#Post Apocalyptic 100 Baby Challenge

[babylonad]

Babylon A.D.': New Solutions for a Post Apocalyptic Journey

Alain Bielik speaks with Buf Compagnie about the variety of vfx that it created for Babylon A.D.

By Alain Bielik | Tuesday, September 2, 2008 at 12:00am

In Production | VFXWorld

The sky's the limit in Babylon A.D.'s 2013 world. All images © 20th Century Fox. Courtesy of Buf Compagnie.

The sky's the limit in Babylon A.D.'s 2013 world. All images © 20th Century Fox. Courtesy of Buf Compagnie.

In 1999, French (now Canadian) author Maurice Dantec published an influential science-fiction book called Babylon Babies. It tells the story of Hugo Toorop, a mercenary who is hired to escort a mysterious young woman across a post apocalyptic Europe in the year 2013. During their perilous journey, Toorop discovers that the woman is carrying a secret that could change the fate of the whole human race...

Mathieu Kassovitz (Gothika) has now turned the book into a gritty sci-fi epic, Babylon A.D. (now playing from Fox). The French director worked on the script for months, trimming it down, changing characters and making it possible for the 600-page story to be told in less than two hours. Two of the main alterations were changing the name of the woman from Marie to Aurora, because the original first name was too "obvious," and modifying the title from to Babylon A.D., partly because Kassovitz was worried that American audiences would understand the original title as The Babes from Babylon...

The most complex shots were completely prevised beforehand.

The most complex shots were completely prevised beforehand.

The movie was the director's first large-scale vfx project ever. Very early on, even before the script was completed, he consulted with French digital effects powerhouse Buf Compagnie. Many concepts and ideas were discussed with Founder and Manager Pierre Buffin and his team. "At that time, I think he hadn't even started to write the script," Buffin remembers. "Our discussions were based on the book itself. It was the first time that we worked with Mathieu. We found that he knew what he wanted, but at the same time, he proved to be very open to solutions and suggestions. During the following months, we managed to establish a trustful relationship and to install a fruitful and creative dialogue. The movie ended up being quite complex, not exactly in terms of technical challenges, but in terms of the variety of effects that we had to achieve. It required a great deal of highly qualified artists and a huge amount of visual research. Most of the real challenges involved creating the final battle sequence on the plaza."

A great portion of the work was environments, such as this shot over the New York skyline.

A great portion of the work was environments, such as this shot over the New York skyline.

A Unique Approach

The team at Buf included VFX Supervisor Stephane Ceretti, VFX Producer Aurelia Abate and New York VFX Unit Director Sebastien Drouin. The company ended up creating some 592 vfx shots, a huge amount by French standards. The project lasted more than a year and involved up to 100 artists. As usual, the company created the shots with a very atypical pipeline. Instead of taking a shot from department to department, with new artists carrying on the work initiated by others, Buf artists would often single-handedly tackle a shot from initial design to final composite. "Our philosophy is to work with multi-talent artists who are able to take a shot from start to completion," Buffin remarks.

The process started by previsualizing the major sequences of the movie. The animatics, as well as all the effects work, were created using a variety of proprietary software. "We did a significant amount of previs, both during pre-production and principal photography," Buffin notes. "We had a team on set to supervise the shoot everyday. Our photographers were there to document and photograph all the set-ups that would later require visual effects. However, the production team experienced serious difficulties and delays during the shoot, which led Mathieu to reconsider his approach to some of the sequences. Due to those changes, the previs work was ultimately never used."

A rocket disintegrates right before Aurora's eyes in super slo-mo.

A rocket disintegrates right before Aurora's eyes in super slo-mo.

Part of Buf's assignment included the creation of elaborate environments. One of them was a night view of the city that Toorop flies above while comfortably seated in a car being carried by a helicopter. The car was filmed hung below a crane and lit by a powerful light beam from above. Then, Buf connected the live-action car to a CG helicopter and added a 3D environment underneath. "The New York sequence required more extensive work," Buffin says. "Sebastien Drouin was the second unit director on this project. He flew to New York and shot helicopter plates of the city at night. Then, we enhanced those shots, adding many new 3D buildings and inserting multiple giant animated billboards. Since there were so many billboards, it would have required a massive effort to design and animate individual ads for each one of them. So, we created every ad that appeared in the foreground, and for the background, Mathieu had the idea to launch a contest. Production asked freelancers to create original fictitious video ads for the movie, under specific technical requirements. We ended up with enough quality material to animate all those background billboards."

The Prague sequence also featured a combination of live-action plates and CG augmentation in the city background. But the real challenge was enhancing the bombing that takes place in front of a railway station. When the bomb detonates, a huge cloud of smoke appears while the market stands are shattered and victims are catapulted in the air. It was one of the few sequences for which Buf had to create digital characters. To animate them, the studio used its trademark Video Motion Capture system. The process is not motion capture per say, as the performers do not wear any kind of marker. Instead, they are filmed by a series of video cameras. Using this multiple angle footage, animators are able to manually reproduce the performance on a digital character via keyframe animation. Buffin has always thought that, in terms of animation, creative freedom was more important than capturing a movement at once. The system was used with great success on Arthur and the Minimoys.

"We first photographed the extras in costume in Leonardo Da Vinci's famous Vitruvian Man pose," sequence supervisor Antoine Deschamps says. "We used those images to texture our digital characters. Then, we then put them in place and submitted them to a powerful force that was synchronized with the explosion. Using dynamics, we animated them being projected in the air. We also added debris flying around and a ring of dust on the ground. The market stands themselves were not retouched, nor was the explosion. The whole set was rigged with wires, so that when the bomb detonated, all the elements were mechanically pulled away from the explosion."

Explosion work was another prominent effect on Babylon A.D.

Explosion work was another prominent effect on Babylon A.D.

Extreme Slow Motion

The final sequence features an explosion that proved to be far more complex to create. A rocket is fired at Aurora, but instead of being blown apart by the blast, the young woman appears miraculously unaffected even though all hell breaks loose around her. Knowing this was THE key moment of the whole story, Kassovitz opted to show the action in ultra slow motion, with the camera circling actress Melanie Thierry while the plaza slowly disintegrated around her. This massive shot was the most complex single effect of the movie for Buf.

"The challenge was that we had to see the explosion from the inside, with all the successive actions and reactions, in an extremely slow motion," Co-Sequence Supervisor Xavier Allard recalls. "The second part of the challenge involved creating in CG the destruction, in ultra slow motion again, of the whole environment. Last but not least, because of the nature of the camera movement, we had to recreate Melanie Thierry digitally for the entire length of the shot. We started by reconstructing the environment via photogrammetry. Then, we filmed Melanie in front of a greenscreen with her hair flying around while the camera was circling her at 360°. We then inserted her in the environment."

Adds Co-Sequence Supervisor Djelloul Bekri, "For the explosion, we opted not to use digital fire, as it is very difficult to create convincing flames in 3D, and even more difficult to control them. Since we had to show the explosion from its very early stages, control was of paramount importance. So, we shot a real explosion, using four different cameras, including two shooting at very high speed. Those images were then projected onto a series of animated 3D domes representing the expanding volume of the explosion. It allowed us to perfectly control the look of the fire, its speed, its volume, its density, etc. We then added many layers of live- action smoke elements, CG smoke and dust."

Besides the explosion itself, the other tricky aspect of the shot was animating the pavement being ripped apart by the blast. Buf modeled and textured many different concrete pieces to build up a library. Due to the great number of elements, the database needed to be highly optimized for the artists to handle them with ease. Animation was also a real challenge as the pavement elements needed to break apart and fly away in a realistic way, but also in a visually pleasing manner.

The plaza was also featured earlier in the sequence via an extensive power of 10 shot. "We start with the camera high above the Earth and dive down until we ultimately only see Vin Diesel's eye," Buffin explains. "We used a succession of six different matte paintings to create the shot."

Buf had to create many seamless environments replacing real locations.

Buf had to create many seamless environments replacing real locations.

Going North

Besides the urban sequences, Buf also worked on an intricate sequence set in the Arctic. The action involves a chase between snow bikes and a drone, and no less than a nuclear submarine. The drone was created in CG by reproducing a miniature built by production. The submarine, though, was a full size prop built in a water tank in the backlot of Barrandov Studios in Prague. The submarine set could be raised out of the tank to break the ice surface. To prevent the camera from filming the real environment, the whole set was surrounded by a white cyclorama. White was chosen over blue or green to avoid unnecessary reflections on the snow surface.

"Since the actors all wore dark colors, and since the submarine was very dark too, it was quite simple to do a luminosity key to obtain a clean mask," notes Sequence Supervisor Mathilde Tollec. "We could also insert the environment in a much easier way. The landscape was created by assembling various photographs shot in Sweden. The more complex aspect of the sequence involved adding hundreds of digital extras behind a group of real actors. We created them using the same technique that was employed for the railway station bombing: the actors were photographed in costume in the Vitruvian Man pose, then the textures maps were retouched to create a greater number of characters. After that, we filmed them in VMC to gather movement references. Then, we animated them and inserted them in the scene. We had to be really careful that their behavior precisely matched what the principals were doing. Ultimately, we also added a layer of digital mist to blend all this together and enhance the polar atmosphere."

Except for the in-your-face final explosion shot, most of Buf shots will remain invisible to the audience. Their work needed to blend in with the story as not to take attention away from the character's journey. A journey that the team also took behind the scene as the troubled production took its toll on many crew members. This was not the case in post-production, though, and Buf even benefited from a very long production time. A real luxury at a time when hurried post-production has become the norm.

[leclerced]

what are ur fav games?

oh baby i have a lot to say, im sorry. ive been gaming my whole life so theres a lot. i know i’m forgetting some, but here we go. im adding a read more because it accidentally got kinda long bc i nerded out

im a whore for godd howard sorry i mean todd howard games, just games developed by bethesda really. top two of all time are skyrim and oblivion from the elder scrolls franchise, they are impeccable games. oblivion has the strong nostalgia factor, it’s definitely outdated graphically but i love the way it looks. its like a dreamland to me. i’ve been playing skyrim since release, i have bought it on just about every console, multiple times. well worth the money in my opinion. both have incredible story telling, world building, characters, gameplay is pretty simple. i could go on forever. it is the only game ive ever played that i have always wanted to pick up and play again immediately after, i have hundreds to thousands of hours on it. oblivion is just in the hundreds, but still a lot.

the other games by todd howard are incredible too. i love new vegas and fall out 3 and have played those a few times each, but didn’t play much of 4 but i need to tbh. post apocalyptic isn’t generally my style but these games fascinate me and have since i was a kid.

starfield is my latest obsession and i put it down after one playthrough to give myself a rest so i could come back to it and enjoy it fully! its an incredible game that fucks your mind up, beautiful graphics and lovely characters that feel incredibly lifelike and weirdly like real people to me. love everything about it.

onto other games ! i play a lot of fortnite with friends it’s just simple and easy, fun. not a lot to it other than that but ive been playing for 5 years so i feel like if i don’t call it a fav im doing it a disservice.

portal and portal 2 are my favorite puzzle type games, also a mind fuck but very very very enjoyable. super satisfying to beat. have been playing since childhood. was playing portal 2 last night and its still just as fun as it was 10 yeas ago

star wars jedi survivor and fallen order were beautiful, i’m not a star wars fan or a souls like fan generally speaking but i had a ton of fun. it was challenging at some points but its really satisfying beating the bosses they throw at you.

i played it once but it takes two is a super fun two player game that made me cry.

little big planet, little big planet 2, and sackboy (skipping 3 and karting bc i didn’t play much) are all super super fun!!! i think lbp and lbp2 may only be available on ps3 so you may not be able to play those, but sackboy is on ps4 and ps5! lbp and lbp2 are games i grew up playing and love so so much but i can’t explain them tbh. just fun.

cyberpunk is another super fun one, ive only played it once but i tried to 100% it and gave up. im gonna go back to it and start a new game soon though because there’s multiple endings and i need to see the secret one.

the borderlands games are good and kinda brain melty. cool stories, incredible art style, great characters, there’s a lot to the game i can’t begin to describe. it’s food if you like to focus/fixate on something because there’s a ton of grinding and enemies respawn after leaving areas and returning. there’s different characters to choose from and perks to create different skill builds, theres an entire community that has created builds you can follow and guides to farm the best loot, so if that’s your thing i recommend it!

love playing assetto corsa and pretending i am a formula one driver. i wanna get a sim racing set up but they r expensive.

#ask #anon #games #the list kept getting longer #i kept remembering games #forcing myself to stop

[kalee60]

You can find me on AO3 here but see below a list of all my fics and drabbles that had at some point taken my muse hostage until they'd been written.

Thanks to all my amazing followers and friends who have cheered me on and helped keep me motivated and on track.

There are so many more stories to be added to this list - so watch this space!

~Stucky Fics~

Kalee's AU extravaganza:

Made you look - royalty AU, explicit

Hero Unmasked - superheros/superpowers AU, mature

Somebody that I used to know - childhood friends AU: explicit

Kickstart my heart - hospital AU: explicit

The only hope for me is you - post apocalyptic AU: explicit

Better the devil you know - angels & demons AU: explicit

Choose your destiny - soulmates AU: explicit

Plug it in - college AU: explicit

Of shadow realms and misconceptions - fantasy AU: mature

~

Other multi chaptered:

Not all relics are 100 year old supersoldiers - shrunkyclunks, action/adventure, identity porn, explicit

As Cold As Ice - enemies to lovers AU, Silver fox Steve bang, explicit

From Russia with love - Shrunkyclunks, identity porn, falling in love, Professor Bucky

Express Yourself - Bucky recovering via fashion, friends to lovers, canon divergent, explicit - click here for bonus fashion Tumblr post

Remote access - friends to lovers AU, sex toys, explicit

Push the button - fake dating, shrunkyclunks, explicit

The smol and the large of it - sequel, identity porn, shrunkyclunks & shrinkyclinks, explicit

The large and the smol of it - identity porn, shrunkyclunks & shrinkyclinks, explicit

~

One shots:

you can't touch this - friends to lovers, 5+1, mutual pining, explicit

Don't tell me (show me) - friends to lovers, pre-war, mutual pining, explicit

Agent Bucky Barnes - Provocateur - friends to lovers, canon divergence, lingerie

Do you believe in magic? - friends to lovers, canon divergence, human disasters, explicit

Deepsea daring - friends to lovers, canon divergence, snark and banter, mature

The boys of summer - friends to lovers, college AU, beach fun, mature

Dial B for Bucky - murder mystery weekend, shrunkyclunks, explicit

Forgive, yet never forget - fix-it of sorts, canon divergence, angst, explicit

Model behaviour - model AU meet cute, Bucky with the good hair, teen and up

Define your world - team mates to lovers, crack made serious, shrunkyclunks

Subliminal Advertising - shopping meet cute, disaster Bucky, explicit

Skype right - misunderstandings, shrinkyclinks, mature

Sake it to me - speed dating, shrunkyclunks, teen and up

Play it again Cap - canon divergent, friends to lovers, explicit

~

Kalee's Stucky Christmas one-shots:

Jingle all the way - shrunkyclunks, identity porn, fluff, first kiss, teen and up

Santa's secret - shrunkyclunks, identity porn fluff, first kiss, general

Chef's kiss - shrunkyclunks, Christmas fluff, first kiss, teen and up

Hooked on a feeling - roommates to lovers AU: explicit

Reading between the lines - shrunkyclunks, identity porn: explicit

I could never - wear that sweater - shrunkyclunks, bets & wagers: teen and up

Wish yourself a Merry Little Christmas - canon divergent, Bucky recovery: mature

Deck the halls (not your coworker) - office AU, enemies to lovers: explicit

~

Kalee's Stucky Quikfics (under 3k):

A Cross To Bear - costume party meet-cute, general

Laying in wait - friends to lovers AU, teen and up

The rise of Darcy: a Subliminal Advertising epilogue - established relationship AU, teen and up

Tap that - street meet cute AU, general

Conventionally unconventional - comic con meet cute AU, general

Deeper & deeper - college AU, friends to lovers, general

Don't touch that dial - friends to lovers AU, general

~

Tumblr only

Beefy Bucky thots - ficlet

Steve in the 21st century - 300w drabble

Carol Danvers older sister - head canon

TikTok kissing challenge - ficlet

Steve and the hairdresser - head canon

Boxer boys - 300w drabble

Bounty Hunter Bucky - head canon

Costumes straps - drabble

Peter Parker Mjolnir - head canon

Blonde baby Bucky - head canon

Do not disturb - song edit

Emoji use - drabble

~*~*~

~Merthur Fics~

The Camelot spy who loved me - spies & secret agent AU, explicit

When Art, Guards and Dragons collide - modern AU, enemies to lovers, explicit

The Prat next door - modern AU, neighbours, enemies to lovers, explicit

The Prince and the stoat - canon divergence, idiots in love, explicit

Working hard - or hardly working - modern AU, co-workers, general

~*~*~

~Destiel Fics~

Golden Boy - AU, WaiterDean/ChefCastiel, explicit

And the beat goes on - AU, drummerCas GardenerDean, explicit

~*~*~

~SuperBat Fics~

Death by chips and lips - first kiss, teen & up

~*~*~

~ Other ~

Dolph Lundgren thirst - head canon

#mywriting #my masterlist #All my ships #apparently I've written quite a few stories... with many more to come!! #stucky #merthur #and others

[kissalopa]

💖 Pass the happy! When you receive this list 5 things that make you happy and send this to 10 of the last people in your notifications! 💖

Thank you so much 💜💙💚

Simblr edition #3

- @ladykendalsims‘ Crimson's post-apocalyptic bachelor challenge

- @valhallansim‘s 100 baby challenge

- @alicesimblr‘s Paranormal Legacy

- @livingdeadgal128‘s Black Widow challenge

- @sims4italianfan‘s Historical Windenburg gameplay

#ask #melsie-sims

[isagrimorie]

I have just a few thoughts about Legacies.

Aww, Hope. Acting her most Mikaelson yet! Pushing, manipulating, and putting people in danger for her own agenda, and for someone she considered family.

I’m sad that its put her relationship with everyone especially the Saltzman twins into troubled water, especially with Lizzie tbh. And MG wasn’t exactly wrong (but lazy writing there, writers)!

In the end, Hope doesn’t even need to go all out like that, if she talked to Cleo at all she would have realized there was another way.

Also, I am both amused and chagrined at fandom’s reaction to Hope being moderately a Mikaelson. In league of sins her family has done this was a baby Mikaelson move, not to say not to call her out on it. In fact I fully expect there to be blow back, as there should be!

But the same people calling for Dark Hope or be more Mikaelson seems to be the same people out for her blood. (I know its the Landon of it all that people have a thing about, I also am not a fan but also, again, for a Mikaelson, it’s a feature not a bug to be so obsessive).

It’s not even an exclusively Klaus Mikaelson thing she did but a very Mikaelsonian attitude. The kind of attitude that gets her family classified as villains and/or violently deposed out of New Orleans.

(People should be terrified when she does go full Klaus Mikaelson on the people she loves -- hurting them to protect them ‘for their own good’ would be the classic Klaus move).

If Vincent Griffith heard about this shenanigans, that’s almost but not quite the same league as what Freya did to Davina, and what Elijah did to Marcel.

source by @milkovichsnoel

I wish there was someone in this cast who can pull off Vincent’s castigation of both Freya and Elijah. Because honestly, right now, Hope needs a wake-up call. Hayley would both understand but won’t ever give her a free pass for bad behavior because Hayley’s North star when it comes to Hope is to do better by and for her.

I have a theory about Cleo, one I’m sure won’t even pan out -- but what if Cleo is from the Future and the reason why her sisters are dead because in the Bad Future something happened with Hope that resulted in the post-apocalyptic Earth that we saw?

And it all hinged on Hope’s near obsession with Landon?

I’m 100% this isn’t the case because this show doesn’t do time travel, but still the way Cleo’s been trying to help Hope move forward or get Landon back to Hope? In another show, it could be a possibility.

----

PS.

I’m reminded again how much Yusuf Gatewood brought to The Originals, the moment he arrived and assumed the personality of Vincent Griffith, The Originals finally became the Shakespearean Greek tragedy it always wanted to be. 

Yusuf Gatewood had such quiet dignity about him that he can pull off so many great monologues, particularly the one he did challenging Marcel on the night took the New Orleans ‘kingship’ again.

Vincent is the true last righteous man of New Orleans.

Remember the time he told Elijah he had no virtue and no value whatsoever?

Be-👏cause 👏 I 👏 do!👏

In fact, let’s watch it all together!

I love him so much. Vincent would very much understand MG and take MG under his wing just like he told Marcel, he would be a sanctuary for anyone who was “sick and tired of the same old, same old that you and your pathetic [Mikaelson] family are ‘Always and Forever-ing’ about.” 

#hope mikaelson #being slightly more mikaelson than before #initial reactions #tv: legacies #legacies spoilers #vincent griffith #tv: the originals #i love vincent so much

[hobc-challenge]

Context

You grew up in the fast paced city of San Myshuno but you never quite fit in there. You were always day dreaming of the country side and of simpler times. You spent most of your time at the library, reading about farming, climate change and essays about the negative impacts of technology on the Sims condition. You have come to the conclusion that modernity is to be rejected and that a more traditional, off the land lifestyle is necessary for the survival of the Sims species. Knowing that one sim alone can’t change the world, you move to Henford-on-Bagley with the intention of having as many offspring with different sims as possible to repopulate the Sims world with like-minded individuals. This challenge is a variant of the 100 babies challenge with additional rules. You win once your 100th offspring reaches adulthood. The rules are inspired by Shoobysims’ Post-Apocalyptic 100 babies challenge, be sure to check hers out!

Rules:

1. Founding sim

Create one young adult to play with.

You may chose your founder’s aspiration and traits.

2. Lot

Move your founder on 2 Olde Mill Lane.

You must have the simple living challenge lot trait and LittleMsSam’s live in store traits. You can add more challenge traits as you play but you cannot remove them once they are set. The other lot traits are up to you but chose wisely because you cannot change them.

3. Gameplay

You cannot use any electronics (computer, phone, TV, tablet, etc.), use MCC to remove autonomous phone interactions (exceptions: you may use your phone to host parties or travel to a vacation location).

Your kids and teens cannot go to school, use MCC here again.

You can use the travel interaction only if you have no toddlers/babies at home unless you have a teen at home that can babysit. The only exception to this is for Finwick fair on Saturdays.

You may travel to other worlds but you cannot go to San Myshuno or Del Sol Valley. Try to avoid places that have a modern feel to it (I’ll let you interpret that however you want).

You cannot go to the hospital, use home remedies if your sims are sick and labor at home (if you have GTW and want a wall of birth certificate you can get one following these steps and use LittleMsSam’s advanced birth certificate mod to rename it).

The only ways you can make money are through selling things in your store, through a yard sale, and by selling goods at the market on Saturdays during the fair. You can sell anything you make, cook, bake, harvest, fish, collect or were gifted.

All the aspirations and traits for your offspring must be randomized.

You cannot use cheats but mods are allowed.

Your babies can only age up on their birthday.

Your toddler and children can only age once all of their skills are at 3.

Your teens can only age once 3 of their skills are at 3.

All of the pregnancies must be by different sims.

If your founder cannot get pregnant the pregnant sim must join the household for the duration of the pregnancy.

If your founder dies or reaches the end of their childbearing age before the end of the challenge, the youngest offspring becomes the new heir.

4. Optional

I’ve been testing this challenge and it can be very hard if you start with sets of twins/triplets. You can make things easier for you by having one (1) other adult to help you out until your first offspring reaches childhood. They cannot have a job, leave your lot or impregnate your sim, they are there to assist you with the farm and raising the babies/toddlers only. They must move out immediately after your first toddler ages up!

I’m personally adding challenge traits to move towards self-sufficiency. I added the Reduce and Recycle challenge trait once I had enough offspring to help with the farm and then Off-the-Grid once I had enough power/water generating devices.

This challenge is meant to be fun, if some rules don’t work for you you can absolutely change them!

 If you try this out and post gameplay please use the tag HoBC challenge so I can see what you are doing:)

#sims 4 #s4 #ts4 #simblr #sims 4 challenge #sims 4 100 baby challenge #100 baby challenge #cottage living #HoBC challenge #ts4 challenge #s4 challenge #ts4 100 baby challenge

[sometipsygnostalgic]

Adventure Time Reviewed - Season 1 Episode 6 to Episode 8

From The Jiggler to Business Time

S1E06 The Jiggler

This one is about the cautions of adopting cute little forest animals. I wonder why Finn and Jake are covered in so many bite marks? Why was that kingdom on fire? What was going on? How much trouble can one watermelon get into? Anyway this is the first episode to feature Finn’s autotune voice. I can’t remember the last episode he said something in autotune - there was the s6 finale, then a few scenes in season 7. 

When they take the Jiggler back home, they Get Creative and escalate until they destroy their entire house interior. I think Princessss made an AMV Nightosphere gag about this.  I love how chiptune noises play every time the Jiggler moves on day 1. 

I always loved this episode. I thought it was very disturbing when the Jiggler gets sick, and then explodes. It reminds me of failed attempts to save birds or insects after my cats have gotten to them. I can relate so much to Finn and Jake here. Poor Jake having to keep himself together and look after his traumatized little bro.  I love the OST of this ep. The soundtrack was uploaded to soundcloud once, along with Ricardio the Heart Guy. I love how artistic this ep is with the edible drawings and the painting of the jiggler’s mom. Very bright and colourful. I always found the momma jiggler’s cry to be... weirdly genuine. 

S1E07 Ricardio the Heart Guy

This ep starts with Finn saving PB from Ice King, who humorously kisses Jake’s butt. PB gives Finn a kiss on the.... neck? hat? as thanks, and Finn’s crush truly begins. Oooooh boy.  I always wondered in hindsight why Pb let the ice king roam free to begin with. That question is raised later in this season. Ice King kidnaps dozens of princesses daily and roams free, but Princess Cookie starts 1 hostage situation and is locked up forever. In the ep What Have You Done, it’s reasoned IK can only be punished for recent crimes, but... ehh, there are a few reasons. Pity? Old ties? Maybe she doesnt want to lock up a pathetic old man forever.  There are some really funny statues of Finn and Jake in the castle, they look buff. I wonder who made these? PB commissioning them makes a lot of sense. Hey, it’s Peppermint Butler’s first speaking lines!!!  “This style of massage is called Best Friend Massage. Because it can only be done for friends. It is completely consensual.” Well the first line from Ricardio the Rapist Stand-in is already incredibly sus. What’s even more sus is he’s apparently friends with LSP.  I find it interesting that Ricardio is so intelligent. This must have been one of the motivators behind making Simon really smart. Ricardio is his heart, at the end of the day. Oh, Simon at the end of the show still has maracas in place of a heart. I wonder if that has health complications? 

“I hear you appreciate ancient technology.” This is foreshadowing of MULTIPLE things now. One - Ice King being pre-war. Two - PB building everything out of pre-war technology. Three - The fact there was a war to begin with!!!! 

Jake is trying to help Finn deal with his new emotions of jealousy (burning low war flashbacks) and he’s once again trying to make him happy, Jake never once considered the logistics of whether Finn and PB would ever actually go out, because it was far more important to him that Finn grow up and have the courage to listen to his heart. Jake encourages Finn’s crush to a fault, and provides lots of support to him when he’s heartbroken later on. 

I love how PB and Ricardio were talking about dangerous micro-organisms and poor Finn has no idea how to approach the topic. I love how Zanoits are actualy dangerous and Ricardio uses them as a poison later.  Anyway even PB can tell Finn is jealous. Finn is of the idea that she has no idea of his crush on her. Of course she knows. But from her side it’s exactly the same as Baby-snaps wanting to be a princess, or every other candy person doting on her - she thinks it’s adorable and completely fails to take the other person seriously. At least, until Braco comes along. Then you realise it’s a good thing she didn’t take Finn seriously, because she might have done something ridiculous like make him a robot clone of herself.  

Holy shit, the duck from The Vault!  I just made a post about it. 

Anyway this ep provides a challenge to Finn or a test of his character, ironically through his own test of Ricardio’s character! Finn gets obsessed with proving Ricardio evil to the point that he gets easily baited into punching him, and doesn’t care that the Ice King is basically dying. Poor Ice King. At least Jake is here to approach the situation with a level head. 

I was wondering as of late, with all the post-Obsidian sexuality discourse (in no way ignited by that one towel scene), whether PB was interested in Ricardio during this ep. It’s possible, and in the past, I thought “maybe”? But upon rewatch? No. She is only interested for as long as she can have scientific discussions with him, and as soon as his knowledge becomes lacking she has already used him for all hes worth. SAVAGE. But not as savage as him trying to rip out her heart. Ew, creep!!! 

I should say that Ice King wanted to cast a spell that would force PB to fall in love with him. He’s NOT safe, he’s dangerous. He’s especially a danger to PB. He does kill her twice at the end of season 2, after all. Once again I don’t know why she hasn’t locked him up LOL. Anyway, even if he did cast a love spell, she wouldn’t change any of her decisisons. It’d just make her sad, like it did at the end of The Suitor.  There was that one time PB tried to make a love potion but we don’t talk about that.  Ice King does demonstrate some concern for Bubblegum’s welfare when he reveals Ricardio’s plan to literally murder her. Ricardio’s plan here is pretty slapstick violent, and it’s funny watching Finn beat him up, but when he returns in season 4, it’s far more... personal and insidious. As in, here he could be seen as a jokey stand-in for a predator creep, but in that later episode he 100%  sexually threatens her and forces her into a non consensual relationship, making it very satisfying when PB beats the shit out of him instead. 

Holy fuck I forgot about this joke. Golden.  

S1E08 Business Time

For some reason, I don’t feel like there’s a lot to say about this ep. It doesn’t demonstrate any remarkable characteristics of Finn and Jake themselves. Instead, it seems to be more of an inside joke. 

When they find the business men, Finn and Jake at first feel like the business men are helping them work more effectively with their assists. However, the boys end up just being lazy, and not realizing that their workers are messing everything up. You can sympathise for the business men because they’re just doing what they were told to do.  This all seems to be metaphorical for when Pen and Patrick McHale started work on the show, and they got tons of help from Cartoon Network staff. They wanted to do everything by themselves, but ended up having to delegate. Maybe they feel lazy for it? 

What makes this episode EXTRA SPECIAL, however, is its confirmation of the Great Mushroom War.  By the time the season had released, the first shot of the intro was already Mushroom War bombs. There was also a reference to the war in the previous episode, where PB and Ricardio shared an interest in “ancient technology”. However, the only reason those references exist is because of THIS episode - This is the one they were working on when they decided it should be post-apocalyptic. They made the human zombies, and the icebergs filled with human junk, and then every GMW reference we see in the show is down to this decision. 

I enjoy the physicality of this ep. Finn and Jake crash through the entire gauntlet. Finn’s still wearing his fire resistant glove as he does it. They get covered in bruises, because they... like pain? I liked when you could see Finn’s sword legit being shinier, and his shoes having bouncing noises. And I want to be hydrated! I loved how smushy Jake was when he became an ice cream monster.  I love the colours of the Fluffy People. S1 has this unique art style compared to the rest of the series. They often draw white outlines to white things, it works nice here. 

#adventure time #adventure time reviewed

[daggerzine]

Sunday Runners.....the Corvair interview.

The music of Corvair fell into my hands recently thanks to Heather Larimer, who makes up one half of the band. The Portland duo, comprised of Larimer and her husband Brian Naubert (and drummer Eric Eagle for the recordings) haven’t been around for too long but being together a lot the past year or so gave them plenty of time to work on songs. I was a big fan of Larimer’s previous band, Eux Autres, and wondered if they were still around (see the first question) so was anxious to hear Corvair. I really liked what I heard. A healthy dose of all things 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s and not quite new wave, note quite indie rock but 100% deluxe. The S/T record, which was released in February, was a co-release between their own label and WIAIWYA label in the UK.  Read on and find out the history of the band, where they’ve been and where they’re headed. Oh and make sure you listen to their music.

 Heather and Brian and Brian and Heather 

Tell us about the end of Eux Autres. Why did that band end?

It actually has not officially ended. While Sun is Sunk was coming out, we left SF because it felt like that city as we knew it was dying—all the artists we knew were moving out, and I moved back to Portland and Nick to LA. Then I had a baby and then Nick had a baby and then soon we each had another baby. With 4 little kids among us, it became really hard to fly back and forth to work on new material. We tried it for a couple years and then one day we calculated that at our pace, the record we were making would take 5 years. So we just kind of gave each other permission to prioritize other projects. Nick is working on some songs I truly love right now. They’re a real gut punch.

 …and about the beginning of Corvair. How/when did the band form?

We had known each other for many years and then we got married three-ish years ago and suddenly neither of us had other musical projects going on. So we kind of shrugged and said, what if we worked together? We would sing in the car or while cooking or whatever so we knew our voices sounded great together. Then it was just a matter of figuring out what sort of project it would be. We went into the studio with a session drummer (Eric Eagle) in late 2019 and then a few months later, the pandemic suddenly gave as a LOT of time to make progress on the tracks. So the creative center of the record was defined in a weird apocalyptic bubble. But it was helpful to have that break with reality as we knew it, because we’ve both made a lot of records, and I suppose that could have somehow blunted our ambition or our edges. But we just hit the “fuck it” button and gave ourselves over to it completely. We were very nervous to mix, because no one else in the world had heard it, and we thought it was great, but we also could have been in a shared hallucination. Really, we’d be the last to know.

 The debut....

Who came up with the name? I have always loved those cars.

Brian’s mom drove a Corvair with a hole in the floor. They would drive it on the special outings to the beach, the weekend adventures. So it was a very romantic car, and the name is just very nice to say. It makes you feel good. Both of us had been in bands with names that were a nightmare to tell someone  in a crowded club, or really anywhere (Eux Autres and Ruston Mire). You’d have to repeat it 3 times, then explain it, and then they just kind of shrug with pity. We vowed to have a band name anyone could understand the first time.

 Did the WIAIWYA label approach you about releasing the record (or co-releasing it)?

John had approached Eux Autres right after our second record and so we did an EP (Strangled Days) with him and then we were on his label ever since. Late last summer, I posted a picture of Brian and I holding the CD Master on my Instagram and John said, what the hell is this? And then I emailed him the record and he wrote right back: “It’s RAD Heather!” I’m not sure if he was making fun of me by saying “rad”--probably, actually. I think I used to say it a lot. But he immediately wanted to put out the record. Nick and I had some really great times in the UK and Europe thanks to John and he has a very devoted audience, so Corvair felt it was a great fit for us.

 Is the Pink Room your own studio?

Yes, it is literally a room in our house that is pink. Brian has been making records at home for most of his life, since he was about 14. And despite having done fancier stuff like making studio demos for Columbia several times and recording with Peter Buck in a nice place, he really prefers to work at home because he likes to spend a ton of time on overdubs—they’re not even really “overdubs,” more like a second wave of writing for him. And I had found being in the studio very stressful in the past because I’m not a technically proficient musician and that makes me self-conscious. So I was grateful to be in the privacy of my own home, in my soft pants.

 Single from last year

Did the songs on the album come fairly easily or did you feel like you labored over them?

The initial writing of them came very easily and fast. Brian did a couple of 30 day writing challenges where he wrote several songs a day. But then once we laid down the basic tracks, we spent a ton of time building them and experimenting with them. We actually recorded probably twice as many parts as we ended up using. And half of what we did in the mix was kill things. In fact, we cut five totally finished songs from the record. 

 Tell us about making those videos? Were you freezing?

Consistently very very cold, yes. Ironically, the one in the snow (Green Mean Time) was the warmest because we were properly dressed. But the ocean ones were just brutal. Especially Sunday Runner. The video was Brian’s idea, he had a very specific vision and made it sound all easy: OK, just go down to the beach and dance for 90 seconds. And I was like, huh?!? And then I kept falling down and got absolutely soaked to the bone. When we finished shooting, I couldn’t feel my hands or feet and he was steering me down the beach with his coat wrapped around me and these little kids were staring horrified, like, Mom what’s wrong with that lady?

 Prior to the pandemic had you played out live much? Done any tours?

We have never ever played live as Corvair. Which is just wild. We will likely be recording this next album before we even have a line-up for performing. But we are very excited to play together. Likely this fall. Hopefully John will bring us to England soon so we will have a great excuse to get it together.

 What are your top 10 desert island discs?

 Brian:

David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust

David Bowie - Low

Nada Surf - Let Go

Brian Eno - Another Green World

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of The Moon (yeah I know, but I don’t care)

 Heather:

GBV  - Alien Lanes

Kinks  - Village Green

Elliott Smith - Either/Or

Radiohead - Kid A

Ruston Mire - Steady Jobs and Flying Cars

  Who are some of your favorite current bands, local otherwise?

HL: I’m interested in the Dry Cleaning juggernaut. And I really dig Deep Sea Diver, Cloud Nothings, Courtney Barnett, Big Thief/Lenker. And then, I’m also very ready to embrace a new angry band whose music makes you think your stereo is broken when you play it--I’m taking suggestions.

 BN: Alt J, Elbow, Doves, Metric, Foals, Snail Mail

 What’s next for the band?

HL: We are recording this summer and trying to put some sort of live outfit together ASAP. Trying to stay out of the ocean for a while. 

 Closing comments? Words of wisdom? Final thoughts?

Thank you so much for having us! 

 www.corvair.bandcamp.com

[jupiterjames]

Rating Kisses, the Untamed Edition

Wei Wuxian: His kisses are plentiful, energetic, and also quite submissive. The kisses he likes to give are playful and short. The kisses he likes to get are passionate, messy, and will leave both of you dizzy in the end. 10/10 you’ll never get bored kissing him.

Lan Wangji: Hard, thorough, wet, desperate, and he will use his teeth. He kisses like it’s necessary to his survival, while also letting out all of those repressed emotions he keeps so tightly under control. And he will absolutely come at you without warning. 7/10 slow down, cowboy!

Jiang Cheng: The first kiss with him will be the most awkward thing in the history of all kisses. Like, first kiss in kindergarten awkward. He has no idea what he’s supposed to, or even if he wants to be doing it. But, in most things, Jiang Cheng is a quick learner. This man is devoted, so if he falls for someone, he would kiss them like it’s a post-battle adrenaline rush all the time. 9/10 bb you need practice, but points for the rush.

Lan Xichen: He kisses with every bit of concentration he has; hands framing your face and going in deep followed by savoring shallow. Never distracted and never half-hearted. He would be content to have a slow makeout session all night. 1000/10 would make out with forever.

Jiang Yanli: Her kisses are sweet and shy and fabulous. Kiss her in the rain, on the beach, on top of a mountain, in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Doesn’t matter, it always feels like coming home. 100/10

Jin Zixuan: Awkward and stilted, but very sincere. He giggles a lot to hide his embarrassment. 2/10 how did he manage to make a baby?

Jin Guangyao: He’s only kissing you to figure out your weakness. Or to stab you in the back. Probably not worth the risk. 1/10

Nie Huaisang: For as flighty and skittish as he seems, Huaisang is a romantic and will kiss as such. Flowery, romantic, with a hint of humor. Not too much tongue or wandering hands. He’s in it for the fun and the story he’ll tell Wei Wuxian about it later. 7/10 for blabbing to everyone who will listen.

Wen Qing: Her kiss is fire, firm, pointed, just to the side of challenging. Kiss her every chance you get, she’ll take care of you fiercely. 1000/10 I would kill for her.

Xiao Xingchen: Calm and thoughtful. His kiss is textbook perfect without being boring. It’ll make you feel like you’ve reached enlightenment. Just be careful, though. There aren’t any secrets from him once his lips touch yours. He can sense everything about you, good and bad, but he loves it all, anyway. 50/10

Song Lan: Looks stoic, but if he gets going, his kiss is hard and deep. He’s fine with soft kisses that go on forever, but if he kisses first, he’s going all in. That’s the way he is inside and out. 10/10

Xue Yang: He’s not trying to kiss you, he’s trying to eat you. Do Not. 0/10

#the untamed #陈情令 #CQL #mo dao zu shi

[purpleheatherdream]

A Happy Halloween Outlander Fan-Fiction Reading List

Trick or Treat! Here’s a Halloween reading list for your enjoyment! 

Witches

Draco (chapter 12 of the Constellations Series) by @kalendraashtar

“Witches all to burn at the stake.”

The Evanora @bonniebird17

The full moon hung over me, giving me the strength to keep me going and I was heading east, leading the witch hunter further away from my home and my sisters.

Part 1

Part 2

An Leabhar Dìlseachd by @thetranquilteal

Claire Fraser had always known she was a witch. Her affinity for healing hinted at it and her ability to time travel confirmed it. What she didn’t know was that she would come into her full power the day she became a mother. Concerned with how her pregnancy is progressing, she's seeks the help of apothecary Master Raymond in the hope that he will be able to teach her how to utilise her newfound power and protect her family from disaster. A canon-divergent AU told through the pages of the Fraser Grimoire ‘The Book of Faith’.

Bewitched by @julesbeauchamp

Jamie and Claire Fraser are like any other young married couple, except for some tiny detail: he's a mortal human being and she's a witch, something which she does not divulge to him until after their wedding.

Jamie just wants them to live a simple, mortal life, to which Claire agrees, meaning no witchcraft and no telling any of their mortal friends and relatives of her being a witch. However, that no witchcraft vow is more difficult to maintain than Claire had expected.

Brujerìa by @julesbeauchamp​

Being a witch was a detail Claire Beauchamp omitted to tell people. She was determined to live her life as normally as possible and she was doing a pretty good job of it. At least until her meeting with a stranger sent her life into a spiral and revealed secrets about her past she never suspected.

The Witch and the Red Man by @lady-o-ren

He was a man meant for a life of loneliness but was relentlessly hunted for the darkness lurking within.

To Kill a Witch by @owlish-peacock36​

Jamie doesn’t know much about women. Even less about the strange Miss Beauchamp. Outlander AU. One-shot.

Three Witches by @westerhos​

An AU where Claire, Jenny, and Geillis are three modern-day witches. A big ole house, a "No Men Allowed Policy", rituals in the woods - the usual witchy norm. When Jamie shows up, things go to hell in a hand basket.

Three Witches Stories by @westerhos​

Little ficlets set in the Three Witches universe, where Claire, Jenny, and Geillis are modern day witch friends with hilarious love lives.

The Thief, the Whore, the Witch, and the Strange Woman by @westerhos​

An Outlander AU in which a 22 year old Claire Beauchamp Randall travels back in time on August 1st (Lughnasadh), 1941/1739. Ellen and Brian Fraser, both alive, offer her shelter in exchange for help in aiding Ellen's recovery. The growing attraction between Claire and Jamie leaves Claire torn, while suspicions arise regarding her past...Soon, it becomes clear that the Frasers know more than they let on.

The White Witch's Gift by @sapphiresassenach

A Christmas gift is given to Jamie and Claire during their twenty-year separation. The gift of each other.

I am a Witch by wongirl

What if after the witch trial when Jamie asks Claire if she is a witch she says yes?

P.S. Don't take it too seriously it's just a bit of fun

This is a Harry Potter/Outlander crossover story.

Witches by @whiskynottea​ at @otheroutlandertales​

1739 -Fort William has a new garrison commander - one who is decided to break the Scots’ spirit. Will Jenny and Claire be able to save the tenants of Lallybroch with their magical powers, while staying safe?

Red Jamie and the White Lady by @takemeawaytocamelot​

Claire Beauchamp is dragged by her best friend and flatmate, Geillis Duncan, to go visit a powerful psychic to prove once and for all that true love exists. Claire is a practical woman and finds the idea of true love pointless. Jamie Fraser is a powerful psychic who can glimpse the future. When he meets Claire, something changes. Like they were destined to find each other.

Legend of the Faerie Wife by DiverseMediums

A legend from the written history of Clan Fraser.

While this is a stand alone story, it is intended to be a companion piece for takemeawayocamelot's Red Jamie and the White Lady. There are no spoilers, but it adds a bit of depth to the brilliance she's creating over there :)

The White Witch by BlackStarNYC

The Scottish matriarchal family—known as the "Thomson Witches"—have a long and forlorn history... As the youngest of the clan, Claire’s life turns to chaos at a young age due to the power she has inherited. Pulled into the 18th century, she becomes bound by love that is threatened to be torn apart by castle intrigue, a 100 year old clan feud, war and a man possessed by a spirit that has haunted her family for centuries.... what could go wrong?

This Life by @calliopemoonbeam​

Claire is a healer from a very young age. She trains in the mystical arts around the world, as well as the traditional medical field. She finds herself in London as a surgical resident in the late 1980s and early 90s. She starts having dreams of a past life. Where will they lead her?

Philomene by @ianmuyrray​

Jenny -- thought dead by the rest of the world -- has lived in quiet exile since her king brother betrayed their family by allying with Black Jack Randall, who is on a mission to weed out any and all women who possess magic. Execution now waits for any woman who shows herself to know and use magical powers, or any woman merely suspected of being magical - no matter her rank, her family, her influence, her children, or her own desire to live.

Jenny was supposed to be the first in the rising storm of murdered women, but, by some miracle, she survived. And has lived in hiding. But now she has been found.

Vampires

Exsanguinate by @owlish-peacock36​

Exsanguinate: to drain of blood

No one ever asked for his name anymore. They gave him a wide berth, avoiding him at all costs. Whispers of rumors filled his ears, closer to the truth than they realized.

Monster. Incubus. Strigoi. Upyr. 

No. His name was Jamie.

Step Into the Night by LadyRevolution

An Outlander AU where Claire didn't fall through the stones, she was on the run from the vampire coven that has been trying to enlist her for centuries. In her reprieve at Castle Leoch, it has been a challenge to both hide her vampirism and stay away from Jamie. He smells good, too good, and for a thousand year old vampire with steel control, that's worrying.

"Ye need blood, Claire, I can tell ye do," Jamie whispered, backing her into a wall, a hand on either side of her head. Breathing heavily, he leaned forward and exposed his neck, "so take it from me." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the moment Claire gave into her desires, her almost black eyes zeroing in on his neck.

Scottish Vampire in Boston by sunshineduckies

After Culloden, Jamie is turned by a vampire with a political agenda. Now he must find his way through his new life without Claire and his new burden, vampirism.

Post-Apocalyptic

Scalamandre by @futurelounging​

An outbreak of a contagion causing violent psychoses across the globe sends the world into chaos and destruction. A scientist and a mountaineer meet in the wilds and join together to try to stop the men behind the madness.

Dawning in Dust by DiverseMediums

The Last War has ended. Civilization is no more. For Claire, solitary wandering is the only way of survival. What if it didn't have to be?

Ghosts

But I love you until the end of time. by   @maybeimdoingsomethingright

With her husband constantly away not long after their marriage, Claire lives mostly alone in their house at the Scottish Highlands. However, she is not exactly alone and there is quite more to this house and her future -or is it her past?- than meets the eye.

Endless-loop theory and ghost!Jamie with a wee spin.

Reaching Through the Veil by @westerhos​

Prompt: Imagine that Jamie somehow travels to Claire's time when Bree is still a baby and drops in on Claire randomly like she does in Voyager.

The Far and Distant Places by @westerhos​

After fighting with Frank, Claire goes to a nearby church for a moment of peace. On her way home, she runs into a certain red-haired Scotsman...

The Haunting at Mrs. Baird's by @frasersridgeforever

The kindly hostess of a bed and breakfast notices some ghostly activity in her establishment, as the culprit sees his wife for the first and last time. A Halloween tale of Mrs. Baird and Jamie’s ghost as the Randalls arrive in Inverness for their second honeymoon.

Through the Magic Lantern by dielle

He didn't know how it worked, how he could float across the flow of the time and be there. - Ghost!Jamie, as seen in the first episode.

Purgatory by suspiciousteapot 

Anonymous asked: what if because Claire's in the future Jamie as a ghost got to see her grow up or see bits and pieces of her life

Ghosts in the Daylight by @owlish-peacock36​

"It's easier to dismiss ghosts in the daylight..." All Jamie wanted was quiet loneliness to work on his novel. But, are we ever truly alone? Ghost AU

Through the Door by @ianmuyrray​

Proper Highland protocol held that the door must be opened at once after a death, to allow the soul to leave. - An Echo in the Bone, Chapter 2, "And Sometimes They Aren't"

Ghost!Jamie AU by Mod Eloise @imagineclaireandjamie​

Story 1

Story 2

Other Magical/Fantastical/Horror Stories  

Scotia by @kalendraashtar​

An AU based in Myths and Legends. Written for the Tumblr 2017 Secret Santa challenge.

There Is More Beneath The Surface (Than We Can See) by   @maybeimdoingsomethingright

When she was young, Claire saved a boy from drowning. Meeting again eleven years later, their worlds are forever changed. (Mermaid)

Thrush by @ianmuyrray

Roger goes sailing to meet mermaid Bree. (Mermaid)

A Fairy's Stone by @sapphiresassenach

Prompt: I was thinking if you could come up with a fanfic where what if Claire actually was Fae and revealed it to Jamie but stated that since she was bound to Jamie because they were soul mates and whatnot and thus she became fairly human when the deal was sealed and whatnot. If you get inspired maybe by this it would be cool to see what you come up with. (Fairy)

An Infinite Variety by orphan_account

Challenge on Infinite Earths, Outlander style 

The Shape We Take by @westerhos

An AU inspired by Black Mirror's slightly dystopian "Hang the DJ," in which a dating app pairs you up until it finds your perfect match.

Just Happen During Halloween

A Costume Party by @sassenachpetals

Jamie and Claire ring in the Halloween holiday by attending a costume party. Claire has surprised Jamie with their couple costume idea and it's one that they'll never forget: Gomez and Morticia Addams…

Across The Hall by @thetranquilteal​​​

Growing up in Scotland, one of Jamie Fraser’s all time favourite things to do was carve turnips on All Hallows Eve. Having recently relocated to the United States of America, Jamie assumes carving pumpkins on Halloween is no different and finds himself in a situation that he never expected.

The Doctor’s Companion by @theministerskat

After coming back through the stones, Roger and Bree get ready for a Halloween party.

Back To You Ficlet - Halloween by @balfeheughlywed

Set in the Back To You world, Jamie and Claire spend their first Halloween together at a costume party; smut ensues.

Halloween At the Ridge by @abbydebeaupreposts

Four Part Halloween Fluff set after MOBY imagining what traditions Jem and Mandy bring with them to Fraser’s Ridge

Halloween Through the Years by @takemeawaytocamelot

Claire and Jamie participate in a costume contest every Halloween.

Year One

Year Two

Year Three

Year Four

Year Six

Halloween, 1955 by @westerhos​

Prompt: After [episode 305] with the making the 'batsuit' scene you should totally do a story about the first time Claire made some sort of costume for Bree.

****If an author whose work is listed is actually on Tumblr but is not tagged, please let me know. 

#outlander #outlander fanfiction #halloween #fic rec list

[sp4c3-0ddity]

2018 Year-in-Fic

so following @rueitae‘s example (because i’m curious about what i’ve been up to this year too) and building off my 2017 list, a Summary of Fic: 2018 Edition:

(For convenience, you can also find my fic master list here and ao3 account here)

STATS:

Gen/non-plance fics:  15

All right, let’s start with the fic that is not plance from oldest to most recent. An asterisk* denotes if it’s tumblr exclusive

Assassins (3109 words) - Allura tries to go about business as usual, despite their “guest” - Gen, mild Allura/Lotor, canon compliant through season four

Marathon (1081) - Pidge just wants Lance to get off her back about team bonding. / (She has fun anyway.) - Gen, Garrison Trio, pre-canon

Imprinting (540) -  A flock of baby "ducks" adopts Hunk as their mother - Gen, canon compliant

Fanfiction (884) -  Pidge has a skeleton in her closet, but she made the mistake of saving it to her hard drive - Gen, canon compliant

Everywhere Cats (7363) -  A mysterious mishap transforms the Lions of Voltron into...cats, who are more troublesome for their Paladins than for Zarkon's Empire - Gen, canon compliant crack

A Rational Fear (3786) - Alteans aren't as fragile as humans, but they aren't invincible. / Or, Allura's injuries demand a stint in a healing pod; her reluctance can be easily explained - Gen, very mild Allura/Lance, canon compliant

Adrift (1621) -  Krolia's translator breaks, but that's not why her sadness is so hard to bear - Gen, pre-canon

Displaced (1318) - Keith confuses his target for someone else. / Neither of them are happy about that - Gen, Keith/Matt, time travel AU

Seek Water’s Run* (~2300) - Gen, Garrison Trio, Abhorsen (Fantasy/Zombie) AU

Crushed* (~900) - Allura/Lance, canon compliant whump

Knowledge or Death, Gun or Blade* (~2000) - Acxa and her Blade trials - Gen, canon divergent/speculative

Pigeon Bait* (~1200) - Hunk rescues a pigeon - Gen, modern/college AU

Price of Pride* (~550) - Matt talks to the Green Lion - Gen, canon compliant

Trickle* (~1000) - Keith wanders a death-scape - Allura/Keith, canon divergent (probably) 

Viable Pets* (~2000) - Hunk adopts a space chicken - Gen, dubiously canon compliant

Okay, this is where it might get a little confusing because i’m a dumbass sometimes...

plance fics (not collected): 32 wtf

Ordered from oldest to most recent; does not include anything posted (or to be posted) in this collection; anything exclusive to tumblr is denoted with an asterisk*

Growth (14042) -  Lance finds his soulmate; Pidge does not - soulmate AU in canon

Misdirection (5328) -  Lance pays attention, and Pidge just may come to enjoy a camping trip - modern AU

Fakeout (7840) -  Shenanigans turn dangerous when Lance and Pidge overhear what they should not - canon compliant

A Promise Broken, a Promise Made (5294) -  Pidge getting caught up in a project is nothing new, so why, exactly, is Lance so upset this time? - canon compliant

Facing Reality (14182) - Lance skips Fourth of July weekend with his family to spend it with his girlfriend's family instead... / ...only Pidge isn't his girlfriend. And her family is missing. In a completely different reality - modern/roommates AU...of a sort

Spill Your Thoughts (24962) - Mom bought me this notebook hoping I’d “organize my thoughts” or “find therapeutic value in it” or something like that. Personally, I think she’s just hoping I’ll leave it lying around somewhere so she can snoop into what’s going on in my life when I don’t want to tell her. / Mom, if you’re reading this, it’s not going to work because I do not need to keep a journal. So what if I don’t have any friends to vent to? / aka an AU where Pidge's journal is just that and nothing more - modern/high school AU in journal format

Infatuation, Actually (10418) -  Pidge never learned basic gun safety. Lance suffers the nonfatal consequences - love spell AU in canon

Fatalistic Daydream (27873) -  Being a low-ranking Galra soldier stationed in a virtual backwater isn’t stopping Pidge from finding out what happened to her family. But the secrets she’s keeping from her friend Keith on top of the unwanted attention of an Altean prisoner-of-war are definitely...slowing her down - somewhat Gen, everyone’s an alien AU

Living Nightmare (1892) -  Lance's isolation doesn't seem to be ending anytime soon, even if he's out of solitary confinement - outtake of Fatalistic Daydream, technically gen

Frog Pond* (~3000) - Lance kisses a frog on a dare - modern/fantasy AU

Water Rescue (19229) -  They start as strangers, but one day they may grow to be something more...familiar - fantasy AU inspired by @rueitae‘s Seasons of Magic

Dip* (~400) - They dance - canon compliant (?)

Sleep Cute* (~450) - Sleepy cuddles - canon compliant (?)

Tidal Lockdown (20937) -  An ex-rebel enlists Pidge and Lance to find her missing grandson, but on a planet populated by criminals and where the sun never sets, they can only trust each other... - canon compliant (?)

Double Life (2312) -  By day, they’re a secretive criminal-entrapping hacker and her minion; by night, they’re a flashy magician - excuse me, escape artist - and his ‘brilliant’ assistant - modern AU

Spellbound* (~3500) - urban fantasy AU

scaled to size (14747) - Lance returns to Altea triumphant, claiming to have slain a fearsome dragon and intent on collecting his reward from Prince Lotor. But not all is what it seems... / Or: The tale of how Lance survived a dragon despite leaving his heart behind - fantasy AU featuring dragon!Pidge

a prince, missing* (~7000) - Lance is a kidnapped prince and Pidge is his reluctant bodyguard - fantasy AU

a small step and a giant leap (47005, WIP) - Lance wakes when he shouldn’t to an angel of death standing over him. / It’s a first, but it won’t be the last - vague fantasy/modern AU

Full Circle (10275) - “I’m happy to be back, but I kind of don’t want to be.” / Lance, surprised, stared at Pidge. “What do you mean?” / “It feels like the end, doesn’t it? We’re back on Earth - back where we started - and it feels like we’ve come full circle.” / “Yeah, but circles just keep going, don’t they?” / Or, Lance and Pidge return to where they started, but it will never be the same again - canon divergent

Breakfast Date* (~600) - post-canon

(don’t) call an ambulance* (~3700) - modern/mafia AU

Final Lifeline (14466) - Pidge always plays to win, but this time the odds are not in her favor. / And if she loses, Lance may get worse than being fed to the Snick... - canon divergent

Misfortune Favors the Brave (26492, WIP) - Foreknowledge of a death doesn't make it any easier to prevent, but Lance is determined to try. / Even if it means breaking Pidge's heart. - canon divergent

Found and Lost* (~4800) - post-apocalyptic AU featuring android!Pidge

why not?* (~100) - drabble

Dueling Hearts (36213) -  The king of a planet that Voltron is attempting to sway to the Coalition misinterprets the nature of Lance’s relationship with Pidge…and promptly challenges him to a duel for her hand in marriage. Lance accepts immediately, much to his teammates’ (especially Pidge’s) mortification. The only problem? Lance still hasn’t figured out how to unlock his bayard’s broadsword form at will - canon divergent

And Everything Was Fine (6416) -  Pidge finds the reality where everything turned out fine; needless to say, she’s pissed - mostly Gen, mild post-canon fix-it

No Sky Like Home (6808) -  Pidge hesitates to say yes when Lance asks her on a date - post-canon

plance fics in collaboration: 3

And now the fics i did in collaboration

Smack, Kiss, Fall in Love (19589 / 2) - Pidge was only at the Garrison to find her family, not her soulmate. Lance had always had a picture of a his 'perfect' soulmate in mind. / ...until reality smacks them both - soulmate AU in canon done round robin-style with @hailqiqi

To Sail, To Break, To Earn (10268 / 3, WIP) -  Cursed by the witch Haggar, Lance, with the crew of the Blade of Marmora, sails the sea and preys on Zarkon's fleet. They are confined to the waves and forbidden from dropping anchor at port. But the deadline draws nearer, when they'll become the soulless servants of the same emperor they forswore, unless they rejoin Zarkon willingly...or earn the heart of a mermaid - in collaboration with @rueitae

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot like A Christmas Carol (14384 / 3, WIP) - Lance is no Scrooge, but when he gives up a family vacation and declines an invitation to his friends' holiday gathering, he finds himself the target of a ghostly intervention. / It's a tale as old as time...or as old as the nineteenth century, and if Lance doesn't learn his lesson, he just might be forgotten - post-canon, in collaboration with @hailqiqi and @rueitae

plance fics, collected:

I’m cheating on this one. Referring to my collection Strangeness and Charm, from about Chapter 48 onward are the 2018 chapters. Last year’s word count was 73407 and this year’s word count is (with the exception of some fic saved as chapters not yet posted) 200794. here are the longer/more notable (in my opinion at least) samples that probably should’ve been posted separately:

Future (~6000) - prompted historical/arranged marriage AU

Captive (~5200) - moderately gen AU where Pidge, Lance, and Hunk are captured by pirates

Another Time (~3700) - reincarnation AU in conjunction with canon

Masquerade* (~1300) - super tease-y fantasy AU and if you don’t have the song from Phantom of the Opera stuck in your head from just reading that title i envy you

Tease (~800) - “If you love it so much then why don’t you marry it?” - canon compliant

A Pirate’s Life for Me (~4000) - Pidge is captured by space pirates - canon compliant

Absence Makes the Heart Grow (Fonder) (~7200) - Pidge finds Lance on Earth - canon divergent AU that was hilariously accurate in retrospect

like a masochistic moth to dragonflame (~3200) - the aftermath of the battle against the Coranic Dragon - piklavar, Monsters & Mana AU

Steal to Save (~800) - Pidge “loses” her glasses - canon compliant

to trust a thief (~3800) - followup to other piklavar fic

Deadline (~1000) - Stressful countdown to Lance confessing - canon compliant

Glint of Silver (~5200) - Pidge’s double life just might endanger her werewolf roommate - roommates/urban fantasy AU

masks for two* (1500) - Lady Katie learns she and her fiance have more in common than expected - historical/thieves AU

Bad Press* (~1500) - It’s not easy pretending to date your celebrity friend - fake dating AU

a personal mission* (~780) - Lance is on a mission - canon compliant (?)

the eve of it all* (~1800) - Lance stands Pidge up on game night - season eight fix-it, canon divergent

okay that ended up being way longer than i expected...

BREAKDOWN:

Ship breakdown:  

plance wins so easily it’s not even funny. oddly enough considering my current feelings on the pairing Allura/Lance takes second place (though only by very weak implication in one case and...by a very wide margin). and then there are the other mostly implied (Allura/Lotor, Keith/Matt) that occur once each plus an Allura/Keith fic and a gen fic that’s also technically Krolia/Keith’s dad

and then there’s my apparent thing for Hunk bonding with birds

Character breakdown:  

Pidge and Lance because *jazz hands* plance. i suppose Hunk and Allura may be split for third place

Characters that had the main focus:

*sweats* hilariously i think it might be...Lance?? i feel like many of my longer fics (whether one-shots or multichapter) end up in his point of view, notably a small step and Misfortune. Pidge is an easy second place though, and which of the two i favor changes. Pidge is, in a sense, a little easier to write but Lance, depending on the tone i’m going for, can be wild fun because he’s so ridiculous sometimes

SPECIFICS:

Best title?

uh...i’m capable of having decent titles?? thing is, my titles tend to be on the nose or else something i forget i need till the point i’m posting a fic, but i like Everywhere Cats partly because it was very much inspired by a simple children’s song i remember my sister playing when she first started learning piano. i also like Facing Reality as a title because of the word play i can be clever

...okay i’m going to stop here because i keep looking back and realizing i like more of those than i thought i did

Worst title?

many of them are so...plain that i’m not sure i can pick just one. sure, they tell you what the story is about, but there’s nothing hidden in them...they’re so bland. throw a dart at a board with all my one-word titles and you’ll probably hit something

Best first line?

let’s go with a masochistic moth to dragonflame:

Pike is smitten the moment he sees her, and it only grows worse when the words family heirloom cross her lips.

Worst first line?

i think my first lines in general are...decent?? nothing spectacular, just meant to convey what’s going on and why it’s important (or that’s what i try to do at least), but out of laziness i’m going with the one from Everywhere Cats:

Hunk settled his helmet onto his head as he walked into the Yellow Lion’s hangar, feeling wonderfully light at the prospect of this mission.

Best last line?

Adrift made me so emotional when i was writing it that i have to use this one:

“Love,” [Krolia] said, “can you turn off the lights? I’m showing Keith the stars.”

Worst last line?

i tend to end my fics rather abruptly (i really really hate unnecessary bits tacked on when everything is pretty much resolved) and/or on dialogue and i’m usually thoughtful of how i end it so i’m not even gonna skim through the rest of my fics because this one from Assassins is just so boring:

She followed General Sahr inside, and this time both Coran and Lotor came with her.

GENERAL:

Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?

yes, yes i did. also looking back at last year’s list i didn’t even get any of the goals i set accomplished...whoops??

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year?

uh...Keith/Matt i guess?? maybe Allura/Lance too because i really don’t like that pairing now (though i used to be indifferent or else somewhat like it) so it’s like a retrospective “well i can’t believe i managed to write them as a romantic pairing”

What’s your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.

always will i answer this question with scaled to size because it actually does make me happy, especially thinking of all the pain and suffering i’m only somewhat exaggerating i went through while conceiving of it thanks to a computer mishap (and, tbh, my own neglect), and ultimately all it took to revive it was a timely prompt from the Pidgance Positivity Discord and dare i say it ended up far better than planned??

Okay, NOW your most popular story.

on ao3 by kudos and excluding my collection that’s Smack, Kiss, Fall in Love (i can’t tell if it’s the magic of collaborating with someone like @hailqiqi or the allure of a soulmate AU or a fic with that many chapters). most by comments/bookmarks and second most by kudos is Dueling Hearts.

by notes on tumblr would be Sleep Cute

Story most underappreciated by the universe?

oh gosh i don’t know. throw a dart at my gen fics and you’ll probably hit one?? or else To Sail, To Break, To Earn, my collaboration with @rueitae, could use lots more love i thought you guys liked mermaids

Story that could have been better?

all of them??

Sexiest story?

uh well i’ve never posted anything more explicit than simple foreplay so i suppose that would be Final Lifeline but i also want to make note of like a masochistic moth to dragonflame because i think i did well with a touch of Unresolved Sexual Tension and Bad Press was almost candid about that sort of thing and Lance almost propositioned Pidge by accident

Saddest story?

it’s probably a toss-up between  Final Lifeline (major character death on top of a possible awful future), Misfortune (predicted character death), and a small step (they can’t really be together)

Most fun?

Bad Press was a riot while i was working on it. Everywhere Cats was a lot of fun too, as was scaled to size (though tbh i have fun writing a vast majority of my fics...)

Story with single sweetest moment?

nothing really stands out to me at the moment so this is mostly a cop-out (and Pidge and Lance are at their best when they’re teasing each other anyway) from scaled to size:

“Is there…any room for the brave and dashing knight that rescued you in that future?” Lance whispered.

“Maybe, if you find him.”

“Hey!” Lance exclaimed, pulling away from him slightly.

Pidge snickered and wrapped her arms around his neck. “But there’s room for the brave boy that grew into his too-big britches.”

“Yes, but I’m a knight now too,” Lance pointed out.

“Should I call you Sir Lance now?” Pidge raised an eyebrow while one of her hands wandered into his hair and pulled his head down. “But I think I like Lance better…”

Their noses brushed, and Pidge’s warm breath caressed his face.

Lance’s eyes slid shut when he kissed her.

Hardest story to write?

most likely Displaced because i’m not really into Keith/Matt as a romantic pairing (and it ended up more gen anyway) and i wasn’t really enamored by the idea so i was mostly just trying to wrap up what i had without getting into the concept too much

Easiest/most fun story to write?

the night i bolted out of bed possessed by a spark of inspiration thanks to this art to hammer out Masquerade will forever live in infamy

Did any stories shift your perceptions of the characters?

i don’t think so??

Most overdue story?

scaled to size if only because of the frustration i associate with its inception ;_;

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

collaborations, for one, not that it’s especially risky, but i’d never done one so that was fun!! Smack, Kiss, Fall in Love oddly enough validated by typical “write on impulse” style though...

for another, i published a fic in a zine!! also i participated in a Bang and a gift exchange, neither of which i’d done before

also posting the start of a multichapter fic not yet finished is a risk that hasn’t quite payed off yet *sweats*

What are your fic writing goals for next year?

no idea. i’m decidedly not a very goal-oriented person, but for now i think i’ll keep it simple and finish my four dubiously active WIPs, write something amazing for the Plance Mini Bang (which i’m also mod-ing oh boy), and outline as often as possible to ease the writing

#qna #reem writes fic #...yikes this is long #and i got really lazy at the end and put less thought into those last questions

[sometimesrosy]

The person that send the ask about JRoth refering to Echo and Madi in the past had/got made me take a sec and think because i understand refering to E in the past because i think that BE are going to break-up but why would he refer to Madi in past tense? and then i remembered aa spec that you sai regarding Madi staying in the planet and Clarke leaving with the others, i think? do you really think that would happen and can you talk more about it? 1/2

2/2 i mean i just don’t see Clarke leaving her daughter alone in another planet, altough there is always the whole flame thing, idk how that is gonna affect their relationship but i mean, would Jason really take away her daughter? that’s a new low, even for him lol

He might just have spoken about them in the past because he was speaking about what happened to Clarke and Bellamy over the time jump. That was all in the past. What happened OFF screen affected who Clarke and Bellamy were in the current timeline. 

As he’s writing, or storyboarding, that means that he’s developing THEIR story based on the past. It might have been a mistake just based on his focus as he writes. None of what they say in cons is edited, you know? You can’t expect them to be perfect or precise.

My speculation about them leaving Two Suns Planet is PURE speculation and just something they COULD do based on certain themes and foreshadowing and tropes and archetypes. It doesn’t at all have to be story they go for. Just ONE story path. 

But you say that taking a characters daughter away and leaving her on a planet alone with others is a new low for JR?

I think that is the EXACT SET UP OF THE 100. Abby Griffin lost her daughter, who was sent down alone onto a poisonous planet with 100 delinquents. 

New low? Or, hey, what this show is about?

Oh. Is it different because Madi is so young? 

Charlotte. Tris. Baby Lovejoy. Aden. Ethan. 

Kids don’t escape violence, loss or death on this show. This is BUILT IN to the narrative. 

Don’t confuse a plot line that you don’t like with something that doesn’t fit. Because it DOES fit. It’s pretty standard that kids on this show grow up a LOT faster than kids irl. And Madi HERSELF was left alone at the age of FIVE. So the concept that JR wouldn’t POSSIBLY leave a child alone is ABSOLUTELY FALSE. BTDT. Pay attention.

In many ways, this show is about the new generation, THE KIDS, learning to find their own power and stand up and change the world for the better. All our delinquents except for Bellamy were kids when they landed on earth. That is the NATURE of this show.

You identified with the kids, so you didn’t notice, except for occasionally, that our kids were actual kids, because you were inside their heads and instead you saw the freedom and the power and the challenges and the heroism. When we looked at the PARENTS, we saw them as characters who did stuff TO the kids, who abandoned them or abused them or sent them to earth or betrayed them or whatever it is. Maybe you didn’t notice because all the actors were playing younger than their real age, because the show WANTED you to think of them as active adult principals. But Jasper and Monty? What were they? 15? That’s only a few years older than Madi. And they had NEVER been left alone to survive by themselves. They weren’t as capable. Maybe the subtle shift of adults playing kids to kids playing kids means that the writers want you to think about what it means to grow up, to be responsible, to be an adult or a parent. Remember, their initial thought was to make the commander a child. They’ve actually gone BACK to their original concept. 

NOW you’ve got YOUR kid as the parent, as the person who is the hero with the motivation and desires and goals. So you see Clarke as the active principle and Madi as the passive one. But it’s the SAME story. 

Clarke raised Madi to be independent, she was driving and going off alone at 11. Hunting and gathering and facing a post apocalyptic earth alone. That’s how she raised her. Now that people are back, Clarke is clinging to Madi and trying to keep her safe when before she’d raised her to keep HERSELF safe. 

We’ve already seen Clarke struggle with the same thing Abby struggled with. Learning to LET HER DAUGHTER GO TO MAKE HER OWN DECISIONS. The audience is sometimes outraged that anyone would allow Madi to make these life or death decisions intended to save Clarke, but Clarke was making life or death decisions from ep 1, and we were outraged that Abby would try to stop her and keep her a child.

So what I’m saying here? This is a THEME we’ve seen in The 100. Madi is a bit younger, but she is also just as capable as Clarke. We have SEEN her be capable. 

Would JR have Clarke lose Madi? 

He had Abby lose Clarke, didn’t he? So yeah. He would. It isn’t some worse horror inflicted upon her. It is a cyclical story. The parent must release her child to her own future as her parent released her. The youth shall inherit the earth.

Actual literal line of dialogue. They PASSED THE BATON. 

So, we need to pay attention to these things if we want to understand something more about the story. 

so my theory about return to earth? ok

so the idea is that they will have to leave planet two suns, that they will have to DESTROY the comfortable, peaceful human society on the planet because it is, like MW, evil. I think we’ll have a parallel to MW. We already know that the eligius 4 mission was a colonization mission, intent on USING the planet for resources because the earth was used up. This is the bad kind of colony. 

We’re also contrasting “doing what is good for you people” with “doing what is right,” and I’m afraid that joining Russell in a peaceful world where their people can finally live life, which would be GOOD for their people, will actually be harming the planet and either another segment of humans OR the native aliens on the planet. 

So in order to do the right thing and be the good guys, they’ll have to destroy this “peace” and sacrifice and easy life for their people.

This would help Clarke and Bellamy resolve their trauma in MW, where they had to DESTROY an entire people, and never made peace with the fact that they HAD to because those people were not JUST another society, but a TOXIC one who was using other human beings as cattle and torturing them, and intending to take over the surface. 

So while this made her think maybe there were no good guys, the truth is, that even though they committed genocide, it was because that society was EVIL. They WERE the good guys. Sometimes you HAVE to do harm. 

So I think we’ll see this again and this time they will recognize that the choice is to let evil flourish through passive inaction and possibly benefit, or GIVE up the soft life and save a planet and a people from subjugation and STOP the cycle of violence that humanity spreads.

See, we’re working on making sure that Humanity DESERVES to survive. So being faced with a pretty, peaceful society that does not DESERVE to survive, means they have to make active choices against it.

The thought here is that they are subjugating or enslaving the aliens or alien/human hybrids or lower class humans of this planet. ECHO, being a child soldier and slave for the throne, while not feeling like she belongs to spacekru, will feel a kinship with the slaves on the planet and she will stay with them.

The other possibility is that Becca has given an ALIE AI to the new planet, so the flame is not irrelevant. Because the flame was created to STOP ALIE. So if there’s another ALIE helping to subjugate these new people, then the FLAME, aka Madi, is there to stop that. COULD someone else take the flame? Yes, because they’re all going to have to be nightbloods. But it’s possible that Madi herself feels too much responsibility and wants to stay to help the new people. but the story here would mean that Madi wouldn’t be alone, but Echo would be staying with her, as her protector. IDK. 

I don’t know it’s an idea. I got it when I realized that Raven said, “Just once I wish I could take off of a planet without it being on fire,” and she did that TWICE, which means the magic number three might have that coming true. So then I imagined raven taking off of this new planet, NOT on fire, but still needing to leave because they destroyed the “peaceful” society. Like breaking the cycle means they leave it a better place, rather than the earth, which humanity has killed. 

Also with the way the time is going, it took 75 years to fly to the new planet. If they go back to the earth, that’s 200 years total, which is the ORIGINAL speculation for how long The Ark would have to stay in space before Earth would be livable. That’s just too neat a coincidence for me. Makes me think that in, maybe s7, they might be back on the earth again. 

All just ideas. I know it’s wacky. But I’ve had a lot of wacky ideas, like using Cryo sleep to escape praimfaya. Or the exodus after they lose Eden. Heck, I told y’all after hakeldama that this show requires Clarke and Bellamy to be TOGETHER in order to work. So I have wacky ideas that I put together when I think about various narrative elements. So here. Have some more.

Also. Because we’re all responsible for our monsters when we let them out, right? Well humanity destroyed Earth. Do they really get to just ditch it and find .a new planet to ruin? I feel like they need to go home and face the mess they made of their planet. To EARN their survival, they have to fix what they did. They have to make amends. Stopping it from happening on another planet might do that, but also, taking care of the planet they hurt. 

#the 100 #return to earth theory #parenting in the apocalypse #parenting #wacky theories

[gay-saltasaurus]

Ok, here's my review/analysis of Death Stranding. Full thoughts in the read more, but tldr:

Death Stranding is an amazing game. There is nothing else like it. It's complex, and the story will probably make your brain hurt a little, but its fascinating. This game is SUPER not for everyone. Some people hate it, and I understand why. How you play the game is entirely up to you, and what you get out of it depends on what you put into it. Its incredibly well made, and I highly recommend it.

That was probably a bit long for a tldr, but if you opened the read more you brought this on yourself.

Context

First, a bit of context. Death Stranding was my first Kojima game. I knew of his reputation and admired his values as a game designer, but Metal Gear just didn't seem like my thing. I just saw the promotional images and stuff for DS (particularly that one of the five black figures in the sky) and was just overwhelmed with curiosity and WTF IS THIS GAME. I forgot about it for a while, then it came out, I watched maybe an hour of a let's play and read a few spoiler free customer reviews. I don't think I've ever seen reviews so divided. I saw maybe one review that gave a middle score. But the let's play showed some interesting concepts and a really strong atmosphere, so I was on board. I haven't looked at any reviews since finishing the game, so I might add to this post later to address those points. (Nevermind that will need to be separate because I am a long winded bitch)

Gameplay

Death Stranding's gameplay probably isn't for everyone. If you're looking for something fast paced or something you don't have to think that hard about, or if menu screens really bother you, this might not be for you. That being said, there is something here for everyone. There's strategy, stealth, action, exploration, ect. Like any good open world game, you create your own experience. You can go take on MULES, make deliveries to side characters to learn more about them and the world, or just go straight to your destination as fast as possible. Do you want to deal with MULEs with stealth, violence, or avoiding them altogether? Do you want to make deliveries by foot and deal with balance, or use a vehicle and deal with rough terrain and cliffs? The game allows pretty much any play style, all of them carefully balanced so that none are inherently better than the others.

One part of the gameplay that might set a few people off is the amount of menus. There are a lot of them, and navigating them is not always the most intuitive. However, they are important to the gameplay, and they are pretty useful once you get used to them. Since my brain is more of a pinball machine than a coherent train of thought, automatically going through multiple menus when taking on a delivery saved me having to go back to the terminal 8 times because I forgot something. I also love the map and being able to see the route I plotted so I don't have to constantly check the map because my pinball brain can't remember where tf I'm going. It also leaves me free to process the story and enjoy the atmosphere.

The balance mechanic might also seem tedious at first, but it seems like it's partially an alternative to the weight/speed system most games use. Excessive cargo slows you down, but balance becomes an issue long before speed does. Personally I really prefer this to the agonizing slow motion crawl that most games use, since in theory you can still carry an excessive amount of cargo, you just have to be good at balancing it. It adds to the realism and challenge to parts of the game that might otherwise feel like a walking sim. It can also look really fucking silly and I love that.

Story

Sweet baby Jesus, this story is a lot. Its complicated af, with a lot of big ideas that can make it difficult to understand. The long quiet traveling segments come in handy here, as they give the player time to process the latest chunk of exposition. This is a story that requires a lot of exposition and long cutscenes, but if you really aren't into that they're all skippable, and you can still see where to go next, but obviously this game isn't really for anyone who's that impatient.

Personally, I'd say the story is pretty good. It's not perfect, but I feel like it's not quite the focus of the game (more on that later), so it doesn't really need to be. The performances are fantastic, and Reedus adds a lot of personality and depth to Sam that would otherwise need to be shown through even more dialog. As someone who's spent years studying storytelling, I'm always relieved to find a story where I have no idea where it's going because the narrative structure is so weird. There are plenty of major twists, but they're set up ahead of time. Everytime I thought "Wait that doesn't add up" Death Stranding would later say "You're right! It doesnt!" And that's wonderful.

Worldbuilding

The worldbuilding here is some of the best I've seen in a game. There is SO. MUCH. DETAIL. Everything feels well thought out, you can tell that the developers spent a lot of time just working out how society would function in this situation. And a lot of it is based on actual science to the extent that you can tell that some of the people involved here had hyperfixation level interest in some pretty advanced topics. The science here is used in a way that shows a level of actual understanding, instead of the usual "I saw an article once that said we don't use 100% of our brains. I didn't read past the headline, but here have some fancy science words." As someone who frequently hyperfixates on random science enough to see through shitty/nonexistent research, I can't possibly express how exiting this is. I'm by no means an expert on quantum mechanics or whatever, but I can tell that someone here did at least some actual research. And of course, as other people have pointed out, the discussion of the effects of isolation in this world have been shown to be pretty damn accurate in light of recent events.

Themes

OK HERE WE GO HERES THE BIG ONE. Like I said, I feel like the focus of Death Stranding isn't on its story, but on its theme of connection. Every other element of the game comes together to support that central experience. You are reconnecting a world that is overwhelmingly isolated. You are traveling through a vast, empty landscape, completely alone (except for BB). As you reconnect each region, the landscape becomes less empty as you're connected to other players. You are aware that you're working together with other people, even if you never see them, just like the preppers and other people you're connecting. Characters continue to send you emails, reminding you of the connections you've made and showing how your actions are slowly making the world a little less apocalyptic. Shoutout to the guy at the 1st waystation, who slowly got better at going outside. I don't remember his name, but I'm proud of him.

Death Stranding is a prime example of a hopepunk game. Despite its somewhat melancholy atmosphere, ongoing apocalypse, occasionally harrowing gameplay (that fucking mountain), moments of horror, and the constant presence of death, it is aggressively optimistic. All the Bridges characters are so positive, and the way they talk about the chiral network makes it sound almost too good to be true. And even when the dark secrets of Bridges and the network are revealed, it doesn't take away the positive impact. It's not one of those twists where everything was a lie and fuck you for trusting it, because you've seen the network save lives. The world in DS is FUCKED. It has been for years, and probably will be for the foreseeable future. But that doesn't mean you should stop trying.

If you actually made it this far, congratulations and thank you.

#death stranding #salt plays #reviews #this is why i cant survive on twitter

[ivyandink]

1-15

LMAO anon, stealing the glory. i already answered 4, 6, 12 and 13. so i guess i’ll fill in the rest. lol. ill put them under a cut bc i dont wanna clog up yalls dashes ;)

1. How did you learn to edit pictures?

hmmmm. mostly by reading about other peoples processes, watching speed edits, etc. then once i got photoshop, and took my class on it in uni, i started playing around with stuff myself and experimenting. still a WIP lol.

2. Whats your aesthetic in your opinion?

man, i feel like i don’t have one lol. oh well!

3. Who are your inspirations when it comes to editing?

pretty much everyone i follow :D similar to my inspiration for writing, anytime something catches my eye that someone does, i take note :) 

5. Who is your least favourite character you’ve made?

ooooooh. hm. either steven or peter lol. steven was significantly more useless of a character. i bet like 90% of people don’t even know who he is LOL. i put him in the story for a certain reason, but then never did that plot idea, but he kinda stuck around for a bit lol idk.

7. What causes you to feel uninspired?

being busy. :( or if i run into a road block with my plot. but mostly just not having enough time to work on it. i 100% love my story, and i never just completely DONT want to write it lol.

8. Is there anything you look for when browsing for simblr stories to read?

there is actually a lot i look for LOL. i still follow lots of people who dont do all these things, but if i find one that does, you’re def getting a follow :D i typically look for story-based stuff, with a decent amount of writing thats not too short or too long, decent editing/photos, and anything that’s really different from what i’ve already seen! stories of different genres, etc. :) and i looove really cinematic style posting, as well. 

9. Do you have any storytelling pet peeves?

for myself or others? i hate plot holes, obviously lol. this goes for myself and others. more so for myself tho, tbh. im more forgiving for other people, hah! and relying on cliches. bad character development. 

10. Who are your five favourite characters and why?

Elliot, Clementine, Sonia, Violet and Levi :) they’re MY MAINS

11. What do you do really well (storytelling wise)?

i have been told i write really realistic dialogue, and that i have really good character development! :) i tend to agree with both of those. my stories are very character driven, and i try my best to make them feel super real and believable.

14. Do you have a dark or more light-hearted writing style in your opinion?

i think i tend to darker writing? my writing itself is light i think. but the topics i write about tend to be more emotionally driven. i have some plans to play around with some darker story lines in the future, both with my legacy and area 27, so we’ll see how that one goes.

15. Are there any topics you’d like to write about in the future?

yes so many!!! like so many. i want to do another history challenge one day, bc i always have the best historical plots. or just a historical short story in general. i want to venture more into the pseudo-post-apocalyptic theme with area 27. and i want to touch on more issues in life besides just romantic drama, which is what i have mostly covered so far in my legacy, i p much wanna be old school degrassi??? “it goes there”. lmao.

thanks so much anon :D i loved answering these

#anon #Anonymous