#i kinda miss that laser honestly

[krysal-tepsyr]

what’s your opinion on radiation?

what color is it?

radiation is neat sometimes, it does some weird shit. doesn't affect me, but that's because i'm uh. me. radiation is technically colorless but i've always seen the labels for it be either a neon green or bright yellow, so i'm gonna say a more gross highlighter yellow and stick with it.

#orb? #i think i know who asked this #radiation is never something i've had to deal with #just watch the consequences on other people #that's why that big death laser i got never affected me no matter how close i was to it #i kinda miss that laser honestly #remember when that was the highlight of my day? #somebody from a narratively relevant session giving me a laser gun? #what a time we had together.

[tirfpikachu]

my transmasc nonbinary ex said that they keep getting gendered as female when going out, especially now that they're off testosterone, and that they're not opposed to it per se but it just gets tiring to be called the same thing all the time and they wish people would switch it up every now and then (so they feel more validated as enby)

i remember what it was like when i had nonbinary dysphoria and it was almost like a game. like you want a good ratio of being gendered as male vs female. they were gendered as male for long enough for years that they got actually dysphoric from it, like they got miserable living 100% as male. so now they're in-between. they've had top surgery, they have stubble but always shave it and want to get laser for it (they don't enjoy anything they rly got from hrt afaik, they just "needed something to happen" and top surgery was taking a while to happen at the time). so they're androgynous, but they're hyperfixated on how others view them. it's obviously not what they always think about, but enough to notice and keep track. if they only get gendered as female that month they get uncomfortable. if they only get gendered as male another month they get uncomfortable. it must be so fucking annoying. it was for me, anyway. like never feeling satisfied w how others view you, bc what you want is basically impossible unless you were super dedicated every single day to curating your appearance to pass differently

sometimes i feel like telling them just be yourself, even cis ppl get misgendered, try to feel secure in yourself and all the other bullshit will fade away. strangers only take a quick glance at you and your sex characteristics. and if you have an afab-typical body outside of a flat chest, and you wear stylish clothes, and you're conventionally pretty... and have shaved your stubble... i mean yeah, ppl are gonna think you're afab, and they use the typical sex-based pronouns associated w that. it sucks though. nonbinary ppl, including me from back then, tend to daydream abt a world where ppl would just be able to tell they identified as nonbinary and used they/them or did the "oh miss... i mean sir! sorry" thing every time. they're seeking that rush of "omg i did the nb thing!!" even though they themselves will use she or he for others unless the person is alternative enough & androgynous enough where they cannot believe the person is at peace w their sex. they'll say all day long that nonbinary isn't a look or a behavior but they really go against that aaall the time!!! honestly often the word nonbinary is basically synonym with "androgynous" in how it's used, and other times as a nebulous identity based on the understanding that everyone has an inner womanly or manly feelings inside their head except for special enbies. some nonbinary ppl are androgynous, others genuinely for all intent and purposes are considered gender conforming in society. sometimes i think that's to the detriment of genuinely androgynous folks (nonbinary-identified or not) who face the blunt of anti-gnc hatred

honestly once i embraced being a female human life seemed kinda boring at first bc i didn't get those "omg i reached androgyny!!" rushes anymore. it's like the game was over bc i aligned w my sex as a neutral fact. and all that energy i had focused on gender stuff i now put towards just seeing myself as a human who happened to be female, and would be female no matter what, and no matter what ppl thought it doesn't change the body type i was born in. i'm just like any other female animal. it means absolutely nothing. ppl can think i'm a dude all the time and i just laugh it off bc i know what i am, it's like a funny little secret i have when i get misgendered. but trans ppl don't view it like that... i wonder, what if they desensitized themselves to misgendering and found security in themselves and confidence in their identity? even while still identifying as trans etc? what if they could learn to laugh too cuz they know what they are? i feel like that's what they should work on instead of changing the world around them and feeling bummed out everytime they don't win at gender

#lay text #research tag #my words #radfem #radblr

[intervalart]

I absolutely love your art of Sundown, he’s one of my favorites (next to Akira) 🙂 honestly he’s hilarious in the Dominion of Hate, he’ll literally fight Akira for no reason, he’s got this “tired single dad handling 6 kids” energy to him, and he even like…scolds Oersted? It sounded like? (His voice actor, Reagan Murdock, played Aki Hayakawa in this anime called Chainsaw Man, so i guess he has experience with voicing a guy who needs to wrangle teenagers 😅) do you happen to have any hcs for him?

I'M SO SORRY IT'S TAKING ME SO LONG TO GET TO THESE ASKS, i'm packing to move, so that's taking up most of my time and energy ;;;v;;;

BUT THANK YOU SO MUCH WAAAAAAA, I'm glad you like how I draw the schüt man <333 (who has somehow accidentally become The Muse, whoops lol)

Sadly there are currently no in-game dialogues showing how he interacts with the other party members (party banter like octopath is a common DLC request), but Mad Dog has a line about Sundown "being bad with the little ones", which is either Mad Dog's interpretation based on what he wants to see, or Sundown's stoicism and bluntness really does tend intimidate the kids. (I don't watch CSM so I will take your work for it... But I'm sure Mr. Murdock does a great job! He has a great voice for it...)

But from what we do know for sure (from his recruitment quest and his dialogue to Sin when out of the party of the final 4) is he is very tired, and wants nothing to do with you.

tbh that's part of the reason I'm fascinated with him, is in a whole party full of spunky/quirky anime youngsters who have Psychic powers, martial arts, laser canons, ninja powers, etc. (the oldest being Masaru who's usually hc'd at 25 years old for the meme).... there's just. A guy. Maybe late 30s/early 40s. With a gun.

People joke about Masaru being the Straight Man (which is true to some extent), but I feel like he handles the weirdness a bit better than Sundown does, just on account of his adaptable nature. If Mad Dog's reaction to O. Dio's true form was any indication, supernatural stuff is... Not normal for their time period. So I think Sundown is much more the Straight Man in the DoH just cuz he stands out so much from everyone else. (not that he isn't silly in his own way... he's based on Clint Eastwood ffs lol)

...and I wrote all of this text without even getting to my headcanons, so if that isn't any a warning for how much I can ramble about him at length, then let this cut should tell you. (you asked, sorry not sorry lol)

So warning in advance, there's gonna be a teeny bit of overlap with Mad Dog hcs on some of these because of how much the two intertwine with each other. They kinda come as a package deal.

Some of my hcs you've probably seen in this comic. Most notably; not just the survivor's guilt, but also in the panic of the raid on the town and the flurry of using the Hurricane Shot, he's not entirely sure if he only shot the invading bandits. :( He worried he might have gotten some townsfolk in there too. (Mostly illustrated on pages 5-6 when all the figures kinda blend together)

At the time I made the comic I thought it was just a theory that he'd placed the bounty on himself, I somehow missed the fact that it was canon. But the fact that it is canon definitely drives home both the survivor's guilt, and him fearing death despite having a death wish. (There's much easier ways to off yourself homie, you don't gotta have a bizarre death ritual with randos obsessed with fame and glory... </3)

On the earlier topic, he might not so much be bad with kids, as he is... blunt. He doesn't sugar coat stuff, and he's probably very hands-off. If he really was the respected sheriff of [Unnamed Town], he probably had some experience with kids in the past, but I suspect between the trauma and some degree of wanting to keep everyone else safe, he's cold and aloof on purpose. He was probably more sociable before The Incident. (Much like a certain blond knight)

But he does work well with others in the DoH and is brief but polite to everyone, even the younger characters. (I cry every time he says "thanks" or "sorry" when another party member heals him... TT0TT)

All that aside, some of the more domestic hcs:

• I think Sunny is very skilled at sewing!! Living out in the wilds and not having access to new clothes very often/if at all means he had to get good at repairing his own clothes. And between sleeping out under the stars and the bullet holes, he has plenty of practice... (MD called him girly for it once, and with a completely straight face, Sunny said "Why do you think being self-sufficient is inherently feminine...?". MD never mentioned it again.)

• The trade-off however is that he's... Not an amazing cook. Everything is either eaten raw or roasted over a fire, and he doesn't have a ton of access to spices and herbs in the wilds... Very utilitarian in his cooking methods.

• That ties into the next point; the dude's got a cast iron stomach. If the guy can canonically down an infinite number of glasses of milk (LONG after most adults develop lactose intolerance), the guy can eat pretty much anything. Including whatever rattlesnakes (and cactus) he found to eat.

• Sunny is probably a very skilled dancer! If for no other reason other than dodging bullets for years lmao. MD catches a glimpse once. Sunny looks him dead in the eyes and says "No one will ever believe you."

• I've already discussed this, but Sunny probably used to be left-handed, and either due to societal necessity or an injury, he became ambidextrous!

• Now that I'm thinking about it actually, I drew Young Sundown in the comic with much less facial hair to just make him look younger... But it actually makes sense that between the depression (and possibly self loathing), he kinda uses the facial hair as like... A mask? Like, so he doesn't have to see himself in a way? (I might be reading too much into it, the OG art does show he shapes his scruff and it's not completely unkempt, so maybe it started as Depression Scruff, and he just shaves it as best he can with a knife lol)

• I used to hc that he didn't name his horse because he didn't want to get attached. (He just calls it Horse) But after talking to another Really Cool Wild West Artist in the JP fandom, it's not impossible that he could have had the same horse the entire time... So that's not a hill I need to die on lol.

• For obvious reasons, he's a hard guy to get to laugh. If he does, it's usually wry and understated. But on the rare occasion he does genuinely laugh, he's more inclined to stifle it at first, more out of habit than anything else. It takes a lot to get him rolling in the aisles.

...But that's getting into BBFF territory, which is a whole 'nuther post, and definitely not something I have rambled about at length and stored on a hidden discord server.

AND that's not talking about my Mad Dog hcs......

-gripping you anon- Do you see why I am in hell.

#live a live #anon ask #answers #not art #long post #the sundown kid

[lord-of-the-ducks]

Ok so I already made a brief post about the scene about halfway through s5e5 between Guillermo and his mother, and I tacked on an edit about potentially expanding my thoughts into a full length post, but I’m gonna be honest, when I wrote that I did so with the expectation that it would be yet another thing that I would say that I’m totally gonna do without ever getting around to it. Now it’s barely an hour later and I still can’t get it out of my fucking head and so I need to speak my thoughts into the void in hopes of getting validation from strangers on the internet.

I’m gonna put this all below the cut, both because of potential spoilers and some sensitive topics like religious trauma and queerphobia, but also because I know this is going to be long and I don’t want to clog up people’s dashboards.

Okie dokie let’s get into it

I was vague on purpose about The Scene I would be discussing above just in case anyone who hadn’t seen the episode accidentally stumbled on this, but just to clarify, I’m specifically referencing the scene after Guillermo’s family has left and it’s just him and his mom. I hesitate to say that it’s the most emotionally heart wrenching scene in the entire series, but it’s in the top 5 at the very least.

However, I just want to laser focus in on the moment where Sylvia puts the crucifix around Guillermo’s neck. Right after she notices it missing from Guillermo’s neck, she immediately goes to give him another one, because he “needs” it. I wanted to point out that phrase in particular, because it’s not that she would feel better if he wore it, it’s entirely for Guillermo’s benefit.

This reminds me of a particular quote from Dracula, where it’s really beginning to set in that Jonathan is a prisoner, and he thinks back to one of the villagers who gave him a crucifix:

“Bless that good, good woman who hung the crucifix round my neck! for it is a comfort and a strength to me whenever I touch it. It is odd that a thing which I have been taught to regard with disfavour and as idolatrous should in a time of loneliness and trouble be of help. Is it that there is something in the essence of the thing itself, or that it is a medium, a tangible help, in conveying memories of sympathy and comfort?”

I bring this up because in the scene between Sylvia and Guillermo, the crucifix serves less as a Christian symbol, and more as a demonstration of Sylvia’s love for her son. It’s even stated that it used to belong to Guillermo’s grandmother, giving it even more of an explicit connection to familial bonds. Hell, even in Dracula, Jonathan is told to wear the crucifix for his mother’s sake. I didn’t really need to quote Dracula to make this point, but I’m gonna be honest, I thought it was pretty cool how in both of these instances, any specific powers a crucifix might have aren’t ascribed to a divine being, but a more motherly power.

And all of that would be nice and cool, but unfortunately, What We Do In the Shadows has gone with the specific brand of lore where crucifixes are a vampire weakness, meaning that this symbol of motherly love is actually harmful for him. Watching the scene where Sylvia puts it around Guillermo’s neck, I honestly got chills, because you know that Sylvia is doing it for entirely altruistic reasons. However, the way the scene was shot combined with Guillermo’s reaction were a lot more brutal, and I just remember thinking how much it looked like he was being strangled. And then once it’s on his neck, they both turn to look in the mirror, and Sylvia is lovingly rubbing Guillermo’s back, and Guillermo is trying to smile even though he’s very visibly in pain. 

Like I said in my original post, I do kinda wish we got badass dhampir!Guillermo who is immune to crucifixes and other vampire repellents, and I actually thought that the moment Sylvia put the crucifix around Guillermo’s neck would be the moment that this superpower would be revealed to Guillermo and the audience. I’m gonna be honest though, I cannot imagine a better way to visualize the idea of genuinely believing that you are helping someone, when in actuality you’re hurting them. 

Here’s the part where you can stop reading if you’d like, because we’re about to enter the territory of “Red starts projecting their own issues onto Guillermo and calling it media analysis”, aka, “the part that is way too long”. I considered making all of this it’s own post, but it felt relevant to the ideas expressed in the scene I just discussed, and also I kinda just don’t feel like it. I hope other people can relate, but it’s purely my subjective feelings, and I’m not gonna pretend that this is universal. And if you’re someone who knows me in real life and you already made it this far uh... you are allowed to keep reading, but if you say anything about this to me in conversation I will actually die of embarrassment.

I found myself wondering a bit about what the crucifix scene was specifically a metaphor for, since Guillermo has already come out of the closet in season 4 (and also admitting that he wants to be a vampire), and his family loved him unconditionally. This is arguably a bit silly on my part, since the entire point of that kind of metaphor is that it doesn’t have to mean anything specific, it can represent a lot of things to a lot of people. 

Which is why I’m gonna spend the rest of this post talking about how I think Guillermo’s vampire transformation is a metaphor for transgenderism because nobody can stop me.

I am not the first person to read Guillermo as a trans adjacent character, and people who are way smarter than me have made some fantastic posts about why he might be particularly relatable to a trans audience. I never particularly related to Guillermo for that reason (actually that’s a big fat lie I absolutely related to Guillermo because of my own angst about being in the closet) and I never thought of Guillermo as a trans character or a trans allegory until the start of the season 5, when I drew a connection between Guillermo going through Changes that would hopefully bring him closer to his ideal form and the fact that I personally just started taking HRT in early June. I never really had a reason to make any posts about it, since most of the connections I was making were pretty flimsy, and it was hard to make any actual arguments besides “it’s my comfort show and I get to choose the coping mechanisms”.

Then episode 5 came in with the steel chair.

My body is changing. A lot of it is barely noticeable, but it’s happening, and I know from hours of research that it’s going to be a lot more difficult to hide as a go along. And as dramatic as it might seem, I’m beginning to ask myself if there are people who I might never speak to again as a result. For the most part, I live my day to day life as Red, but there are people who still know me by my dead name because I purposely haven’t given them any reason to believe otherwise. Sometimes I feel like I’m being unfair by never allowing people to make up their own mind about my transition,  but it’s terrifying to imagine how drastically people’s opinion of me might change if they knew The Truth about me. 

Which is why Guillermo’s interactions with his family hit really close to home, because it’s clear that he loves them and they love him. But he’s turning into a vampire, and they’re vampire hunters. And it’s only a matter of time before that causes some serious problems. It’s entirely possible that he could tell them that he’s a vampire and it goes as well as when he came out the first time, but when the worst case scenario is having a stake driven through your heart, sometimes it’s better to just disappear, and leave them with memories of the person they thought they knew.

The crucifix scene in particular struck a cord with me, because so much of the time, people have done things that hurt me, and they have absolutely no idea how much they’re hurting me, because I don’t want to know how much they’re hurting me. Part of it is because I’ve convinced myself that any suffering I experience is worth it if I’m the only one suffering, but another part is that the only thing that scares me more than the pain is that if I tell them how much it hurts, they’ll do it anyway.

Letting go is hard though. Something I didn’t notice the first time I watched the crucifix scene is that after Guillermo leaves the apartment, Sylvia makes a comment to Miguel about how it’s the third time this month that he’s come to make that grand goodbye, and how he’ll probably be back again next week. I don’t really have anything to add to that to be honest, Guillermo loves his mom and will always love his mom and you just know that he’s gonna come up with any excuse to see her “just one last time”.

OK ANGST OVER. Wow, I honestly didn’t know I was about to get that depressing but that’s what happened so... I hope y’all enjoyed, and maybe it’s time to explain what tumblr is to my therapist

#wwdits #wwdits spoilers #what we do in the shadows spoilers #wwdits s5 #guillermo de la cruz

[sirfrogsworth]

Just got back from the movie. The theater was in the middle of this hipster village type deal. Trendy shops and a wine bar.

I walked into the Alamo Drafthouse and the people at the front just kinda looked at me as I walked by. I had my ticket ready on my phone, but no one scanned it or looked at it. I don't know if it is always like that, but maybe next time I should try not buying a ticket and see what happens.

The large format fancy theater was as far away from the entrance as possible. I should have brought my cane. But I made it okay. It was indeed large and fancy. The seats were very comfortable and had electric reclining. There was also a button to summon a waiter which felt very high tech. And he would duck down super low as he walked in front of everyone. He looked like a penguin scurrying along. I ordered a pizza and it showed up just in time for the movie. It was pretty tasty.

The video quality was fine. I honestly didn't see a huge difference with the 4K laser projector, but the large screen was nice. I might be spoiled by my fancy HDR, 2000 nit TV. Projection just can't do that.

The front audio was much better than the last theater. Very clear voices. But the bass was a little boomy. Unfortunately I think they calibrate the audio for when there are more people there. 100+ humans in a space add a lot of absorption and diffusion. But there were maybe 8 people total and there wasn't anything to suck up the bass.

The Atmos was not even noticeable except in one or two scenes. That was disappointing. Atmos was one of the main reasons I chose that theater. I don't know if they skipped getting a Dolby calibrator or something. The side speakers were audible, but the ceiling speakers never made themselves known. Not even in the thunderstorm scene.

The ceilings were extremely high, so I'm wondering if the speakers were just too far away. Inverse square law would dictate they would need a lot of power and volume to cover that distance. This is probably why Dolby officially certifies theaters and this wasn't one of them.

This is what a front speaker in a theater looks like. There are usually at least 3 of them. Bigger spaces might do an array of 6--all behind the screen.

That is 7 feet tall, 200 pounds, and takes 3000 watts of power.

And you'll usually have 3 of these dual 18" subwoofers.

These beasts require 4000 watts of power and are also 200 pounds.

A typical theater Atmos speaker is like this.

About 30 inches tall and handles 350 watts.

All of those speakers have to cover about the same distance. Meaning the ceiling speakers were at a major size and power disadvantage.

So I think the theater was too big and too tall for Atmos to work effectively. You probably have to trade off a big screen or good sound. I'm going to try an official Dolby theater next time to see the difference.

The movie itself was okay. Maybe a 6 out of 10. A few good laughs, some fun action, but the humor was very hit and miss.

Now, I'm not just saying this because they are a creep, but Ezra is just... a lot. They do their funny jokey thing and it gets old very fast. It was okay when they were a side character, but when they are leading a movie, it fizzles. And then there is a second Ezra in the movie and they do the funny jokey thing turned up to 11.

Way too much Ezra.

But then Michael Keaton enters and he's just fantastic. I got such a rush of nostalgia from the 1989 Batman. That was probably my favorite movie for a good 3 years. 8 year old me was so happy to see my first Batman again. They even forced him to do some super cringe fanservice lines--and he nailed them.

He was like, "I'm going to take this bullshit line and make it awesome. Because I'm the goddamn Batman."

And Sasha Calle as Supergirl was also excellent. Though she was very underutilized. But if they can keep her, I think she could be a fan favorite.

The big complaint about The Flash has been the CGI. And I would say 75% of the CGI was great. There was a reveal of the Batwing that looked stunning. Supergirl flying was great. The vehicles were great. All of the invisible effects like backgrounds and set extensions were flawless. There was a big car chase that looked decent. There were plenty of top notch VFX in this movie. And I think the artists should be proud of those.

The stuff that didn't work was mostly just because the situations were unrealistic or the art direction was poorly done or they just didn't spend enough time polishing the effect.

When they animated Micheal Keaton doing jumpy flippy ninja moves, it didn't sell perfectly. And the speed and power of the Kryptonions was not nearly as well done as in Man of Steel.

But I know why people said the CGI was terrible. Though I don't actually think it was the CGI that was bad. I'm pretty sure they just made a poor aesthetic choice. Flash goes into the Speedforce and they cleary wanted to make it trippy and otherworldly. I don't think they were going for photorealism. I think they intentionally wanted everything to be in the uncanny valley. Unfortunately the style they chose looked more like a video game.

They were trying to do a Dr. Strange type effect and it just didn't work. It ended up being more... Lawnmower Man.

The only truly terrible effects were CG renders of people they couldn't get to do proper cameos because they were fired or were dead. Usually you need a 3D scan to do a CG double and it's hard to do that on dead people. The best was Admiral Tarkin in Rogue One, but they spent months and months on that.

CG Henry Cavill was probably the worst effect in the entire film and I'm guessing that really pissed people off.

The Flash running also looked bad, but that was 100% because Ezra Miller runs like a goof.

I have no idea why they run like that, but it looks so dumb and ruins the speed effect. Like, if you took them out and put someone running normally into the effect, it would have looked super neat.

And the only other VFX that didn't quite work was these slow motion falling babies. They looked photorealistic, but something about animating a falling baby in slow motion did not look right. Again, I don't think this was bad CGI. I think it was just a visual that was impossible to make realistic.

I know that sounds like a lot of bad effects, but that was every bad effect out of 2000+ total. Maybe 15 shots out of those 2000 were memorably bad. But the bad shots are always the most memorable and I guess that is why you don't hear folks talking about all of the flawless ones.

If you do see this movie and you haven't heard Kevin Smith's Superman story, you definitely should watch that first. Because the best gag in the movie will go over your head otherwise.

Sooooo, yeah... that was my night at the movies. On the drive there I got to see the Arch and downtown and it was beautiful. And on the drive home, Google decided to take me through every spooky ass neighborhood in St. Louis at midnight.

FUN!

#long post

[spectorcsm]

AvA6 EP1 SPOILERS

Alright peeps I'm joining in this chaos and you should all fear me This post has no plan or path this is just a ramble analysis of things I notice in the new episode so :D

EXPECT MAJOR SPOILERS, PLEASE WATCH THE EPISODE FIRST ^-^

Ok so like first off guys- maybe like- don't fire your glitch weapons in the middle of a crowded city?? This seems like a bad idea?? You guys are worse than the Avengers when it comes to collateral damage smh

Ok but Chosen stopping mid-chase to save that civilian by destroying the debris really goes to show how he's improved as a character, this guy went from destroying Alan's PC, to rampaging various sites with Dark, and now to this. Glad to see him as a proper hero now :D

I'm happy to see the ice powers coming back cuz after that one time he froze the Firefox I thought they just forgot about it lol

Chosen is Zeus now Also he just like creates a glacier 2 seconds later cool

Also quick shoutout to Alan's Desktop organization He has come a long way

I find it funny how much everyone focused on this clip in the trailer especially, like "Oh no does Orange get mad at Alan again?? Is this related to Vic???" and the reality of it is "lol wanna fight me guys?" "Sure sounds fun :D" Alan you have bamboozled us again

I find this moment rather interesting So after Alan pulls up the thingy and sends them all flying then crashing down, Red appears to be acting like they hurt their head and Yellow notices and crawls over to see if they're ok (Awwwijascsdhljw) but as soon as they do Red just punches em?? However then Yellow puts their hands up in a way almost to be like "whoa whoa it's just me" and then Red accepts the comfort. Idk I just find it interesting, like Red is still in fight-mode after the sparring match and doesn't quite register that it's Yellow touching them at first XD

Chosen: "COME ON DO IT, DO THE EYE THING" Orange: "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT IDK HOW TO DO THAT" Chosen: "YES YOU DO JUST DO IT, LIKE THIS:" Orange: "AAAAAAAAA" *Tries to do laser-eyes with every ounce of focus they have*

Red: "uhhh are they ok-" Green: "Maybe you should stop them?" Blue: "yeahhh maybe-" Yellow: "Hmm, yes. Interesting"

Chosen: "UGH FORGET IT YOU'RE COMING WITH ME" Sticknapping 101

Aight but like where did this guy (Btw I'll call him Striker cuz that name was going around and it's cool) get this stuff? Has their group attacked a Desktop before and managed to steal enough UI to make this guy OP? Cuz he uses a lot of really crazy stuff during this fight and I can't help but wonder what poor animator woke up just to find the entire UI on their software missing lol

I love how Chosen really just pulls the "Throw the kid in the pool to teach them how to swim" on Orange and his powers here lol Then to Chosen's surprise it does not work "Aw shoot the kid is drowning now I gotta save them smh"

YEAHHHH ART POWERS Ok but actually though I find it interesting how differently the Pencil tool works outside a Desktop, like usually Orange like speed-draws the whole entire thing but out here it's like Ah yes, line scribble = E e l I mean it actually kinda makes sense, in the 3D world it'd be really difficult to draw anything really so the Pen just changes function a bit based on the environment

Poor Green does not enjoy climbing it seems :(

This guy can forever one-up everything "Ok but have you beat up a shark with your bare hands and won?

Ok but this guy's style is just like tribal or primitive and it's honestly pretty cool I have no clue what to call them though so that's up to the rest of the fandom to decide ':D

Also someone else on a different site suggested the name "Warnman" for this guy cuz he looks like the typical hazard sign guy who's always showing the dreadful things that will happen if you don't obey the sign and I think the name fits so Warnman is honestly my favorite of these guys just cuz of how wacky they are lol

Also this guy has to be like Anime Stick or something I do not understand this dude at all but they're sick

Let it be known that Warnman is canonically 2D

Dude how much charge do those electro-bullets hold if that thing is STILL zapping Chosen This poor guy Also the way Striker fights throughout this whole scene is so cool

I find it interesting and I think Alan pointed out in the reaction video (really funny btw you should go watch that too) That Striker is totally just messing with them before that, like sure he probably has to be close to the target to use the Pause attack but I like to think he was enjoying the fight before that and is only just doing it now cuz he's bored lol

Aight so the Rocket Group is the one hunting Chosen I wanna know though- why Chosen specifically? Are they just after all Hollowheads with the powers or is it just Chosen they want? Maybe they're after all of them but Chosen is the only one with a super known presence? Also who are these guys?? They seem to be just some independent group but do they hold any sort of actual authority over Stick City? Man I have so many questions

How do you pause fire-? Does it still burn? I assume not cuz I think it woulda burned the guys bringing him by now Man that's wacky but cool Also another question here is like, is that white box a containment unit or some sort of display case? I'm thinking more along the lines of containment but like he's already paused and they left the door open I think??

Aight now we're getting to the theory-fuel Why are they studying all this UI? Where'd they get this UI? Why do all these sticks look exactly the same??? Like I get that it's just supposed to represent a large group of workers and stuff but they are all exactly the same shade-

A h a A h a a a . . . VICTIM???? VIC MY GUY WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE HOW ARE YOU ALIVE?? LIKE I GET YOU'RE PROBABLY MAD AT ALAN LIKE KILLING YOU AND ALL BUT WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH CHOSEN AND EVERYONE?? I have many questions Also I am wondering if all the UI decor in his office is just art or what, are they trophies maybe? They probably had to get the UI for Striker's setup somewhere, did they raid Desktops before? Are those trophies from animators he's beaten? Man Idk but this is so interesting My final take on the episode: AAAAAAAAAAAAAA LET'S GOOO AvA 6 HYPEEE :D

#ava 6 spoilers #animator vs animation #alan becker #reaction #analysis #ramble :D #I am so excited for the rest of this series #These sticks are better than all of cinema you can never prove me wrong

[collegetennisoriginstory]

OK. UM. first of all, hiiii! <3 ok lemme just gush a lil bit:

1. I LOVE UR FIC OHMYGOD HOLY SHIIIIIIIT

2. god, i don't even have the slightest idea of how tennis works, but this is just so????? like?????? you know. and i kinda get how the play goes?? YOU'RE AN AMAZING WRITER GOSH.

3. i actually remembered most of the characters?? considering there's a lot of em, this is practically a miracle. again, you're goddamn amazing. i dont know how. maybe the pace is great, but definitely THE CHARAS ALL HAVE PERSONALITY/DEPTH??? like, i actually even remembered the side charas!!! mike, thalia, diego, felix, that cool ass girl in that shooting game, etc. umh just perfecto.

4. THE TENNIS MATCHES ALL FEEL SO SATISFYING!!! <3333333 omg. i feel like WUOOOOOH u know. i feel so cool playing a cool talented mc omg im loving it (i play a i-win-everything type of mc becuz im a perfectionist with a fear of failure) the matches me on edge in my seat oh gosh <3 and when u win it somehow just go WOOOOOOOH again!!! AAAAAA<3

5. aw, and of course, my beloved rivals to lovers rayyan <3333 *sigh* the slowburn.... (hes actually my first & only one. i go: ohhh tension!?!? and make a run for it. um, if it's ok to ask, is there a lot of content in the romance area as of now or in the future? like, replayability in terms of romance? im sorry if this is rude, i didnt mean to, i suck at words & i wont ask that again.)

6. FOUND FAMILY YAY! FOUND FAMILY YAY! <33333 (we genuinely lack those in the if community pls.) soulmates w/ sam. ride or die diego. very reluctant ride or die G (imma be honest, his name is just so hard so my head for some reason just go Guacamole 😭). aww tobin u very big cinammon roll ill protect u. shenanigans. & others too many to name honestly.

7. help this is just so good i had to force myself to sleep at 3am for a 7am lecture and i sat in the front rows and i put my head on the table and the fricking professor called me out ohmygod- BUT IT WAS WORTH IT GODDAMN!! ILL DO IT AGAIN IF I HAVE TO! HA! i cant wait for the next update- i'm gonna have this fic in my head for the next week oh pls noooooo. (no pressure tho. u do u author! take ur time!!! ill be here to support u, whoo!)

8.ALL IN ALL, I LOVE IT I LOVE THIS I LOVE EVERYONE I LOVE YOU AUTHOR *runs over & hug you w/ consent* <333333333333

ok. um. that's not it but if i continue it's literally gonna be an essay so i'll stop.

author. i will die for this fic. ahaahahahah. if i may ask, what's ur fav IFs? (i really, really love this one so im kinda hoping maybe u have similar taste in IFs eheh. again, im sorry if this comes as rude or insensitive.) oh uh & if my long rambles bother u, i won't send it again sorry.

<333 okok. take care of urself, dont forget to eat healthy, drink water & good sleep. have a nice day :D

Wait. I think I might have missed replying to this I am so sorry!!! It gave me so so much joy. Maybe I subconsciously did not want it to leave my inbox haha.

1. And 2 -> THANK YOU!

3. Gosh this is such a great thing to hear. There are a looot of characters, and I definitely worry sometimes that it gets to be too much, but I think the IF is getting long enough for me to give enough-ish screentime to each character... though it takes me a while to cycle back to different side characters. I cant believe you remembered the cool ass girl in laser tag! :)

4. AWESOME to hear! 🥰

5. Yup, being a character driven IF, there will be a lot of romance (or friendship) beats / moments in the IF (which is already true now). The next couple of chapters will follow the same mix of sports, school and romance / hanging out, so you should already have a sense of how much romance there'll be (it'll just keep unfolding / developing for each of the RO routes!)

6. Hehe found family is my fave trope to insert in stories as well.

7. Hahaha aww oh no fictional college life is catching up to your real college life!!

8. HUG YOU BACK (with consent)!!🤗🤗

#ct:os #college tennis: origin story #if #interactive fiction #asks #rayyan #tobin #g #sam

[starlightshore]

What projects are you currently working on? Both Undertale/Deltarune related and not related.

i got my hands in a lot of things always LOL

lots of stuff under the cut

Undertale / Deltarune

Fangames I Co-direct

- Fallen Fates - Undertale Prequel Full Fangame (?)

Fallen Fates is an Undertale Prequel that aims to follow the "What if you got to play as Chara when they originally fell into the Underground?"

Status: LONG Hiatus. Stuck on concept development as the lead project head is busy with his career. Hopefully, we can jump-start development soon! But we're not fully sure WHAT type of game it'll be. So despite being an old project, it's been rebooted and on hold. That said the team really does want to make this game regardless of how long it takes.

- Sensational Studio's Underswap - Undertale AU Full Fangame

An Underswap fangame that isn't what it seems... it aims to be an exciting re-imagining of Undertale with some Deltarune inspiration.

Status: VERY active development. While not publically discussed, the game has been in stead development this whole time.

- Alteration - Undertale AU (I'm a writer, NOT co-director)

On hold as the project lead is writing a draft. I help with the world-building and concept art. Not much I can say on this one as it's been rebooted.

My Projects

- Angel's Lullaby - Undertale Prequel Full Fangame

An ambitious Prequel that aims to be a "next console (DS) style prequel" that covers the Human and Monster War. Following a new protagonist, a Zombie, who is stuck between both sides of the conflict. Use your unique abilities to form a party and decide which side you'll join. Explore the Island of Monsters and uncover their past and secrets. Can you stop the war?

Status: MESSY. Ok so like. This is my fault 100%. We've switched engines MULTIPLE times and that meant re-coding things every time. Outside the battle system, the game's systems are 90% done. Cutscenes, dialogue, menus, save system, etc. So it's CLOSE to becoming a demo but I simply have been burnt out + don't have much time in the day to work on this. However, I DO think I'll keep working on this as the gameplay is fresh and exciting, and my love for the characters are coming back.

- NightFell - Underfell AU Full Fangame

Jackie is just a regular human teenager who stumbles upon a gateway into hell. There, they'll face the monsters who live on Mt.Crown and are stuck here. There's only one rule in this place: Kill or Be Killed!

A very different take on Underfell, that aims to place the Undertale cast and push them into an Underfell society instead of them having always been in one.

This is honestly my favorite project. It's built on the ideas I developed from a canceled fangame called Spookytale, with permission from Jevil to continue the concepts. My most favorite OC ever, Pumpkin, is in this game. While I am waiting for the DR engine my friend Lasers and I are working on to be made first, Nightfell is honestly the least ambitious and most fun game to make. While the story is a rough draft, it's the most complete. I ADORE this game. I'm so excited to make it.

- Fallen Royalty / New Royals - A webcomic / Video game Combo

An Everybody Lives AU that aims to take a hard look to what it'd be like to actually be resurrected. Deals with the themes of growing up, moving past trauma and accepting a second chance at life.

Originally an askblog from 5 years ago, Fallen Royalty is a rebooted comic that I work on. It has a video game adaption, New Royals, as well as video-game segments for the sidestories. Kinda stuck in development at the moment, as I got [redacted] to work on. But the newest Sidestory, DOWN, is in development and should be out soon-ish.

This is my magnum opus, my love letter to Undertale. I have to make a version of this story that's complete and to my best of writing. The tumblr askblog version, while finished, is missing chunks of the story. Follow me at @askfallenroyalty to see it's development

Danny Phantom

- Electrical Undead - my default AU full of headcanons.

In short here are the main ones: Danny has an electrical/light core + full inverted colorscheme + No clones, Ellie is an AU counterpart instead + Nonbinary Sam and trans Danny + sentient portal

- Lingering Spirits - Farmboy!Danny + Nobody Knows AU

When the weird new kid, Danny, moves into town, strange incidents begin to occur. Ghostly sightings, unexplained phenomena, danger around every corner... Can Sam and Tucker get to the bottom of it before the whole town breaks into chaos?

A Horror AU with an angsty, bitter Danny. When his parents are taken during the portal accident, Danny and Jazz move in with Aunt Alicea. After an incident, the family moves to Amity.

So basically: Fallen Royatly is my main thing. SS will require me every few weeks to work on things. FF and NF are on hold. Angel's is in development, typically worked on every Monday but has been on hold since I moved. When I'm burnt out on working on Undertale stuff, I'll work on Danny Phantom stuff. I always have something going on so I keep myself active.

#personal stuff #sams replies #my projects

[mychoombatheroomba]

Things I Love About the Shitty Live Action Resident Evil Movies

So, it was my birthday recently and my roommates asked if I wanted to do anything fun. My response, of course, was to suggest getting drunk and watching the live action Resident Evil movies and like, damn, I love those stupid ass movies so much. So I wanted to make a really dumb (and lengthy) post about the goofy things I like, whether for legit or meme reasons.

Y'all, I know they're bad, that is, in fact, why I love them.

1 - The opening is genuinely kinda freaky, like, the elevator scene? Oof, well done suspense

2 - Michelle Rodriguez. That's it, that's the post.

3- The LASER ROOM - so iconic they used it in the games. The first movie came out in 2002, RE4 then used the laser room in 2005, like, y'all, they took that from the goddamn movie, that's how much of a vibe it was

(And honestly, just the Red Queen in general, what an absolute icon, love that her appearance changes in every movie she's in)

4 - Alice is the most fanfic Mary Sue character I've perhaps ever seen on-screen, and I love that for her. Look at her kicking this zombie dog in the face, it's hilarious

5 - Pretty game-accurate costuming? I can dig it

6 - They're gay, your honor

7 - Bad CGI on the Licker, I would expect nothing less

8 - Alice is at her most powerful when she finds a white bathrobe just lying around somewhere

9 - Raccoon City gets destroyed in the course of, like, a day if I'm understanding the timeline right. Like, first infection to nuking the city seems to be about 24 hours. Incredible.

10 - Leon fucking wishes he was Alice, miss ma'am out here driving motorcycles into buildings and then launching them at a monster just to shoot it and blow it up.

(Special mention for another "they're gay, your honor"

11 - You'd think the kid they have to rescue from Raccoon City is Sherry, wouldn't you? An Umbrella scientist's daughter who the gang have to save? NOPE it's Angela Ashford. Not to be confused with the game's Alexia Ashford. Is it an easter egg? A botched cameo? IDK bro, you think they know the lore?

12 - "GTA MOTHERFUCKER" - LJ, before running over a zombie

13 - THEY GAVE NEMESIS A REDEMPTION ARC??? Incredible (not before making him and Alice fist-fight each other)

14 - Keeping with RE tradition, the helicopter almost always crashes.

15 - They just decided, fuck it, let's give Alice superpowers. Also the stupid Umbrella eyes, literally whenever they come up.

16 - The third movie is just Mad Max and Fallout: New Vegas merged together. Also the way they say the whole earth withered and died but later movies very clearly show flora still alive

17 - Why is Jorah Mormont from Game of Thrones here? WHY IS JOHNNY CAGE FROM MORTAL KOMBAT 1995 HERE???

Also why does Wesker look a little like Eminem to me in the third movie?

18 - The amount of just, like, "hey, this monster/character was in the games, let's just put them in the movie anywhere!"

19 - Carlos gets one of the only satisfying death scenes for a named character from the games. And by that I mean he gets one of the only on-screen death scenes for a named character from the games. Slay, king.

20 - Why does the Tyrant look like that?

21 - The army of Alice clones were blonde originally, but all went out and dyed their hair together between movies and I think that's cute.

22 - The timeline is so fucked up, I don't think they even knew how long was supposed to pass between the movies

23 - The way they shoehorned Chris in so bad that, as a kid, I thought he had no importance and they just wanted to give Claire a character to help her with her amnesia (also, Claire having amnesia). The Redfields do get to shoot the shit out of Wesker at the end though, good for them.

24 - THEY'RE GAY, YOUR HONOR

25 - The Executioner from RE5 just like, is in Los Angeles for some reason?

26 - This shot of Wesker.

27 - Wesker takes Alice's powers away in the beginning of the 4th movie, then at the end of the 5th movie he reinfects her with the T-Virus so she can be a superhuman again and just like, bud, you're wildin'. Also it's mentioned in the 3rd movie that Alice's blood could be the cure, and that she could synthesize it once the Tyrant is dealt with? But she doesn't? She just takes the clones of her in the facility instead of using the equipment to make a cure? I know they cure it in the last movie but like, girlie, you could have tried earlier idk. Fascinating.

28 - The opening credits scene for the 5th movie is actually pretty cool

29 - The rest of the fifth movie . . . whatever those writers were smoking, I want some. I know there's literally an Umbrella base in Antarctica in the game but like, idk, having an underwater base where you have multiple city simulations running for BOW production is so funny to me. They've got clones of Carlos and the whole team from the first movie, a random child Alice adopts, Las Plagas lads on motorcycles, more Executioners, Barry (oh, hi Barry!) and damn I love every terrible minute of it.

30 - "The Leon you ordered from AliExpress"

31 - Li Bingbing as Ada, my beloved

32 - Whatever the hell this fight scene is (I am obsessed with it). The sapphic energy of Jill v Alice. Las Plagas giving you instant superpowers. Michelle Rodriguez beating the shit out of Leon Kennedy (mans draws his knife and immediately gets disarmed, Krauser would be so disappointed). Ada just snoozing in the snow the whole time. Cinema.

The music kinda slaps though.

The second half of this where Michelle gets clocked in the face with a fire extinguisher and just looks offended? Immaculate.

33 - Wesker saying that he, Alice, Jill, Leon and Ada are the last hope for humanity from the roof of the White House. What a team.

34 - AND THEN LEON, ADA AND JILL FUCKING DIE OFF SCREEN BETWEEN MOVIES ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? Peak writing right there.

35 - I have never seen the Final Chapter, but I do know that Claire is the only (known) surviving original RE character. Chris is MIA and everyone else is dead. The lesbians win again.

36 - Also there's a character named K-Mart. No notes.

37 - WESKER GETS KILLED BY A DOOR LMFAO

I cannot say I would recommend these movies without the consumption of alcohol involved. Once that's in the mix? They're a great time.

#Youtube #resident evil #resident evil live action movies #they're like an acid trip

[dirtbra1n]

hihihi tashiro anon here guess who got access to the second years novel :)

do you ever think about how tashiros a natural charmer? to the point kuresawa talks about being hesitant about intruding him to his girlfriend even though he has full trust on him? how him being on a all boys school almost seems like a missed opportunity?

now add this to the way how tashiro struggles with emotions, i think he would be quite obvious when hes involved in anything romance related. only when its his own tho, that boy is way too observant of his surroundings and his friends despite looking like he doesnt think most of the time (which is another interesting point, tashiros own pov reveals another side of his character to you, i think)

i dont know honestly,, i was just thinking about how theres multiple instances of tashiro asking romance related questions to his friends to understand it better, only to get more confused at the explanation. if hanzawa to tashiro ever become real, it probably would have quite a different tone than the other two thanks to our main characters

hihihi tashiro anon CONGRATULATIONS ON THE SECOND YEARS NOVEL sorry I’m late I wanted to finish writing tashiro post before replying to you. as a sort of Gift. but it’s getting long so Here we are

I THINK ABOUT IT. SO MUCH. this is a personal realization I’m having right now that tashiro in his own right has so much magnetism…. so charming so easy to like…… SUCH A GOOD GUY, ALSO…!!!! I actually get really emotional thinking about kuresawa’s narration. just every instance of it. because he really does like and care about his friends and he talks about them in such. AN ENDEARING DEVASTATING WAY……….. but the way he talks about tashiro specifically is such a big beautiful Window (kuresawa’s eyes) to tashiro (and his minute details)

so when you think about That, and think about the night trip they were all on, and tashiro’s first love being Sorry I went back to start rereading this bit and I’m feeling kinda weepy suddenly. kuresawa using a soft tone of voice with miyano and making a concerted effort not to say anything too mean out loud. tashiro shirahama back-and-forth. shirahama fussy about his appearance and working hard at playing stylist. I understood—Tashiro was such a straight shooter with his kind words that you could get a little bashful. also while I’m here Suddenly laser focused in on I wonder if [Shirahama] had a crushing story of first love, too, even if he wouldn’t fess up to it. ha ha. anyway

TASHIRO’S FIRST LOVE no hold on I’m getting distracted again tashiro’s ears perking up when he hears ‘ping-pong’ Auh. whys this guy so cute. and unknowingly passionate Agony! BUT TASHIRO’S FIRST LOVE, THOUGH, GOD. “probably a teacher in elementary school or something” <- non-answer that he came to after thinking about it for-ever. My type is whoever I have a thing for at that particular moment.

I’m just really trying to get at tashiro’s facets lately. he’s so much. a hundred different angles to look at him from.

thinking about hanzawa to tashiro from the outside is so so so much fun. malleable enough to be fruitful in anyone’s hands. as efficient at trapping people as like. a bog pit or something. forces people to really think about and poke and prod at two guys who’ve got a lot more going on than a lot of people give them credit for. tashiro would have been so popular romantically if he was at a coed school but he didn’t go to one. is always asking questions. who could possibly be a better companion in weird love for hanzawa masato than tashiro gonzaburou, who’s also just. so weird about love.

I’d still kill to see harusono’s hanzawa to tashiro. the potential it has for being weird and strangely visceral. Please. please……

#delightful as always to see you tashiro anon…… #askbox #i want to see harusono’s romantic horror chops again…….. so so so so so good……….. Man #this might be all over the place by the way. i was on the train Sorry about that

[bnha-more-like-bnh-gay]

So, for a couple of years now, I've been reading the old X-Men comics of the 70s & 80s, and a few recent issues from '87 have given me a great idea for an AU.

Ready?

Dazzler!Izuku 😀

So, Izuku is born with a quirk that allows him to transform sound into photonic energy. Anything from generating benign blobs of light that move, pulsate, and change color in relation to whatever music he's listening to (tho, this can be weaponized too; during the sludge villain attack, Izuku overwhelms the villain's eyes with a fantastic light show that leaves him catatonic), to concentrating a single, loud noise into a laser beam that deals concussive damage.

Izuku would, of course, gravitate towards Present Mic as a mentor. And he would team up well with Jirou.

So, what do you think?

I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG TO REPLY TO, SCHOOL AND MY MENTAL HEALTH FUCKED ME OVER. I have had half of this in my queue for about 3 months, ya bitch was just burnt tf out 💀

But dude, I absolutely fucking love this 😭😭

Heads up, my knowledge of physics is limited so I’m not going to be talking much about the actual details of his quirk until after I learn more about it, but I hope you enjoy!!!

Izuku who makes physics jokes.

He has shirts with physics puns on them. A shirt that says, “the photon checked into the hotel and was asked if it had any bags, it said, “no thanks, I’m traveling light!”

Reminds me of the time I was dual enrolling and in my psychology class, I said, “I once asked the librarian if she had a book on Pavlov’s dog and Schrödinger’s cat. She said it rung a bell but she wasn’t sure if it was there or not!”

I thought I was so funny, but everyone else hated me.

Izuku is that kid. He does that shit

Inko loves it, she thinks her son is hilarious. Mic loves it. The little lister is so smart! Nezu has a goddamn field day. Aizawa is so tired, but secretly likes the jokes. He face palms every time and acts like it’s the end of the world, but he does like them. Midnight thinks it’s great, she asks izuku for more jokes/puns all the time. Mainly to annoy Aizawa. But still. BRUH, MISS JOKE. SHE LOVES THIS LITTLE SHIT. I honestly feel like all might wouldn’t understand most of them, but he’d love them anyway.

Izuku: I was studying frequencies, but now my brain Hertz.

He accidentally freaks people out the first few weeks in the dorm because they’re not used to it/expecting it.

The number of times mina asks for mood lighting

I really want to drive home that he makes an unholy amount of puns

He doesn’t even try to, it just happens so naturally. Shouto has theorized that it’s a secondary quirk.

You have spoken directly to my soul with mentor mic (and Jirou/izuku friends)

They’d all work so well together though

Mic brings him to Put Your Hands Up Radio not only to work with his quirk, but to help with his nerves

It is no secret that izuku is a nervous lad, but I raise you, mic was also a nervous lad (personal headcanon, but you cannot tell me that lad doesn’t have generalized anxiety)

Mic helps izuku gain some coping mechanisms (or coping mic-anisms if you will (thank you, thank you))

Mic is a nerd, izuku is a nerd, Jirou is cool, but a nerd. Jirou, similar to Aizawa, rolls her eyes at the physics puns, but does she think they’re funny? Yes. Yes, she does. They defends izuku when people mock his puns

Mic couldn’t be prouder of his children

Thank you for the ask! I hope you enjoyed! Sorry it was kinda short 😅

#bnha #mha #midoirya izuku #izuku quirk au #parental present mic #you have spoken to my soul with mentor mic #jirou kyouka #kyouka jirou #izuku problem child midoriya #papa mic #yamadad

[scarletsaphire]

*slams hands on the table* CHALLENGE MODE SAM/EMBER GOOOOO

Sam sat on the sofa, one leg folded under her and the other on the ground. The sofa was uncomfortable, the one that her parent's used for important, stuffy guests they wanted to impress but didn't want hanging around too long. Normally, Sam avoided it, and her parents in general, like the plague, but right now her hard work was finally coming to fruition. She could deal with some minor back pain to watch the fireworks.

"So," Pamela asked, her voice strained and her face frozen in her practiced facsimile of perfection. "How did you and our dear Sammikins meet?"

Ember, who was lounging on the sofa next to Sam with her feet propped up on the expensive coffee table, didn't answer at first. She was busy picking something out of her teeth with her finger. It took Pamela clearing her throat two separate times for Ember to answer her, and that was mostly because Ember had finished getting whatever it was free. Sam was glad her parents had hammered in how to keep a perfectly pure smile on her face from such a young age; Ember was playing her part magnificently, and Sam needed to act none the wiser.

"Oh, I like, mind controlled her whole school. And most everyone else in the town," Ember answered. "Surely you've heard of me. I went through a lot of effort for everyone to remember my name." Ember gestured to the guitar laying across her lap. Sam elbowed her in the side. Despite the fact that it didn't hurt (Sam had seen Ember get thrown through multiple walls before. Sam might have been strong, but she wasn't that strong) Ember made a show of rubbing her side. "Aw, babe, what was that for?"

Sam was looking at Ember, but she kept her focus on her parents out of the corner of her eye. She didn't miss their flinch at the pet name, and she had to fight to keep her genuine glee from showing on her face. "You've been hanging out with Danny too much."

"Yea, well, it's your fault for introducing us," Ember said. "Can't blame me for liking him, kids got good taste. He was chasing after you for a while, after all."

Pamela inhaled sharply through her nose. Jeremy's eye twitched. They were small signs, but Sam knew them well. She was wearing down their nerves at record breaking speeds, and she wasn't about to stop now. Not when the plan was working so well.

"Yes, the...Fenton boy," Jeremy said. "Surely, someone of your...status wouldn't be interested in hanging around his type?"

"Oh, you mean cause I'm a ghost?" Ember said. Sam noted the tightening of his grip on the arm chair. "Nah, I've seen the ghost hunters around. I could blow their asses out of the water any day of the week. Honestly, its kind of rude that you think I couldn't. That's like, rule number one of ghosts, y'know? It's kind of like prison, if prison was cool and came with laser beams. Survival of the fittest and all that jazz."

Pamela opened her mouth to speak. If Sam had to guess, it would probably be asking if Ember had ever been in prison; she wouldn't ask about the ghost stuff where Ember could hear her; not only was her parents still scared of ghosts, they also refused to be considered knowingly rude. At least, to anyone with sway. Ember may be dead, but she was famous, at least around Amity Park. That counted for something in their eyes. Whatever Pamela had to say didn't matter, as Ember swung her feet off of the coffee table and started talking again.

"Speaking of jazz, you got some cool vinyls in here! I'm sure you don't mind if I play some of them? I'm kinda big on music, if you couldn't tell." Ember didn't wait for permission, grabbing one of the records (meticulously hung on the wall to give a semblance of culture and spontaneity to the room. Not that Sam's parents had ever listened to a single one of them; it was all part of posturing.) and slipping it onto the record player.

"Of course." Sam could almost hear the tension in her mom's voice, breaking through her carefully constructed softness. "I'm sure Jeremy will be happy to show you around our collection while I have a word with Sammikins. Out. Side." And there was the teeth clenching fury Sam had been after. She glanced at the grand clock in display on the fireplace mantle. It had barely taken four minutes from Ember's arrival to reach red in the face Pamela. A record by nearly two and a half minutes.

Pamela's fingers locked around Sam's wrist, hard enough to hurt but not hard enough to bruise. Sam struggled, but it was mostly for show. She could break the grip if she wanted to; her mother made it a point to be "feminine" which, to her, meant weak, and Sam was anything but. That wasn't the play here. No, she was following the plan, and the plan had her following. At least for now.

As soon as the door to the formal sitting room was shut behind them, Pamela turned on Sam with all of her carefully hidden fury unmasked. "Just what do you think you're doing, bringing one of those things into our house?" she hissed, not letting go of Sam's wrist.

"First off she's not a thing, mom," Sam replied, slipping venom into her voice. Maybe a bit too much venom, actually. That should be for later. Indignant fury would be better. "And she can hear you. Ghosts have better hearing than we do."

Pamela narrowed her eyes at Sam as if trying to gauge how truthful Sam was being. Finally, she dragged Sam a few doors down. "Do you think it," the pronoun was said with emphasis. "can hear us here?"

"Probably not," Sam lied. "I don't get what the big deal is! You told me that if I was to date someone of my choosing, then they had to be of influence, well known and well liked, and self sufficient! Last I checked, Ember ticked all those boxes."

"I didn't think you would go so far as to coercing with one of those things! Its dangerous and volatile, and dead! I know you are going through the whole spooky dead thing phase, but I thought you'd at least be reasonable enough to draw the line at speaking to one of them. And then you show up saying you're dating one of them?" Pamela dropped Sam's wrist in favor of pacing a small circle in the hallway and wringing her hands together nervously. "It tried to kidnap us! It tried to mind control the whole town! It admitted to it!"

"She," Sam said. Now was the time to add the venom. "is not an it. And how do you know she hasn't changed! It's not like she hurt anyone. It was all just..." One beat, two, three. Just enough to make it seem like she was searching for words. "...ghost fun."

"And what about when it wants to have this 'ghost fun' with you?" Pamela snapped, her voice ever so slightly louder than her normal speaking voice. Perfect. "Please, Sammikins. I'm just trying to look out for you. It isn't safe."

"No, I don't have to listen to this! I love her, mom!" Sam raised her own voice to just barely below a shout. That was the signal. "I love her, and there's nothing you can do about it! I tried to follow all of your dumb rules, and the one person I could find that actually gets me isn't good enough for you!" Sam felt the corners of her eyes prickle. She shifted her focus to meat plants, factory farms, and that one scene from Derrick Disassembled where the android was stripped for melting. The prickle turned to tears. Her mascara would run, but that was the point. It was more dramatic that way. "You can't control who I love, mom! So either let me live my own life without any of these stupid rules, or I'll..." She choked on her words. She needed to make them seem genuine, like this was a difficult decision. Like she wouldn't go back on them. "I'll run away with her! She can take me to the ghost zone, where you won't be able to get between us."

"Samantha Manson!" Pamela practically shrieked. "Think about what you're saying! You'd rather-"

Ember appeared to Sam's side, materializing out of thin air. "I heard yelling," she said, eyes narrowing and flame ponytail burning high enough to singe the ceiling. "Do you wanna get out of here?"

Sam gave one tense nod, before she felt invisibility wash over her. As soon as they were out of ear shot, Sam let her fake sobs turn into real laughter. Ember snickered with her.

"You did good back there! I didn't know ya had it in you!" Ember said after they came to a halt in the airspace above the Manson Mansion.

Sam wiped at the tracks of mascara on her face. "I've had a lot of practice. You did great too. I thought my dad might have an aneurysm."

Ember laughed. "You should've seen him after you left. I was poking around his vases and stuff and dropped one. Didn't break, but I think he was about to."

"Oh yea, that'd do it." Sam grabbed her phone out of her pocket. Already, she had three texts and four missed calls from both of her parents. She turned off the phone. "So, are we calling it a night here, or...?"

"Is there anywhere in this place that does karaoke nights or something?" Ember asked after a moment. "Not that I didn't enjoy this, but I think a proper night out might be nice."

"There's a place I know that does live slam poetry," Sam suggested. "Not quite music, but I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you brought your guitar up with you."

"Sounds good to me."

#danny phantom #danny phantom fanfiction #sam manson #ember mclain #sam manson/ember mclain #ask game #pamela manson #jeremy manson #somber sear

[ferretwhomst]

i have so many thoughts about that last rnm episode and none of them are super coherent- it is like 4am after all. but thought i'd just talk about them before going to bed

(putting them all under the cut because as usual this got uh... Long.)

EVIL MORTY WAS FUCKIN GREAT THIS EP. i have nothing specific to say about him but it was nice to have him just. there. being snarky and sarcastic and annoying. love that guy.

NOT TO MENTION THE BIT OF BACKSTORY WE GOT??? GODDAMN. i know on tumblr we all make a case for traumatized teens who get called fucked up for just... Being Teens..... but i also like when they Are actually that fucked up <3 (<- in evil morty's case he Has His Reasons but STILL. also i do mean this affectionately)

they really had prime say "you're me, except, you know, less." while the mortys were onscreen. damn. that definitely won't go anywhere

the scene with the Diane Orb (???) was so funny. she's trying to kill him and he just stares at her and goes "god, i miss that face" what a sentimental little freak <3 i need to study him

something very !!!!!! about rick calling himself a rascal by the way. "rascal" is like an entire gender identity. something special about it

really like the little alliance between evil morty and morty prime. the Heroic Step and the portal closing on him... me too man i've been there

"IF YOU DIE I'M TAKING YOUR STUFF." space cruiser ai and garage ai should be friends LMFAO. SPINOFF SERIES WHEN!!!!!!1

prime calling c137 "wife guy" was really funny to me for some reason. never gonna get that nickname out of my head and i mean that in the BEST way possible

also "i do miss when it was just us!" literally in agony. they keep dropping hints that c137 and prime were actually associated with each other for at least a short period prior to the incident (unless i'm reading it wrong. idk like i said it's late) and i desperately wish we could see more of their dynamic from BEFORE shit hit the fan

i may have laughed a little too hard at prime's pensive emoji-ass expression during the uncle slow bit

THE MOUTH CHAINSAW MADE ME LOSE MY SHIT HONESTLY. just the sort of fucked up thing prime would do of course but it caught me so off guard

i know everyone expected that prime would hold morty hostage or something (at least judging from the fanart) but honestly? i loved the awkward ass conversation he had with "his" morty. "original grandson! this is super weird, obviously!" like yeah good reminder that all ricks are just. Like That (and by that i mean autistic if that wasn't clear LOOL). prime is a terrifying little bastard and he definitely comes off intimidating in his funny little videos but in a real life unscripted scenario he kinda sucks at improvising and he's so real for that

also SHITTY GRANDPA!!!!!!!!!!

morty trying to shake a clearly battered and bloodied rick awake and the fuckin... laser thing (?) falling away to reveal all his guts lying around was. wow.

"we could be like batman and robin!" "eh. i don't need a robin." GET HIS ASS EVIL MORTY!!! also kinda glad they had prime use the word "sidekick". i know it's supposed to show how little regard he has for mortys but it fits the actual power dynamic between ricks and mortys better than the show insisting that they're Partners when they are Clearly not on equal footing in their relationship. my guy that is a 14 year old boy and his abusive 70 year old grandpa!

"schematic booger-aids" who let this man have a child

god the scene where rick just beat the shit out of prime was so fucking cathartic. the way prime's still spewing insults, laughing horribly in rick's face till the very end. FUCK.

also just. "admit it, you would've been me. i just walked into your garage before you walked into mine! and eventually, you did! YOU LIVED IN MY HOUSE!" i have nothing to say about this, my thoughts are too scattered but know that i'm thinking about it. a lot.

"not exactly an alive amount of blood" have i mentioned how much i love evil morty

FUCKING OBSESSED WITH THE PART AT THE END WHICH DIRECTLY MIRRORED MORTY'S DISSOCIATIVE EPISODE AFTER S1E6. THE SAME SONG TOO. GOD. HARMING ME LIKE THIS!!!!!!

(also side note i actually went back to s1e6 to rewatch that scene at the end, and i think it's funny how much Better the show is at gore now. like. just take one look at the shitty blood spatters on the garage walls in the original scene, and then compare it with any of the gore we've seen for the past couple seasons. it's crazy)

okay i think that's all i have to say for now. um. don't know how i'm supposed to recover from an episode like that but sure

#ferret rambles #rick and morty #rnm #rick and morty spoilers #unmortricken

[octavare]

13 levels of fallout 4 later and this play through is already shaping up to be a disaster

The Commonwealth Defense Agency has been formed. HQ in a shitty house in Sanctuary. We also have a greenhouse but it has no food because I can’t find fertilizer to build planters so all the farmers are just growing shit on raw grass. The whole settlement is covered in US flags and fairy lights.

Mama Murphy is a fuckin freeloader and I can’t assign her to any jobs for some reason. Cecil has told her 50 times to cut the jet but she won’t.

Valentine went swimming in a 50 ft pit of irradiated water. Okay

Valentine also really likes to stand in doorways. Hancock is the opposite and he likes to follow me 500 ft behind despite me being a sniper (I found a laser rifle with a recon scope and it slaps) and refuses to use anything but his dinky shotgun.

Cecil has acquired two RPGs within five minutes and already proceeded to use all ten missiles he had on super mutants, whiffing half of them

Made friends with the funny fellas at Graygarden :) they may end up becoming an army of patriotic murder machines in time but for now they will garden. Also Cecil won a car.

Blew up Kellogg with a fat man. I used alternate start so Cecil has literally no idea who Shaun is btw. He just found a holotape, heard a baby being kidnapped on the other end, and thought “yeah I’ll try to find him I don’t have much better to do—“ now he has something better to do called building his militia. It’s so joever for every other faction.

Hancock refuses to change out of his John Hancock cosplay drip. Honestly it’s growing on me. Kinda based

Once again this game would be soft locked if I was on console because Sonya the eyebot has some of the worst AI I’ve ever seen in a beth game. I miss ED-E. And Boone. I wish someone modded Boone into this game.

I will take suggestions on what to do next because I don’t know this game very well like I do New Vegas and Skyrim.

#mp talks

[lemonhemlock]

I'm probably one of the few who finds the bits we got from Aegon as a character—while "inconsistent", disorganized and tonally a whirlwind—compelling, fascinating and worth inspecting and exploring (and maybe romanticizing and sexualizing :P). And this includes the textual sexual violence, and the heavily implied child sexual assault (whether pedophilic in nature or not aside for now). And though I understand people creating a fanon version expunging these sociopsychologically horrific, and fictionally hard to stomach aspects of his character, I can't say I even want to! I find him compelling because of these aspects, wanting the presentation of it may be for now.

His narrative, arc, symbolism and themes, and not to mention TGC's performance so far, are all just too compelling for me to pass on! Obviously biased, but frankly it's difficult to believe someone would read f&b and not realize the potential of his character and the entailing entertainment... On this note, I do have to say I find the complaints of certain fandom parts (they happen to be Aegon stans, and both team green and team black) about the choice to centre Alicent (both in the narrative and in Aegon's life) pretty disagreeable. It's wack, trite, and bitter. There are clear timeline oopsies and confusions due to the changes, and behind the complaints are genuine arguments to be made for an Update House of The Dragon that could have been, but the game ain't always fair... Just accept you are stanning a minor character, cast villain, stuffed like a pigeon with turkey filling, and eat your 10 minutes of beady eyed screentime. And just make everything about him? When someone takes a sip of wine, it's secretly about Aegon btw. All windows are about Aegon, when they are not about Alicent. Every dragonbond is secretly about Aegon/Sunfyre if you squint hard enough, George told me himself.

I think the major reasons why he comes off as deeply unlikable to the casual viewers (not even addressing the green/black tribalism for now) are due to unflattering framing and POVs that position him as either a gross nuisance, obstacle or clear antagonizing force. Some of this is due to needing certain characters covering certain aspects of a certain themes. How do the royals treat their servants? Good—bad is a big spectrum. Sexual violence is on it, and it happens to fall into Aegon's realm. And while considering the many other unflattering characteristics, u could argue this is overkill or unfair to Aegon, I gotta counter that's a deficient way of looking at fictional narratives. This character-lasered reading misses the forest for the trees. Not every character has to be likeable, relatable, or sympathetic from the get-go. And honestly, I think the many atrocities Aegon is collecting like Pokemon balls to be amusing and kinda compelling.

In another narrative, a character like Aegon's would b a byronic obsession in someone's romantic/gothic story, or a horror villain, or a god harassing poor mortal souls. There are very fun bits and pieces stuck in this guy and even in this age of many studios bucketing under fanbacklash, a guy can just hope the writers find him worthwhile enough a character. And rant into ur lovely inbox ofc.

And at the end of the day, people are just not gonna like a guy LOL. No amount of screentime or birthing scenes or dragonriding can make me find Rhaenyra compelling, and no lack thereof can make me find Alicent, Helaena, or Baela less compelling, speaking of female hotd characters only.

Okay almost.

Being they plan to introduce golden boy turned war criminal Daeron, I believe a both fun and horrific decision would be to make him compassionate towards Aegon's plights and woes and thus give the audience an entry into sympathizing with Aegon, which the writers clearly want us to do, all interviews and panels considered, cope and seethe as I have!

Are we even going to get a Daeron/Greenfam interaction? LOL What a deeply unserious show.

I would like to start off by thanking you for leaving such an interesting ask in my inbox! I think this conversation is a little overdue, since there’s been perhaps an emergence of the school of thought (lol) that suggests that greens upset or critiquing Aegon’s extra dark portrayal in the show are somehow whitewashing him or woobifying him. IMO that fundamentally showcases a divergence in people’s priorities in storytelling and how they interact with this fictional universe. I, myself, am very intrigued by dark!Aegon in fics and most of the works I enjoy tend to deal with taboo topics, so it’s a little unfair to paint everyone with the same dismissive brush.

However, I’m not just a HotD show watcher, I have been engaging with ASOIAF one way or another for over a decade now and I think I can mount a workable interpretation of how this series operates. One of the reasons I actually love it so much is because it has internal thematic logic and because, generally speaking, the characters that inhabit it are appropriately rewarded or sanctioned by the narrative (or at least it seems to be heading in this direction re: its endgame). Believe it or not, I was thinking of answering this ask by ranting about Ned Stark, but I decided not to, because we’d be here all day. 😅

Anyway, point is that I’m not very willing to sacrifice that aspect for the sake of character exploration that contradicts with the main themes and messages of the story. People are certainly free to disagree with me on this, of course. 

I imagine it is a tricky business for authors, trying to decide exactly which and how much of a flavour of awful to assign to a character without ruining the rest of the story. Some might start with an outline or a feel for where they want the story to go, but, if you happen to create a character that veers off your intended path or seems to write itself in a direction you never planned for, it would be honest for you as a writer to acknowledge that and accommodate that accordingly in your story. Which isn’t truly a possibility here, as we need the characters to hit certain beats in the narrative and, ideally, they should do it in a believable way. This is often a problem I have found with Fire and Blood and lord knows I’ve already dissected it enough times here, if anyone cares to take a gander - the fact that characters are sometimes prevented to grow organically, because George needs them to perform certain actions in order to move the plot along. So, ideally, a good story would find a balance between these two scenarios. 

So to me my main anti-argument is that the Dance was never a story just about Aegon, this is not the exploration of a fucked-up psycho rapist and why he does the things he does and how he thinks the things he thinks. While that certainly might be an interesting avenue, I am not super convinced the Dance of the Dragons could offer the appropriate space in which that kind of exploration could be pursued in a satisfying manner. This is an ensemble piece, and while Aegon is an important part of it, he also exists in relation to other characters. This exaggerated degradation of his would inevitably bring down his entire “side” with him and that, in turn, ultimately throws off the balance of the entire story. 

Let’s stop for a minute and take a look at what they decided to go with in the show. Rhaenyra has consistently received the framing that her “mistakes” amount to (at most) victimless crimes (she is absolved from murdering Vaemond and the show makes no effort to explain the havoc caused by screwing up inheritance laws). Whereas what do we have for Aegon? 1. raping and terrorizing servants to the point of panic attacks; 2. enjoyer of the child-fighting sport; 3. implied sexual assault of children. This is beyond caricature. The addition that he enjoys watching his own children fight and that they file down their teeth to make them more formidable, stuff that wasn’t even in the books, is just downright infuriating. 

These are not traits you endow a character with because you’re interested in exploring the deep dark depths of human depravity. That task was always impossible in the first place with a character who has so little screen time anyway and I would argue it was never really a priority anyway. The intention was always to make Rhaenyra look good by comparison and that’s not something I can respect from a storytelling perspective. 

Note that this is the starting point for Aegon and Rhaenyra. This is supposed to show how they behave before the war, in a relatively stress-free situation, when they’re unburdened by war trauma and their family dying - explanations that could be given as reasons for their later ruthlessness. But nothing show!Rhaenyra (or even book!Rhaenyra) has ever done could ever hope to amount to the trifecta of awfulness that they assigned to show!Aegon. 

So, what exactly are we doing here? The point of Aegon and Rhaenyra as direct adversaries was always that they inhabit a similar plane. It’s not even about Aegon being likable or sympathetic, it’s about the fact that it separates him too much from Rhaenyra and it positively sanctifies Rhaenyra by comparison. You could certainly prefer one over the other, but their differences are meant to inspire conversation; they cannot be so completely removed from one another as to operate in different leagues of morality. If we monsterize Aegon too much, we don’t even have the space to properly explore that in the story and it would mess too much with the way his character needs to evolve in order to hit the particular narrative beats that George decided are set in stone. So giving him these massive transgressions as a starting point and turning him basically into the Antichrist throws the rest of his arc off balance for me and the thematic parallels become too off-kilter for me to be able to enjoy it. 

To me Rhaenyra’s story is very reminiscent of (white) feminism, very “rights for me but not for thee”: a rich, white, privileged woman fighting for her own advancement and not caring about the plight of anyone else. The Dance of the Dragons is meant to inspire conversation and debate, both on the legal front and on the political utilitarian front. Is male primogeniture fair, even if it maintains stability in the realm? Can we change that? How? Does shifting to simple primogeniture when it comes to royal succession engender progress in some way? Should royal succession reflect inheritance laws for the rest of the population? How are laws changed in a medieval common law system? Is it fair for the King to change laws however he wants, at the drop of the hat, or should the lords have some say? What can/should the King do if his vassals refuse to abide by his choices? When it comes to waging a destructive war to replace one “unworthy” candidate for the throne with another “unworthy” candidate, where do we place that on the moral spectrum? Is the population thriving/not dying in war more or less important than maintaining male primogeniture? Is it really worth it just to have a nominal female successor that won’t really bring about systemic change? These questions are really worth exploring and there are no straightforward answers to them, but if Aegon is Satan on Earth, none of these questions matter anymore, because Rhaenyra automatically becomes the better option and no price is steep enough to pay to get rid of Aegon. And the point never was that Rhaenyra would make a better ruler than Aegon or is even a better person than Aegon; trying to shoehorn her into that narrative only hurts the story overall.

There’s something to be said for the fact that in the last stages of the war, Aegon’s and Rhaenyra’s journeys inversely parallel each other: while Rhaenyra is rejected by the population and kicked out of King’s Landing while she’s occupying the Iron Throne, Aegon manages to convince people on Dragonstone to fight for him and he takes the castle with little resistance. There is something to be said for the fact that it’s Aegon who gets to kill Rhaenyra, not the other way around. That he’s the one who gets to live that little while longer. The author could have simply chosen for them to have one last battle and end up killing each other, but he doesn’t. And IMO we would not be able to get to that point in the story in a way that feels true and organic to the internal logic of this fictional universe if we corrupt Aegon’s development and make him so reprehensible to begin with.

TLDR: I take issue with HotD’s portrayal of Aegon in direct comparison with the text of Fire and Blood, but I am open to dark!Aegon explorations in fic. However, I do not feel like this is appropriate in canon, as it messes too much with the balance of the story and corrupts the wider themes and messages, both of the Dance of the Dragons and of the ASOIAF series in general.

#i also like the fact that they centered the story on rhaenyra and alicent #you can even argue it's in line with authorial intention to a certain extent #the princess AND the queen #however aegon and rhaenyra are also the leaders of their respective factions #and whatever they do/are reflects on their entire camp #as figureheads of the civil war they should not be operating on differing planes of morality #ask #anon #aegon ii targaryen #hotd critical [aegon] #hotd critical [rhaenyra] #hotd critical [storytelling]

[icarusthelunarguard]

This Week’s Horrible-Scopes

It’s time for this week’s Horrible-Scopes! So for those of you that know your Astrological Signs, cool! If not, just pick one, roll a D12, or just make it up as you go along. It really doesn’t matter. Better yet! Check out “Heart of the Game, Fredonia” and see if they can sell you those D12’s with the symbols on them. Tell them “Shujin Tribble” sentcha. And “Hail, Hail, Fredonia!” Home of the Blue Devil!

Sooooo…. Theme, right? (*Sigh*) Ok, ok. So once again a theme has been suggested, and I seriously considered how to twist this one around on the requester. So you know what? Santa’s already done his thing and I’m SAFE! That’s exactly what I’m about to do. So with no further ado, here are New Year’s Resolutions no one wants to do.

Aries 

You get to set the stage presence here with something known as “Film Academy 2×”. It’s a format specifying an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 that was laid out in the 1930’s because no one could agree on a motion picture technical spec. These days it’s a digital resolution of 1828 × 1332, which is better than any monitor you’ve got right now. So This Week… watch some old Buster Keeton films… and remember, he was the ORIGINAL Jackie Chan for performing stunts!

Taurus 

Swinging over the pond and into true weirdness for Television Broadcasting we get to your resolution system: “Undecoded PALplus”. It was a re-do of the PAL broadcast system that brought 16:9 Widescreen broadcasts, but still supported traditional PAL receivers. So This Week… Learn how to add onto your existing knowledge base without breaking what you had already… meaning just read a damned book for a change, would you? 

Gemini  

A true digital system for once, you’re getting “SVCD” aka the “Super Video CD”. It was a digital movie file, encoded in MPEG-2, and came in one of two varieties: 480i (or 480 pixels square), or 576i (or 480 x 576 pixels). The system came out in 1998 and honestly it’s best use was in early shoot-em-up CD games with video cutscenes to them. So This Week… find your collection of old games and play some again. We’re pretty sure Cookie from You Don’t Know Jack misses you.

Cancer Moon-Child 

Another Disk, another digital format. This time it’s the most prolific media adoption in history: the DVD. Bet most of you didn’t know “DVD” stands for “Digital Versatile Disk”. With a MINIMUM storage capacity of over 4 and-a-half Gigs of data, you could backup most computers completely to one of those puppies. But as a movie disk you’re relegated to the venerable standards of NTSC at 480 lines tall, or PAL’s at 576. The system came out in 1996, and these days it’s impossible to find a movie or TV show NOT on this format. So This Week… Just admit that “DVD 3D” is a Dead Format. You bought all that super expensive stuff and now it’s just not worth it. Get over yourself.

Leo 

Look at you, Leo! Scammin’ off the pack! More laser disk goodness, but this time you get the “CVD”. That’s not a typo; CVD stands for “China Video Disk” and that’s exactly what it sounds like. It was a way of making video disks without needing to go through the whole SVCD standard. It was close, but lacking in resolution. So This Week… Your ability to run under the Patent Lawyers' radars is impressive. Keep up the good work, but don’t get caught.

Virgo 

We know you think you’re superior to everyone else, but that doesn’t mean you’ll succeed in all areas. Your format is “Betacam”, which we’re guessing some of you already kinda know what’s coming. Yes it was as-good or better than VHS for the home market, but for the professionals, it was GREAT! Get a short-play cassette at home, but the Long Play version in the studio, and it was basically The Same Cassette! Sad it got shanked in the end, but sometimes that happens. So This Week… Take some pride in knowing your format may have come out in 1982, but it’s STILL got Technical Support through this past year! 40 Years of Active Duty for a supposedly Failed Format’s pretty damned good in our book! 

Libra

Just when we thought the Analogue Film Industry was an anachronism and lost its relevance… just like Michael Corleone they’re pulling us back in again. This time it’s the “Film 8K” format. We’re not dealing with 1.85:1 any more, but with a resolution of 7992 × 4320… and really, WHY?!?! The only reason this is important is if you’re watching this on a freekin’ MASSIVE projection screen! So, good luck with all that on a computer: VLC will CHOKE to death if you’re running a 1440 monitor and a GTX-1660 Super! So This Week… LOSE SOME WEIGHT!

Scorpio 

We’re just gunna call it right now. You! ARE! BASIC! White-Bread Toast, generic as hell NTSC. The format that swept North America because 60Hz power signals are just a wonderful way to make sure everyone’s receiver works right. Your format supports both Black and White and Colour receivers without breaking anyone’s machine. So you've got that going for you. So This Week… Try replacing your mayonnaise with Caesar Salad Dressing for a new kick.

Sagittarius 

Your format cannot be overstated in how great it was! And, sadly, yes.. “Was”. You need to look up what “Laserdisk” looks like, because, holy HELL, that’s a gorgeous disk. And the output was better than standard NTSC and PAL or SECAM and testing proves this. So This Week… check out Linus Tech Tips on YouTube and see the side-by-side comparison between VHS and Laserdisk, and weep at what we were denied.

Capricorn 

You’ve just GOT to be the Odd One Out, huh? Your format is literally called “405-line”. And the fun part about this is it ISN’T 405 scan-lines in format! Nope! It’s KINDA 503 × 377, give or take a little smearing. It’s a monochrome television broadcasting system introduced with the BBC Television Service in 1936, so it’s done well for itself for a while. BUT! In the United States, the FCC had briefly approved a 405-line color television standard in October 1950, which was developed by CBS… only to find out that it was incompatible with existing black-and-white receivers. So This Week… Don’t think of it as “Conforming to the Norm” so much as “Making sure you don’t destroy everyone with your awesomeness.”

Aquarius 

Going fully to the WebCam, or PervCam, systems, you’re getting the Video Conference System “CIF”, aka the “Common Interchange Format”. Developed for company teleconferencing it was a low-rez 352 × 288 pixel image, and if you want to know what that looked like, you’ll have to watch a fair adaptation of a great book. So This Week… watch the movie “Contact”. The teleconference windows are JUST what it used to look like.

Pisces  

You just HAD to be the personification of annoying A-Hole Cat, huh? Take your pick: VHS, Betamax, or Video8. They all had just CRAP picture quality. About 320 × 486 scans in NTSC, or kinda 310 × 576 in PAL or SECAM, they were all just a cluster of sub-optimal tech sold as just this GREAT stuff, and it really wasn’t. So This Week… Learn what the Sunk Cost Fallacy is and stop falling for all the Wiz-Bang-Shiny-New sales pitches. 

And THOSE are your Horrible-Scopes for this week! Remember if you liked what you got, we’re obviously not working hard enough at these. BUT! If you want a better or nastier one for your own sign or someone else’s, all you need to do to bribe me is just Let Me Know - or check out the Ko-Fi page ( https://ko-fi.com/icarusthelunarguard )! These will be posted online at the end of each week via Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, Discord and BLUESKY.

#parody #horrorscope #funny #horoscope #humor #comedy #nye #new years resolution #happy new year #ball drop #new year #holiday #you don't know jack