Still thinking about Ashton becoming a hero and how much it makes my heart ache that we never got to see Mollymauk grow as a person.

Molly was obviously a hero of sorts before he even joined the Mighty Nein, but he still has so many similarities to Ashton. For two people that would probably find the other grating if they were to meet, they're so goddamn similar. It was their strange but strong moral compasses that endeared both of them to me so quickly. I think about Taliesin's quote (that I'm probably butchering) from an old Talks episode, one of Molly's core philosophies was "Don't give a fuck about what other people think. But *do* give a fuck about other people." It's so very Ashton. Molly may have been much flashier, but Ashton and Mollymauk are practically two sides of the same coin. A coin they refused to steal from the pockets of those who actually needed it.

Their similarities really just make me ache thinking about the ways that Molly could have grown too. Because as much as I love him, Molly of course was never perfect, no one ever is, but I would have loved to see him grow to better understand those around him. In one of CR's con panels a fan asked what Molly would've thought about Veth's dilemma, settling down with her family that she had worked tirelessly to protect versus continuing her life of adventures. Taliesin answered that Molly wouldn't have seen the point in Veth going back to her past. Molly was never interested in who he was before, why would anyone else want to return to a former life? Especially one as 'boring' as family life. That answer really stood out to me for two reasons. One, it reminded me that as lovable as Molly was, he was still an asshole, and Tal's favorite characters to play are ones that think they are right about everything. It rubbed me the wrong way because I had romanticized the tiefling a little too much. Never meet your heroes, kids. Two, I realized that this would have been Molly's response given his personality at his passing. Would he have given a different answer if he had lived and continued to grow with the party, then thought about Veth's dilemma at the same time as everyone else? Of course there's no way to truly know. Maybe Molly would've stayed stagnant in that way. After all, Molly was Taliesin's attempt at playing a character that had no goal, if I recall correctly.

However, I doubt Ashton would have guessed he would be accepting his occupation as possible "legendary hero" when the campaign first started, or even within the first 30 episodes.

Molly started as both a hero and a legend, but never desired more than a little bit of attention and the satisfaction of the deed. Unaffiliated with the past. Ashton was never a hero. They were the by-product of a cautionary tale they didn't even remember enough about to tell. Weighed down by his past, whether he wanted to admit it or not. They wanted answers.

As Ashton begins to find what he's looking for, I can't help but wonder if Molly could have found something to look for. Something to seek. Whether it be the mysteries of his past or the true desire for a future. Who could Mollymauk Tealeaf have become?

Top 7 idol list?

I was saving this so I could draw it at some point but oh my god I am SWAMPED and can't see myself with time to do it so top list umm.

1- Shiver. I think this is self-explanatory. I love Asian women so much (I'm Asian before anyone starts raising any eyebrows) and her personality is so funny. She's incredibly theatrical and dramatic and has this big persona that she puts on that falls apart SO quickly when it comes to her friends but otherwise she is fierce!! A force to be reckoned with!! But also a sopping wet little guy.

2- Marina. I love women in STEM I LOVE women in STEM so much. My two immediate draws are like... Traditional-looking Asian woman and Smart Woman so. Marina is such a fascinating character and it's always a shame to see her so heavily uwu-ified, she's super smart and she has a lot going on besides just her attachment to Pearl!! But TBH her attachment to Pearl is part of what endeared her to me. Girl who has experienced The Horrors and is kind of a living supercomputer becomes sappy mush when Girlfriend Flashbang. She was also the one who lowkey got me into Splatoon simply by being the prettiest Nintendo character I'd ever seen as a kid.

3- Pearl. I hesitate to put Pearl above Frye because really they're super tight in my head but the only thing that knocks her up a peg is that her dialogue is a lot more fun for me to write in English (Frye talks really interestingly too! She genuinely speaks like an old man in the Japanese but that's just not reflected in the English). I love her so much because at so many moments where she could choose to be snarky or witty with Marina or anyone else, she always chooses kindness and she's always so supportive in her own spunky little way. She's so genuine and fun and silly and self assured and confident and she's so COOL. I hate drawing her hair though. I actually used to kinda hate Pearl as a kid because I fell for the forehead propaganda but I know better now.

4- Frye. LIKE I SAID in my head Frye and Pearl are tied. I love Frye she's such a sweetheart and she has such a fun fierceness about her. She cares deeply for her friends and she keeps her cool the best out of all of her friends in Deep Cut and she DANCES!! Her character design is one of the most interesting designs I've had the pleasure of drawing a shit ton of times and despite being team Shiver nearly every time I get really sad whenever she doesn't win Splatfests :( She deserves it (and tbh I think she deserved to be the leader of Deep Cut but don't @ me on that)

5- Marie. I wish I had more opinions on Marie but given that my earliest hands-on exposure to Splatoon was Sp2 when my friend used to let me walk around as her Octoling and play a little bit of Salmon Run (lost outpost my beloved wherefore art thou) and I've never played Sp1 or 2's campaign I can't really say anything about her other than I think she's really pretty. I think she's often characterized as the more flippant and low-energy one which is a cool thing to see in an idol (who are typically meant to be all smiles) but she's also really silly! She cracks a lot of jokes in the Sp3 campaign!! She's also just really cool and really pretty and white is one of my favorite colors

6- Big Man. LISTEN!!!! I LOVE HIM I REALLY DO BUT Frye-Pearl are soooo close together in my head and I feel only a little less strongly about him than Pearl but I really really love him. He's a blast to draw and honestly he's a lot more fun in the Japanese since Frye and Shiver have extremely thick accents and he's the only one who talks like Just Some Guy. He helps reign them in but he can rarely control them. He's such a lovable little dude.

7- Callie. Love the girl but I've never once resonated with her. I don't do well in the way of happy-go-lucky fun types but I don't hate her! I think she's got a lot of room to be interesting. My friend characterizes her with some flaws relating to like. Octarian prejudice which I think is pretty dope. And I'm not a huge pink fan... But I WILL say she is one of the most fun to draw.

Lock! What other games would you recommend to a fellow bg3 and disco elysium enjoyer?

Hello... you have come to the right place... i am a CRPG Fan™ so i'm more than happy to point you in the direction of some games that hit similar beats to bg3 and disco elysium (which happen to be my favorite games of all time).

planescape: torment —

a true classic. the writing in this game is brilliant. the game's setting comes from dungeon and dragon's planescape campaign, so some of the terminology you've seen in bg3 will pop up here (specifically the githzerai, who, unlike githyanki, don't follow vlaakith). if i had to pick the game's core element... i'd say it's interacting with various philosophies/belief systems. even the most random NPCs have interesting things to say. the factions in the game's main area, the city of sigil, are based on real world philosophies (nihilism, hedonism, and anarchism, to name a few). the faction known as the society of sensation is actually what inspired elements of nexus!

the story has you hooked from the opening cutscene until the final potential endings. a protagonist with amnesia might not be anything new, but i don't think i've ever seen the trope explored in the way planescape does. the side quests and characters are all memorable too. you can just tell that so much thought and care went into the writing, it has such a distinct personality.

that being said ... fair warning. the combat in this game is notoriously scuffed. i highly recommend playing on the lowest difficulty to help circumvent some frustrating encounters. it isn't awful, but it can feel tedious at times. there's no real incentive to level up/minmax characters. everything else about the game goes hard though.

divinity original sin 2 —

WOOOO BABY larian studios know how to make god tier RPGs. i replayed do2 recently and man. i love this game. beautiful graphics, an interesting story, lovable characters, and the combat. omg. it's almost overwhelming at times how many approaches you can take to each fight.

except for the blackpits fight. all my homies hate the blackpits fight.

anyway ... you should feel right at home when booting this game up if you've played bg3. the combat is turn-based, although do2 uses slightly different mechanics (action points and spells/abilities replenishing based on turns rather than rests, for instance). it's fun, engaging, and has lots of charm.

pillars of eternity —

pillars of eternity holds a special place in my heart... it's the very first CRPG i ever played. some of the people who worked on it wrote fallout: new vegas and the aforementioned planescape: torment. as such, you can expect quality writing and worldbuilding. POE has a more somber tone than the others on this list, which i personally liked. i spent hours getting into the cosmology and pantheon from this game's world, reading everything little thing.

the worldbuilding impressed little lock so much that it went on to influence how i write/create settings. HWR was in its infancy stages around the time i first played the game, which inspired the home continent i made for the story.

also. you can build a jail on your base and throw people in it. i really enjoyed doing that.

Ratatan Kickstarter campaign launched

Gematsu Source

The Kickstarter campaign for Ratatan, the newly announced rhythm strategy game from the creators of Patapon, is now live. It is seeking 20 million yen (approx. $141,098 USD) in funding for an initial release on PC, with a stretch goal an unknown amount beyond 50 million yen (approx. $351,672 USD) for console versions.

Get the details below.

■ Welcome to the Planet of Adventure

Once upon a time, a great goddess resided on a deserted planet. Nary a soul to play with, the goddess took to song to inject the planet with a little fun:

♪ Rat-tat! Rat-tat! Rat-tat-tat! ♪

Gather childlike souls and sing, dance, have fun,

♪ Rat-tat! Rat-tat! Rat-tat-tat!♪

Mirth and merriment will take us to The Everafter,

♪ Rat-tat! Rat-tat! Rat-tat-tat! ♪

The Everafter’s lovely, just come and see,

Yummy sweets and fluffy beds await thee!

The goddess’s song echoed on the wind across the planet, beckoning what slumbered there and inviting them to join her in The Everafter.

■ Gameplay

Ratatan is diving onto the roguelike scene in this combination of rhythm and side-scroller action. Players can move to the groove alone or team up with friends in multiplayer mayhem suitable for up to four players! Engage in huge melee brawls with more than 100 characters duking it out for supremacy. Defeat your enemies by riding the rhythm of Ratatan‘s catchy, toe-tapping soundtrack in this delightful, heartfelt adventure!

Rhythm Commands and Cobun Orders

Feel the beat and use rhythm commands in time with the music to order your Cobun in the direction you want them to go. The Ratatan can be moved freely, so use your better judgment to decide where best to give orders, where to stand when on the offensive, and when to retreat. A sense of rhythm and strategy is crucial in order to survive long adventures while losing as few Cobun as possible!

Fever System

Keep to the beat and your party will enter FEVER MODE, a feature no good rhythm game can do without! Feel the vibes shift as the background music dynamically changes and your Cobun erupt in a flurry of frenzied dance moves that’ll really get the heart pumping! And if everyone’s party goes into FEVER MODE at the same time, you’ll really bring the house down!

Adorable 2D Animations

Ratatan makes use of charming 2D animation with movements filled with vivid personality. The Cobun, your faithful and lovable servants, will wibble-wobble as they follow your orders, while your enemies will try to intimidate with their often hilarious movements, breathing even more life into the world of Ratatan.

■ The World

A brand spanking new planet with boundless potential for fun. Blue skies, azure seas, reddy-brown canyons, gold deserts and deep green jungles… A world like a picture perfect sky awaits your wonderful surprise filled adventures!

PIrates of the Paraddean

Beautiful mermaids and sparkling blue sea… Is this heaven? Eh, not quite. This is the paradisiacal Paraddean Sea of the southern waters, patrolled by Captain Barbatoid and his merry band of Swashbuckling Mantaneers.

Bad Day on Yeehawler Mountain

It’s said that, many moons ago, a railcar once carried gilded treasures across the arid, windswept wilderness of these canyons. But now Scorpswoosh Bill and his ragtag team of Stinger Diggers threaten the peace of this here town! You gotta do something!

More coming soon…

■ Ratatans

The Ratatan are groove loving adventurers that use the power of song and magical instruments called “Melodium” to command their armies of Cobun.

Using the power of the Melodium, each Ratatan has what’s called a Ratatan Skill they can unleash to dominate the battlefield!

Keroronpa (voiced by Masay Fukunishi) – An agitator born to agitate with its super-duper megaphone. Capable of raising both enemy tempers and party morale, this egomaniac is utterly enamored with the sound of its own raspy voice.

Harigittan (voiced by Hika Tsukishiro) – Loves protecting its allies with numbingly good riffs. Proficient in both defense and counter offense, this poor little guy is often misunderstood as being thorny and unapproachable.

Nyandola (voiced by Haruna Yuzuki) – An assassin that likes to toy with the enemy using fast swipes and hip dance moves. Great at sneaking up on and obliterating targets, it’s desperate to nibble on the fish-like Chorus.

Mimizukyun (voiced by Youhei Azakami) – A sniper that targets far off prey with its blinkless stare. Great at concentrating their attacks on enemy weak points, they’ll aim for the heart and never let go!

More coming soon…

■ Other Characters

Chorus – Mysterious, fish-shaped creatures that inhabit every corner of Redo. Also referred to as Ototo, these dangerous creatures devour everything in their path if left to their own devices, but transform into faithful Cobun when exposed to the songs of the Ratatan.

Cobun (voiced by Gaku Kato / Ann Yamane) – Chorus transform into these creatures when they are gifted a Medama by a Ratatan. Carrying the appearance and characteristics of its master, they can be made to act in various ways through music and song.

Fortrun (voiced by Tomokazu Sugita – A carefree, shanty singing ship. Encaptured by the song of the goddess, they set out on an adventure to join her in The Everafter, but fearing the dreadful Chorus they instead wandered the Nowhere Sea.

Baddies

Did you really think that traversing the world of Redo wouldn’t be fraught with danger and excitement? Each of the world’s realms is crawling (sometimes literally) with armies of ne’er-do-wells that have acclimatized to their surroundings. Here are some examples of what to prepare your mettle for!

Dekadon – A big grumpy dragon with a big grumpy attitude. Once the guardian deity of a world born by a different god, his presence is out of place in the world of the Ratatans.

The Swashbuckling Mantaneers – Beware, the Swashbuckling Mantaneers who cruise the famous Paraddean Seas, self-proclaimed “Nice Guys” who promise to shed neither tears nor blood. Sailing aboard The Jolly Hermit and under the watchful eye of Captain Barbatoid, they dye the southern seas red with the blood of— Oh, uhm, or not, actually. They said they wouldn’t do that…

The Singer Diggers – Times are tough, driving the Stinger Diggers to a life of crime after their dreams of striking rich fell apart, and things are only getting tougher with Wagoon rolling in and plundering the town yet again! Outraged by the constant pillaging of food, drink, and even the occasional maiden, the Ratatan’s seek to overthrow the Stinger Diggers’ leader, Scorpswoosh Bill, and return peace to their town!

Sound

Now, what kind of troupe would you be leading without the perfect tune to march your minions to?! Worry not! We’ve got you covered with the perfect musical accompaniment for crushing your enemies in a wave of adorable terror!

“Fortrun’s Theme” – Fortrun loves to sing, drawing Ratatan, Cobun and all manner of creatures as his hums his happy tune, and before long everyone is marching along in a parade of song! We wanted to capture this joy in a song that everyone can sing along to!

“Pirates of the Paraddean Theme” – You know you’re in the presence of the Swashbuckling Mantaneers and their leader, Captain Barbatoid, as their party tune grows nearer You won’t be able to stop yourself chanting along! Rat-taradee! Paraddean! Ahoy!!

“Bad Day on Yeehawler Mountain Theme” – The Stinger Dingers are on their way, singin’ and dancin’ as they ride their carts through the mines and arid wilderness. This tune has some real hustle to it!

Watch the Kickstarter campaign launch trailer below.

Kickstarter Campaign Launch Trailer 

I want to hear more about the other NPCs in your CoS campaign! I stumbled across your Doru bio and I was baffled by how wildly different he is in your campaign vs the one I'm in. It's always so cool to learn about different adaptations of characters!

OMG I am so glad you asked

Okay I'm gonna touch my faves! Obviously spoilers for the campaign~

First up we have Escher. I love what my DM did with Escher! He's a genderfluid shapeshifter (though his main 'true' form is elven) from Waterdeep that Strahd brought to Barovia through the mists. His personality often gives me like... Double Trouble vibes from She-Ra. He's very fruity eheheh. He's an empath - literally, he has the ability to sense people's emotions when he touches them (all the True Vampires in our campaign have a Special Ability). He's a bit of a whore. he's actually a ripper (my dm sorta borrowed this term from the vampire diaries in which some vampires are just more violent and hungry than others) and was pretty bad when he first became a vampire, but he redirected his bloodlust more into sex and drugs. very Dionysian. He's very decadent and selfish, but he also does have a good capacity to care thanks to not being able to turn his empathy off, and he uses his ability to please others and be what they want him to be. He also in his mortal life had a degree in psychology from the University of Waterdeep, and is quite smart and good at reading people and their issues, though he likes to pretend he's a useless bimbo. He's currently traveling with the party because he's worried about Strahd....

Another favorite of mine is Vasili von Holtz. He's actually the reincarnation of Strahd's mortal soul in my campaign instead of just being his alter ego. Strahd thought Vasili was the reincarnation of Sergei for a while, and put Vasili through a lot of tests and trauma when he was a teenager 30 years ago to see if he'd react to situations in the way Sergei would. When he didn't, Strahd was always disappointed with Vasili. The irony being, Vasili made the decisions Strahd would have made since he has his soul, and that's what Strahd hated. Strahd essentially tortured himself and he doesn't even know. Vasili is 45 years old now, a lovable rogue, kinda scrungly. He's charming and cunning, but good. My party put him in charge of Vallaki in the form of running a council with father Lucian, Lady Wachter, and Anastrasya. He's got a bit of a drinking problem, but he wants to do good by the people. Much like Strahd, he has the mentality of "no one can do it but me. It has to be me." My character Helene is romancing him. And Strahd. It's very messy.

I have more, but I don't want this to get too long, so if you are interested in hearing about more pls send another ask ^^ my DM has made all the characters in this campaign so multifaceted and complex and interesting. Strahd is honestly my favorite -- he took his character and crafted him into such a fascinating villain and plays him really well. But god, going into Strahd's psyche and story would take a whole ass post.

I'm also gonna put more info about Doru too under a read more just to give more context to his personality!

My DM didn't honestly plan on Doru being in the campaign -- he figured he would die or remain trapped, as he often is in CoS.

In my DM's canon, Doru was a soft spoken young man romanced by Strahd and Doru agreed to become one of his brides. Doru insisted however, that during the turning process he remain close by the church in the village and his father so he could prove that even after turning into a vampire he was still himself. Doru requested Strahd not be there bc he knew Strahd's presence would spook his father. Strahd acquiesced to his request. Unfortunately in the transition, Doru's father and many of the villagers became distressed, outraged, tried holding him down to try to basically "exorcise" him. Doru's ripper instinct activated (yeah unfortunately Doru got the ripper trait) and he slaughtered and drained some of the villagers present. Donovich managed to get Doru into the basement of the church where he stayed for 10 years, though Donovich announced that Doru was dead. Strahd mourned him.

So when we managed to save Doru with a wand of polymorph (which we can thank @gothoctopus for thinking of using), it changed his creature type and therefore he could leave the consecration of the church! Then I had my character Helene "pray to her god" so she could contact Strahd when he intercepted the prayer, and she let him know that Doru was actually alive and that we rescued him. Strahd was shocked Doru was alive, and Helene had to talk him down from doing something drastic to the people of Barovia village. He was grateful, and sent down a carriage to put bunny Doru in so it could take him back to Castle Ravenloft. Strahd said that he now owed the party one favor (which Helene used in the bones of st. andral incident to make him leave us and Ireena alone for the time being).

Anyway, Doru took some time to heal at the castle. Mentally he was not doing great, and he's still trying to heal, but he is much better now. He bonded with Rahadin, who took care of him. Doru is still a faithful follower of the morninglord, which has manifested in an ability to still use radiant/healing magic despite being undead. (My DM gave all the True Vampires special abilities. Escher, for example, is an empath and can sense others emotions when he touches them!)

Doru is soft-spoken, sassy, smart, and generally wants to be a good person. His vampiric tendencies get in the way of that though, especially with his underlying bloodlust that he has to keep in check. He's always itching for a fight, but suppresses it. He's also autistic and is very cute when he infodumps :D

Bob’s Itties; a Shop with a Story

In 2016, a player approached me about my campaign. He loves his character but wanted to add some flavor to the campaign. He loves to tell stories and make interesting characters. He asked if he could make an NPC.

He proposed a character named Bob, a traveling oddities salesman. His wares included a tiny boat that enlarges to full size fitting 4 people, a never ending potato, and a spoon. He wasn’t sure what the spoon did, but it was pretty.

I loved the idea so I welcomed the NPC, knowing he would be someone everyone would love. Sure enough, everyone did. He popped up at random points of the campaigns to sell them random odd things.

6 years later I started a new campaign with a new group. While coming up with shop names in a town I started working on an oddities shop named Odd’s Itties, until I remembered Bob. Lovable little Bob.

I named the shop Bob’s Itties and brought back Bob, now owning a shop in a large town. He still had the spoon, boat, and potato. Many things have since been added to his inventory in those years that have passed.

My players have decided they need to buy everything he has that they can afford, no matter how ridiculous. Some of these items are:

The never ending potato

A wooden circlet that emits the crying of dead trees when you pass near fire

A pair of cursed pants that produce a loaf of bread whenever you ride a creature

A book of waterproof that can be ruined to everything except water

And the spoon. The wonderful spoon. What does it do? It stirs itself.

I got many items from the “What the F*** is My Ridiculous Magical Item Generator” I found on Reddit.

If you want to use Bob’s Itties in your campaign, please do. I’m starting an actual dnd themed oddities craft shop based on Bob named, obviously, Bob’s Itties.

not even a little bit sorry for reblogging dimension 20 Deal with it

that said if youre here for my ride the cyclone stuff i DO recommend fantasy high to you actually. its also about six teens who get into shenangians and sometimes die but they get to do magic and kill people and solve mysteries and its a wonderful balance of silly and serious. i have cried intensely both from laughter and pure emotional damage on several accounts !

there are also MANY canon lgbtqia+ characters INCLUDING the player characters, and theres a mix of casual rep and also of self discovery and realization within that part. one of the character’s arcs/development in the second season is based around being aroace basically even though its not directly said in the campaign (it is elsewhere though!!)

all (most of) the characters are very lovable and real and its really good storytelling especially for a dnd game. wait DONT LEAVE !!! if you dont know SHIT about dnd YHATS OKAY I DIDNT EITHER !!!!! honestly i think its a good introduction to it because the players are also just getting used to 5e (5th edition) in the first few eps so many game mechanics are explained!!

AND ALSO! the players are all comedians and theyre so fucking funny PLS i PROMMY its good its pretty long but its SO WORTH IT

the first season and the first few episodes of the second season can be found on youtube!!! the rest (including oneshots) need a dropout subscription (the app/site the company collegehumor uses for their shows) (everything on there is really good too btw. side note their game changer show is very funny too). but they’re a really good company unlike other streaming services

and if you dont end up liking fantasy high or think wow ann that doesnt sound very interesting THATS OKAY!! dimension 20 (the collective name for all their dnd campaigns—its an anthology series basically) have MORE!! (pictured below)

personally i’ve seen fantasy high, misfits and magic, starstruck odyssey, and maybe almost half? of neverafter and theyre all good!! ive also seen high praise for a crown of candy, the unsleeping city, and a court of fey and flowers in particular, though i havent seen any of them (some didnt click with me and some i just havent gotten to). they all have a different vibe so theres GOTTA be something for everyone. the special effects and editing and art just get better with each season too

TLDR UHM. if you like ride the cyclone i think you would like fantasy high you should check it out its really funny and has really good characters and story :)!! and if you dont like it THATS OKAY the rest of dimension 20 is also really good and engaging despite its length! it’s definitely worth checking out i HIGHLY reccommend

MIC DROP

AT LUNCH WITH: Alan Alda Hawkeye Turns Mean, Sensitively

By Elizabeth Kolbert May 18, 1994

THE first thing Alan Alda wants to know when he arrives is whether everything is O.K. He has chosen the restaurant, Orso; he hopes that's O.K. He has asked for a table outside, on the patio. Is that O.K.?

In Hollywood, it isn't easy to get a reputation as a nice guy, but somehow Mr. Alda has managed. Perhaps it is because he spent so much time playing Hawkeye Pierce, that superficially snide but deep-down-lovable scamp. Or maybe it is because he has been married to the same woman for more than three decades and campaigned for the equal rights amendment years before the sensitive guy was even invented.

Or maybe it's just because he's the kind of star who, when he arrives for an interview, seems genuinely concerned that things are O.K.

Whatever the reasons, Mr. Alda has had enough. Over the last few years, he has set about refashioning himself, on screen at least, into something of a jerk. First, in the Woody Allen film "Crimes and Misdemeanors," he played a vain television producer whispering his brilliant insights into a pocket tape recorder. Then, in "And the Band Played On," he portrayed Dr. Robert Gallo as an egomaniacal character more interested in getting credit for discovering the AIDS virus than in curing it.

Now, in "White Mile," which will have its premiere on Saturday on HBO, Mr. Alda is Dan Cutler, a hard-charging advertising executive whose reckless enthusiasm for male bonding results in the deaths of five men.

He made the shift to beat what he calls the "type thing" but has found that he quite enjoys villainy. "The reason that actors like to play bad guys is that you get to do things they won't let you do in real life," he said. "You have people fired, you hit on women, you tell people off, you have them killed. It's very nice to have people killed and not have to go to jail for it."

For lunch, Mr. Alda was wearing a silky maroon shirt, a blue sport jacket with a faint white check and a pair of steel-gray pants. At 58, he is still as lanky and trim as in his "M*A*S*H" days, but his hair, once black, is now completely gray. To read a menu, he now puts on a pair of round-framed bifocals.

Although on television and in movies Mr. Alda tends toward the wry -- whether he's playing nice or not so nice -- in person there are few quips and not a lot of irony. It's not that he is sincere, exactly, but he seems to want to be. "I tried not to come in today with a line of talk," he said. "I tried not to come in to sell you some idea. I'm bored with that."

"I'm not trying to look like I'm a certain type of person, or trying to sell you on 'White Mile,' " he continued. "If you like it, you like it; if you don't, you don't."

"White Mile" follows a team of advertising executives who embark on a rafting trip with their clients as a kind of high-stakes adventure. The head of the agency, played by Mr. Alda, does not want anything to interfere with the bonding experience, so all the men end up piling into one raft, with dreadful results. After five men have drowned, Mr. Alda's character is unrepentant: "I didn't motivate them enough" is the closest he comes to blaming himself for the disaster.

To film "White Mile," which is based on a true story, Mr. Alda and the rest of the cast, including Peter Gallagher and Robert Loggia, spent most of December on the American River in northern California. Mr. Alda described the work -- flailing around while being swept down the river -- as not only strenuous, but also frigid.

But unlike his character, he was not given to machismo in the face of danger. "In every meeting we had," he said, "I asked them how many river people we were going to have. I think they got the message. Everywhere you turned, there was somebody to pull you out of the water."

Mr. Alda has been acting for almost half a century now, ever since his late father, Robert, the original Sky Masterson in "Guys and Dolls" on Broadway, started to use him in vaudeville routines in the 1940's. He credits all the hours he spent hanging around his father and his father's friends with giving him a sense of how much serious work it takes to be entertaining.

"When my father was in vaudeville, I would stand in the wings and watch the magician," he recalled over a plate of penne with vegetables. "I could see how he made the audience think there was nothing in the box. I was seeing him from the side; I'd see how he'd reach under the table and put the pigeons in the box.

"Standing on the side -- watching and hearing the reaction of the audience and seeing the performers five feet away, reading their thoughts, watching them time their performance -- is an education that you can't get from the other side of the footlights. You can watch actors create their illusions, but if you don't see where they get the pigeons from, you don't really know how they're doing it."

Over the years, Mr. Alda has performed just about every role in show business. He has written, directed and starred in four films, the first of which, "The Four Seasons," was a commercial success and the last of which, "Betsy's Wedding," was a flop. He has acted on Broadway, most recently in the Neil Simon play "Jake's Women," tried his hand at writing sitcoms and appeared in commercials. But as he has grown older, he has become pickier about the projects he takes on, and as a result, his schedule these days is . . . let's just say pretty loose.

In a few months, he will be seen as an inept President who orders the invasion of Canada in a new movie from Michael Moore, the director of "Roger and Me." But beyond that, he said, he has not been offered any roles he felt compelled to take. "It's an interesting problem I have," he said. "I want to be able to use the years I have left to have the richest kind of fun I can have."

Ever since "M*A*S*H," Mr. Alda has split his time between the East Coast, where he has houses in the Hamptons and Leonia, N.J., and the West, where he owns a house in the Bel Air section of Los Angeles. He and his wife, Arlene, a photographer, plan to pass this summer on Long Island, spending time with their three daughters and three grandchildren.

Mr. Alda, who in the 1970's became feminism's poster boy -- or should it be poster man? -- no longer spends much time on politics. "I think I put in my time," he said of his days campaigning, unsuccessfully, for the equal rights amendment. "I just got tired of making speeches."

Perhaps. But when he gets going on the subject of women's rights, his voice changes timbre and he comes perilously close to speechifying.

"I don't think we've gotten as far as we can go," he said. "But I think we've gotten much, much farther than anybody imagined we would. I mean, I just read yesterday that the Navy -- it wasn't big news -- that the Navy was going to start making more space for women with increased combat responsibilities.

"That was the main argument for not passing the equal rights amendment: that women would have to be in combat. Well, it turns out they didn't need the equal rights amendment to have the Navy do that, and it's not even big news. So the mind-set has changed enormously, and it has plenty to go."

It was "M*A*S*H" that made Alan Alda a household name -- and an enormously rich man -- and with reruns of the show broadcast practically continuously, it is "M*A*S*H" that in many ways continues to define his public image. The show, which ran for 11 years, is still regarded as the gold standard in the world of sitcom production, and its last episode, on Feb. 28, 1983, was one of the highest-rated entertainment programs ever. But Mr. Alda said the series, which he does not watch in syndication, seemed very distant to him now.

"I'm very happy that I've done something that gives people pleasure still after all these years," he said. "Not that they remember: that they still see it. But for me, as a personal experience for me, it's as though it happened to somebody else."

As for the fame that went with "M*A*S*H" and has been slowly dissipating since then, he maintained that he was just as happy to see it go. At lunch passers-by seemed to notice him, and occasionally paused to greet him, but they did not surround him or even seem particularly impressed by his presence.

"I never was comfortable being as famous as I was," he said. He recalled one evening during the heyday of "M*A*S*H" when a woman who saw him at a restaurant was so overcome that she started to sob. To this day, he said, he regretted not having gone over to comfort her.

All of which again presents the question of being a nice guy. Mr. Alda insisted that it was the press that defined him that way.

"I never was as wonderful a person as everybody said I was," he said. "It occurred to me a couple of days ago that it's too bad that I'm not as wonderful a person as people say I am, because the world could use a few good people like that."

8 Shows to get to know me!

Thank you for tagging me @luckshiptoshore and @someguywife!

1) Star Trek

All Star Trek is lumped under one point on this list, just to leave room for anything else, lol. I watched Voyager with my mom as a kid and the first TV crush I remember having was on Naomi Wildman. Enterprise was the first Trek I watched of my own volition and I do still love the theme song. When I was ~18-19 I binged TOS and it built itself a place deep in my heart. K/S is my forever OTP. I am comfortable with the fact that I will lose fondness for someone who is adamant about having a wrong opinion about Kirk, including William Shatner. I also genuinely think DS9 is the best and most skillfully made Trek and I love it very much.

2) Xena: Warrior Princess

I was really into Xena as a kid. I wanted to be Gabrielle. My earliest memory of using a computer is favoriting a picture of Xena on my mom's work laptop. I rewatched it as an adult and fell even more in love with it. It's campy, is gay, it's goofy, it tackles serious topics, there's soulmates and reincarnation and so many doppelgangers and alternate universes. If someone accidentally says something I can relate to Xena I have to physically bite my tongue to distract myself from starting on it because I will not stop.

3) Teen Wolf

Something fundamental was broken within me because of Teen Wolf. It shaped me. Sterek4lyfe.

4) Our Flag Means Death

The show that brought me back to tumblr after a long absence and gave me something sweet and funny to obsess over after a pretty terrible break up I went through last year. This show has made steps to fixing what Teen Wolf broke in me, just having a show that is a gay romcom where all the romantic coding pays off.

5) Dead Like Me

Dead Like Me is just one of my favorite shows. It introduced me to Bryan Fuller as a producer and writer and I just really love the creative story as well as all the characters. I wish it had been able to run longer and really build out the characters and world more.

6) Farscape

Farscape absolutely fucks. Farscape is this shining beacon of amazing TV in my head. It's incredibly bizarre in ways I really like and manages to make that bizarreness a critical part of the storytelling. I will always campaign that more people should watch Farscape, it's so damn good.

7) The Simpsons

I didn't have cable as a kid and The Simpsons was a show that played two episodes every day, twice a day. I have seen every single episode of The Simpsons that aired before September of 2009 at least twice, and most of them many, many more times than that. I have several hundred episodes effectively memorized. I know so much 80s and 90s pop culture exclusively because of The Simpsons.

8) New Girl

New Girl is my go-to comfort show. I love sitcoms and low stake antics with lovable characters is peak sitcom vibes for me. I also think everyone has seen New Girl as much as I have and I will reference it like it's common knowledge. When someone acknowledges the reference with more than passing familiarity I will get weird about it.

can you explain the storyline in critical role for me? if that's too much, who is your favorite character in critical role (and why)?

ohhhhh anon you shouldn’t have gotten me started…..

this is going to be so fucking long i’m so sorry so! critical role is a show/company comprised at it’s core of eight friends, all of whom are professional voice actors, playing dungeons & dragons together. they have 3 campaigns, the third of which is currently happening, as well as many oneshots, talk shows, an animated show, and more. each campaign has a very in-depth storyline, but i’ll do a brief summary of each of them. campaign 1 is vox machina, a ragtag band of mercenaries who become dragon-slaying, vampire-killing, god-fighting heroes. the characters (in my opinion) are all very lovable, and there's some really great romantic, platonic, and familial relationships. it's probably the most cliche in it's representation of fantasy and d&d so i recommend it for people who like that. there's also an animated show of it on amazon prime with one season out and another on the way! no knowledge of critical role is needed to watch the show,, it's how i got into cr in the first place. campaign 2 is the mighty nein, a bunch of fucked up and morally gray people who make a really good adventuring-team-turned-found-family. there’s a lot more diversity in these characters in terms of species/race than in campaign one, which can be enjoyable if you want your characters with horns and tails and tusks and funky-colored skin. full disclosure, i probably know the least about the mighty nein so some of the more complicated plot lines are more confusing to me,, that being said, i’ve still watched a lot of campaign 2 stuff and i adore them a whole lot. campaign 3 is bell’s hells, who really are just some guys that accidentally got involved in something way bigger than any of them. they’re all so dumb and easily trusting and so very lovely <3 there’s some really cool character designs and concepts, which i love. they’re currently on episode 34 of this campaign, so it’ll be going on for a while longer (the other two campaigns are 100+ episodes), which can be fun if you like watching things live. because this is already a full length essay, i’ll keep it very brief on the favorite characters part… my favorite characters are the three played by liam o’brien: vax’ildan, caleb widogast, and orym. liam is just such a phenomenal actor and his characters are so sad and emotional and fantastic and yeah i just love all three of them a whole lot <3 every campaign has moments that are wildly funny and moments that will make you cry your eyes out… there’s also fantastic queer characters in every campaign (including but not limited to aroace characters, multiple ace-spec characters, poly characters, a prominent wlw couple, and a lot more). in addition to the show, there are comics for campaigns one and two, and a published novel with one more on the way. anyways. i’m so sorry for how long this is, but that’s what you get for asking a neurodivergent person about their hyperfixation i guess 🤷‍♀️ i know critical role can seem like a lot, and that turns many people off of it, but you really don’t have to watch the entire thing in order to be a fan. i’ve been intensely hyperfixated on it for seven months, and i’ve watched one (1) episode in its entirety. it really is so so good and such a fun gateway into d&d as well as just a very enjoyable group of people to help restore your faith in humanity and bring a smile to your face. i could not recommend it highly enough.

As an adult with a love for Sonic, and adult money now at my disposal. I am considering buying Sonic Forces. You seemed to quite enjoy it, how does it play?

I haven't played any sonic games other than Shadow the Hedgehog, ages ago. Getting to see my blorbos on screen is so very tempting.

Forces is definitely one of my favorite Sonic games!! I'd highly recommend it to anyone who loves post-2000's Sonic's many characters, cheesy writing, kid-friendly-just-for-fun "edge" and banger music. Here's a short overview for you:

- Gameplay is divided into three types of levels: ones featuring 'modern' Sonic (3D movement, camera usually behind the back), 'classic' Sonic (plays mostly like the sidescrollers from the 90's) and your own character (like modern Sonic, but with third-person shooter elements). For ONCE in Sonic's career, the three game modes are juggled very well, all three of them work as intended, they're all actually fun to play. Controls are tight, I haven't encountered any glitches at all. While I enjoy other Sonic games for their messy coding and awful gameplay, it was actually very nice to play a Sonic game that for once 1) worked and 2) was a genuine joy to play. If you want a Sonic game that works instead of the usual wet cardboard box of glitches and rushed developer tears, Forces is ... almost your only option lol.

- And yeah, a new gimmick in Forces is that you make your own character in a character creator! And your character becomes friends with Sonic and is a major part of the plot! It's super cute and feel-good. The absolute indulgent sincerity with which the game treats this feature is so, so lovable to me.

- The story features the majority of the animal characters introduced across the series' lifespan and almost all of them are written true to their characters! Shadow even has his own mini-campaign (I think it's a DLC, if I recall correctly?)!

- Of course, the writing is very silly and cheesy, and the plot is all over the place, but that's a huge part of the games' charm to me personally. Nothing really makes sense and its tone slippy-slides all over the place. Very similar to Shadow the Hedgehog in that way. I know some people long for actually good writing in Sonic games and if you're in that camp you'll probably be disappointed, but if you're anything like me, trying to imagine what the hell went on in the writers' room to make this fucking thing happen is an integral part of the Sonic Enjoyment Experience

- The soundtrack is heavy on dubstep and many levels feature music with lyrics. This is another aspect I absolutely love, Forces has one of my favorite soundtracks in the series. The main villain's theme stands out as my favorite.

- Forces' main flaw, in my opinion, is that it is a very simple, easy game and quite short. It's got bonus missions, but the most interesting stuff you get out of those is more clothes for your character. When the game first came out, I got so excited and had so much fun I finished it in a day, plus DLC, no problem. It seems to me the developers finally stopped biting off more than they could chew and focused on making a polished, compact game instead of a grandiose mess like so many other Sonic games turned out to be. But of course the triple-A game price tag remains. Whether or not a game you can finish in under 10 hours (not counting bonus missions) is worth that amount of money is up to you. I don't regret it in the slightest, but I'm also a massive Sonic nerd and Forces was exactly the kind of Sonic game I'd been missing for many, many years at the time of its release. Now that I think about it, you could probably find it secondhand somewhere for half the money ... Unfortunately, it's not exactly universally loved, so a lot of other fans will probably sell it to you for cheap, whoops

Overall, for an adult who is familiar with+loves the Sonic cast, and who's presumably here for the fun vibe more than a mindblowing Gaming Experience, Sonic Forces is absolutely at the top of my rec list. I think it is objectively the best modern Sonic game. There are a couple other Sonic games I personally enjoy more, but that's because I'm a masochist and I have an intense morbid fascination with the games that barely function and feel awful to play (Sonic 06 might just be my personal favorite).

If you do decide to get it, I hope you'll enjoy Forces! It's not for everyone, but at least one person in the world thinks it friggin rules (me).

Unleash the Suicide Squad power against Justice League. Buy now!

Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League on PC & PlayStation 5  Buy Now for only 57,39$

Batman: Arkham Metropolis is my favourite sport of all time. By no means earlier than had a licensed sport felt so refined with its taut story, fluid fight, and unbelievable set items. I typically return to it as a reminder of simply how particular the sport is, from its opening sequence the place you stroll as Bruce Wayne into Arkham Metropolis, to the surprisingly emotional ending. Since that sport launched 13 years in the past, it’s been a considerably turbulent interval for developer Rocksteady Studios. Arkham Knight adopted in 2015, upping the ante with next-gen visuals and a driveable Batmobile. It was a massively enjoyable sport that will not have been as finely tuned as its two Arkham predecessors however was a satisfying, if bloated, conclusion nonetheless. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QHZxzTPsco&t=2s Then, issues went quiet. Rumors continually cropped up of Rocksteady helming a solo Superman sport, however 5 years handed with no information on the way forward for the Arkham universe till the primary cinematic trailer for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League launched in 2020. Every part regarded good for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, till they very all of the sudden didn’t. Combining two delays, a tough State of Play showcase, and all of the hallmarks of live-service churn, I used to be skeptical when diving in for this assessment. Is the completed product a worthy successor to Batman’s best video-game trilogy?

Picture Supply: Rocksteady Studios Effectively, within the easiest phrases, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is a sport affected by an id disaster. In my time taking part in by way of the primary story and dipping into endgame content material, you may virtually see the ‘inventive variations’ between Rocksteady’s preliminary imaginative and prescient and the games-as-a-service fingerprints that have been doubtless mandated by higher-ups within the wake of the live-service growth because of Fortnite’s success in 2017. It’s a sport that always contradicts itself, assured as ever in its storytelling however constrained by the live-service pragmatism that leaves it feeling far much less seamless than it should. The premise is one which’ll be immediately acquainted to anybody who has seen both of the earlier Suicide Squad motion pictures or dipped their toes into the eponymous comics. Badass ARGUS director Amanda Waller unites a crew of historically evil characters, below risk of loss of life, to do her bidding and save the world. This time round, after all, it’s the Justice League they’ve received to take down, after intergalactic dictator Brainiac (historically Superman’s big-bad) possesses our heroes. Whereas the ten hours or so it’ll take you to roll credit largely dive into narrative locations you’d anticipate to go, the story is definitely one of many sport’s best strengths. The choice to discover this narrative route is a daring one which’s inconceivable to not admire. Rocksteady spent years listening to followers pine for a extra expanded DC universe throughout the Arkham world, and opting to take action on this morally twisted manner, with the Justice League because the villains, is a daring narrative selection. I spent years hoping a Rocksteady Superman sport would materialize, and whereas this isn’t fairly what I had in thoughts, it’s definitely refreshing to see such starkly totally different takes on these heroes in comparison with most multimedia representations.

Picture Supply: Rocksteady Studios It’s the story and characters themselves that I discovered most lovable in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Of the 4 playable characters (Deadshot, Harley Quinn, King Shark, and Captain Boomerang), it was solely the latter who I by no means warmed to all through the marketing campaign. Deadshot and Harley are specific highlights, given extra emotional arcs than we’d seen from any model of them in earlier Rocksteady video games. But all through my time with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, I couldn’t assist however ponder whether the Arkham connection was a self-imposed shackle or not. I’d be remiss to not point out fan anger on the remedy of legacy heroes on this sport, notably the late, nice Kevin Conroy’s Batman, little question amplified exactly as a result of that is the long-awaited Arkham successor after almost a decade of ready. Whether or not or not these followers have a proper to lambast a studio for having the heart to inform a daring story is a unique debate, and one by which I aspect with Rocksteady, however the Arkham label understandably carries just a few expectations. If this was akin to 2022’s Gotham Knights – set in its personal universe and never beholden to any current continuity – the bolder narrative swings right here definitely wouldn’t have been so divisive. However for the document, I appreciated that Rocksteady had the boldness to go to locations that different followers deem too far. Superhero media has a propensity to play it secure – the trajectory of the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 2019 places paid to that – so I’ll by no means flip down an opportunity to see these characters given totally different moralities and roles from these we’re used to.

Picture Supply: Rocksteady Studios by way of Twinfinite However it’s all the pieces that surrounds the story and characters in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League that feels muddled. Taking out the rhythmic melee fight of the Arkham video games, that is as an alternative a looter-shooter with a eager give attention to mid-air traversal and malleability throughout the open-world Metropolis. It performs superb – in truth, the taking pictures is massively satisfying, and traversal grew on me – however the sport’s construction doesn’t harness this new strategy very nicely. Missions are flat-out boring, and there’s no solution to sugarcoat it. Within the 20 or so essential story missions, all of them in the end boil right down to escorting a slow-moving automobile or killing a set quantity of Brainiac’s copy-paste goons inside a sure space. There’s nothing dynamic or fascinating, by no means something to take you without warning: it’s a chore to take a seat by way of. In these moments it’s arduous to imagine this is similar Rocksteady that produced iconic moments like Batman attending the Joker’s celebration in Arkham Asylum, or breaching the courthouse to cease Two-Face in Arkham Metropolis’s opening hour. There’s nothing important or endearing to those missions in any respect. It’s little question right down to these egregious live-service components that really feel fully at odds with Rocksteady’s strategy as a developer. Video games-as-a-service work nicely because of the familiarity of their mission construction to long-term gamers, which is clearly the angle right here, but it surely doesn’t make for enthralling gameplay. They’re fairly straightforward to change your mind off and blast by way of, however that’s not what an Arkham successor ought to be. I used to be grinding by way of quests not for the enjoyable of their design or moment-to-moment gameplay, however as a result of I cared sufficient in regards to the plot and characters to wish to see extra.

Picture Supply: Rocksteady Studios by way of Twinfinite Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is a strolling, speaking contradiction. On one hand, there’s the standard anticipated from Rocksteady: beautiful visuals throughout the board, well-written characters, and a want to push the narrative boat out for comedian adaptions, whereas on the opposite it’s shackled by a GaaS mannequin that leaves you in the end feeling unhappy. I’m prepared to stay round for the long term, seeing what future months and possibly years of content material deliver to the sport, and whether or not it’s a greater finish product consequently. However Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League looks like a sport that missed the live-service boat fully, and now pays the worth as audiences not crave that long-tail strategy. Solely time will inform whether or not or not that gambit pays off, however for now, it’s a sport of two separate forces, Rocksteady’s ethos and live-service obligations, each pulling in reverse instructions. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Reviewer: Luke Hinton Execs Loads of daring narrative swings.Satisfying, senseless taking pictures. Enjoyable writing. So thrilling to see a broader DC Universe in Rocksteady’s picture. Cons Boring mission design that lacks selection. GaaS trappings everywhere. Missing the Arkham sequence’ memorable set-pieces. A way of incompleteness, counting on future updates to flesh out the expertise. Launch Date Feb. 2, 2024 Developer Rocksteady Studios Copy supplied by Writer Concerning the creator

Luke Hinton Luke Hinton is a video video games journalist at the moment working as Senior Guides Author and Affiliate Editor at Twinfinite. He has undergraduate and postgraduate levels in Journalism, Media, and Tradition, and beforehand specialised in leisure writing. Source link Read the full article

Why Halo: Reach (campaign) is a trainwreck.

A lovable trainwreck, don't get me wrong, but a trainwreck nonetheless.

So Halo Reach is one of those games that leaves a community divisive, it was the first halo game to not have a universally loved reception among the community at large. I think it's a fun game, a really fun game, I adore it's multiplayer and the hours my friends I spent dicking around in forge world. It also has the best armor system Halo's ever had to date, infinite can suck my ass--I'm not paying 15 dollars for a shader. You ain't D2, you can't pump and dump my wallet.

ANYWAY

Reach is such an interesting case, out of universe, as it feels like such an out of character move by bungie. Let's consider for a moment, that the same company that tried to stop the release of fall of reach WEEKS before it's release, was notoriously uncooperative with ensemble studios(people who made Halo Wars), who had a game director undercut the books of the series he was making(And it was Staten, if you could believe it. It's on an old 2000s podcast.) decided--"YES, LETS GO DEEP INTO THE LORE, OUR FAVORITE PART OF THIS FRANCHISE. WHILE WE'RE AT IT, LETS USE THE SPARTAN-IIIs" ?????? Does this not feel weird to anyone else?

If you look at vidocs for reach, and other behind the scenes content, it's said that they wanted to do their own thing, and ignore the books. which if that's what they want to do, sure, fuck it.

Then why did they include First Strike references (radio logs you can hear on certain levels/maps) or HAVE NOBLE TEAM BE ALL IIIS

This is the thing that gets me the most. Halo Reach, legit, feels like Bungie's last middle finger to microsoft at certain points. Reach is the home of the Spartans, well the IIs really. It's what gives the planet, and it's destruction, such significance to characters like Chief, or Fred, or any II. That was their home, that's the closest they have to a childhood burning at the stake.

So why, do tell, DID YOU MAKE NOBLE TEAM IIIs

THEY HAVE ZERO CONNECTION TO REACH

THEY GREW UP ON ONYX

What also confuses me here, is that it's not like they gave a shit about how many IIs were in Red Flag. THEY MADE THE GAMES, THATS THEIR LORE. THEY COULDVE JUST MADE UP IIs. The reason that First Strike can be such a gut punch at certain points, is because the IIs are watching their homes burning all around them, and they can do n o t h i n g about it. It's tragic, and it makes their survival in the remnants of the glassed planet even more perilous.

I love First Strike, if you couldn't tell. If Ghosts of Onyx didn't exist, it'd be the best halo book. I'm not gonna defend this opinion because it's right.

And Bungie wrote entire CVs and A FUCKING MESSAGE BETWEEN KURT AND MENDEZ in the leadup to Reach. They did all this legwork for the pay off of having characters unrelated to the conflict they were fighting.

also, I know Jorge is a II, I WILL GET TO JORGE.

Reach was planned, in development, as this giant military campaign first . Check the vidocs/behind the scenes videos, I think Marty O'Donnell is the one who says it. (also marty was the dude who had miranda and johnson die in 3, he edited that in, check the making of Halo 3. Who kept letting the audio director fuck with the script?)

There is a big, big problem with making the battle of Reach a military campaign, however.

In FOR, the kicker about the battle of reach is that it wasn't even a battle. The Covenant overwhelmed the UNSC's fleet and flooded the planet groundside, the battle was incredibly shortlived. I think only a day. Chief went from having near 30 of his siblings living and in the field, to being the only spartan in active combat.

First Strike keeps this narrative too. The Spartans never get to fight their valiant last stand. The loss of the fleet makes the different splinters of Red Team retreat to their various fallback points. Fred, Kelly and Joshua kill an invading army of covenant, sure, but the rest of the Spartans prevent were handling a variety of what-the-fucks

I do think that a theme that carries from book to game is fighting in the face of hopeless odds, which I like.

In the game, Reach is invaded by a smaller covenant fleet and ONI just....never tells the rest of the planet? It's the long night of solace, a big cloaked super carrier, and a few destroyers. (Unironically, the lore for this is that the Shipmaster of Solace came to reach on the search for forerunner artifacts, realized he was in way over his head, and just tried to get his fleet to 1-man all of reach before the prophets got too mad.

which is funny, in retrospect, because right after he eats shit--Thel shows up in the big boy fleet. I wonder how that conversation went down with the surviving officers.)

In FoR, they bring the IIs back to Reach to prep for Red-Flag and to get them the Mark V upgrade. Same thing with the pillar of autumn.

This happens by August 27th. Chief was already on the planet beforehand for a few days to debrief highcom about Sigma Octanus IV, that's beside the point. It's to be assumed that there were a sizable amount of IIs on Reach in the weeks before, since they were being pulled from a variety of fronts, and slipspace travel means everyone would've gotten there at different times. Chief was also leading a force of 12 Spartans at Sigma Octanus IV, the battle right before reach, so I assume they came with him.

August 30th---OOPS, ALL COVENANT

The battle starts as FoR-First Strike say it does on the 30th, AND THAT SAME FUCKING DAY THE PLANET IS LOST.

---------

In Reach, the game, the covenant were found on reach JULY 24TH. THAT IS WHEN THEY PRESS THE "OH FUCK, WINTER CONTIGENCY" BUTTON. If you go by the game, it seems like there's just all out warfare across the planet after that point. The mission after is Noble Team defending Castle Base from a Covenant Corvette (also, like, it's goofy as fuck to think that no one outside the select military participating in these engagements did not, or hear about, the giant space marine animal firing death from above. I doubt the covenant gave a shit about which humans they turned to ash knew about them, after their presence was found out.)

So most of Reach's Campaign happens, including the huge fucking battle at Szurdok Ridge. You know the battle that had scarabs and scorpion tanks casually duking it out in the background, same battle that they used a MAC round in atmosphere in?

By August 13th, 60 percent of the UNSC fleet is recalled to defend reach. Not too long after that, Noble Team kills the super carrier. Then what I assume is Thel's fleet shows up as in the cutscene it shows a massive fleet entering the system immediately after the solace's destruction. After that is the battle of new alexandria, which ends august 23rd.

The game and the book link up on August 30th, as Noble team delivers the other half of cortana. (Halsey split her into two so she could continue her forerunner research, also, halsey never talks about meeting Noble Team in First Strike. Jun literally escorted her to Castle Base. In her journals that came with Reach's deluxe edition, I think there is a few pages of her freaking the fuck out about them. Not-so-concidentally Eric Nylund also wrote that Journal.)

343 tried to link the game and book stories together, and the result was--

Oni predicted there was a 67% of reach being found, just let it happen, no I am not joking.

The battle of reach up until where FoR picks up is just on one side of the planet, somehow they contain it so the planet doesn't freak out. I do not know how, the covenant were fucking EVERYWHERE.

ONI also let the long night of solace pally about, they were mad when Noble Team blew it to high hell because they wanted to use it for Red Flag.

THEY BROUGHT ALL THE IIs BACK TO REACH, MID INVASION, AND JUST DIDN'T TELL THEM UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE???? ALSO, IF THE PLANET WAS BEING INVADED BY THE COVENANT, WHY DID YOU NOT USE ONE OF THE MANY ORBITAL MAC CANNONS.

This is a GOOFY retcon, I swear to god.

It takes them like, an entire fucking month, to get the fleet to Reach. I'd also like to mention, KEYES LEAVES THE BATTLE AND LANDS ON REACH SO HE CAN PICK UP CORTANA FOR THE LAST MISSION. CHIEF WAS LITERALLY NAPPING DURING THIS. I'M SURE HE WOULD'VE LOVED TO HELP NOBLE SIX AND EMILE OUT IF THEY WOKE HIM THE FUCK UP.

@zitasaurusrex

I apologize if this was hard to read, and tbh I probably also missed stuff li-WAIT I FORGOT

IN HALO REACH THEY HAVE A SEVEN PART RADIO MESSAGE STORY ABOUT BETA RED, SPLIT ACROSS FIREFIGHT AND MULTIPLAYER MAPS. THE SPARTANS WHO WERE LEFT TO DEFEND THE GENERATORS. THEY'RE CHATTING ABOUT THEM AS THEY'RE PUNCHING UP TO THESE TANK SQUADRONS BAREHANDED. BUNGIE, BUNGIE, THIS IS ALREADY A MESS, WHY ARE YOU INCLUDING THIS. Edit: I realize I never got to Jorge. I think it's stupid to have Jorge be in noble team because it SHOWS they thought about the concept of what reach being invaded would mean to a II. They just didn't care enough to expand on it in any substantial way.

Ten Characters, Ten Fandoms

Okay first of all, thank you @noturbysshe for tagging me. This is gonna be a difficult one because there are so many good options...but I am also a dumbass and I'm probably gonna forget about half the characters that belong on this list. Btw, this list is not in a specific order because I refuse.

Yasha Nydoorin | Critical Role - her journey just hurts...in such a good way. I think I fell instantly in love with her when she was introduced in the second campaign.

Vi | Arcane - because as opposed to her video game look which was designed for the male gaze, Arcane's Vi is made for the female gays.

Ron Stampler | Dungeons and Daddies - I honestly don’t know what it is about him...maybe it’s his obliviousness, maybe it’s because he’s a rogue (I play one as well), maybe it’s the way he confronted his past, the relationship with his wife...there are so many reasons. 

Amaya | Dragon Prince - pretty sure with the first scene she was in it was over for me. I also need everyone to appreciate the very sweet and well executed enemies to lovers with Janai. (also, women in armor)

Jaskier | Witcher - I...I have so much love for this idiot. The version of him that lives in my head is a weird mix of the game, book ,and show version but there’s just so much to love. I tried to restore a really old and broken guitar lute during the early pandemic days just for that Jaskier aesthetic. 

Link | Zelda (Breath of the Wild) - He’s an idiot, so lovable. Has been though so much but lights up when he cooks and has his own little weird hobbies.

Scorpia | SheRa - She has just sO muCH LOVE to giVE (also the click clack claws) 

Raleigh Becket | Pacific Rim - I really don’t know why (it’s a comfort movie)

Willow Rosenberg | Buffy - I honestly don’t think I need to explain myself here.

Elizabeth Swann | Pirates of the Caribbean - I, again, don’t think I need to explain myself.

I am beginning to recognize a pattern...the pattern being badassery and fighting skills. Already while writing this I thought of so many more characters and fandoms but it’s probs best to not spam all that here lol (e.g. I couldn't decide on a Star Wars character)

I honestly don’t interact with many accounts on this page so I won’t tag anyone...but this was fun

Rayless Blade open world RPG makes its way onto Kickstarter

Rayless Blade pixel art RPG game offers hope for a port via funding for Linux and Windows PC. Thanks to work and tireless effort of developer Kong Studio. Now available for funding in the Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. Rayless Blade is an open world, pixel art RPG. Offering up a JRPG style turn combat AND UNDERTALE style combat. While roaming the massive hi-bit pixel art world inspired by Hyper Light Drifter. Where you’ll make friends, and enemies, and have to solve puzzles. As well as defeat difficult enemies in order to progress. Already 37% funding with a pledge goal of $15,000 USD by August 1st, 2022. As for Linux support, here's what we know.

The game will indeed have a linux port if we receive enough funding on Kickstarter.

So, yeah, it's like that. Rayless Blade is being developed in GameMaker Studio 2. Which typically works well on Ubuntu by default. Although various other distro's seem work as well, POP OS being the more obvious. All kidding aside, this is a further update from our original post, you know, now that the Kickstarter is live.

Rayless Blade Kickstarter Trailer

In Rayless Blade won’t have to conquer alone. Since you’ll encounter many individuals you can recruit to your team to help you fight and explore. You’ll also be able to recruit up to 3 members. And as a result, each individual will belong to a certain class type. Such as, Dark Knight, Magic Knight, Strider, Engineer, Dragon Slayer, and Rebounder. So assembling your team is strategic in nature. As you progress in the game, you will discover hidden and randomized loot. All by solving puzzles, searching obscured areas, and defeating enemies. Every team member can be customized. Use the loot you’ve earned to upgrade your team in terms of their gear. Customize your own character as well. Swap armor pieces, use your favorite weapons, and earn experience. Due to spec points into your skill tree to use special abilities. Rayless Blade also has a story to follow. You are stuck on a remote island under the rule of a vengeful tyrant. Who is also a puppet to a greater power. You’ll meet lovable, charming characters along the way. Many of which will oppose you initially or turn against you as a result of your actions. The premise of Rayless Blade’s plot is a spin off of the quantum mechanics theorem. That is Superdeterminism, due to question the existence and meaning of God / the meaning of life. Where free will does not exist for the inhabitants of the island. It is up to you and your team to try their best to liberate the people and defeat the malicious creature that rules them. Rayless Blade is pixel art RPG game already gaining success via the Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. Due to make its way onto Windows PC via Steam. And with enough support, Linux too. The choice is yours.