yet to have a stamina crisis. I’ve been down to the wire a few times if I was doing a lot of farming, then went into a dungeon and fought a bunch of enemies, then stopped and harvested a bunch of stuff, without eating. But I can do all of those things on one sandwich and still have more than half my stamina by the end of the day. Just make sure you eat.
A big complaint a lot of people had is that the towns and the dungeons feel large but empty, with nothing really to do. I both agree and disagree- again my other farming sim this year was Rune Factory 5 which I would absolutely agree felt large but empty and like nothing I was doing really made a huge difference. Compared to that, this was an improvement, with more stuff to do around the towns and more people to talk to and more variety than three seasons of giving people their favorite gifts and getting the same weirdly aggressive and distrusting dialogue as when I first booted the game. But I do also agree that many of these maps feel very big but with very little to do in them. I find myself wanting to interact with people’s shelfs and wardrobes and assorted pots and pans, even just a little popup saying “[NPC]’s bookshelf, lined with medical texts”, and there’s nothing like that. It’s a little detail but I think it goes a long way to make a world feel lived-in instead of sterile. Animations when interacting with things in the dungeons, rather than a black screen and flavor text, would help as well. And, yes, giving some of these characters some variety- on x day [NPC] will be here between 6am and 10am, on y day [NPC] will be in their bedroom, etc would make me want to really pay attention to the layout of the town and interact with the town more. It doesn’t do any of these things, so it just feels... empty. The NPCs I want to talk to are always standing in a specific spot, unless I’m about to start a quest in which case they’re standing at the <!!!> on the map.
Weirdly there’s no voice acting for cutscenes, but there is voice acting for both just wandering around and also combat. Seems like a strange choice but ok. I’m not someone who needs voice acting in order to enjoy a game, again I am from the era of the Gameboy where we didn’t even have fucking color on our non-backlit screens, but it’s odd to hire voice actors and then not... use them...
And on that note, this is a personal pet peeve, but TEXT DIALOGUE TAKES TOO LONG and there is no way to make it go faster or skip it. So while I’m reflex-mashing “A” to try and hurry this along because the text boxes stick around long after I’m done reading them, invariably I will accidentally select a dialogue option I didn’t want, because there’s also a delay between what’s displayed on the screen during cutscenes vs what the buttons are doing. Probably a minor annoyance for most people but this is a big one for me. If you’re going to make me read a bunch of text I don’t mind, but you have to give me the option to rapidly click through it because I read faster than developers think people read. It’s like they made it so the text boxes stay up for long enough to be subtitles for voice work, and then... decided not to do voice work, and so now we just have text boxes that stay up forever.
Graphics are pretty usually. The first couple days for whatever reason sometimes the textures wouldn’t load and so I just had low res avatars walking around and I was like “whoa this looks like garbage suddenly” and then that? Stopped? So idk what that was about but I’ll bet if people are in chapter 1 or 2 and are saying the graphics are shit, that’s probably happening to them too. It went back to normal but it was very strange and I can more than understand being really put off by that. Do really like the art style, I’ve always liked the art style of the older FF stuff and this feels very similar with a bit of a modern twist. I especially like the way they’ve done the character portraits and I think that’s just my love of linework and pretty shading but who’s to say. I do really like that the choices for protag are so identical- too many games have radically different male vs female models and this model is more or less “has boobs” and “doesn’t have boobs” and that’s it. The outfits are slightly, slightly different as is the hair but it’s mostly boob or boobn’t.
So, yeah. I’d say a 7/10. Certainly some optimization issues. I think either the combat or the farming should be beefier- either give me a Final Fantasy game with actually good combat and some really simplistic farming, or a farming game with actually good mechanics and some really simplistic combat, but don’t give me a combo of both with simplistic combat and farming. Could be a little more fleshed out and it shows that it wasn’t. Dunno if this specific game had crunch but if it did (willing to bet it did, Squeenix is really churning them out this year), that’s probably why the lack of little details and also voice acting. Overall it’s fun, I don’t regret the purchase so that’s the important part, and out of the various new farming sims I’ve played recently this was the most fun. Not interested in the nostalgia-bait of A Wonderful Life (which I logged far too many hours on my gamecube) and RF3′s re-release doesn’t have gay marriage so I’m not into that either. Maybe into Fae Farm next year, it’s apparently really similar to Fantasy Life (another game I logged far too many hours).
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Could I have some headcanons about Radagon please? I am deranged about that man.
Sure thing, m'dear. Let's be deranged together.
Without further ado:
Despite the fact that Radagon hates his hair, his loved ones think he looks quite striking with it.
He's pretty subtle with it but he's immensely proud of his physique. Why do you think he hardly wears a shirt?
Radagon likes to be busy but not to the point he's burnt out.
To piggyback off the third bullet-point, he doesn't too much care for being a ruler but he's quite comfortable being his wife's consort and advisor which is what keeps him busy most of the time.
He can also multitask. It's not uncommon to find him sewing and reading a book at the same time. Or sewing and having a conversation. Or doing his hair and reviewing something his dear wife drafted.
Radagon may be a man of a few words but his facial expressions are everything, especially his side-eyes. He emotes with his eyes like no one's business.
If you were to ask Rennala, her favorite feature would be his ass smile, especially when his dimples make an appearance. Ask Radagon, it would be his hands and eyebrows (because they're fairly thick).
Radagon can and does sleep with the covers over his head. He also sleeps on his side.
He can always count on being woken up by his beloved wolf. As a puppy, it would wake him up by barking. When it got big enough, it would jump on him and lick his face. Now it just pulls the cover off. lmaooo. No matter how many times Radagon gives his wolf the look (you know, the one your parents gave you when you were doing something you had no business doing), it would just ignore him and do it again the next morning. It may or may not have pulled him out of bed once.
Radahn once got Radagon with his gravity magic, too. Radagon was so caught up in reading something for Rennala that he didn't realize he was in mid-air until he looked up from the paper. Rennala was so tickled while Radagon sported the most deadpan, disappointed dad expression.
Here's a crack!canon for you: Radagon likes to sunbathe naked.
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Did you finish Dawn of Yangchen yet👀? I just finished it yesterday and have THOUGHTS and FEELINGS was wondering if you did too
I DID IN FACT FINISH THE BOOK LAST NIGHT. And I had planned to write up about my thoughts about it today actually. Same mind!
Funnily enough, despite what I had said in my original mid-way review the book quickly picks up around half-way. Ended up reading it all in one night fairly quickly.
(Warning: Spoilers for Dawn of Yangchen below:)
One of the biggest strengths I think it has (and it really shines in the second half) is how expertly Yee weaves all the subterfuge into the narrative. Cleverly placing red herrings and also foreshadowing to ultimately reveal and tie everything back together into the finale.
The biggest shock to me was the outcome of the relationship between Yangchen and Kavik though like man I did not expect something like that occuring between an Avatar and their companion at all. Does it shock me that Kavik would do something like that for his brother? No, but at same time I was: Boy. I really felt bad for Yangchen here and especially at the end. She's so used to people playing her (especially after that traumatic reveal that she'd been spied on since she was a girl, like man) only to reveal that your growing friendship with this guy was for naught? Ow man. Don't blame her for being frank with him and not calling him her companion anymore but man that must hurt like a bitch to be metaphorically alone.
Which is what gets me about Yangchen, cause essentially that's what she is. Her big sister figure's dead (at least physically, but I suspect a twist next book), Boma cares for her but gives her too much respect as the Avatar to be like an Iroh figure, Kavik did that, she's not close with Junjinta (could change, but after the events of DoY, she's gonna start keeping people at a distance). She feels in a lot of ways alone caught in this wave of secrecy, spies, and corruption. My impression that's gonna be a legacy of hers for a long time, if the 2nd book doesn't change things up. Which it could, based on that ending with Kavik being followed.
Yangchen herself as a character is so interesting though. One thing that stood out to me (I will confirm/deny this interpretation with a reread later) is her relationship with her past lives. In that she doesn't have one? I never really read the comics that much maybe they'd say something different but the impression is that cause she has these PTSD trauma-like hallucinations and historic visions of her past lives she feels as though she doesn't have to communicate with them. She thinks cause she experiences their past, that she doesn't need their guidance or their interpretation/advice and that makes for an interesting character flaw. Which brings me to my next point.
I like that Yangchen's major flaw is that she's overconfident in some respects, but at the same time overwhelmed with her status. It's so nice to see this flaw done right without some heavy-handed moralization or flanderization. Her Girlbossing Kavik around, her confidence in handling the shangs only to realize that she messed up, thinking she had a read on Chaisee only to realize certain things. She's confident, knowledgable, but also inexperienced and Yee does a good job of balancing these things without making her overbearing, incompetent or arrogant. Also I really love that detail where she burns the letter in her hand lmao. So different from Aang (love them both though).
As for Chaisee, there was so many red herrings with her man. Yee does a good job of pulling the reader back and forth - is she a horrible tyrant? Is she misunderstood/just strict? Is she playing Yangchen? Is she on her side? Kinda all of that. If they don't kill her off next book I know she's gonna be prodding Yangchen for years to come. Heck, would be wild if she became a link in Yangchen's connection network. I could see Yee doing that. If anything, Yangchen would probably have to come back to her eventually given the Unanimity project.
I've still got so much to say but I think I've said enough for now but I do have some criticisms:
While I'm so happy that we're getting more about combustion benders and learning about how their bending works (I'm guessing we're getting some answers later on in Book 2, hopefully), I'm disappointed that we're still getting them as villains/antagonists. Might change next book if any of them are willing to work with Yangchen but still.
The book did drag a bit in the beginning. Wish it had been longer if anything to balance that. Heck, i'd want two more books cause really.
Kavik got a bit too much POV focus. I'm actually glad Yee shifted away from the protagonist-centered POV that he used in the Kyoshi novels but I think Kavik got a little too much. Especially without Yangchen. This is Yangchen's book, not his. I was left feeling like I wanted to know more about Yangchen, about what she thought and felt and her relationship with the spirits, her visions, with Jetsun (is she dead for real? Was she the spy?), etc. I hope the balance is better next book(s)?
I wish we got a lot more Air Nomad culture here. I mean, we've got an Air Nomad avatar and all. I do like the details we got though, and I like how much influence she has over them (compare with other Avatars we know who don't really have special sway over the people of their homelands). I think this might have less to do with her being the Avatar but as a testament to the closeness of the Air Nomads in general. That's some good food there.
Thanks for the ask!
#Avatar Yangchen#Kavik#Zongdu Chaisee#DoY#Dawn of Yangchen spoilers#Chronicles of the Avatar#Avatar!verse
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spiderman remastered is amazing
before going on a ramble I should say I have not played the DLC (I will soon, but I just really wanted to write about this game!) or Miles Morales (purchased and raring to go) and will probably write about both later if there is anything particularly interesting to write about. I’ll start off without spoilers
let me get this out of the way first: this game does make you feel like spiderman. this is probably something that a million other people have said, but I swear I’ll add something interesting! let’s step back and look at another game that I loved: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (review here)
probably one of my favorite things about fallen order was that it felt like a star wars movie through and through while still being like a game. the music, the presentation, the “cinematography”, the dialogue. it’s interactive, you play as cal for sure, and it feels really fluid, but the overall game presentation feels cinematic
spiderman is... sort of different? the music is very marvel but it doesn’t feel like a movie bgm, it feels like the bgm of swinging through new york, which you are. you don’t get those wide establishing shots or as many of those tense standoffs, but you do get a lot of spidey action and peter parker... action? this sounds kind of like a poor tradeoff but where I think it really shines (besides in gameplay, which I’ll talk about later) is in the character moments. without getting into spoilers, it adds a layer of personal connection that I think is incredibly central to the progression of the plot and everyone’s arcs, peter’s connection with may, martin li, MJ, dr. octavius. it also helps that the VA’s give an A+ job, especially aunt may and otto, and without all of this I think the conflict and resolution would not have hit nearly as hard as it did, but it did, and as a result the story is probably one of my favorites in all of gaming.
of course, yeah, you are spiderman swinging through nyc. that’s fucking awesome. I really don’t think it can be understated how cool swinging is, and how even the minor upgrades you get to movement add to how fun it is. I would actively not use fast travel to just swing around and listen to JJJ’s podcast (which is hilarious, btw) on my way to do things. I really think this is the biggest and most obvious gameplay highlight. it’s spiderman, that’s what he does.
the combat also has spiderman flair, with a variety of gadgets, combos, and throws to weave together. figuring out different ways to use the gadgets and powers mid-fight is pretty satisfying. this is kind of where the compliments end for this though, since by the end of the game it does feel kind of worn out because it’s still fairly simplistic (I am on that platinum games brainrot), and enemy variety does not improve too much. having different challenges and stealth helps, but not enough by the endgame that I just kind of ended up skipping side challenges to just complete the main story (I unlocked what I wanted then just beelined the msq). there’s definitely plenty to do between challenges, research, side combat missions, though, don’t get me wrong. it just gets a little worn thin by the end, if that makes sense?
speaking of low points, I just kind of really did not care too much for MJ and miles sections. just kind of boring stealth that I just ended up ungabunga hold forward and getting through. maybe I just wanted to get back to being spiderman but I just really thought they weren’t necessary. they aren’t very frequent but when they do happen I do roll my eyes.
last negative point I promise, and this one’s a nitpick, and really no one will care, but I just kind of laugh any time an enemy speaks chinese because it’s noticeably “chinese american” pronounciation. maybe all of the goons are 2nd gen or later lol. I think the voice cast for them is probably chinese american based on credits (feel free to check me on this, I have been wrong about this before :x ) so nothing against them. just something I’ve noticed also being 2nd gen.
oh another nitpick is just that it’s really funny as a chemist to hear video game characters basically spew out science word salad talking about things. not a bad thing, just kinda amusing. not gonna be That Guy lol
anyways time to get into spoiler stuff.
I really have no complaints with pretty much any story beat until maybe the very end. it was incredibly compelling from beginning to end. like I said before, every single character connection felt super meaningful and only makes the tragic clashing of the final confrontation and peter’s decisions all the more gut wrenching. I won’t summarize the story obviously but I’ll mention the highlights.
my one complaint is really that I empathize far too much with doc ock and martin- they have very legitimate beef with osborn and I feel like spiderman’s “killing is bad, actually” kind of lets osborn get off scot free. I really wished to see, yknow, repercussions, for the person who essentially started every single conflict in the entire damn plot. but I am going to guess that will be addressed more in miles morales, and the sequel(s). just felt kind of empty to let him go. I get spiderman’s anti-vengeance spin but I don’t know how justified it is at the very end. we’ll see for the future I guess.
but like god fucking damn what a tragedy these character arcs are. martin’s farewell letter and backstory and otto’s treatment of peter and expressed vision and talents really humanize these characters. the other supervillains yeah whatever. even going in knowing these turns are going to happen (despite not really being a comic nerd) because yeah martin li and otto octavius oh boy I wonder what’s gonna happen to them, their confrontations with peter are built up excellently and just so damn good. I would be lying if I said I did not tear up at his final dialogue with doc after the final fight.
speaking of tearing up, aunt may is a fucking treasure. her VA fucking killed it and every time peter goes to FEAST it’s a joy. which makes her rapid demise to the devil’s breath and peter’s decision to save the antidote at the end so heart breaking.
I’m really looking forward to digging into the DLC and miles morales, from what I understand the former is kind of just “more spiderman” and I actually don’t know too much about miles morales beside it being relatively short compared to main game. Like I said if they’re interesting to write about maybe I’ll do another mind dump. but for now, wow. what a great game.
19/20. (November 2022)
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SaL anon here friend and I'm looking forward to your thoughts on the RNM premiere soon!! My spoiler free review is 🙄😒🙄😒. For fun, thought I'd share something from one of Hollier's many interviews about this season. When talking about exploring the Isobel/Kyle vs. the Isobel/Anatsa dynamic, he specifically mentioned looking at "What happens when you have two great choices?",which is the closest we'll get them acknowledging that the S2 "triangle" involved one not great choice. Happy viewing!
Given what we got for the season 3 premier (that 🤢🤮 “dream girl” line denying Alex any agency to be angry and setting up the character assassination of Soft Elementary School Greg, m*ria lashing out at Michael and being purposefully mean about his relationship with Alex, knowing they weren’t together, the cringy “men have needs” line and f*rlex sex, etc), this episode was SO much better. Yeah, I’ve got issues with some things but this episode is the first one I had a mostly good time watching in quite a while, so I’m taking the win because I doubt the rest of the season will be the same.
I am planning on doing my sparks/did not spark joy posts this season but I’m behind this week and will be out of town the start of next week but after that I should hopefully be getting them done by mid-week, so stay tuned for that! I'll have gathered more of my salty thoughts by then, I'm sure! (WHERE is the mention of my girl Rosa? How is she doing? Who knows! Not fucking us, that's for sure. Is Sanders okay or is he still laid out in the junkyard where they left him in the finale and then never spoke about him again? Let me see my grouchy old man-dad! I want to hear what he has to say about Malex moving in together! ANYWAY)
I am cackling at that quote because it’s definitely got some shade! I mean, we all been knew, but it's nice to hear all the same. BUT, I am soooooo tired of this show that in the very first episode set the alien soulmate premise when Isobel told Max that it had been 10 years (of no contact mind you) and he needed to move on and he said “if I could have, I would have”, and then spent the rest of the show trying to pair these people up with others! Stop it! Now, I’m fairly ambivalent about Anatsa, but I am clocking that “reporter doesn’t care who could be in danger as long as they can break the Big Story” thing that is surely coming and I JUST got rid of one soulless reporter on 911, I don’t need to deal with another. Also, she slept with Max which is STILL WEIRD and her showing up to Max and Liz’s house is 😬😬😬 especially because they just, refuse to address these things on the show. That said, I have always enjoyed the scenes Anatsa is in as their own things and I don’t dislike her, I think the show made some poor choices but I’m not going to skip her scenes or anything. But love triangles are played out and my soooo little sense in destined soulmates stories unless the story wants to focus on fighting destiny but RNM is flaky about that at best. Also, while I think flustered Isobel is cute, after spending so much of her life being in relationships with lies and being uncomfortable, she deserves a relationship she can relax in. Also also, this is the last season and I want cute moments with her and Kyle and instead we are getting another love triangle and Sad Kyle for likely most of the season. But at least her and Anatsa’s scenes are watchable and cute!
Thanks for the ask and I know you’re busy moving and stuff and I’m going on vacation vacation on Friday (not just to see family but going to an ocean-side condo in TX) so if you don’t have time to send a song this week that’s fine! I am unsure how much I will be online, it depends on how early my mom goes to bed because I am a Night Owl when I’m allowed to be, but if you DO have something, I’ll do my best to get to it before Monday! Always good to hear from you bestie!
#my sweet nonnie friends#sleeping at last anon#roswell nm#roswell spoilers#roswell nm my behated#i am a little tipsy so if this doesn't all make sense yes it does!
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A Raccoon Walked into a Bar
Summary:
Rocket found a good friend in the bartender at the Alphabet Mafia Gay Bar in Avery Malloli and over the five years after the snap became more than good friends. Rocket dipped out after a night of passion and only after dealing with his demons finally decided that it was time to come make amends; five years later. Rocket didn't know what to expect when he saw the jilted lover next but he sure as flark knew that he wasn't expecting that,
Notes:
Welcome to the new story that wouldn't let me write anything else till I brought it to life, enjoy!
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Chapter 1: Making amends isn't easy
Chapter Text
Rocket Raccoon hated how anxious he felt walking down the streets of New York, he shouldn’t feel that way he had faced harder things, his childhood, Groots death and everyone dusting before him; oh and his own death. So why did going to apologise to someone that cared about him, that he hurt rate so high on his emotional scale? He already had a good idea that they probably hated him after all how could you forgive the guy that fucked and ducked on you? Here he was all dressed up in some schmuck suit with their favourite flowers in hand and it was all because he was a glutton for punishment. All because a Raccoon wandered into a bar.
Rocket remembered the first time he laid eyes on Avery Malloli in that tumultuous time in his life that was the five years after the snap. He stumbled into the Alphabet Mafia gay bar on a cold January night while he was stuck on Terra helping out some of his allies in the aftermath of the snap. He had been trying out a few bars to see if he could find somewhere to drink that wouldn’t have so many assholes making a big deal over his looks. He was hoping the reviews of the place being mutant friendly worked in his favour tonight and he got to enjoy his hooch in peace. Rocket knew that if he drank alone he might do stupid things, and the galaxy needed him to have his wits about him.
Rocket remembered strolling up to the bar fully expecting to deal with some new moronic shitbag that gave him a hard time about what he wanted to drink, instead all he heard was,
“Whatcha drinking fella?” The voice had notes of both friendliness and disinterest that only a bartender after one a.m could pull off.
“Scotch, two fingers neat” He watched as the bartender wandered over to the selection of scotch on the shelves and took a moment to look them over. Rocket could tell what a nice ass looked like even if it was hidden behind a pair of baggy black pants covered in pockets and a decent collection of chains. Though he was fairly sure some of them belonged to the sick pair of combat boots that made the bartender stand at about five eight though without the boots they were probably around five six. A mid length of multicoloured ringlets were kept away from their face held in place by a no nonsense ponytail, which also made it easier for Rocket's eyes to trail over the multitude of shiny silver piercings that adored each pair of ears. In the shapes he could make out skeletons, occult symbols and a few other things that reminded him of that Terran store with all the moody employees , hot point? Burning topic?
“Any preferences?” They were focused on doing their job rather than wondering if their patron was hitting on them, which was a damn good skill for a bartender to have.
“Whatever will get me a decent buzz” He wasn’t sure what compelled him to ask but he wanted to know the name of this one “What’s your name?”
“Avery yours?” Avery walked back over to him with the chosen bottle of scotch before pouring his order into it. Rocket took the few seconds it took for Avery to make it over to his side of the bar to finish looking them over, he let his mouth twitch up into a smile reading her shirt that proudly declared: I IDENTIFY AS A THREAT, MY PRONOUNS ARE TRY/ME stretched over a very pronounced set of mammaries though it did look to Rocket that something was holding them back more than just a bra. Rocket took a bit longer answering lost in appreciation of Avery’s well built arms most likely developed as the result of having to throw ruly drunks out into the ally.
“Rocket” He met Avery’s eyes for the first time, getting lost in the fluctuating grey irises that were dotted with patterns of white and a dainty circle of gold close to the pupil in each eye. The colours popped out against the backdrop of the dark black makeup that surrounded the lids of Avery’s eyes, broken up by splashes of red pigment and accentuated by an eyeliner wing so sharp it could kill a man. Avery’s slim lips curled up into a friendly closed mouth smile that hovered just under a twin pair of silver rings that adorned both sides of an equally petite nose that was decorated with a smattering of freckles against the pale canvas of her skin.
“So as you enjoy the drink I’m going to tell you the same bar rules that we tell everyone and if you don’t like them you can pay and leave after” Rocket nodded sipping his drink as he let Avery continue into what had to be a well rehearsed speech to them by now.
“1. When people come into the bar they are looking to drink and enjoy themselves. The only thing I’m worried about is people are of legal age to be here and considering I’ve seen you on the news a few times I got a good idea about you being of legal age. Now what that means is that when someone tells you something about themselves you take them at their word, about sexuality, about pronouns and about gender presentation”
Rocket could respect a bar that’s first rule boiled down to mind your own flarkin business, though he should probably ask “What are yours? I’m preferential towards he/him myself”
Avery’s eyes lit up with a bit of relief that their patron seemed to be taking rule one well, that was the one that served as the feelers test, depending how a person reacted to it let Avery know if they were going to be a problem later on.
“I’m they/them never felt a connection with gender I suppose it’s because I view myself as less of a solid entity and more of an evolving concept of a being, you get it”
Rocket liked this one, they thought different and it was amusing to listen to the thoughts verbalised.
“So next rule; Everyone has the right to be stupid but abusing that privilege will get you kicked out of the bar. We don’t like ist’s here, racists, misogynists, misandrists or bigots in general. My empathy for other’s opinion rapidly vanishes when people try to fuck with others basic rights”
There was no friendly smile to accompany that rule, just the same no-nonsense tone he was used to from Gamora; his heart clenched painfully.
“Other than that typical bar rules apply and enjoy your drink” Avery looked him up and down for a moment ��The first one is on the house”. Well that was a nice change of pace.
So Rocket Raccoon found a place to drink whenever he found himself around Terra, and to his surprise he found himself having a decent time, though sometimes it made him feel guilty. It was lonely trying to piece together the galaxy with Nebula trying to mourn her sister, with him trying to mourn everyone again and all the other bullshit that came with half the population disappearing. The Alphabet Mafia was a nice refuge from all his problems when he was able to get to visit that was, though over time he tried to make the visits more frequent. The reason was simple: he ended up striking up a good friendship with Avery during year one after the snap, they were very easy to talk to, and their insults were hilarious.
His favourite so far is what Avery said to a transphobe that was harassing one of the girls looking to have a good night out “Well aren’t you two billion years of wasted evolution?” Watching the guy try to piece together a retort and fail was a beautiful performance of failed neurons at it’s finest as Avery yeeted the guy out of the bar, working as more of a bouncer on some nights. He admired the dedication they showed to the community they belonged to, it was a type of aggressive caretaking that he could get behind.
Though the toughest people that visited the bar had to be the Drag Queen, those broads were able to tape their dicks back and strut around lookin like a million credits without batting as much as a false eyelash; Rocket was not that tough.
Rocket had gotten wholly plastered on the year anniversary, trying to drown out the knowledge that everyone he let himself love again was gone, and he didn’t know where he was when he woke up. While he was trying to reorient himself he immediately took the water bottle that was offered to him, chugging it down before he turned his head to see who passed it to him, and it was Avery. It was the first time he had seen them without any makeup on, without the ponytail to keep the hair out of their face letting him enjoy the site of unruly, currently blue and green hair framing either side of their small face.
“Mornin Rocket, how do you take your coffee?” It took him a minute to pull the words together “Why am I at what assume is your place?” He quickly added “I like my coffee black” He watched as they wandered over to the kitchen to fix the cups of coffee for both to enjoy.
“You were drinking extra heavy last night, which made complete sense to me but I wasn’t going to let you go off by yourself especially with how you stroked your blaster as you drank” The implication of what Avery was worried about hung in the air, silently acknowledged but not to be mentioned again. Both drank the coffees in silence before he muttered out a weak “Thanks” that Avery returned with a smile “Anytime man” as the silence suddenly felt very comfortable.
The trend started that he ended up crashing at Avery’s place when he was in town for a few nights and enjoying spending the few days with them. Avery taught him about all their favourite Terran media, once he got the source material behind the jokes he really found himself enjoying Scream Queens; Chanel Oberlin was a rancid cunt but was hilarious to listen to. He in turn told Avery about his exploits across the galaxy, the prisons he had escaped from in his youth and everything he could remember about galactic history per Avery’s request.
Sometimes when he and Avery got together usually one of them was dealing with an injury either from his work as a Guardian or Avery getting into another fight. A lot of assholes were out looking for vulnerable spaces that they could abuse for their own sick need for power, unfortunately for them they preyed on the wrong community. Avery, accompanied by some of the bars other regulars would patrol the streets keeping those homophobic douchebags away the best they could, Rocket was getting sick of seeing Avery’s hands bloodied and bruised so often. He was already working on some gear that would toe the line between legal and illegal tact gear but he didn’t care, S.H.I.E.L.D could suck his furry sweaty balls.
Not all the brawls were bad he supposed afterall he did get to see those beautiful breasts up close and personal; though he ought to feel like more of an asshole for enjoying the moment so much, he just couldn’t bring himself to.
“Rocket my arm is in a cast and I got stinging bleeding abrasions between my tits, can we just be adults for a second and have you dress the wound in between”
He remembered how their angry scarlet abrasion stood out from the pale perfect mounds that were Avery’s breasts. He knew he leaned in closer than he needed to in order to treat the wound but he had the masochistic desire to court danger as the light peach of Avery’s nipples tempted him. They looked as delectable as fresh peaches and cream, Rocket wanted to wrap his tongue around them so badly it made him ache. He finished dressing the wound then helped Avery put their top back on and neither of them spoke of the moment again, though he personally would never forget how hard he was that day, he damn near fell over thanks to the blood flow shift.
He stuck around a little longer to keep an eye on Avery as their arm healed, and the two of them got closer than he expected. He promised himself that he would leave after a day after observing Avery to make sure they wouldn’t end up doing more damage to the arm but he ended up staying for a full week; if Rocket was being honest with himself then it was because he missed having friends to take care of. He had to leave after he saw the small collection of plants Avery took care of in their bedroom. These ones seemed special, so he asked and wished he didn’t.
“What’s with these plants and why do you have some of those little tealight candles above them?”
Rocket watched as Avery flushed with embarrassment which was such a pretty colour he was determined to make them go that shade again. Avery spoke in a low tone almost as if they were afraid their voice would scare him off and not the words being spoken.
“The last couple of times you’ve been plastered in my apartment I’ve heard you babble things in your sleep, about how much you miss your friends”
Avery paused for a moment trying to read the expressions on his face before continuing “I named each succulent after one of your friends so each of them had some form of grave marker for you to be able to visit” Avery rubbed the back of their head nervously “I was going to bring it up before the year two anniversary came up an another few months because you deserve to have a place to mourn them and they deserve to be remembered”. Avery lowered their eyes to avoid his “I’m sorry if I overstepped” Rocket hadn’t known what to say instead he just hugged Avery tightly for a moment hoping they’d respect both the gesture and the silence; they did.
Before he left for space he had made sure that Avery saw him take some of the regulars of the bar out for some nasty fun because he needed some distance between them before he started to develop feelings that weren’t going to be returned. He regretted that upon return because for two years he had to put up with Avery’s new girlfriend Denise, and he fucking hated Denise she always made he feel unwelcome wherever he came for his visits. He hated how Avery couldn’t see how that bitch was isolating them from the people in their life, slowly taking over their time with high maintenance bullshit and he couldn’t get how someone as strong willed as Avery could fall to that.
Ok maybe he got it a bit more after he watched the both of them from the vantage point of Avery’s closet, one day when he snuck into their room to covertly upgrade their laptop so the piece of shit wouldn’t run so slow and ducked into the closet when he heard the noises behind him. From the small crack he watched with voyeuristic glee as both Avery and their girlfriend were in the midst of pulling off each other's clothing. Rocket could give less of a shit about what Denise looked like he was razor focused on getting to see all of Avery that he could, and the mirror across the bed helped give him all the angles he was hoping for.
Seeing the breasts for the second time was better than the first because he was able to enjoy leering at them without fear of being smacked upside the head for being a pervert. They were more than a handful even to a Terran, not traditionally round as the media preferred to portray large breasts instead more tubular in shape, the stretch marks on the skin gave Rocket the idea that they had come in pretty quickly during Avery’s youth. Rocket couldn’t help but think of how responsive Avery’s breasts would be under his paws, how the calloused sections of his finger pads would elicit goosebumps to appear across the creamy flesh as the pink of their nipples darkened into that pretty shape of pink. Would get even better when he was able to get his mouth around them, he started stroking himself at the thought of the soft flesh spilling out from either side of his jaw.
He was so lost in thought he almost missed the best sight of all, Avery kneeling between their girlfriends legs with the mirror directly behind them giving the best view in the house, Avery’s taunt ass that had the cutest solo freckle on their left cheek and even better Avery’s stunning cunt was also visible for him to enjoy. Rocket’s had never been more parched in his life, and he explicitly knew where he wanted to drink from most watching the dripping pool of arousal hang off of Avery’s folds taunting him.
Rocket imagined slipping up behind Avery, gripping the perfect hips as leverage as he buried his tongue deep into the warm walls that he’d have spoiled for his tongue once he was done. He’d certainly out-do whatever Denise would give Avery that's for damn sure, he pushed the thought out of his mind as he continued to enjoy the free show and tried to be quiet as he stroked himself to a well deserved orgasm. It didn’t take long afterall he had a visual feast in front of him to enjoy as the sheen of sweat that coated Avery brought further attention to every well defined muscle, every tattoo that they had added to their personal canvas and the self satisfied smirk that curled across their lips as Avery made Denise get off for the fifth time sent him over the edge.
Rocket was disappointed when Denise put in a quarter of the effort to get Avery off, he could tell that Avery wasn’t satisfied when they sent their girlfriend off because he heard the buzzing sound followed by a few loose moans and he wasn’t sure how he escaped the apartment without attacking Avery in all the right ways but he did. He took out the rampant horneyness with some of the furry twinks that he had met at the bar, didn’t matter to him that they were using him to fulfil a fetish, he was just glad to have a warm hole to enjoy.
Rocket was destroyed when he found Avery sitting in the middle of their living room muddling those beautiful grey irises with thick tears.
“She left me” The hoarse tone of Avery’s voice tore him to shreds as he slid beside them “What happened?” Nothing was going to be a good enough answer for Rocket but he’d figure he should ask anyway.
“She said it was weird that I spent so much time with you, and how much time I spent at the gym” He watched Avery wash down more liquor “Said if I was going to keep making myself look so much like a man that I might as well transition” Rocket hated that more tears slid from Avery’s eyes “Then let me connect the dots that she had found someone more femme to be with, and left” The sobs got louder “Why can’t anyone be happy with what I am instead of what they want me to be” Rocket knew there was nothing he could say to make things feel better for their friend of the last few years so he did what Avery usually did while when he was sad and drunk Rocket just held them.
Denise was going to fucking pay!
It was from then on the dynamic between Rocket and Avery changed into something more than just friendship despite how much Rocket tried to bury his feelings. Looking back he felt like an idiot for not recognizing that Avery had a giant crush on him too but was also trying to hide it most likely because they thought it might ruin the friendship. Avery had the habit of having him curl into them during movie night, squeezed him a bit tighter every time he left and eyes that lingered a bit too long on his mouth when he was talking.
Rocket had just finished telling Avery about how he was going in with the other heroes to the Avengers complex to hopefully pull off some sort of miracle to return all the people who were snapped away. He didn’t mince any words about his chances of survival or the plan's chance at success, Rocket didn’t want to breed any false hope that he’d return if things went south. Rocket just clued in that the pouring sound that he was hearing came from the kitchen where Avery was pouring from an old bottle of scotch and handing him a glass.
“We drink to your safe return and success” He clinked his glass to Avery’s then together they polished off the entire bottle before proceeding to get delightfully plaster and frightfully honest with one another. Rocket broke one of his own boundaries and could hear stories from his past start trickling out of his maw faster than he could stop himself. He swirled down into a diatribe of self hate chanting each self deprecating insult as a prayer as he felt Avery pull him into their strong arms.
“No, none of what you said was remotely true for fucks sakes you were a baby Rocket, what power did you really have?” He could feel the wetness of his own fur covered with both his and Avery’s tears, he felt a kiss on the top of his head so gentle that he was partially certain that he imagined it “You need to be nicer to your brain, you deserve better than self hatred, you just deserve so much more than you’ve been given Rocket”. Rocket had never had anyone kiss him on his head, never had someone want to show tender appreciation of his brain without using it for their own personal gain.
Rocket looked up at Avery before finally deciding that it would hurt more to not know how they felt about him and decided to shoot his shot by planting a soft kiss on Avery’s lips. To his delight he felt as Avery let a low moan out of their throat before eagerly kissing back allowing their tongue to slip into his mouth. A shiver of delight ran down the entirety of his spine as he felt Avery’s tongue duel with his over dominance of the kiss, each refusing to give up control. He could feel Avery pulling at his clothing trying to yank the material off of him to get to the body that they craved to touch, he broke away from the kiss for long enough to remove his clothing as he watched Avery pull off their shirt and binder with a surprising amount of speed. Avery was eager for him;Good.
Avery was stroking down his back gently circling around each bit of metal on his spine before tormenting the sensitive skin surrounding his tail. Rocket got his revenge by nipping down the column of Avery’s throat leaving pretty purple marks as landmarks of his travels, he could smell the surge in arousal every time he sunk his fangs in deep and the smell only got more potent once he finally got his paws on those lovely tata’s of theirs. The breasts were even softer than he had imagined, as he watched as goosebumps dotted the delicate flesh in response to his touch and the moan Avery made once he had a nipple firm between his fingers was a thing of beauty. He added a few more splashes of purple to Avery’s skin when he nipped over the tops of their breasts enjoying the pleasant hiss of pain Avery made, Rocket made sure to suckle each nipple gently once he took each into his maw.
Rocket was lost in the sensation of suckling Avery’s bountiful tits, enjoying how far he could get each nipple into his mouth short of hurting it when he had to pull away to let out his own lurid moan, as Avery had slowly slid a finger into the tight ring of his asshole. Rocket could see stars again as he was swept away by the feeling of Avery’s finger pumping in and out of him slowly so as to allow each intrusion stretch him further, his cock twitching painfully. Rocket used some of his remaining brain cells to push Avery back onto their back to give him the chance to get between those delicious looking thighs of theirs. Rocket breathed in the deep musk of Avery’s well fitted boxes running his tongue over the soaked fabric covering the delectable cunt underneath before opting to shred the barrier that the boxers provided to get to his meal.
The high whining noise that Avery made as he latched onto their pussy tongue fucking them into the first orgasm of the night was so good he wished he had a recording; fuck he wanted every moment for his holodeck. Rocket loved how the walls of Avery’s cunt hugged each contour of his tongue as he stroked every available area that he could. Rocket especially enjoyed how his tongue would get coated in delightful tangy cream when he stroked a certain ridge within hard enough and he revelled in the way the thighs on either side of his head quivered with each application of pressure. Rocket slid up Avery’s body once he felt that they were lubricated enough, lining his cock up with the entrance to Avery’s pussy before searching Avery’s eyes for consent. Avery nodded, pulling their legs behind Rocket having him thrust deep into their aching pussy, grinding their hips into his with reckless abandon as both resumed a heated make out. The entire apartment was filled with the sounds of loose moans, the slapping of skin to fur and short sharp inhales of breath before Rocket flooded Avery’s pussy with a roar as he spilled into them.
Rocket laid there in Avery’s arms in the middle of the living room floor enjoying the sound of their beating heart when he could feel Avery’s walls twitch around him and he found himself getting hard again. It took him a second to string together “Do you wanna go for more?”
Avery looked into his eyes as a wide mouth smile took over their face “Fuck yeah”.
They spent the next several hours fucking over the entirety of Avery’s apartment before ending up in the bed together, and Rocket allowed himself two hours to cuddle before he’d had to leave. He wished he didn’t hear Avery say”I love you” while they fell asleep this would have felt so much easier to slip out the door, he couldn’t stay he had to save the galaxy and he knew that Quill would need to escape to space after he remembered everything that happened with Gamora so he’d probably not be back to Terra for awhile.
It was for the best.
Rocket in the present moment thought about how flarkin stupid that idea was, he should have come back after even if the talk was going to be hard. Rocket took a moment to collect himself just outside of a public park that a bunch of kids were playing at that was only a few blocks away from Avery’s apartment. He took a moment to see if they were visiting the park like they used to, Rocket wasn’t expecting to find Avery so easily but there they were in the flesh and if his eyes weren’t deceiving him looking fantastic with fuller hips than he remembered. He was so distracted that he allowed himself to be mowed down by a pair of small Terran children running towards Avery screaming “Par” As Avery picked both up planting kisses of each of their kisses “We need to apologise to that man sweeties, that wasn’t nice, I’m sorry sir”
This is how Rocket Raccoon made eye contact with Avery Malloli for the first time in five years, the shock rang clear through the entirety of the beautiful grey irises he had come to miss. Rocket felt a tug on the arm of his suit when a bigger surprise smacked the sense out of him effectively as he looked down at a pair of twin girls that looked like Avery but with a set of ears and tail just like his. He watched as Avery snapped out of whatever shock they were feeling to speak “Rocket go sit on the bench over there, we need to talk”
Rocket nodded dumbly as his legs automatically carried him to the bench before he sat down with a thud, those were his biological kids he could smell the familiarity on them. He got Avery pregnant and left them.
He was so fucking dead.
* Par is a gender neutral alternative to Ma or Mom
@raccoonfallsharder @watchersclaws-blog
#rocket raccoon afab OC#nonbinary#five year after blip#rocket raccoon#rocket raccoon is bad at feelings#friends to lovers to enemyish to friends to lovers#slow burn
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Sage X3 Industries Manufacturing & Sage Wholesale Distribution
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Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 (2023)
★★★★☆
Written and Directed by: James Gunn
Based on the Comic Book series by: Marvel Comics (Arnold Drake and Gene Colan)
The last film I reviewed for this blog before I sort of let it peter out was 2012's The Avengers. Obviously a lot of Marvel Cinematic Universe... er, stuff occurred in the intervening years. All three Spider-Man movies, for one thing, but also any mention of Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Scarlet Witch, Captain Marvel, Ant-Man, even the Infinity Stones. Heck, the first glimpse of Thanos came during the mid-credits bonus scene at the end of The Avengers. And, of course, in between that review and this one, we got two Guardians of the Galaxy films.
I won't get into my thoughts on those two previous films except to say that I understand why these films have been so frequently emulated in the years since the release of the first one. It's a formula for an ensemble movie where the characters are (probably) not known ahead of time, but by the end there is enough work put in to make the audience genuinely care. So with James Gunn apparently signing off from the MCU to take the reigns on a new chapter of DC films, Vol. 3 exists here in a space where the MCU has floundered a bit (or a lot, depending on your point of view) since the conclusion of The Infinity Saga and we see what Gunn's Guardians franchise is going to do to right the ship.
The answer, it turns out, is: nothing. Guardians Vol. 3 does not make any effort to "fix" The Multiverse Saga, Phase 4, or the MCU. Well, except in one specific way: Vol. 3 returns to a strategy that served the MCU extremely well in earlier eras which is that it sets out to make a solid action/adventure film first and leaves all the inter-connected broader universe stuff either to the backstories, the post-credits scenes, or just other franchises/films. And it's fairly obvious that is absolutely the right move to make. Guardians has been a bit of an outlier in the MCU for some time in that they are team movies but not team-UP movies. But the fairly minor flaws of this film don't have anything to do with it feeling distant from any of the Kang/Thunderbolts/Celestials nonsense going on elsewhere. That's a feature, not a bug.
So, what holds Vol. 3 back from true greatness? Mostly it comes from a trend in the cinematic universe model that has been in place since Avengers: Endgame, and that's catering to the most indulgent excesses from the comic book arm of Marvel. See, in the early days of the MCU, Marvel Studios rightly recognized that movies based on comic books needed to do several things simultaneously: firstly, appeal to broad audiences mostly by focusing on being self-contained and well executed films in their own right but secondly, they needed to also be as unassailable as possible by the hardcore comic book nerds who constituted the very core of the movie's audience. Plenty of earlier "successful" comic adaptations (Byran Singer's X-Men films from the 90s, for example, as well as edgier adaptations like Batman Begins and 2003's Hulk) seemed quite often to be embarrassed by their brightly-colored source material. They downplayed the elements that had originally endeared some of the characters to comics fans in favor of mass appeal, often in ways that quickly dated them. Marvel Studios though decided that the thing holding super hero movies back wasn't flashy costumes or somewhat trope-y, goofy fantastic elements but rather a self-seriousness that sucked the inherent fun out of escapism. And, ultimately, they were right.
Very, very right. The problem though? They were almost too right. For about ten years Marvel Studios stuck to a particular formula for making their movies fun and approachable and true enough to their funnybook roots that they avoided hardcore nerd outcry while gaining huge amounts of new fans who maybe otherwise had little to no use for comics themselves. But no one can keep a streak like that up forever. So what happened?
My theory is that Endgame happened. And it didn't just happen, it was (and still is as of this writing) the biggest MCU film in terms of box office grosses. It crushed. Looking at the overall plot of Endgame, it really did feel more like a direct adaptation from a Marvel Comics summer crossover event: time travel, alternate realities, key character deaths, the whole shebang. Up until this point Marvel Studios had been smoothing over some of the more comic-book-y elements of their storylines, running a riff on their Ultimate line where popular, foundational elements of the modern myths they traffic in were given a fresh pass under the guise of expanding the audience. But it worked so well, pleasing core comic fans with it's rootsy takes while gently easing moviegoing audiences into their world, they learned the wrong lesson.
The lesson they should have learned: don't stop doing that.
The lesson they did learn: if everyone loves every risk we take (galactic setting? portal wizards? funny Thor? yes, please!), we got so much more where that came from!
Which starts the straight line that leads us past unmentioned-afterward canon including: dueling myth-gods, literal Zeus, half-hatched god eggs, robot K.E.V.I.N (Feige), alligator Loki, and a giant popped-out eyeball in New York City. Oh and, like, Kang.
Now, to be fair, most of those things would feel a lot more at place in a Guardians of the Galaxy movie. As in, it's pretty weird they aren't the excesses Vol. 3 is guilty of. Rather, Vol. 3 reaches into the vault of dark, over-expository sorta-allegories straight from the fashionable grim-n-gritty late 90s era of the comics. It decides to push boundaries even beyond what a Sam Raimi MCU film felt inclined to push. And it does it all while daring to have a happy ending.
Vol. 3 picks up somewhere after the events of the Disney+ Holiday Special, which is (I believe) where we learned the Guardians had inducted Kraglin and Cosmo the dog and set up shop over in Knowhere with a bunch of... friends? Locals? Refugees? It's not clear. What is clear is that Guardians' leader Peter "Star-Lord" Quill (played with an unexpected complexity by Chris Pratt) is still struggling with the loss of the teammate Gamora (played here with as much nuance as possible by Zoe Saldana given the disservice the script pays her) he'd fallen in love with, particularly in light of the fact that a version of her lives on somewhere out in the universe, at best hostile toward him and at worst indifferent. A gold-skinned guy arrives, wreaking havoc, seeming fixated on Rocket (voiced with a lot less wise-cracking than usual by Bradley Cooper) and manages to mortally wound the mutated raccoon. When they try to heal him, they discover Rocket's creator put a kill switch into him and if they try to operate without removing it, he'll die.
This sends the Guardians on a desperate quest to find a way to save Rocket by digging into the past of his creator, a being who calls himself the High Evolutionary (played with a vulnerable gravitas by Chukwudi Iwuji). As the team crosses paths with Gamora and the Ravager faction she's been running with for the inevitable awkward reunion between her and Star-Lord, the film then begins cutting back and forth to the time when Rocket, well, became Rocket.
It's here that the film makes a choice to swerve hard into the pitch black in tone and visual aesthetic. The scenes of Rocket's creation and the introduction of his fellow discarded experiments are harrowing, ghastly things that might as well flash a bright yellow, all-caps title card: "ANIMAL EXPERIMENTATION IS ANIMAL CRUELTY!" Or maybe just, "HURTING ANIMALS IS EVIL!" It's a lot, in all honesty and I was very glad I pre-screened this before taking my kids to see it.
Eventually the Guardians track down the High Evolutionary on a planet called Counter-Earth, which he created as part of his quest to fabricate a perfect utopian society. Here, again with the dark, we get essentially a genocide that occurs without much more than a passing mention by the main characters. And, y'know, narratively it mostly serves as a ticking clock and bit of chaos to keep the team from forming Voltron and making short work of the film's conflict before we can wring a bit more pathos out of the audiences' greater concern for a computer-animated raccoon than an entire planet of sentient and uncomfortably human-adjacent animal hybrid people.
The rest of the movie takes a few more dark swerves which really felt like the movie was setting me up for a huge gutpunch of an ending. I was thinking, fool me thrice, or whatever but I see where this is going. And then it swerves again and says, "actually no, you know what, sometimes things really suck a lot but then it turns out to be some flavor of all right." And it sorta turned out I was right because while I was waiting for the inevitable slug to the breadbasket, I got a different, gentler strike and dammit if it wasn't even more effective because of it.
I know it sounds a lot like I have some pretty major gripes with the film and I did find it's brazen and ballsy approach to the MCU as a bit off-putting. Buuut... the last several tentpole MCU entries that have been trying to stick with "the formula" have been pretty off-putting as well so even if I didn't say anything else positive at all, I'd still have to give it to Vol. 3 for at least failing to stick the landing in a novel fashion. And I genuinely do have a lot of positive things to say about this movie. The dynamic between the characters is loose and feels lived in, no matter what configuration is on screen at the time. I'd go so far as to say the acting is all best in Cinematic Universe for these characters. Not only do Pratt and Saldana do a fantastic job with adding new layers to their performances that carry the backstory in a way that means they have to do only minimal "as-you-know-bob"ing to sell their scenes. Unsung heroes abound as well from Pom Klementieff's smooth portrayal of a woman growing into an affinity for compassionate leadership to Karen Gillan's deft and subtle arc of "How Nebula Got Her Groove Back." Even Cooper manages to deliver a stellar vocal performance, really dragging the audience that extra few feet across the finish line to genuine concern for... well, for a computer-animated raccoon.
The stakes are smaller than expected but the satisfaction of the resolution is so rewarding it feels like it's been a bigger journey than even saving the universe with a dance contest. The soundtrack adds the same kind of welcome texture to scenes as ever, the visual effects are great, and though there are fewer jokes than earlier entries, when they do come they mostly all work. I could cite a few more minor bits of both nitpicking (Groot's regeneration ability seems very ill-defined and at this point amounts to "it's just whatever we need it to be for the current scene") and complimentary (the way they handle the lampshading on Groot's signature dialogue is super satisfying and wonderfully subtle), but I think I can summarize it all with this: it's not perfect, but it kind of feels like exactly what we needed right now. And if that doesn't summarize the Guardians of the Galaxy, I don't know what does.
I recommend Vol. 3, with the minor warning that it has some squirmy, uncomfortable scenes and subject matter. If you have some younger kids who have enjoyed previous Marvel films or if you're a squeamish type who generally finds nothing distasteful about these films, tread carefully because this one takes even some of the shocking moments from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and more or less says, "hold my beer." But if you can stomach it, it's one of the best Marvel features in a long time and well worth the wait.
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Aussie/NYC band Free Time offers a little Jangle Jargon as Eric “Eggman” Eggleson finds out....
When Tim Hinely sent me a link to Free Time’s Bandcamp page, I couldn’t stop playing it. I ended up buying everything they had available on their site, but I kept coming back to the new album. I decided to find out more about the band, so I sent Dion Nania, formally from Melbourne and now in Brooklyn, a few questions as a way to review the album.
When did you move to Brooklyn and why did you move there?
I first came to NYC in 2011. It was mostly to do with my partner at the time getting a job here, but also, I was kind of at a loose end; my previous main band Panel of Judges had reached a natural conclusion and I’d just finished a grad school thing. Free Time came together the next year.
I see some of the songs were from 2017, why the five year wait?
Well, at that moment in history we had the three songs and the idea to cover the Green On Red song. We didn’t have a full band at the time, but Marty Frawley was temporarily in town, so he played bass, and then we happened to get a royalty cheque sufficient for a handful of days recording. I’m not exactly a prolific songwriter, so the remaining songs came together in the years since. They were mostly written by the time the pandemic hit, which proved to be an opportunity for Jonah and me to demo the remaining songs in our social ‘pod.’ As things eased a bit, Mike, Jonah, and I started to rehearse in preparation for recording in mid and late 2021.
I also was a teacher, what is your “academic work”?
I’m a PhD candidate in a Politics department, and teach at various colleges around the city. I tend to teach classes around the politics of the carceral state, and my research looks at the role of prison work in the US carceral political economy, and at contemporary in-prison social movements with a focus on the national prison strikes of 2016 and 2018.
I taught in a juvenile boys prison for ten years (it references my Gmail account and also a fave GbV song)!
Oh wow.
The album’s opener, “Never Your Turn,” is a quick, bouncy pop song with Ukraine References.
It was written, and recorded, before the recent Russian invasion, so there is no political commentary on that taking place. It just so happens that the individual who evoked that lyric is from there. From my point of view, that line was spliced into the song and jars with the rest of the ‘narrative,’ obtuse as that may be. But I often do that, just splice in lines from stanzas written without any conscious relation to each other, to see what effects are produced.
Track 2, “Beak In A Cup,” is my absolute favorite of the album. Can’t stop playing it. Beautiful keys that sound almost like horns. Is it actually about becoming a bird, flying away from reality? What does it need to escape from?
I mean, it is some kind of metaphor, but at times fairly literal, with the references to drinking for example. It gestures toward the idea that it is only in certain states or circumstances that we have the capacity to care about others in abroad and capacious way, rather than something we are able to do all the time. Then there is some mean breakup rhetoric shoe-horned into the second verse.
“Half Measures” is another bouncy number straight out of the Flying Nun catalog with an interesting storyline. Any favorite Flying Nun bands?
Well, I’m shooting for a bit of a political anthem here. The first verse tries to evoke the seamlessness of capitalist realism, or hegemony, suggesting the need for rupture rather than reform. The middle 8 is towards a more expansive conception of the working class. The second verse is pushback against the neoliberal demand to love one’s work.
Whoa, you lost me here, love your passion for politics!
Haha thanks. The day job has been leaking into the songs, for better or worse! And yes, I do like a lot of Flying Nun bands, The Clean, Tall Dwarfs, The Chills, Look Blue Go Purple, The Puddle, Wreck Small Speakers on Expensive Stereos, Bailter Space, Snapper, etc. I saw Bailter Space a month ago here in NYC, it was great.
Track 4, “The Terrace,” is a slow, beautiful song that reminds me of The Cure’s “Boys Don’t Cry,” but then takes off in a different direction. My only complaint, it’s too short.
With the next song, “Long Centuries,” pianos highlight this one, but then it has Furs’ vibe with its saxophone-sounding synths coming in. “Long centuries overlap,” is history repeating itself with tragedy in the world?
Yes, that’s about right. Kind of mapping feudal hierarchy onto our current system. The ‘poacher hanging from the tree’ refers to the enclosure movement, the proletarianization of English peasants.
“That’s Rare,” showcases fast-paced guitar work with interesting lyrics of flowers and furniture. A definite toe tapper.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dLUZDNjcPk
The title track, “Jangle Jargon,” definitely begins with soft, beautiful jangle and then ends with sonic, distorted bliss. How did you pick this for the title?
Well, in a way, this song is about what can and cannot be said in the ‘jangle genre.’ Or about what tends to be said, and also the meanings listeners derive as they listen, and the expectations they might have. So, it is a jargon, or an argot, and I’m trying to explore its contours from within. Part of what I’m interested in is how I can cobble together something actually kind of meaningless to me and present it in this genre context, and still evoke an emotional response. So, for this song some of the lines were just written using chance operations, opening a book at a certain page, randomly generating a number, “45” for example, then selecting the 45th word on the page. Then repeating that, then shifting things around to give the impression of coherence and meaning.
What a very cool look into your songwriting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGwwNMH_BiI
Next is “Disciplines And Mastery,” which has a different approach, dare I say a “Bossa Nova” vibe? Totally lost on the lyrics here, care to explain what you were getting at?
This one is about life in academia! It is a bit tongue-in-cheek, but that aside it is pretty straightforwardly about that. I hope it makes some sense now, knowing that.
Track 9, “Turn It Over,” is an upbeat pop song complete with dog barks, what can you not like? It then takes off into a dreamy beach-like vacation vibe with swirling guitars.
The album’s closer is “Lost World.” Covering Green On Red, nice, great band. Seems to tie into the theme of this album; wondering what is going on in our world.
Yeah, it does seem to me to capture contemporary doom quite well.
You performed live in New York recently, how did that go? Who is your live band?
It was fun! It was just our second show since the pandemic. The NYC lineup is Mike Mimoun plays drums, he used to co-run the record label Underwater Peoples and has played in various other things., Jonah Maurer on guitar, and used to play in Real Estate and still occasionally plays in Liquor Store. They are Americans. Amy Franz is Australian like me, plays the bass and used to be in Super Wild Horses. I’m on guitar and vocals. Mike and Jonah have been in the group since the beginning and played on all the records, Amy has guested with the band in the past, but has now joined as bass player.
Any chance of touring the new album?
Touring Australia in Jan/Feb. No plans here as yet. Not averse to the idea, but it would be tricky with our schedules, and we don’t have a booking agent.
If you were stranded on an island, what would be your top five desert island discs?
Ok sure. Standard disclaimer: this is arbitrary, and I cannot speak for my future self. In no particular order:
On the Other Ocean - David Behrman
Quasimodo’s Dream - The Reels
Cucumber Castle - The Bee Gees
16 Lovers Lane - The Go-Betweens
Detours - “Blue” Gene Tyranny
What was the first record you ever bought?
I think it was a record by Pseudo Echo, who were a cheesy Australian new wave band. I would have been about 8 years old.
What was the first live band you saw?
Bored! and also Warped at the Geelong Performing Arts Center.
Well, there you have it. Hopefully, you’ve learned more about Free Time and why Jangle Jargon is such a great album. The good news is that Dion’s band formed in Brooklyn and not Melbourne. Hopefully, that will mean future concerts around the US. Even though Dion claims to not have any musical training, the variety of jangle pop on here will continue to blast of out my speakers until he creates his next batch of songs.
https://freetimeband.bandcamp.com
BY ERIC EGGLESON
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Harrison pt. 1
Harrison was ‘The Guy’ before I even knew who ‘The Guy’ was.
You know the one I’m talking about.
The Guy you picture when you’re singing all the songs that come on the radio. The Guy you imagine when you’re daydreaming in class, doodling in the corners of your notebook, and waiting for someone to come bust open the door and ask you to prom in some stupidly public way and you only pretend to be upset about it, but in reality, you’re so happy you could just scream, pass out and die.
The Guy that, if you don’t actually end up with them, you end up thinking about for the rest of your life. Even if you’re happy with someone else. There’s always a little part of your brain that screams ‘what if it was That Guy…’
Yeah. Well, Harrison was That Guy.
For me and probably a few dozen other girls, but I only care about my story, so that’s the one I’ll be telling.
My review of Harrison is ongoing, as my relationship with him and his family is an ever present one. However, my first review of Harrison started at age six, and I remember it vaguely, but still well enough to give a fairly detailed recount of the events.
Six-year-old me thought it was very important to have nine-year-old Harrison there for nearly everything. It didn’t matter that his younger sister was my best friend, no, I wanted Harrison to come too. Luckily for me, his younger sister liked playing with her older brother just as much as I did—though we had two different motives.
She simply liked annoying her brother. I was going to marry her brother. We were obviously not the same.
Thinking back on it, maybe all three of us were best friends, but we never wanted to admit it to the public eye. The image and appearance is everything to a kid, after all.
It was a late night in mid-July (read: approximately five in the afternoon) and the sun was still high in the sky with all the cicadas buzzing around us. This was before I had learned to be terrified of bugs, so I only laughed when Harrison would pick them up and put them on my head. I’d laugh even harder when he put them on his sister’s head, because she’d scream so loud the neighbors would pop their heads outside to make sure no one was being kidnapped or dying.
He was excellent at picking out things to annoy his sister with – a solid 9/10 on the ‘impress friends by torturing siblings’ scale. This isn’t a scale that exists past the age of 7 for girls (and around 25 for boys), but right up until then it’s extremely important.
He was very good at carrying around bandaid’s in his front pocket for when someone (me) would fall and scrape their knee, and he had taken it upon himself to not only memorize his moms cell phone number, but mine too – just incase he were to ever need to call her for an emergency when I was over at his house for a sleepover with his sister.
I mean, I’m sure her mom could have handled it, but it’s the thought that counts.
He truly was a gentleman, so you can see how it was so easy for me to develop a crush on him. He was cute in the way all older brothers are cute to little kids, and as soon as I realized people could plan weddings without actually having to get married, I was off.
So, hours later that night (read: 5:45) when I fell and broke my arm (yes, he was the second person to sign my cast behind his sister) he didn’t really surprise me much when he told me he would let me pick all the flowers for our wedding without complaining.
Do you think that promise holds up if he made it when he was 9 and I was 6?
In all reality, Harrison showed me that day that he was the type of guy I wanted to be around for the rest of my life. Constantly surrounded by men who kept me calm, made me laugh, and brought me into their family without a second thought.
Sure, the first time this happened I was six years old and I had a broken arm, but Harrison didn’t freak out and run away to hide—no, he used one of the other neighborhood kids cell phones to call both his and my mom’s (he was so smug that memorizing that phone number paid off) and then waited the thirty seconds it took for them to run outside.
Remember, people – this was, like, 2004. The world was safe to play in a suburban cul-de-sac still, and our parents were right inside like a house away.
So, while waiting those horrible seconds of me crying and screaming and my best friend panic-yelling, he calmed me down by asking me questions about our wedding.
And yes, I admit it. I brought it up to him. What?! I was 6!!! I didn’t know any better yet!!! Even if he was making fun of me for it, he did it in a way I obviously didn’t understand, and then later romanticized like, you guessed it, a Taylor Swift song. (Insert the chorus to Mary’s Song here for proper emphasis, if you’d like some real inspiration!)
It only took about eight weeks for my arm to heal, but anything I needed to do with two hands the whole time, he helped with. Juice boxes, chip bags, backpacks—you name it. Talk about a precedent set young. What a ‘Guy’.
The second time Harrison made me realize that made he was probably ‘The Guy’ was a few years later, twelve of them to be exact, near my 18th birthday.
And I didn’t break my arm, but I did break my heart. And Harrison broke someone’s nose.
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i keep trying to find reviewers/tolkien fans talking about rop in a sensible way bc i’m not interested in people being upset over minor lore changes and shit like that but it’s very hard because many of them go insane over the lore breaks with the silmarillion.
amazon doesn’t have the rights to the silmarillion and i don’t know if these guys who black out with lore hate know this???
like, the show is Bad but it’s from a “the showrunners are jj abram’s henchment who have no idea how to run or write a show” place. if it was over all a good, solid well done show i think like 50% of the lore pedants would die away bc like “it’s not 100% lore accurate but it’s very good for what they have”
i’m not interested in hearing ANYONE, ANYWHERE rant at me about why it’s bad because of x,y, z in the silmarillion. i want to hear it on the basis of it’s actual construction as a piece of media and for what lore it has access to and what lore it could maintain between the silmarillion and lotr without butting up against the lack of lore rights (ex. incorporating more of galaderial’s lotr characterization with the “traumatized and badly coping” angle so 2nd age galadriel feels like the logical middle step, celeborn if not actually around has more importance than just “i had a husband once, he died(?)” like no weird romantic vibes between her and halbrand bc you know.... she’s.... married....)
martin’s and tolkien’s works really shouldn’t be compared much bc the Vibes are so different but it can’t be helped to some extend because house of the dragon and rings of power are both historical prologues based in in-world history books/notes and the source materials for the shows are basically just timelines and vibes. the general consensus i see is the whole hotd is not a perfect show (especially bc s1 is forced into timeskip hell bc if we don’t SHOW the ORIGINS of the GENERATIONAL CONFLICTING COMING TO A HEAD then that GENERATIONAL CONFLICTING COMING TO A HEAD doesn’t LAND so RIP!!!!) it’s also not Bad. it’s fairly solid, many of the issues (timeskip hell) in s1 will be gone for s2 and the writing as a whole is a return to the levels seen in the Actually Good Seasons 1-4. like it’s generally seen as mid to great which given the end of got is uh...... STAGGERINGLY GOOD FEEDBACK. and they didn’t have much more to work with and also have the “technically this story should be happening over a VERY long time” issue that rings of power has. hotd not being absolute dogshit is proof basically that the task is not impossible.
i GENUINELY think that rop could’ve worked using just the appendices, main lotr books and whatever loopholes around not having the silm rights they could sneak past the estate the issue here is just bad handling of the project. if you put a good writer/showrunner at the helm you’d find a LOT of the problems the show has and that people complain about would be gone.
like let’s be clear, i like things like buffy the vampire slayer and the genuinely kinda bad vampire diaries. buffy is well known for looking at things like internal lore or common sense and going “no 💖” bc it has a Neat Thing it wants to do and even if i gripe a little i still am 100% here for the Neat Thing but it’s!!! actually neat!!!! tvd is just..... hot trash. totally incomprehensible. media you do not watch for it’s award winning and genre shaping writing. it is not vampire sapranos. but there’s enough heart and the right kind of cheesy bullshit that i can gleefully watch and ignore all the comical amounts of issues it has.
the issue for rings of power is that it doesn’t sacrifice consistency for metaphor or important character moments (btvs) nor is it the kinda bad that’s fun (tvd). it’s the kinda bad that just makes you annoyed. if this show was as epic as it likes to think it is then i could not at ALL care that everyone in the southlands arc should be DEAD because that’s how PYROCLASTIC FLOW WORKS. if it would good, then people would be dead/not so immediately in the line of fire that i gotta worry about that or if it was So Bad It’s Fun i wouldn’t care because i like seeing my funny little guys get thrown around the silly little story and it looked neat.
and like, while i would love to engage in convos dissecting it as like, a study in writing and adaptation and all that i also don’t have time for anyone who bangs on about the LoRe and the silmarillion bc they just don’t have it to work with. I’d be much more interested in seeing a discussion about what COULD be done with what they DO have access to but very few seem to be capable of managing that concept atm
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Scarlet nexus who to play first
#Scarlet nexus who to play first download#
And I feel like he got a lot more attention : he was polite and polite. I'll write more about the system in a moment., before that, I will focus on the plot – because whether we like it or not, it was set up in the first place. There are characteristic skills for each of the heroes, that make up variety and open up new avenues, thanks to which the game becomes much more enjoyable and varied. We (in the sense : our team) against hundreds of enemies to defeat. Scarlet Nexus gratuit is a classic representative of the slasher genre. To realize their vision, the creators decided to use cel-shading technology and used stylistics typical of Japanese animated films. The production uses a unique convention that the creators call brain punk – here we are dealing with a futuristic sci-fi world, in which various types of psionic powers are of great importance.
#Scarlet nexus who to play first download#
Scarlet Nexus Download has an attractive three-dimensional graphic design. The basis of the game is a narrative campaign. As the game progresses, character's abilities develop gradually.ĭans Scarlet Nexus, we can only play alone. Individual attacks can be combined into powerful combinations. During the game, the player uses different types of psionic powers of Yuito – we can pick up and destroy items, as well as toss their coins at enemies. Combat also plays an important role – clashes take place in real time and combine dynamic action with a deep strategic layer that requires careful planning on the part of the player. Scarlet Nexus Download is a fairly classic jRPG game – the pleasure is to explore places, to complete tasks and gradually discover the plot. Choose wisely, we encourage you to visit our website Our review of the game Scarlet Nexus Hours of fun! By choosing our website, you can guarantee yourself tens (even hundreds!) Hours with the downloaded title.Īnd especially – we are the only ones to give functional games, we checked competitor websites and games were missing files or not working at all! We feature photos of the game installation and positive feedback comes from real people. By downloading from our site, you have the possibility to play the latest titles without any restriction. We use the best security on the site as in the downloadable installers.Ĭonfidence and satisfaction. Our extracts are placed on servers with no transfer limit. She considers what she wants from life but doesn’t cut herself off from what (or who) she loves.Ultra-fast download speed. What’s more, is that she deals with it very maturely. Watching her slowly come to the realization that she needs to start living for herself is an interesting one. She followed her childhood friend, Yuito, into the OSF because she wanted to be with him but didn’t stop to consider what she wanted from the experience. 5 – Hanabi IchijoĪn intensely friendly character from the word go, Hanabi’s struggle is a very relatable one. Alternatively, it gives a momentary reprieve to heal and recover mid-battle. It allows the protagonist to use Psychokinesis to their heart’s content without worrying about dodging attacks. Her ability to slow time opens to many possibilities. That said, her Hypervelocity power is fantastic in high-stress battle situations. She sees things like having a relationship with her brother as a “meaningless task”, and even when she opens up more, it doesn’t fade to a satisfactory degree. It goes slightly deeper than that, though, and she’s outright uncaring towards many people in her life. After that, he has such an infectious optimism, it’s hard to say anything bad about him. Once Yuito and/or Kasane help him see that, he opens up significantly. His insecurities about being a former dud blind him to the possibility of doing great things outside of battle. The constant drive to better himself is admirable but also slightly tragic when you understand why it’s there. His problem is that his ability is only helpful in narrow circumstances. Luka is quite likeable from a personal standpoint. It can be great to land a solid strike or take a moment to recover, but it’s not very practical in the heat of an intense battle. His invisibility power, while useful in the story, isn’t that useful for battle. That doesn’t necessarily make them forgivable, as Yuito himself says, but it certainly softens the blow. There grows an understanding of why he acts as he does and how he was left with little choice when it came to many of his worst actions. That said, as the story grows and his facade slowly drops in Bond Episodes.
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All in all the prime minister gets a brick over the dam wall
In 1983, Bob Hawke won government on the back of the “No Dams” campaign. Can Chris Maines in the next NSW election repeat history? John Bailey, Canterbury
The phrase ‘People Before Plants’ clearly defines the very common view of our unique, complex, beautiful but ever-decreasing environment. Peter Lane, Margaret River (Washington)
Fixing overcrowded hospitals requires a good dose of will
I first experienced overcrowding in a hospital emergency department in the 1980s, with long lines for ambulances popping up in the 1990s (“Texts tell of ‘Third World’ conditions in Sydney EDs”, Oct. 6).
As an emergency physician, I’ve been to more workshops, policy reviews, and meetings on this issue than I can trust. Every year the problem gets worse and spreads more widely. It’s time we realize that the system is designed to overload EDs. While they remain a pillar of the gaps in every other social and medical service, the needs will never be met. If we do not redirect patients who can wait for other services and do not release patients who need ward beds, skilled staff will always be full and skilled staff will continue to dispense with frustration and fatigue. We can solve this tomorrow with the right will. Unload all ambulances upon arrival. Redirect patients who are not in critical condition and remove backlog of patients who need hospital beds from ED. COVID repurpose ideas: Mid-range hotels can accommodate those almost ready to go home, or who just need day care. Sue Erasy, Balmain
Loretta Lynnattributed to him:AP
Loretta Lynn (“Country legend Lynn dies at 90,” October 6) was once asked how she wanted to be remembered. She said: As a good person. Someone who has never hurt anyone.” I wonder how many people in power will be remembered in this way? Rajind Naidoo, Glenfield
over the rainbow
Regarding rainbows (Letters, October 6), the fridge magnet says: “Some people walk in the rain, others get wet.” Base I try to live by. Ledella Wilde, Eastwood
Jo Rainbow of Orange says her connection to the rainbow enhances her husband’s life. Wondering if his name is Roy J. Bev? They would definitely be a pretty colorful pair from a colorful town. Dennis Goodwin, That’s Why
lost heritage
Any update on when the NSW government plans to reassemble the heritage-listed Willow Grove at Parramatta? Martin Frolich, Adamstown Heights
quite the opposite
It is disappointing that such a major catastrophe as the loss of titles by some of the Danish princes and princesses has been relegated to page 22 of the Herald (“There is something about Mary in the title struggle”). Mostafa Iram, Terigal
digital parallax
Online comment from one of the stories that got the most reader comments yesterday smh.com.au
One in 10 teachers queuing for higher salaries under major adjustment
From dannypockets: ″ What a joke. The problem is keeping fatigued fresh graduates under the massive burden of non-educational administrative duties plus all the preparation for the unpaid out-of-hours dismissal. This won’t fix any amount of mess around the edges. The only solution is to spend a lot of money, either to compensate teachers fairly for the real amount of work they do, or to hire additional administrative support staff to ease their burden. Anything less than that is not a non-serious solution. ″
to deliver a letter to Sydney Morning Herald, or [email protected]. Click here for tips on how to send messages.
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Originally published at Melbourne News Vine
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Book Review: ‘How to Win the War on Truth’
How to Win the War on Truth: An Illustrated Guide to How Mistruths Are Sold, Why They Stick, and How to Reclaim Reality By Samuel C. Spitale, and illustrated by Allan Whincup
[Early review: this book is slated for an October 25, 2022 release - there are a few tidbits in the ARC that were clearly written before Roe was overturned, but I’m sure there’s time to amend those bits.]
On the foreground of the cover for How to Win the War on Truth, a camera’s view-screen shows a dude (on the left) holding up his hand as a disembodied arm (on the right) wields a menacing-looking shape; zoom out to the mid-ground, and we see what the camera is filming: a protest. The protester on the right is holding up his sign defensively, his body leaning away from the guy on the left, who is aggressively chasing the protestor with a baseball bat. The threatening shape in the view-screen was just the bottom of the protest sign.
This one image, drawn in a black-and-white-and-red cartoon style, perfectly illustrates the subject matter of the book.
The camera, by carefully framing the scene, misrepresents it, cutting out the reality of what is going on and creating a false narrative. Reality is that the guy on the left is threatening the guy on the right; the camera—which will disseminate (mass market) its story—claims that the man on the right is threatening the man on the left. We, the populace will receive this distorted version.
[Quick note, for the record: respectable journalists routinely vie with this potential for such distortions. Part of the job of the qualified journalist is to present relevant information to the public—a plethora of information, in fact, which can rarely be summarized with a simplistic, meme-able sound bite. Thus part of actual journalism is to cut the chaff, without losing anything relevant, and then to present it to the public in an understandable way. When I took a “news media writing” class for my writing degree, the word framing was used to refer to this act of distilling months of research—copious amounts of data—into an informative, effective presentation for the elucidation of the average person on the street. Additionally, framing can also be used to say here’s-why-this-is-relevant (I always think of The X-Files episode where Doggett tells Skinner, “All right, you painted me the picture, now frame it for me”); here is why you should care; here is the context; I made you examine the trees, now here’s the forest.
Fairly versatile word, framing.
But we’re not talking accidental, incidental, somebody-was-asleep-on-the-job, result-of-poor-presentation misunderstandings.]
The framing this camera does on the cover of How to Win the War on Truth is so disconnected from the actual event at hand that it can only be intentional. Such deliberate actions are done with purpose, so what purpose does it serve to distort reality in such a way?
The purpose of power-mongers who wish to consolidate and further entrench their own power, and Samuel Spitale gives numerous, specific examples of such, as he and Allan Whincup describe the uses, techniques, and history of propaganda.
(Yes, there are Nazis, but Spitale doesn’t rely heavily on them—he’s more interested in U.S. examples.)
More than whom does this serve, however, Spitale and Whincup want to dissect how. How does propaganda work? How does the human mind fall for propaganda? What are the parts and types of propaganda, and how do they take advantage of human nature?
And how, when presented with the picture of a poor dude-bro raising his hand against a menacing shape, do we look a little further to see that dude-bro with a baseball bat, hounding a protestor who only has his sign for defense?
How do we overcome the barrage of propaganda to see the facts? How do we wade through all the noise and get ahold of the actual news, as Spitale puts it.
Perhaps by breaking down propaganda itself—if we know what it is, maybe we can recognize it when it’s thrown in our faces.
Spitale and Whincup do an excellent job of explaining—and illustrating—how propaganda and other agenda-narratives (my term) work. It is a lot of information, but How to Win the War on Truth is well-organized, well-presented, and accessible. It is the opposite of overwhelming, and thus a welcome balm in the mass media age.
The book is also a great post-World-War II history book, citing recent past events and people to show how they directly contributed to where we are now.
I highly highly highly recommend this book, and I cannot stress enough how vital and informative it is for navigating today’s world.
#book reviews#How to Win the War on Truth#author: Samuel C. Spitale#author: Allan Whincup#propaganda#highly recommend#on media#on advertising#Edward Bernays#my stuff#text post
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