#i love this genre and this ship so naturally combining the two was fun

[glassprism]

Tell me more about the Thief video game series please!

Yeesss I definitely can do that!

So in a nutshell, the Thief series is a trilogy (there's a reboot but I refuse to acknowledge its existence) of first person stealth video games centering around a thief named Garrett. The games were released in the late 1990s and early 2000s and were basically revolutionary in its use of light, shadow, noise, and enemy AI, and a lot of it came to define the stealth genre. Games like Dishonored are kind of a successor to it.

The world of Thief is set in an unnamed city (well, it's just called The City) of indiscriminate time and place that has elements of steampunk and magic, and which is controlled by three factions: the Pagans (nature-loving people who worship a god of chaos and disorder called the Trickster), the Hammerites (a pseudo-Christian-inspired order that worship a god called the Builder and push for industry, technology, and order), and the Keepers (a shadowy faction whose purpose is to keep the balance between the other two). Garrett was trained by the Keepers but, being the snarky antihero that he is, he decided to use those skills to do, well, thievery, and really just wants to stay clear of all the political infighting; unfortunately for him, he tends to get caught up in potentially world-ending events and just has to go along and save everyone, again, to his eternal disgruntlement.

Each of the three games, fittingly, has Garrett doing battle with some aspect of the factions. You can get the general story of Thief: The Dark Project just by watching the cutscenes (which is basically iconic for me since I grew up watching my dad play the game; I think the levels, the music, the atmosphere, have burned itself permanently into my brain) and, you know, admire Stephen Russell's voice work as Garrett. But in a nutshell, this first game has Garrett fighting the Pagans; at the behest of a woman named Viktoria and her friend, Constantine, Garrett is lured into stealing a gemstone called the Eye, only to find that, oops, he was working for his world's equivalent of Satan combined with Pan, who wants to destroy all industry and revert the world to total wilderness. There's betrayal and a shocking reveal that Viktoria is actually some kind of tree nymph and she rips out Garrett's eye and leaves him to be eaten by monsters.

So yeah, I ship them.

Because (before anyone side-eyes me) of the events in the second game, Thief: The Metal Age. With the Pagans defeated, a faction of the Hammerites known as the Mechanists come to power (think of them as, like, the Protestant offshoot to the Hammerites' Catholicism), and their evil plot is to rid the world of all life so only mechanical beings will inhabit it. Despite the whole, you know, "ripping his eye out and leaving him for dead" thing, Garrett and Viktoria realize they have a common enemy in the Mechanists (who want Garrett dead because he did kind of defeat a literal god in the previous game) and team up to take them down. And here's where stuff gets fun, because even though Garrett should probably know better (the literal first cutscene of this game is him going, "I equate love with getting caught"), his interactions with Viktoria gradually grow more flirtatious. And while Garrett complains about it all the way, he goes through a great deal of character development because of Viktoria, learning to care more about the world around him and not be so self-centered. At least to me, it felt like this relationship, which started out as "the enemy of my enemy is my friend", could become something more.

And then Viktoria dies. And it's kind of Garrett's fault. His reaction to it, and his flat, emotionally dead words after, really says it all (especially if you play the game and see his reaction to other people dying, which is basically just, "Welp, they're dead now, better make use of what info they gave me").

But yeah, it's just... the potential of it! The what could have been! The fraught backstory! The way they become better people because of each other anyway! The enemies-to-friends-to-maybe-lovers of it! So much to have fun with there!

Oh, and in the third game, Garrett joins up with the third faction, the Keepers (it's implied that he does so because of all his character development in the second game and Viktoria's influence on him) and has to battle against a monster in their ranks. Which really brings the game full circle and ends the trilogy perfectly. It's a decent game. My sister played a lot of it.

But yeah, the first and second games are where my heart lies, just because of the nostalgia and the memories associated with it but also because of the shipping potential. I kind of want to write a fic of them... add it to the, you know, 6 that exist...

Now have 10 hours of the Horn of Quintus music.

#GP gets asks #pureanon #that was fun I should do this more often #not Phantom

[darlingsdontdie]

"Three days after the seventh anniversary of her team's disappearance, Sakura returns to her hometown of Konohagakure and spies a familiar, masked face lurking among the rolling hills of the abandoned Uchiha estate. A ghost of a man, with silvery hair and a book in his fingers. Her former tutor, long presumed dead: Hatake Kakashi."

Yandere Moodboard: Gothic Horror KakaSaku AU for @suemeilovesakura

#kakasaku #kakashi hatake #sakura haruno #yandere moodboard #yandere aesthetic #gothic horror au #gothic horror #gothic horror moodboard #gothic horror aesthetic #i hope yall dont mind the color scheme - i know their hair is iconic but i loved the deep red/pale green so much ...... #and then along the way pale green turned to gray/cream w a slight green yellow tint lmao #i love this genre and this ship so naturally combining the two was fun #hatake kakashi #haruno sakura #naruto #naruto imagines #naruto shippuden #naruto moodboard #kakasaku au #sakura hatake #hatake sakura #moodboard #kakasaku aesthetic #aesthetic #darlingsdontdie's aesthetics #darlingsdontdie's moodboards #darlingdontdie's requests #darlingsdontdie's content

[mst3kproject]

The Giant of Marathon

For some reason, probably because I've seen them all so many times, I thought I'd already done all four Film Crew episodes.  Evidently this is not true.  Here's one, and if you haven't seen it... wow, Mr. Honcho was not exaggerating about the thousands of sweaty men.

Philippides of Athens is the greatest athlete there is, having won the entire Olympics. With the games over, he returns to his day job as commander of the Athenian city guard.  Followers of Hippias the exiled tyrant are plotting to take control of the city with help from the invading Persians, and they try to seduce Philippides to their cause by offering him wine, women, and homoerotic wrestling (it was ancient Greece, after all).  Philippides refuses to be seduced, and sets off to secure the help of Athens' old enemy Sparta in opposing the Persians.  His mission is a success, but upon his return a spy tells him that the Persians are planning a sneak attack on the harbour of Piraeus.  Can even Philippides get there in time to deliver the warning?

I don't actually know if it were possible to win the entire Olympics in ancient Greece.  I know there were several events and at least one of them involved reciting poetry.  The Battle of Marathon was in 490 BC and a table on Wikipedia suggests that there could have been up to twelve different sports, but some of them were only for children.

The Giant of Marathon touts itself as a tale of epic battles, daring deeds, and political machinations.  I'll get back to the epic battles and daring deeds, but what stands in for the political machinations is mostly a bunch of people pining.  Unimpressive villain Theocritus is pining for the beautiful Andromeda, whose father has promised her to him but she thinks he's a dick.  She's pining for Philippides, who is also pining for her but thinks she's one of Hippias' followers, so refuses to speak to her.  Meanwhile Theocritus' concubine Charis is also pining for Philippides because he's the only man who ever refused to fuck her, I think.

These relationships are important to the plot, too.  Andromeda's love for Philippides is one of the reasons her father refuses to join the traitors, and when Theocritus realizes he cannot have her, he ties her to the prow of his ship to force Philippides to watch her die.  Charis' crush on Philippides leads her to her death, as she is executed for spying.  Yet none of it is ever developed beyond 'these two pretty people saw each other and now they want to bone'.  Philippides declares his love for Andromeda after a single five-minute interaction.  Charis has seen Philippides twice, and both times it went badly, when she decides to betray Theocritus.

Why do the writers hang such important plot points on the 'love' between people who have barely spoken to each other?  I can't decide if it's because they're lazy, or because they're hacks, and I lean towards a combination of the two.  There is absolutely no subtlety to the writing in The Giant of Marathon at all.  Everything is told, not shown.  We know that Theocritus and Creusus are traitors because they talk about it, in dialogue that's clearly written for the audience, not as anything that sounds like a natural conversation. We know that Charis and Andromeda are both in love with Philippides because they say so.  The only thing we're really shown is that Andromeda hates Theocritus, which comes through in her body language (though we are also very much told), so props to actress Mylène Demongeot for that much.

The movie doesn't care about any of this character stuff, anyway.  It just wants to get straight to those epic battle scenes, and it's very obvious how much work and time went into those as opposed to everything else.  The battles are lengthy and elaborate, full of impressive stunts and props and miniatures being destroyed all over the place.  We get to see Persian chariots run down Greek infantry, and while I'm pretty sure this would have been orchestrated so the stuntmen didn't get hurt, I'm not nearly so confident about the unfortunate horses (and neither was Bill).  There are ships in flames and injured men screaming as they fall overboard.  There are even some pretty good deaths, like the guy who was hit in the eye with an arrow.  The desperate last stand of the city guard against the entire Persian fleet, with the Spartans arriving just in time to save the day, is very tense indeed.

I get the impression that this is what somebody really wanted to put on screen, and they did a decent job of it, but pretty much the entire rest of what ought to be the story is just an accessory to the fighting stuff.  It's as if the film-makers wanted so badly for their fight sequences to be epic that they forgot what makes epic-ness – which is the characters and their stake in the events. We don't know any of these people, none of them have anything we might call a personality trait, and so we don't care.

The focus on how epic it all is makes I seem a little strange that the battle ends on a shot of dead Persian guys floating in the water. You'd think they'd want to end with something that more decisively shows the Athenian victory, maybe the men cheering as the Persian ships turn around and flee.  Or perhaps some kind of victory celebration, which could mirror the celebration of Philippides winning the Olympics in the opening and call back to the scene where Philippides asks the goddess Athena to protect her city.

Instead, we cut to a shot of Philippides and Andromeda walking across the farmland together.  This feels a little too sudden, and is also a poor fit with the rest of the movie.  The only time we've seen Philippides on his farm is when he's gotten disgusted with the politics of Athens and returned to the countryside to sulk.  If the farm is supposed to be a place where he's happy and at peace, the movie never establishes it.

So that's political machinations and epic battle sequences, let's talk about some daring deeds.

Unlike the Hercules and Maciste movies we've seen in the past, The Giant of Marathon wants to be grounded in real-life history.  This means that while the script does reference gods and mythical heroes, none of them ever appear and there is no hint of them working behind the scenes to bring events about.  Likewise, Philippides is not a demigod, so we avoid several of the tropes associated with the genre.  Nothing important ever happens (or fails to happen) because the hero was asleep, and he never bends prison bars or drinks a love potion – although a love potion is mentioned, as if to draw attention to this.

This doesn't leave Philippides a whole lot of scope for daring deeds, and when they try the results are a little lackluster.  His main feat is, of course, running all the way from Marathon to Athens (the proverbial forty-two kilometres) to let them know of the impending attack, but while this ought to be the highlight of the movie it's shot in terrible day-for-night and we have nothing to suggest how far this is... I think the writers just assumed everybody knows the length of a marathon.  If we'd seen the army tired from making the march earlier, we would have a better sense of it being a long and tiring journey even at a walk or with horses, and it would seem that much more formidable as a distance for one man to cover before sunrise.  Of course, showing us these things is apparently beyond the scope of The Giant of Marathon's writers, but you'd think they could at least have a character say something like, “it's twenty-six miles!  He'll never make it!”

His other major daring deed is when he pushes giant boulders down a hill onto the attacking Persians.  This is kind of weird because Philippides is not Hercules or Maciste.  He's good at track and field, but we haven't seen any evidence of him having godlike strength, and this is a universe where gods don't seem to do much anyway, so it comes out of nowhere.  The rocks are huge – there are similarly-sized ones at the park near my house and I know one guy couldn't move them no matter how buff he might be.  Did somebody just forget that they weren't making a Hercules movie?

Between the battles and the various plot twists, The Giant of Marathon could have been a pretty fun sword-and-sandal movie, but it's like a tower without a foundation.  The fights have nothing to hold them up, so we just can't get into it. Also, what the Underworld happened to Hippias? We see him once, chatting with the king of Persia, and then he vanishes and the movie decides weaselly little Theocritus is the big bad instead. I'm sorry, but if you've got a character with a name as cool as 'Hippias the Tyrant', you really can't just drop him like that.

The Best Brains liked to complain about the tinyness of the costumes in these movies but honestly, nothing here is as off-putting as actual ancient Greek sports would have been to the modern viewer.  When I was in university I TA'd for a course called Introduction to Greco-Roman Civilization. It was an adventure in several ways – the students were mostly dumb freshmen who spent the lectures playing Farmville, and the professor didn't give a shit because she'd just been denied tenure.  I don't know how much anybody learned in that class, but I'm sure they all recall how, after the professor told us that Greek athletes stripped naked and covered themselves in olive oil before wrestling, somebody raised a hand and asked if they removed their body hair.  The professor cheerfully told him that they did not, so next time we see a Greek vase we ought to remember that these guys were much sweatier, oilier, and hairier than terra cotta can possibly convey.

#mst3k #reviews #episodes that never were #the battle of marathon #the film crew #50s #my cheese steak

[popculturebuffet]

Blacksad: Somewhere In the Shadows Review

Hello you beautiful people! I have a WEIRD relationship with Noir. It’s weird because i’ve never really dived into the films of type, though I really should, But as a kid I absolutely LOVED the tracer bullet arcs in Calvin and Hobbes, where everyone’s favorite hyperactive and imaginative six year old would plant himself as the hero in a noir pastiche.. ironically like myself Bill Watterson was also not a huge noir buff and just relied on Cliches but hey, it worked. 

Still love these. So from fourth grade on it imprinted a lifelong love of a good bit of detective noir. Not enough to you know, get me to read any traditional noir books or watch any noir tv shows or detective procedurals but I still love a good mystery from time to time and some of my favorite comics such as Howard the Duck by Chip Zdarksy and Peter David’s second run on x-factor run on the genre while having fun with it’s cliches. 

I also love anthropormphic animal stories. Dunno why, I just do, so once I found out about Blacksad, a comic that combines disney quality art from a former disney animator with gripping, adult noir that rips your heart out... I couldn’t resisit trying it. Telling the tale of John Blacksad, a cynical private detective and the cases he steps into via gorgeous, straight out of a disney storyboard art, the series is by  Juan Díaz Canales (writer) and Juanjo Guarnido (artist), the latter a former Disney artist who worked on several Disney films, meeting in the 90′s while working on licensed works and hitting it off, leading to this series.  That’s.. really all I could find about the making of the series in English. The only other fact is the series is designed for first release in France, which has a huge comics market, hence the various volumes being called “Albums”, with them later being released in Spain and then english, currently in the latter through Dark Horse Comics, who last year collected the current 5 albums and some side stories into one big volume. And with Dark Horse having infrequent sales including Blacksad on comixology it’s easy enough to pick up all 5 volumes in one complete package on digital for 9 bucks, as it is right now. Seriously I’m not trying to shill for Comixology or Dark Horse, I just love these comics and suggest picking them up. The creators DO intend on new volumes... it’s just both have been busy with other work so they’ve been stuck in development hell since 2013. However given there have always been, if much smaller, the biggest being 5 years, gaps between the Albums, I don’t think the series is dead quite yet and with Dark Horse fully backing it, taking the series from only two volumes getting translated to both translating the first four AND translating the fifth within a year of it’s release, we’ll undoubtly get the next one quickly. The series has also spawned a game, Under the Skin, which i’ll probably also cover some day as i’m dying to play it, but i’m waiting for a sale because it’s around 30 bucks and I can wait. It’s also been nominated for an Eisner three times to no suprise and has had fans in Stan Lee, Jim Steranko, Tim Sale and Will freaking Eisner. Yes the GUY the awards were named after liked the series.  So yeah, I love this series and highly support it, but the thought of covering it hadn’t occrued to me.. in part because I already had three comic retrsopectives going, my looks at The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Scott Pilgrim and New X-Men, and simply because I just hadn’t thought of it till Kevin, frequent patron and comissioner of the blog whose paid for tons of reivews, suggested covering the second Album, Arctic Nation, which has our hero searching for a missing little girl he feels has been taken by the titular white supramacist movement.. and if your wondering “Wait how the fuck does that work their animals”, John is black coded due to his black fur, while the white suprmacists are all Arctic Animals.. a touch I really like as I’d honestly never thought of that as a metaphor but it fits like a glove, especially given that most white furred arctic mamals are pretty agressive looking. So yeah I’ll be covering that one next month for Black History Month, among many other things, but I felt I wanted to cover the series in order and since again, it’s only the second of five and I had a free space on the schedule. So without further adew, join me somewhere in the shadows and under the cut as we enter the world of one John Blacksad. 

We open as you’d expect for a Noir with a heady narration and a murder. John was brought in by Smirnov, the chief of police and an old aquantice who serves as his Commissioner Gordon. Since the victim is John’s ex, he was brought in to see if he knows anything and as you’d expect warned not to look into it further, as John dosen’t buy this was a simple robbery. His response is exactly what you’d expect. 

I mean.. what did you expect? You called him out of bed to see his former lovers corpse, KNOWING he’s one hell of detective, dosen’t give up on things easy, and would probably be curious. For him to say “Cool gonna go smoke some reefer and take in a looney tunes short at the theater, call me when you find the murderer?” Also  this series takes place in the 50s. Because of course it does. 

So John goes back to his office to brood, reflecting that the office feels like the remains of an ancient civlization because “It seems to be all that remains of the civlized person I used to be”. Hell of a line. 

We then get his backstory with the victim, Natalia. She’s a famous actress, who John first as a younger man when hired to investgate some death threats she’d received with a boquet of flowers. John shows off just how good he is at his job in just a few panels. 

IT not only shows in just a few panels just how ferocious our hero can be when needed and how good he is at his job, easily having tracked down the man responsible and scared him shitless without breaking as sweat, but how fucking gorgeous the art is. I meant it when I brought up the old disney comparison, as Steranko even mentioned in his introduction to the collection of the first three volumes how it looks like animation cels on the page. IT’s utterly breathtaking and ONLY gets even more lush and beautiful as the series goes on and perfectly fits the noir stylings with it’s realisim, making it’s animal characters feel utterly human and real while still keeping their animal traits in perfect detail. 

John impressed her, and as we see in the next page under his narration they not only had really steamy passionate sex, and why yes we do see them naked even if the bits are covered it’s still very much nsfw and we saw Natalia’s naked corpse earlier, so that ship had already sailed anyway, with Natalia taking him on both as her lover and her on staff detective and the two were much in love.. until the fame apparenlty got to her judging from the visuals, and the realtionship fell apart. 

Before we move on i’d like to talk about the narration which CAN be a bit overwrought here or there and is a bit overused.. but does have it’s mometns of being utterly effective as with above, contrasting John’s statments about a sucessful job and being hired on.. with the beginnings of his and Natalia’s relationship and their passionate lovemaking. IT’s not BAD and it works for the setting, but it can be distracting, but thankfully the series levels this out as we go and they learned from it so no harm done. Just the kinda thing that happens early in a series life when the creators are getting a handle on things, so no harm done. 

But naturally John isn’t going to take the love of his life, responsible for the happiest days of said life, being brutally murdered lying down and is going to find the bastard who did this. So he goes to an old friend, Jake Ositombe, a championship boxer and Nat’s former bodyguard who he recommended to her. Given we see him knock the shit out of his opponent without the slightest effort, yeah good call. Also yes we share the same name and no it’s not weird to type about another Jake, adventure time sorta.. knocked that out of me. Jake dosen’t know much since she fired him a long time ago as one of her lovers hired private security, and the last one he knew of was a guy by the name of Leon.  John, naturally, easily finds the guy’s apartment, Leon Kronkski, a screenwriter.. but also rules him out as the guy lived in a humble apartment and clearly didn’t have the cash to hire his own hired goons. 

He does find a clue, a matchbook for some place called the Cypher Club.. and another when the man’s sweet  mouse landlady shows up, who John charms by pretending to be Leon’s friend and flashing a big smile, finding out a msyterious man with “big bulging eyes”, took him. This scene also to me is great in subtly showing off John’s skill. While the previous flashback showed how badass he is, shoving a gun down the throat of a stalking wannabe murderer with pure rage in his eyes.. here we see a lighter approach, how despite his serious and dour nature.. he easily slips into being cheery and looking like an average joe off the street. He bluffs the landlady not because the plot says so.. but because like any PI he’s just that good at slipping into whatever roll he needs to get the info he needs. He can be his dour self or a charming happy go lucky guy without missing a beat. 

So with that he goes to the studio leon worked for where his boss.. is a walrus j jonah jameson?

But yeah J. Jonah Walruson wants pictures of spider-man.. moving pictures.. but he can’t film them with his star dead and his screenwriter indefintiely gone, with the same bulging eyed man having told JJ he’d be gone indefintely. Nothing suspicious about that!

So naturally John’s next plan is to find the guy.. who is already after him as you’d expect with both a knife to slash at our hero with and the fog covering him so he can hit and run. But unluckily for him .. well i’ll let john say it...

John  headbutts the myserious snake, who only managed to get his coat before and tries to interogate him.. but gets a quick jab to the gut and the guy gets away. 

We soon meet our big bag, who has a big speech about insects and things being usefufl.. and once they stop being useful.. they become dead and collectable, telling the snake man to back off John.. and sending his right hand man to go take care of the Snake who apparently took something from the office. Realizing his numbers up the Snake Man goes to a lizard bar, picks up a package from a friend and runs out the back, knowing he’s being followed.. and we get some hints there’s also racial tension between lizards and mammials here as the bartender, said friend, has the entire bar circle around the guy preventing him from following our mysterious bulging eyed man. 

Meanwhile John goes to the Cipher Club, a wretched hive of scum and villiany. Given Nat was a glamorous movie star, it’s very clear she was here to hide from something or someone, and the bartnender, a wild pig. 

No not you sweetie. The wild pig tells John leon was indeed here and a local rat, in both senses of the word, offers to take John to him.. though understandably John is supscious of the guy he just met in a seedy bar taking him anywhere except to get some heroin. Did Heroin exist yet? Questions for later. But he’s got a case so he follows. Though suprisingly the guy DOES actually come through and it’s not ENTIRELY a trap: he takes john to a tomb for Noel Krinsok.. an anagram for Leon’s name. Unsuprisingly he’s dead. And also unsuprisingly, two hired goons

Show up. As I said not ENTIRELY a trap but it’s obvious given the rat split moments before that our mysterious big bad knew where john would be headed next, and thus while giving him a clue, also set him up to get his head knocked in. And while John is badass.. these guys are a bear and a rhino,  both stronger, bigger, and with suprise on their size, as well as a tombstone to knock john’s head into. They easily beat him senseless and hope he got the message, though john gives a defiant fuck you before being punched out for it. He returns home, feeling like he’s aged 20 years “But no one respects the elderly anymore”, PFFT, and heads home to his rathole, not literally this time, apartment to lay on his cot and think as he gets some rest. 

And while the trail for Leon is cold. our mysterious murderer accidently tipped his hand: only someone with a LOT of money and influence could make a man disappear like this, and it tracks with what we’ve seen so far. The guy has multiple henchman and despite being a big star with plenty of clout, Natalia had to hide in a dive bar just to get away from him and even THEN clearly wasn’t so lucky given she and her new lover both wound up dead.  But Blacksad has bigger problems.. he wakes up in a jail cell.

Turns out Smirnkov had him arrested.. but for his own protection as the case is getting too hot and while he was late on that front given John’s face is hamburger, it’s clear from his tone and demeanor that while he may of been harsh with John earlier.. the two are old friends, and the Chief is simply worried about him winding up dead, and John takes you know being thrown in prison in stride. Which while not a bad scene it is a BIT suspect that a black coded character was thrown in jail for nothing and it’s treated very lightly and as a simple protection between friends, though given they wouldn’t think of coding john like that till next volume, I brush it off as accidental implications in hindsight. 

Smirnkov though also called John here.. because he needs his help. Since Natalia’s Murder Case is pointing very high up, so his superiors have ordered him to bury the case and as he puts it “the bastards know where to squeeze”. And given in volume 3 we learn Smirnov has a wife and children, it’s very obvious where they squoze and to the volume’s credit while we don’t know that yet it’s VERY clear from Smirnov’s body language they went after some form of family. So while he has to give it up.. John does not. So he brought him to jail to offer a proposal: John goes after this son of a bitch and nails him to the wall.. and Smirnov will FULLY protect John no matter what he has to do.  Now naturally given the rightful reckoning for police that’s been going on for almost a year, this SHOULDN’T play well. You have an officer outright telling an outside party that he and his boys will cover up his crimes. But.. honestly even in that framework.. it still works. That’s because.. the system has failed here. The higher up and more corrupt cops put pressure on the honest and hardworking family man Smirnov to stop a legitimate investigation into a horrible murderer.. because the guy is rich. And even now we’ve seen time and time again how rich assholes effortlessly escape the consequences of their action: How our own president who actively asked other nations to interfere in our election escaped his first impeachment trial, but hopefully not the second, aquitted. How Jeffery Epstien took YEARS to bring down with his years of ellicit parties involving innocent women and children he fucking enslaved. How Bill Cosby got away with all kinds of sexual assault for decades. The rich are often literally above the law in this country, so having a down on his luck detective, who retroactively himself is a minority, go after him with the full support of an actually GOOD police officer who genuinely believes in these people being held accountable but is held back by his family’s safety.. it works. John isn’t able to skirt consequences BECAUSE of a corrupt system.. but because the system’s so broken and slanted in the rich’s favor, that the ONLY option an honest officer like Smirnov has is to go outside it. And when asked WHY he’s doing all of this, Smirnov merley replies

... I got chills, their multiplyin. So John plans to find the bulge eyed snake after a hot shower.. only for the guy to hold a gun to John’s head, having been waiting for him and wave the murder weapon, in a baggie around, the item he had retrieved, feeling John’s trying to replace him as number two. However before he can do anything our snake  pal is shot full of holes by the rat from before, who John dispatches with his own gun. 

So the Snake starts to expire.. but feels a kinship with John “We are nothing right cat? Spent so much time waiting for the right chance and when it happens it all falls to pieces”. The Snake explains his roll in things: He was one of the private security our big bad hired to guard Natalia. But being supscious he also hired the rat to follow her around, and thus found out about her affair, brutally torturing and murdering Leon and shooting Natalia in the head. And we finally get a name as our snake friend tragically expires. 

The snake’s death and tragic dying moments are something I forgot about.. but damn if their not really good writing, taking a character who before was seemingly just a murderous goon.. and comparing him to our hero. Another working class joe, and one who just caught up with the wrong asshole at the wrong time. He easily could’ve been john in another life and vice vers and it’s a good parallel. 

So John’s nightmares finally have  name and he naturally goes to confront the guy since he has an almost literal get out of jail free card. Turns out Smirnov is the richest man in town, and has his own big tower. Huh.. sounds familiar, and John simply sneaks his way up and once Statoc’s guards from before hear him rustling about.. sneaks up on them and clocks both one at at time with a fire extinqusher. 

Statoc warmly welcomes our hero inside, and has the fucking lizard balls, as he’s some sort of lizard himself, to offer John a JOB

I mean he’s clearly lost a lot of his goons and most of them were incompetent. He fails to realize that John can’t be bought, is here for vengeance and has no intention of selling his soul to some rich asshole who killed someone he loved for the creepiest and most asinine reasons imaginable. He says john’s Concisence is why he can’t pull the trigger and that he lacks “cold blood”.. before we cut to the next page, where John’s shot the fucker in the head and left a gaping hole where his lack of a brain was. 

And again what makes this work is the aftermath: John is clearly shaken, having ONLY been able to pull the trigger beause of Statoc’s smug grin and clearly not taking the sight of Statoc’s dead body bleeding out well. And while Smirnov keeps his word, covers for him despite the two guards clearly providing an iron clad argument against john and knoiwng thier blatantly covering this up.. he’s not happy about it. 

This is WHY the narrtive still works. Statoc stacked the law against the bad guys. .but despite this being a necessary evil.. it’s still an evil and subverting teh law at this rightly leaves him not in a great place mentally. John himself isn’t even if he plays it off as otherwise, as we get our final bit of narration and one hell of a closing line. 

Final Thoughts:

Somewhere in the Shadows is a bit rough around the edges, leaning a bit too heavily into the noir pastiche and Blacksad being a harboiled detective, something the next volume would ease up on. That being said.. it’s still a masterpiece, with gorgeous art and masterful pacing. While it’s the shortest of the stories, like those after it the pacing is sublime and never feels like it has any down moments or stuff that could’ve been cut, and the mystery keeps you on edge the whole time. Having forgot a lot of the details since last read I was on the edge of my seat the entire story and loving every second of it. Somewhere in the Shadows is the perfect starter for the series, introducing an important charcter in Smirnov and the noir nature and giving us a case personal to John so we can see who he was before, what he is now.. and what he WILL be for the rest of the series. The moment that MADE him into an even harder man than the one we follows here.. when he took a life in cold blood. A masterful story, seriously check it and the other volumes out, on comixology, in stores, great stuff. Next time we look into john and as I said, he’s taking down some racists and we also meet his sidekick weekly for the first time. As for me tommorow I dive back into my Tom Luictor retrospective but hit pause on our boy for a bit to take care of some of the larger plot.   Until the next rainbow, it’s been a pleasure. 

#blacksad #john blacksad #Smirnov #noir #anthropomorphic #anthro #funny animal #somewhere within the shadows #comics #dark horse comics #france #french comics #igor statoc #Natalia Wilford

[tardis-stowaway]

hi! I really like your taste in media, and I'm looking for new summer reading - if it's not too much trouble to share, do you have any like, top 5 book recommendations? or maybe some books you've read recently that you enjoy? any genre is fine, including nonfiction. thank you!

Hi anon! This was a really nice message to get, so thank you!!! :D Lately, I haven’t been reading as much as I usually like due to a combination of grad school and pandemic brain, but here is a list of five books I adore that I’ve discovered in the past several years, plus a bonus older series that I wish got more attention. I tried to give some variety of different sorts of books. This got a bit long. I have a lot to say about the books I love!

-The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison: this is a wonderful comfort-read fantasy with a main character who I love and would protect with my life. The worldbuilding is rich (there’s formal and informal pronouns!) with some fascinating touches. It’s the story of the half-goblin youngest son of an elven emperor, raised away from court and out of favor, who unexpectedly gets the throne when his father and older brothers are killed in an airship crash. Can this shy, anxious young man solve the mystery of his father's death and hold onto his throne without losing his gentle, empathetic nature?

-The Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells, beginning with All Systems Red: super fun science fiction with a page-turning plot and an oh-so relatable, snarky narrator. Murderbot is a security construct who has hacked itself and just wants to use its new freedom of mind to watch media in peace, but the pesky humans around it keep needing rescuing, and there’s some evil corporate shenanigans going on. This is a series of several novellas and one full-length novel.

-The Invisible Library series by Genevieve Cogman, beginning with the book of the same name: these books are romps packed full of things that I love. Librarians wielding language as magic! Witty banter! Dragons! The Fae! Parallel worlds! A Sherlock Holmes-esque detective! Heists! Steampunk! Intrigue! A creepy villain! Likable characters at the center hold everything together.

-The Refrigerator Monologues by Catherynne Valente: you know the “women in refrigerators” trope folks complain about from comics and other dude-centered media? The premise of this book is that a group of women who were connected in some way to superheroes (sometimes they’re the un-powered girlfriends, sometimes they’re superpowered themselves) getting together in the afterlife to tell the stories of their own lives, how they are complex people who are more than how they suffered for some man’s journey. This book is angry and sorrowful, but also engaging, motivating and even funny in parts. Catherynne Valente’s prose is always astounding. If superheroes aren’t your jam, try her wise and whimsical middle-grade portal fantasy The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making or her “Eurovision in space to save the world” Douglas Adams-esque novel Space Opera.

—The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal: alt-history sci-fi with an intersectional social justice lens. An asteroid strike in the early 1950s prompts an international effort to radically accelerate the space program. The protagonist is a woman pilot trying to become an astronaut. The author has done a TON of research into the actual history of space travel and it shows. This is sort of what you’d get if you crossed The Martian with Hidden Figures and threw in a major natural disaster. Note that this is part of trilogy. I’ve only read the first two, but I’ve heard only good things about the third.

-Bonus old favorite: The Blood and Smoke series by Tanya Huff: urban fantasy that will appeal to fans of Buffy, among other things. The Blood books center on Vicky Nelson, a tough and stubborn PI who gets drawn in to dealing with the supernatural when she meets vampire Henry Fitzroy (bastard son of Henry VIII, short, charismatic, bisexual vampire…I love Henry so much). The Smoke books, which I love even more, center on Tony, a minor character in the Blood books who has moved on to get a job on the crew of a vampire detective TV show. These books are creepy, exciting, snarky, and have pretty good queer rep. (Henry’s bi, Tony’s gay and has a super cute canon romantic plotline in the Smoke books). They’re a bit dated, especially the earlier Blood books from the early 90s, but considering their age their take on a lot of the urban fantasy tropes feels quite fresh. More people need to read these and then post Tony/Lee fics on AO3 for me to enjoy. You can start with either Blood Ties, the first overall, or skip to the Smoke series with Smoke and Shadows.

The long list of books I also considered including: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsin Muir, the October Daye series by Seanan McGuire (really, almost anything by Seanan), The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi, A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan, Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik, and All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders.

Happy reading, anon! I'm happy to talk about books (almost) any time.

#books #asks #hope you find something you like here! #recs

[oneboxofmatches]

Hey there! I was wondering if I could get a matchup for mcu and both eras of Harry Potter? I'm a straight female so I'd prefer a male please!

Physical description - I'm 5'9 and I have long wavy dark brown hair and brown eyes. I have a fair skin tone, I'm slim and I've got full lips, slight dark circles under my eyes which make my eyes look slightly bigger than they are and I have a dimple on my right cheek. I've got broad shoulders and I dress mostly in relaxed suits, blazers and coats! I also love the occasional dress or sweaters layered over a white button down.

Personality description - It takes me a while to feel comfortable around new people but once I do, I get really talkative and outgoing. I'm the therapist friend and I love helping people out! People come to me to vent or for advice and comfort. I'm smart and ambitious, I love being the best at everything I do. I'm also a hopeless romantic and I love being in love! I can be quite dramatic and stubborn and I tend to be withdrawn at times. I get frustrated easily and I'm competitive.

Placements- I'm a ravenclaw, my mbti is infp and my enneagram is 4w3

Likes - I adore adventures, witty and playful banter, mischief, joking around and having indepth discussions on different topics. I daydream quite a bit and I can get lost in my own world for hours.

Hobbies - I love reading, my favorite genres are fantasy and poetry. I also love learning about new things and collecting knowledge! I'm very interested in psychology, history, mythology and folklore, and fashion. I adore all forms of art. I like cooking and baking very much and I also find cleaning up very relaxing.

What I look for in a partner - A sense of belonging and being loved first and foremost, I've always craved that. I'd love someone who is intelligent, intriguing and exciting, someone who makes me feel alive? I'd like loads of fun, humor, banter coupled with times of sincere intensity, passion and understanding! I'd also like to be able to talk and discuss different things, silly or serious

What I look for in a friend - Nothing very specific, some common interests between us, someone who loves having fun and is humorous, loyal and supportive.

Thank you very much!! I hope you have a wonderful day ❤️

Thank you so much for requesting! I'm sorry it's taken this long -- college just started up and it's been a beautiful mess haha.

Regardless, I hope you enjoy!

WAITLIST

--Marvel Cinematic Universe--

I romantically pair you with…

THOR ODINSON

There’s adventure after adventure in this relationship, and neither of you gets tired of it!

Thor has always been drawn to outgoing individuals, so seeing that side of you come to light once you warmed up to him had him smiling immediately and wanting to know more about you.

A big part of Thor’s identity is helping people, so you could say he values it. Seeing you do that in your day-to-day life convinces him you’re basically the best human alive (and yes, he tells you this many times).

Thor was raised in a place where chivalry wasn’t quite dead, so expect many of your outings as a couple to have some sort of romantic flair (he may not have been the most skilled in courtship, but his enthusiasm more than makes up for it, trust me).

One of your favorite topics to discuss together is mythology, and not just Norse. Thor himself always found interest in the tales he learned from other cultures, so exchanging interesting stories you’ve both heard and researched is an ongoing hobby within your relationship.

While your relationship is undoubtedly fun and exciting, Thor also knows when to dial it back a little for more serious moments. He’s one of the best when it comes to finding that balance between silly and sincere, so you don’t ever have to worry about only getting one or the other.

Overall, Thor adores you, and the conversations (of all moods and topics!) that you two share is what really defines this relationship.

As a friend, I think you’d best be matched with…

PIETRO MAXIMOFF

The banter? The adventure? The mischief? This friendship has it all.

A good majority of your conversations involve poking fun at one another. You both love to play up the banter, so it’s nearly impossible to go a day without it.

Pietro loves your competitiveness, ambition, and sense of adventure. In his eyes, these traits make you far more interesting than most of the people he knows. You return the favor, often thanking him for “actually being one of the fun people in this world.”

With a sister who’s known to be a little withdrawn at times, Pietro is actually the perfect friend to have when you feel similarly or even when you’re lost in your thoughts. His brotherly instinct makes him much more patient than you would initially think, and you basically end up becoming like a second sister to him.

Though it took some getting used to on your end, you both love messing around with his super-speed -- you can bet that he’ll carry you whenever you want. The adrenaline alone is enough to give you the heart-racing sensation you crave, and by the end of it you’re both a laughing mess.

Overall, you and Pietro can easily tease each other all day, but don’t ever forget about the endless support that comes out of this friendship too.

--Harry Potter--

In the Golden Trio era, I ship you with…

GEORGE WEASLEY

As talkative as George can be himself, he still doesn’t match up to the blabbing that Fred does. So while he’s definitely able to keep up with your chatty and outgoing nature, he appreciates that you can sometimes take the lead when you’re talking to others.

George is a sucker for anyone who’s a good person doing good things. Seeing you constantly help people out with a smile on your face the whole time puts him in a cheery mood, and he never hesitates to compliment you on putting forth some goodness in the world.

Knowing how much you appreciate the romanticism that comes with being in a relationship, George definitely knows how to go out of his way to do some grand act of love that will always leave you giggling. Just don’t be surprised when he insists you have to sneak out past curfew to see it.

As someone with a rather stubborn and dramatic twin, George knows all the tips and tricks to play off these traits of yours and get you back into a better mood before you have enough time to even think about what’s wrong.

While there’s plenty of witty banter to be found, you and George are also capable of talking about anything for hours. You’ll often start at one topic, and by the time you’ve reached the end of an endless stream of chatter, you’ve touched upon more areas of thought than you could count.

Overall, George is the epitome of the intelligence, intrigue, and excitement you’re looking for, but don’t for a second discount the unhidden passion and loyalty he proudly displays in your relationship.

As a friend, I think you’d best be matched with…

FRED WEASLEY

I mean, are we surprised?

While George has taken on the role of standing at his twin’s side in every situation, Fred is usually the one getting them into each situation in the first place. Let’s be honest, you’re probably his second-best scheming partner (after the aforementioned George, of course!!).

You and Fred bring out the most energetic personalities that either of you has to offer. The ambition to do anything is unmatched when you two are together -- and the possibilities are endless!

What’s also unmatched in the banter. It never ends. Never.

While you love having each other as friends, the competitiveness in both of you often makes an appearance. Be prepared for simple tasks to all of a sudden turn into serious competitions that have the power to intimidate anyone in the area.

While it’s admittedly mostly fun and games when it comes to your friendship, Fred will be the first to stand up for you if the need arises. No one messes with his friends. In fact, expect whoever dared to cross you to be suspiciously itchy for the next week, and that's getting off lightly.

Overall, the wit and adventurous spirit shared by you and Fred makes the world a much more mischievous place.

In the Marauders era, I romantically pair you with…

SIRIUS BLACK

This relationship can best be described as a whirlwind romance.

You and Sirius take the term “partners in crime” to a whole new level of mischief. It’s always in good fun, but there’s no stopping you two when you get an idea -- Sirius and you are the most prone to sneaking out at night just for the sake of sneaking out.

And you can bet all this adventure only brings the two of you even closer. Sharing a good laugh is the fastest way to grow fonder of each other.

Sirius is quite stubborn himself, but he manages to tone it down when he realizes you’re in this mindset as well. His pride yells at him for it, but he’s willing to put aside his pettiness to address whatever it is that got you to where you were in the first place.

If it isn’t too much, though, expect a lot of teasing from Sirius’s end for his own amusement. He won't push you past your limits, but that won’t stop him from finding those limits in the first place.

Sirius hasn’t always had the sense of belonging he found at Hogwarts, so you can bet he’ll be the one to provide that for you from day one. Sure, your banter sparked a connection immediately, but it’s the passion both of you bring to the relationship that makes it a lasting one.

Overall, your lighthearted approaches to life combined with the dedication you’re both willing to undertake for your relationship makes the bond you have with Sirius one of a kind.

As a friend, I think you’d best be matched with…

JAMES POTTER

Hey, someone needs to keep James’s pride in check, and you’re the perfect candidate!

You two will often exchange fast quips at each other as you pass in the corridors, though the real fun begins when you get to sit at a table together. You both always try to one-up each other, though it’s only because you’re so close that this even happens in the first place.

James especially admires your ambition. He’s always found it easier to make connections with people who want the most out of life, and he’s glad he has a friend to seek this out with.

While he probably won’t partake himself, James is always up for chatting with you while you cook or bake. Your banter eases to a crawl during these times, so while you still find ways to tease the other in some way, it’s a much more relaxed setting than normal.

James is the first person to tell you to go for something. He’s a big believer in the idea of “You’ll never achieve anything if you play it safe,” so count on him to be one of your biggest supporters.

Overall, you and James have much in common, and it’s because of this that you can understand each other almost better than anyone.

#matchups #fandom matchups #mcu matchup #marvel matchup #mcu #marvel #harry potter matchup #harry potter #thor odinson #thor #pietro maximoff #george weasley #fred weasley #sirius black #james potter

[mediaeval-muse]

Video Game Review: GreedFall (Spiders, 2018)

Genres: action RPG, fantasy

Premise: Players assume the role of De Sardet, a human noble who arrives on the recently-discovered island of Teer Fradee. Able to ally with either the natives who inhabit the land and/or any of the foreign nations competing to colonize it, De Sardet seeks out a cure for the mysterious illness that plagues their family, while also battling monsters and magic.

Platform Played On: PC (Windows)

Rating: 3/5 stars

Disclaimer: My rating is in response to multiple aspects of the game, not just its politics. If I were evaluating solely on politics and gave the developers the benefit of the doubt that they were trying to make something with a good message, my rating would be around the 1 to 2-star range, depending on player choices.

***Full review under the cut.***

I am evaluating this game based on four key aspects: story, characters, gameplay, and visuals.

Story: I’m immediately wary of any pop culture item that tries to tell a story about colonialism and Indigeneity because it usually ends up indulging in colonialist fantasies rather than critiquing them. Complex, morally-grey stories are great and all, but when it comes to tales about colonialism, “both sides” narratives tend to look a little insensitive. So, I can’t tell you why I decided to play GreedFall, other than I heard that it filled the Dragon Age-sized hole in people’s hearts. Since I’d rather use my own judgment than read video game reviews, I bought this game on sale and gave it a go. If nothing else, I told myself, I could use my history and literary analysis chops to say something intelligent about it.

In terms of politics, I don’t think GreedFall was as terrible as games where the goal in itself is colonization, but I also don’t think it achieved a narrative that was critical enough of colonization. De Sardet’s primary goal is to achieve balance between all the nations (which I’m calling factions because they’re mostly that). While I can admire that GreedFall really pushed for peaceful relationships, as well as pushed back against abuse and racism, I ultimately thought the developers didn’t consider how the struggle for balance actually facilitates colonialism. This game presents colonialism a diplomatic issue, so as a result, Teer Fradee is kind of a fantasy where colonists can settle on native land while maintaining friendly relationships with Indigenous peoples (at least, if you play it that way - at worst, you can seize absolute power). The experience was similar to the one I had playing BioShock Infinite, whose politics involve a “both sides” argument - the difference is that BioShock Infinite made explicitly clear by the end of the game that Booker was the true villain. With de Sardet, it’s a bit more ambiguous, depending on how you play, but I do think the game pushes you to be diplomatic rather than power-hungry. As a whole, it brings up the very valid question of whether or not colonialism should be in media period, or if there’s some value to be derived from consuming problematic media that tries to do good and talking about it.

Still, I have to give credit where credit is due. GreedFall had the guts to actually try to tackle little-discussed themes in this game, such as forced conversion, abuse within the sciences, and institutionalized bullying. While the missions associated with these big themes were accomplished with varying degrees of success, many of them added emotional depth to the game. Companions would have emotional reactions to these quests that tugged at my heartstrings, and there were never any shots of graphic violence or mutilated bodies, so it didn’t feel like I was playing the game for an edgy thrill. All of the side quests had a lot of bearing on the main plot and the worldbuilding - I don’t think I encountered any “fetch quests,” so most of the things I was doing actually related to enhancing my understanding of the world and its social dynamics.

The game also did a good job of presenting players with factions that were constantly in conflict with one another, lending an added layer of complexity to all the political aspects of the plot. Character’s personal quests were also very well done and had emotional depth. Vasco’s arc about learning about his true family was a nice exploration of birth family vs found family (he’s a sailor whose birth family gave him to the naval faction, the Nauts). Kurt’s quest was also a good one about the bonds between military recruits and really showed his commitment to people over institutions (he’s de Sardet’s commander at arms). Siora’s quests were more about staying true to her culture (she’s a native and daughter of one of a now-deceased tribe leader), while Aphra’s were about learning to be open minded when learning about a different culture (she’s a scientist interested in plants). Petrus’ were a mix of taking down the head of his Church and helping your character find their roots (he’s something of a pastor who also wields magic to fight). You can tell that the developers were inspired by Bioware games in that you can cultivate reputations with your companions and eventually romance them. Many of these romances are available to both male and female PCs, so there’s potential for a queer ship.

I will say that by the end of game, I was emotionally wrecked, despite all the political problems. So, I do think the developers of this game have a good sense of storytelling - I just wish they had done better politically.

Characters: Similar to Mass Effect or Dragon Age, GreedFall gives players a player-controlled character (PC) and a host of companions to take on an adventuring party. De Sardet, the PC, doesn’t have much personality when they’re being diplomatic, but I did enjoy the moments when they were confronted with information that impacted them emotionally. I played a female de Sardet, and the voice actress did a good job of balancing emotion with the facade that’s required of a diplomat. Constantin, de Sardet’s cousin and governor of New Serene (one of a few colonial settlements on Teer Fradee), is also carefully written as a charismatic, sympathetic nobleman’s son who wants to prove his worth. He and de Sardet share a close bond, which made moral decisions a bit more personal and emotionally difficult. I do think he became a scapegoat for all the evils of colonization, though, and I wish more was done with him to implicate every colonizer on the island. The companions are likewise very likable and fairly unique. Each of them had personal quests and stories that were compelling and sympathetic. I do wish there had been more opportunities to chat with them, or that they talked to each other during exploration (like Bioware companions do). I also appreciated that the Teer Fradee natives weren’t one, homogeneous group. I think too often we see pop culture try to write Indigenous peoples as having the same culture and goals, but with this game, there was some variety regarding what the best course of action would be against an invading force. I’m sure, however, that the depiction of the natives overall was problematic, but I’m not well-versed enough in native representation in pop culture to articulate the issues. While they weren’t portrayed as primitive or child-like (at least, I didn’t think so), I don’t doubt that there were tropes in there that I just couldn’t recognize (for example, Siora maybe a Chief’s Daughter/Indian Princess trope - it’s complicated). I suggest finding and reading an Indigenous critique of the game. (There’s also this one, which is valid, and I do think the game’s efforts and failures are worth talking about.)

Gameplay: This RPG mainly relies on balancing skills, talents, and attributes. Skills define what weapons you can use and how (one-handed blades, two-handed blades, firearms, magic, etc). Talents are things like charisma, science, or lockpicking - stuff which will affect the way you interact with the world. Attributes are mental and physical abilities like strength or willpower which affect how you wield weapons. Overall, the process of leveling up and gaining points to spend in these areas was pretty straight-forward, and I enjoyed the mental challenge of building a character that fit my play style.

Combat was a little clunky; basic attacks ran just fine for me, but there wasn’t much grace in the way characters dodged or rolled. I also kept getting thrown off by the fact that you can’t press space to jump! But in all, it wasn’t the worst experience. Enemies had helpful health bars, and I enjoyed the combination of a pistol and a rapier to finish off my foes. The diplomatic elements were by far the best part of gameplay for me. If players assign their skill points well, de Sardet can use a number of different tactics and choose from multiple dialogue options, from intimidation to taking advantage of intuition to laying on the charisma. It was fun to figure out which tactic would work on which characters, and how my skill sets translated into consequences for my decisions. I do think, however, that more options could have been presented to players in terms of dialogue choices and role-playing elements. While players make important choices regarding how to handle any given situation, there was little opportunity to purely role play. More opportunities to influence the direction or tone of the dialogue in non-crucial situations, I think, would have helped and made my De Sardet feel more unique.

Visuals: Aesthetically, I very much appreciated that we were given a fantasy game that wasn’t set in the faux Middle Ages. I loved the 18th century vibe to all the clothing and town layouts, and each of the maps were distinct and fully-realized, from the urban settings to the natural ones. There was a bit of repetition in the urban layouts; the palaces, for example, were the same, and some houses were recycled, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as Dragon Age II. I also appreciated that there were people of various races and genders in all positions and all social circles. There were women in the guard, women working on ships, and so on, without any hint that it was unusual. There was also a fairly wide variety of skin tones, with people of color being included in higher social classes and not relegated to lowly servant roles. There are some problems in that “diversity washing” detracts from the racial conflicts that were very present in the 18th century. I don’t think the developers thought through the implications of putting POC in positions of power where they could commit violent colonial acts against the natives. The creatures on the island were interesting to look at. Their designs frequently combined natural imagery (such as vines and wood) with horror to create foes with an eldritch, elemental vibe. The same creepiness was reflected in the fictional disease that afflicts the colonists; the afflicted had black, vine-like tendrils running through the skin, and there was an impending sense of dread whenever I looked at someone who was infected. Despite all the things I liked, GreedFall’s biggest problem is its animation. For a game that was made in 2019, facial expressions and combat are quite clunky, to the point where the characters felt robotic. I understand that not every video game needs to have top-tier level animation, but playing GreedFall was similar to my experiences playing the first Witcher game or the first Mass Effect or Dragon Age: Origins games. Still technically playable, but it feels very outdated.

In-Game Triggers: violence (especially racial violence), colonialism, racism, religious zealotry, torture, 

I feel the need to point out that while I don’t think this game is gory or explicit in any way (PG-13 would be my rating), there are some scenes that people may find triggering. There’s also one where a Native is killed by a religious zealot, and I found it extremely upsetting (it happens when you first enter San Matheus, if you need a heads up). Other than that, you never actually see characters torture native peoples, but you do hear about it later.

Recommendations: I would recommend this game if you’re interested in the 18th century, the age of imperialism, role-playing games, and fantasy. You might also like this game if you’re a fan of Bioware RPGs.

#video game review

[luninosity]

For @thebestpersonherelovesbucky: here’s the full text of the fake film review I wrote yesterday, for Steadfast...

#

Steadfast Combines History and Heart Into Triumph

 Jillian Poe’s latest directorial effort, Steadfast is at once familiar and unfamiliar: a Regency romance set against the Napoleonic War, full of ballroom scenes and lavish costumes, crackling with politics and passion. It’s (extremely) loosely based on the 1940s novel of the same name, which in turn was based on the historical Will Crawford’s surviving letters and notes, and the romance is real in more than one way—assuming you haven’t been living under a rock, you’ve seen the stories about on-set melodrama: Colby Kent and Jason Mirelli hooking up, being injured, falling in love, and from all reports being blissfully happy.

 Leaving the behind-the-scenes drama aside, the question is: is it a good film?

 The answer is unequivocally yes.

 It’s more than good. It’s a brave film, in the best ways: not only in telling a historical gay love story—and it is very, very gay; Jillian Poe and her cast don’t shy away from sex scenes—but in the raw emotion and power of the storytelling and the relationship. It’s the kind of film that gets remembered as a landmark: what good filmmaking can do. And it’s worth seeing, not only for the attention to period detail or the reminder that gay people (and black people, Indian people, and others; we see an impressively diverse London, especially among Will’s Home Office fellow recruits) have always existed in history, but for the sheer emotional experience. Steadfast is a romance, unashamedly so, and it wants you to fall in love, and you will.

 The casting and the script are spot-on, to start.

 Jillian Poe has her favorite stable of actors, so some familiar faces won’t be a surprise. Colby Kent, also a producer, and given co-writing credit with Ben Rogers, stars as Will Crawford—Rogers and Jillian Poe have independently confirmed that Colby did on-set rewrites, which means most of what we see is likely his. We’ve discussed Colby and the industry and uncredited script work at length back when that news broke, so here I’ll just say that Colby is a better writer than any of us realized—good at knowing and utilizing the source material, but also paring down, choosing the exact right word for each moment, giving his fellow actors dialogue that sounds effortlessly natural. Odds on a Best Adapted Screenplay award or two? Pretty high, I’d say.

 Speaking of Colby Kent, he’s always been quietly excellent on screen, often underrated (that Academy Award loss to Owen Heath should’ve gone the other way, no offense to Owen, who is also generally excellent), and equally capable of adorable clumsiness or aristocratic decadence. You could argue that playing young and wealthy and vulnerable and gay is exactly in his wheelhouse and hardly a stretch, and you might be right—but you would also be wrong.

 It’s an award-winning performance. It’s a master class in complex character acting. It’s compelling and dramatic and the core of the film, at least half of it, more on which later.

 Will Crawford—in ill health, a natural scientist, the Regency equivalent of a rich kid and only heir to a vast estate—might have come across as weak, or naïve and fragile, or in need of rescue. And Colby Kent’s good at fragile and lovely and desperate. But Will’s also a literal genius, determined to be useful, and willing to do anything—including spycraft and affecting the tide of battle and the fate of nations—to protect the man he loves. Colby Kent never lets us forget that, and the character and the story become richer for it. He’s almost at his best in moments without dialogue—I say almost because Colby, as ever, has flawless timing when delivering lines, both the heartbreaking and the wryly sarcastic. But his eyes and expressions say so much that every close-up could be a page’s worth of emotion-filled speeches, except not, because they’re not necessary. He’ll definitely get the Academy Award nomination; if there’s any justice, he’ll also win. Though, having said that, my personal vote might go to the biggest surprise of the film, just because I was so impressed and delighted. But we’ll get to that in a minute.

 The supporting cast is also superb—Leo Whyte, as Jason’s second-in-command, embodies complicated and compassionate loyalty, someone who’d follow his captain into battle and also sympathize with his captain’s difficult love, given his own socially fraught marriage to a poor Irish girl (Kate Fisher, having a marvelous time and some of the funniest lines). John Leigh gives his performance as a conflicted would-be mutineer some delicate nuance—he still admires his captain and ultimately makes a painful personal choice. Jim Whitwell epitomizes workmanlike British gentlemanly acting—though we get a hint of the dirtiness of his profession, and of his sympathy for Stephen and Will, which adds layers to his performance. And young Timothy Hayes is worth watching as Stephen’s favorite optimistic midshipman, with deft comedic timing in the midst of storms and the stalking of a French ship.

 The crown jewel of the supporting cast, of course—and the shoo-in for Best Supporting Actor—is Sir Laurence Taylor, notoriously picky about taking on new projects at this point, but here fully committed to his role as Will’s father, the aging Earl of Stonebrook.

 It’s easy to say that Sir Laurence is a legend, but sometimes we forget what that means. In this role, we remember. He delivers words that cut right through his on-screen son, and by extension the audience; but his anguish and grief are equally genuine: he’s a man who loved and lost his wife, who doesn’t understand his only son and heir, who clings to the need to protect the family name and estate and future, while faced with the dual truths that his son prefers men to women and in any case might die young—of illness, if not from daring the world in Regency spycraft. The Earl is awful and vicious and cruel to Will—but watching Sir Laurence stand at his son’s bedside, or come to the window and silently watch his son depart for London…those moments will make you hurt for him despite yourself, and it’s a virtuoso piece of acting.

 Speaking of brilliant pieces of acting, let’s talk about that biggest (and I don’t mean just the physique, though that can’t be missed) surprise of the film: Jason Mirelli.

 First, a confession: I, like quite a few people, felt some skepticism about this casting choice. That’s not to insult action films as such, and Jason Mirelli’s been a consistently reliable action-hero lead. But it’s a very different genre, and Jason’s previous filmography hasn’t, let’s say, exactly indicated much dramatic range. (Having said that, I’ll admit to unironically loving Saint Nick Steel. Is it ridiculous? Yes. Is it hilarious absurd so-bad-it’s-amazing fun? Also yes. Does it have Jason Mirelli in an artistically torn shirt chasing terrorists through a shopping mall while protecting small children and wearing a hat that makes him the reincarnated spirit of Christmas? Hell yes it does. We watch it every year.)

 If you, like me, were on the fence but willing to be convinced…

 I’ll say it right now: Jason Mirelli should be on that Academy Award ballot alongside Colby Kent.

 He’s the other half of the heart of this film, and the second he steps down from that carriage in the opening shot, he’s commanding the narrative. He’s captured the physicality of a wartime ship’s captain, but more than that, he’s captured the layers of character. Every motion of those shoulders, those eyes, that jawline, all means something—as do the moments when he chooses not to move and be still. Take the moment when he looks at Will in the morning-after scene, which is just a look and a few beats on camera, but Jason’s able to convey Stephen’s love, and wistful frustration over their different social classes, and genuine affection, and fear about Will’s illness, and surprised joy at having someone to wake up next to. It’s a hell of a role—romance, war, leadership on a ship’s deck, the shock when Will falls gravely ill, the emotion of the ending, which I won’t spoil here—and Jason’s a revelation. He’ll have his pick of roles after this, and he’ll deserve the Oscar nod, though it’s unlikely he’ll win—the Academy likes to reward previous nominees and is notoriously skeptical of popcorn-flick pedigrees, and Jason might need to prove himself once or twice more. But he shouldn’t have to. This is enough, and it’s fantastic to watch.

 Part of that epic transformation should be credited to Jillian Poe’s direction. With Steadfast, Poe demonstrates her skill as a director and her ability to handle multiple genres—she started out, you might remember, with lighter romantic-comedy fare, often also with Colby Kent—and her ability to get quality performances from her actors, every single one, every single time. I also wouldn’t be surprised at her picking up a directorial award or two; it’s an ambitious project, and also a labor of love, which shines through in each frame.

 The costuming and sets are as plush and attentive to detail as you would expect from an Oscar-bait period piece that’s a Jillian Poe production—that reputation for perfection’s deserved. The score is, if not anything out of the ordinary for a Regency setting, handled with delicacy and love—the music plays into the mood of each scene unobtrusively and expertly.

 Fans of the novel might have some minor critiques involving the looseness of the adaptation, in particular the ending, which—let me offer a minor spoiler warning, no detail, but stop reading if you want to know nothing at all—adds a final sequence that provides a happy ending for Stephen and Will. Is it book-accurate? No. But I called Steadfast a brave film earlier in this review, and this ending is an act of courage: imagining a happy ending for gay men in history, demanding that their love story end well and with joy. (And Colby Kent personally met with the novel’s famously reclusive author, so for all you purists, this change was made with permission.)

 Those stories matter. Steadfast as a film matters. Go see it. Fall in love.

#character bleed #i write fic for my fic #meta #headcanon #extras #thebestpersonherelovesbucky #esaael #turtletotem #nocturymiszczu #ahnjunae-blog #who am i forgetting to tag

[mediawhorefics]

Prompt: Who are you as a reader?

working on a few reflections for @authorsworkshop !

What’s something that your favourite books and fics have in common (style, content, characters, genre, etc.)

I’m super obsessed with historical fiction and fantasy, and more importantly historical fantasy. I love my stories to have tiny elements of the supernatural. I’m not necessarily the biggest fan of high fantasy, but give me tiny uncanny eerie off-centre weird fantastical elements and I am HERE for it. I’m also really into well-crafted mysteries. I’m not someone who loves crime stories necessarily, but I love when stories carefully set up a good mystery and take me on a journey to solve it. I also love a good romance. I find a lot of the books/fics I go back to over and over, while not necessarily being categorised as ‘romance’ (well except maybe fics), have well-written love stories integrated to the plot. On the flip side, nothing irritates me more than a half-assed romance thrown into a story just for the sake of it. I like slow romance. Actually, I like slowly built stories in general. I like being taken on a full journey and I like authors to take their time walking me through it. 

Time travel is probably the easiest way to get me invested in a story, to be honest. It’s like my crack. I’m completely addicted and I will take ANY GENRE ANY VERSION of it. Just…. give it all to me immediately !! I like the idea of characters being displaced somehow, thrown into the unknown. I like the idea of exploring the cyclical nature of life that way. I think thematically it’s fascinating.

I like books that make me laugh. Which isn’t to say I don’t like serious stories because most of my favourite stories have a fair (and often more than) amount of angst, but I need it to be balanced with good humour. I LOVE writers who manage to make me laugh out loud. I think making people laugh is a lot harder than making people cry. 

I like characters who are fundamentally good people. I like characters who go through terrible ordeals and power through them. I like characters who go through terrible ordeals and remain good. Thematically, solidarity & resilience are probably two of the ones that just… get to me the most. 

What do your favourite characters have in common?

I definitely have a type when it comes to characters that’s for sure. I like very opinionated women who take no shit. I love sarcastic/snarky characters, especially when it’s combined with a Perceived As Can Do No Wrong Good Character (yk the chosen one types). I like characters who carry the world on their shoulders. I like characters who live in someone’s shadow and live to impress them/live up to them. I like characters who perform little acts of bravery. I like characters who grow into their bravery. I like resilient characters, characters who take all the punches and Get Back Up Again.  Recently, I also really started to realise how so many of my favourite characters are really angry underneath it all. A few months ago I wouldn’t have thought of anger as a theme I was particularly interested in, but as I grow more and more angry about… well, everything, the state of the world, I find that a lot of the characters I have loved for years actually have that underlying simmering anger kept tightly under control. Which is… interesting, I suppose. Funnily enough, the fic I’m working most seriously on right now has a very very very angry Harry at its core and is lowkey about him repressing that anger. 

What ships do you like? Are there similar qualities or dynamics between the characters?

I love a good slow burn. I love a lot of pining. I love people who don’t quite see eye to eye at first but get to know and understand each other slowly. I love relationships based on laughter, characters who can have fun with each other, who can banter with each other and tease each other. I love a good flirt to roast ratio. I think there’s a special kind of intimacy that comes with knowing someone so well that you know where you can push and where you can’t. I love relationships where they can be quiet with each other. I love lovers who are friends first. 

#about me #writing #marie talks writing

[theguineapig3]

“Going Overboard” Colloyd Week Day 2: Traveling

Genre: fluff, humor Words: 1383

Lloyd was so full of excitement to show off his new boat to Colette, there wasn't much room left to worry about boating safety. Colette could always find a creative way to get hurt even in the most mundane of situations- but it was easier when Lloyd showed her how it was done.

(Obligatory disclaimer: Boating safety is not a joke, boom accidents can be fatal, etcetera, etcetera, don’t try this at home. Thanks)

Despite the sunshine and warm weather, the ocean was choppy and the wind whipped up whitecaps as it gusted over the waves. Lloyd made sure not to sail out too far, not wanting to get caught up in the breaking waves outside the bay. However, the somewhat wild ride seemed to add to Colette’s enthusiasm, and Lloyd had to scold her for leaning over the edge of the boat.

“H-hey, be careful, there! If the boat pitches to that side, you’re gonna get thrown off!”

Colette just laughed, turning to offer him a smile. “It’s alright. I like feeling the spray on my face. Plus I trust your sailing skills.”

She really shouldn’t. Lloyd had trusted his own sailing skills until he went to the sailing class that Raine had insisted on him taking, and he suddenly realized that there was so much he didn’t know. Even the little sailboat he’d commandeered for his exsphere journey wasn’t as easy to sail as he’d expected it to be. There was so much to keep track of between the sails and the rigging and understanding your position relative to the land without getting distracted and losing your bearings… and he had found a new, very lovely distraction to worry about.

Lloyd had been preparing to show off his new boat to Colette for a while now, practicing his sailing so that he could give her a smooth ride- and, more importantly, so that he’d look cool while doing it. But now that she was actually here, that the two of them were out on the water alone with one another, he found himself uncharacteristically flustered. He felt as clumsy as, well…. Colette.

Oh, this was a bad combination.

“Hey, uh, the wind’s dying down a little. This would be a good time for me to show off the rigging if you want to see it.”

Colette perked up and slid back over into the interior of the boat. “You mean these ropes? I was wondering what all of them did.”

Lloyd nodded. “It's to help control the sails. Here- let me show you.”

He sat down next to her and began going over the different parts of the sails, just as he'd learned it in his class. It was fun being the teacher for once, and Colette was just as eager to learn as he’d been.

“-and this is called the boom,” he said, putting his hand up against the large, horizontal pole in the center, “because if you're not careful, that's the sound that it makes when it hits you and knocks you overboard.”

It took a moment for the statement to process, but Colette burst out laughing. “Oh, Lloyd, that's so funny!”

“Yeah, I actually… heard that one in class.” Lloyd blushed and looked away. “But seriously, though, this is what lets us turn the sail to catch the wind when we need it and not when we don't. It's pretty handy if you know how to use it. You want to try?”

Colette beamed. “Sure!”

Lloyd showed her the ropes- quite literally- always hoping she didn't notice the way he froze a little when their hands brushed together. Eventually, their conversation turned from parts of the ship and rigging into more about their journey, places they wanted to see and things they wanted to do. They joked and laughed and had such genuine fun that by the time they settled into the middle of the boat again, Lloyd had forgotten that he’d ever been nervous.

He’d also forgotten to secure the preventer line to the boom again.

“-so then Noishe comes waltzing out of the woods again like nothing even happened! Can you believe that? After everything Dad and I did!”

Colette had been giggling throughout the story, more at the way Lloyd told it than the circumstances of the tale. “I'm glad to hear that Noishe is getting braver, though,” she said once she was sure Lloyd was finished. “It used to be, he'd never go into the forest like that.”

“Right?” Lloyd nodded. “And he’s also nev-”

WHAM

A gust of wind caught the sail and sent the boom swinging back across the middle of the boat. It hit Lloyd squarely in the middle of the forehead, and he collapsed backward.

“Owww…”

“Oh, Lloyd!” Colette lunged forward and grabbed his hands to help him sit up again. “That was loud! Are you okay?”

“Y...yeah…” Lloyd rubbed his forehead where a large red mark was already beginning to form. “It didn't hit me that hard, it was just heavy. I should've been paying more attention.”

Colette sighed. “I'm sorry. Talking to me was distracting you.”

“Wha-? N-no, that's not… I mean, it's not your fault! I was just…”

Lloyd’s voice trailed off, and Colette giggled at the way his cheeks were starting to turn red too. She leaned in before he could say anything else and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead.

The gesture left Lloyd stunned. “C-C-C-Colette…”

“Oh! I'm sorry!” She covered her mouth. “I thought that might make it feel better. Should I not have?”

“No! I mean, uh, that's a no, you should have. I mean-” Lloyd put a hand up against his forehead again. “-it still hurts, but… I'm too happy to care.”

“Happy? It's not weird?”

Lloyd stiffened. “Weird? Why would it be weird-?” He stopped himself just as the question left his mouth. Had she been as nervous as he was this whole time? “I mean, no, it's not weird. I was kinda nervous this morning myself, thinking about wanting to impress you and stuff, but now… well, it's been so much fun just being out here together, I forgot all about trying to look good or act cool or whatever. It's just nice to be with you.”

Colette beamed, her smile breaking through the haze of Lloyd’s headache. “I feel the same way! Being out here with you like this, it makes me excited to think of all the time we’ll have together on our journey.”

That's right. That was what this outing was all about, giving Colette a taste of what life sailing around the world would be like. Cramped quarters and worries about sailing and boat maintenance, but also a closeness that they couldn't get anywhere else and daily activities that would challenge them and build their cooperative skills. Thinking too hard about it all felt strange, but actually behind here felt natural.

It felt right.

Colette stood up, holding her hands out to balance herself as the boat rocked back and forth. “I think the wind is picking up again. Do you want to sail out further? It was so much fun when we were moving fast and-”

“Look out!”

Lloyd ducked just in time as he noticed a gust of wind catch the sail again. However, it became clear that Colette hadn't gotten the warning fast enough as Lloyd heard a yelp and then a loud splash.

“COLETTE!”

Once Colette was safely back on deck and the boom was secured again, Lloyd provided her with some of the towels he’d brought with them just in case of such an occasion. She gratefully accepted one, throwing it over her head and drying her hair.

“I guess our first lesson should be securing the preventer line,” Lloyd sighed, sitting down next to her. “I'm sorry about that, Colette. That was totally my fault.”

“It's okay. It's a nice day for a swim anyway.” Colette was still smiling as she pulled the towel down to rest on her shoulders. “Besides, your teacher was right- it did make a ‘boom’ sound when it knocked me overboard!”

“That was supposed to be a joke! A joke!”

There was a pause, and the two broke into another fit of laughter. Lloyd rested his head in one hand but winced as he came into contact with his forehead again. He looked back up at Colette, realizing he hadn't fully examined her for any sign of injury.

“Hey, Colette, are you alright? You’re not hurt, are you? Where’d it hit you?”

Colette took a moment to think it over, and finally, a smile passed over her face. She drew one hand up, placing a finger against her lips.

“If I say here, will you…?”

He did.

#tales of symphonia #colloyd #colloydweek #theguineapig3 #my fanfiction

[mild-lunacy]

Gay Sci-fi Recs

I've complained enough recently that I figure I should balance it out. And I think a small subgenre like sci-fi gay romance deserves some pimping. So these are the ones that I've found so far, minus the great work by Santino Hassell, which has sadly been pulled from Amazon. It's probably still findable online, though, so I'll still encourage anyone to seek out his work if you're interested in very well-written and realistic, often gritty but ultimately sweet gay genre romance.

Angel Martinez, 'Gravitational Attraction'

In some ways, Gravitational Attraction is the closest m/m novel on this list to more mainstream examples of vaguely cyberpunky space opera romance, which I have long enjoyed, ever since my teenage affection for Joan D. Vinge. There's spaceship battles, fascinating alien societies, two tortured heroes, a cyborg, and strange but dramatic powers with scientific sounding yet outlandish explanations. In this case, you'd probably call both protagonists 'tortured heroes', which is cool, not to mention one of them is the cyborg (of sorts). I love the way the story starts out with a bang, as a small commercial ship encounters the creepy remains of an inexplicable catastrophe in space, with a sole survivor who doesn't remember what happened. Things keep going in a fast clip from there, even as a sweet relationship develops between two almost broken but ultimately very strong individuals. It's a very satisfying story even just for sci-fi fans, but if you're into both queer romance and genre fiction, you'll be very pleased.

Felicia Davin, 'Edge of Nowhere'

This is a wonderful, now somewhat classic cyberpunk concept: the teleporting brash young runner, Kit, hired by the shady corporation that's engaging in shadier research that messes with the nature of reality. Kit is far from a cliche, however: he's extremely vivid and sympathetic, and he's a great match with the steady, protective and honest guard Emil, whom Kit is hired to transport. But of course, things go wrong and nothing goes according to plan. There's a bunch of interesting physics ideas being played with, but there's equally interesting relationship dynamics, both between Kit and Emil and between Emil and the other corporate employees he feels responsible for. It's rare that the 'shady corporation' is presented in a complex way that includes the manifold motivations and natures of the various scientists and human beings actually working there. There's a wonderful subtlety to all the relationships, not just the romance, and the writing overall. It's very satisfying both as sci-fi and as romance, which is rare and definitely something to celebrate.

Hanna Dare, 'Machine Metal Magic'

I definitely enjoyed the fun, breezy writing here, and I like the premise of techno-psychics enough to overlook some of the holes in the world-building. Perhaps I simply have some issues with the idea that the Singularity occurs and all machines could rise up to the point where they exile all humanity from the solar system. If you swallow that basic premise, however, there's fun to be had, and the book is stand-alone but first in an interesting series. The romance is on the cute and sweet side, without much interpersonal conflict, but the psychic, Jaime, is a very good match with the more steady, jock-type Rylan. It helps that Rylan has secrets of his own, and the other people on their ship have fun personalities with some mystery as well. The overall plot here is fun, especially since I really enjoy the whole AI aspect, especially an AI that can only really talk to (or through) one person. It's not super memorable but still a fun read.

Jenn Burke and Kelly Jensen, Chaos Station series

I absolutely love this series about two super gritty, abrasive soldiers, best friends and former lovers, both of whom thought the other was presumed dead in a human-alien conflict. The story starts as a retired soldier, named Zander, needs passage on a ship that the other's coincidentally working as a mechanic on. Zander is a super soldier on a mission to rescue his fellow altered comrade who had seemingly gone violently insane as a consequence of the procedure, initially done to help fight the aliens. Now Zander too is in imminent danger, and he needs his old lover, Felix, and his crew to help him save his comrades from themselves. Not to mention the danger that Zander is in, on a race against time as he fights not to succumb to violent insanity before he's done or they find a solution. Needless to say, the challenges here are truly impressive, and the action is fast-paced and exhilarating, though the thing I really find outstanding is the gritty, believable atmosphere of life on a spaceship or a space station, as well as the abrasive but intense and deeply loyal, ultimately loving connection between Felix and Zander. Especially in the later installments, there are also several scenes where truly strange and awesome things occur, enough to inspire that famous sense of wonder that is supposed to result from the best science fiction.

Kelly Jensen, 'To See the Sun'

This is more of a gay version of a mail-order bride story, where instead of the American West, you have a rim planet. It's a small scale, almost slice-of-life romance story that depends on the gritty, believable details of world building about an outpost on a mining planet for its science fiction aspects. If you like survivalist sci-fi, such as The Martian (which I do), combined with careful and sensitive characterization, plus a kid that adds to the story instead of being window-dressing, you'll enjoy this. I wouldn't have tried this without enjoying the Chaos Station series, but I'm glad I did. It's not the grand space opera or thriller I normally gravitate towards, but these are interesting and real-feeling people that I cared about, which is what's really important to me.

#writing #queer issues #science fiction #recs #queer recs

[mst3kproject]

1112: Carnival Magic

Those of us who have heard of Al Adamson tend to associate him with movies like Psycho-A-Go-Go and Blood of Dracula’s Castle, so it’s weird to see him trying to make a family-friendly talking animal movie.  He fails at it, of course, but I don’t think that’s got anything to do with the genre.  Al Adamson just wasn’t any good at making movies.

Markov the Magnificent is a carnival magician who can talk to animals.  You’d think he’d use that in his act but instead he mostly just annoys the other performers until they insist he be fired. This leads to the secret coming out… but it’s not Markov’s powers that are revealed, it’s those of his buddy Alex the Chimp, an animal who can talk to people.  With Alex on stage, and Markov finally using some of his mind-reading and spoon-bending abilities, the carnival is suddenly the biggest thing in town.  Unfortunately, some of the attention they attract is the wrong kind, like that of a scientist who would like nothing better than to dissect a live chimpanzee, I guess just because it’s the evilest possible thing to do.

Out of curiosity, have any of you ever seen a chimpanzee in a zoo?  If so, you may have been surprised that it didn't look like the ones you see in movies.  Movie chimps are skinny and pink, while zoo chimps are dark grey and look like they could tie you in a knot with one hand while lifting a small car with the other.  Why is that? Because every chimp you've ever seen in a movie, tv show, commercial, or circus is less than about seven years old. When chimps reach puberty they not only become much bigger and stronger, they quickly realize that humans are smaller and weaker, and it gets very difficult to convince them to wear cute costumes anymore.

A movie about saving a talking animal from evil scientists so he can pursue a career in show business sounds like it ought to be fun, I guess.  It would probably work better as a cartoon, where we could be confident that no real animals were abused in the making of it. Even so, most of what actually happens in Carnival Magic is just kind of dull and depressing.  Occasionally you do get an attempt at something ‘zany’, but it never quite lives up to the kind of antics a description of the plot would lead you to expect.  When Alex decides to steal a car and go for a joyride, for example, that sounds like it ought to be funny, but it somehow just never works.  The music is an oddly un-fitting banjo piece and the screaming girl in the back seat reminds us constantly how dangerous this would be in real life.

(If you’ve ever tried to look up this movie on Wikipedia, by the way, you will have doubtless discovered that Carnival Cruise Lines owns a ship called the Carnival Magic.  Should I ever find myself on board, I believe I will decline any offer to dine with the captain.)

When Alex is not getting up to supposedly hilarious hijinks, the movie has two modes. One is pastel people wandering around the carnival apparently having fun, and the other is the various characters telling us about their traumatic backstories.  Markov’s pregnant wife died in a car wreck, leaving him with nothing but a talking ape and a broken heart.  Stoney the carnival owner forces his daughter to dress and behave like a boy so she won’t remind him of the wife who left him.  The carnival publicist ran away from home to escape a controlling and abusive father, and so on.

Of course you can make movies about this stuff.  People make some very good movies about this stuff.  Most of those movies, however, do not include scenes of chimpanzees wearing bras on their heads.  Seeing this kind of material in Carnival Magic makes it feel like we just tuned in to that hilarious sitcom our friends have been urging us to watch, only to catch the Very Special Episode in which one of the characters did drugs or had cancer and then it was never mentioned again.

I think the ending is supposed to be about the entire carnival coming together to save Alex from the evil scientist, but we haven’t seen any sign that Alex has unified them.  The people around Markov are already his friends and already committed to the survival of the carnival as a whole.  If Alex had inspired carnies who were on the point of running away to become accountants or something to remain with the show that would be one thing, and they do succeed in saving Alex, but the scene is presented as if it’s a climax without a story.  It’s also absolutely ridiculous watching the carnies sneak up on the secret chimp dissection lab, because they’re all very ordinary, out-of-shape people in street clothes doing their best to act like they’re on a police raid.

The evil scientist, Dr. Poole, is kind of a strange inclusion, himself. In my review of Octaman I remarked on how a lot of movies set up a conflict between scientists who want to study something and showpeople who want to ruthlessly exploit it.  The 70’s King Kong remake is a pretty good example, but in that movie – and in many others – those who want to put some oddity on display for money are the bad guys and those who want to learn from it are good.  Carnival Magic inverts this by suggesting that to study something is to destroy it, whereas to show it off is to help it be enjoyed by all the world.

There is a point to be made here.  A fair bit of what we know about anatomy and physiology of both humans and other creatures has been learned by doing atrocious things to both the living and the dead.  I don’t think, however, that Carnival Magic was the right way to make that point.  For one thing, Dr. Poole’s desire to dissect Alex alive makes no sense.  It’s not Alex’ physiology that makes him remarkable, it’s his behaviour.  Watching him alive could surely teach us infinitely more than taking his corpse apart.

For another, the options we’re given is Alex being a specimen or Alex being a literal circus freak!  Arguing that science should leave an animal alone to live out a happy life in its natural habitat seems reasonable – telling science to leave the same creature alone so it can perform for crowds of strangers is kind of horrifying.  It’s like if Free Willy ended with the titular whale returned to the aquarium having been saved from a taxidermist or something.  Sure, it’s better than death, but the audience still knows that this is not what’s best for this creature. If we’re supposed to believe that Alex wants to be a star, then that should have been established at the beginning of the movie, perhaps by him escaping Markov’s trailer and trying to entertain people.  One or two short extra scenes about this would have made the whole arc much more palatable.

Several characters describe Alex as being something more than an animal, so I think we’re supposed to regard him as a character in his own right.  This doesn’t seem entirely successful, because Alex doesn’t come across as having goals or desires of his own.  He happily goes along with whatever Markov wants to do, and when Markov’s not around he wanders about getting into mischief with no real sense of direction.  Part of me wants to believe this is an intentional attempt to portray a non-human mind that simply doesn’t prioritize the way we do.  Another part just wants to call it bad writing and I’m not sure which I ought to listen to.

As characters go, Markov’s not a great one, either.  Main characters in a movie ought to have a chance to learn and change, but Markov is pretty much the only human in the movie who doesn’t.  Ellen learns to break free of her father and become her own person, and Stoney learns that she can still love him regardless.  Dave the PR guys learns to be patient with women.  Kirk the tiger tamer grows more bitter and hateful until it destroys him, while his girlfriend Kim comes to realize what an ass he is.  Markov is exactly the same at the end as he was at the beginning – a guy with weird powers that he doesn’t put to any good use, and a talking ape for a surrogate child.  Perhaps nearly losing Alex is supposed to show him how much the chimp meant to him, but he already spent half the movie telling us that Alex is all he has.  He knows he’s got issues related to the death of his wife but seems unwilling to move past them.

In my review of Cry Wilderness I noted that it edged out Carnival Magic for the coveted title of ‘Worst Fucking Movie of Season 11’ mainly by being more racist. There’s a bit of racism in Carnival Magic, too, and it’s got a similar flavor although it’s not nearly so all-pervasive.  Cry Wilderness had its slightly magical Native Americans, here to help and support the white people.  Carnival Magic mostly cannot be bothered to have anybody who isn’t white say lines, but it still manages to have its slightly magical Buddhist Monks who raised Markov and presumably taught him his powers.  This is dumb, and actor Don Stewart sounds like even he doesn’t believe it.

Considered as a whole, Carnival Magic is pretty messy and never manages to settle on a tone.  Alex’ antics, Kirk’s revenge, and the various personal stories don’t quite feel like they’re all part of the same narrative. If I go back to that ‘sitcom’ metaphor, it’s like several episodes combined into a movie, but instead of being stitched end-to-end like in Riding With Death, they’ve been intercut to look like they’re all going on at once and it still doesn’t feel like a unified whole.  Yet for all that, there’s something weirdly fascinating about it.  Maybe it’s the contrast between the cheerful carnival setting and the often dark personal stories.  Maybe it’s trying to puzzle out what Adamson hoped to accomplish by the juxtaposition.  Whatever it is, it’s another reason I’d rather re-watch this than Cry Wilderness.

#mst3k #carnival magic #reviews #all carnival no magic #80s

[arbitrarilymine]

Tuesday, 04.06.2019, 22:24

Liking something can be such a huge motivation. And such a big motivating factor to just learn and do things. Like -

Because I like dolls, I:

Figured out, at the age of 15, how to buy things online without a bank account or credit or debit card. (The answer is, buy through group orders, or someone else doing the order, and request to pay in cash.) But also, when I did get a bank account (and still no card), I figured out how to get paypal (properly, not the fake your age method), and how to buy things and get them shipped to me without my parents knowing (send it to a friend)

Figured out how to do faceups with online forum tutorials. Back then, photo and text explanations were the norm, video tutorials weren’t really a thing. But anyway, a totally new skill picked up. It’s helpful to have drawn alot before this, but still, pastel and painting were new grounds for me.

Figured out what a respirator is, why it matters, and how to use it properly

Figured out a way to manage my expenses (done on excel) even though back then it was just doll related

Figured out how to sew because I didn’t have the money to buy them clothes. Figured out how to make patterns even though I’m still not really sure how to do it. Also learnt how to use the sewing machine from my mum though I’m not that good at it.

Figured out how to sand and mod a doll. Sanding from rough to smooth grit, what to use, how to sand with water so I don’t get so much dust

Figured out how to remove faceups using isopropyl alcohol and acetone, and where to find such stuff in Singapore

Learnt how to take photos, decided to learn more using a DSLR

Figured out how to use photoshop to edit photos and the effects in it way before I did started doing Architecture

Started making videos on youtube because I wanted more doll videos

Figured out how to cut wigs, furwigs and fibre wigs alike, to make the hairstyles I wanted my OCs to have

Figured out how to make costume jewelry for dolls, with simple tools bought off the shelf

Because I like Kpop (Infinite, Monsta X, Block B, Exo...), I:

Figured out how to make gifs in one day using online tutorials (already had photoshop skills then, which helped)

Started writing fanfic and now I have 4 years of fanfic written (a total 82 works, 453491 words published online, and there’s more in my drafts)

Through fanfic, learnt how to make stories that are appealing, did alot of research on tropes, different genres of story, different ways of story telling (kishotenketsu aka plot without conflict, which is different from the usual western way of plot with a distinct conflict etc). I figured out that I like slice of life alot for it’s mundane-ness, but also vampire fics alot. And that any sort of relationship with imbalances in power dynamics is not my jam. What I like and what I like to read have similarities but don’t overlap exactly. I also learn what polyamorous relationships are and generally a lot of lgbtq+ relationship dynamics and things that I don’t really get in traditional media

Made a ficfest with two online (Singaporean) fans for Infinite to encourage people to write more fics. Sure, we weren’t very successful but we tried really hard and we did this for almost a year, got a few authors to write a few stories, and we ourselves made over 50 moodboards for inspiration

Started looking at exercise as something positive, like, if the people I like enjoy exercising so much, and talk about its benefits, maybe there’s something in it for me. The biggest inspiration was Wonho who went from scrawny kid to buff dude but like, still remained really kind-hearted and soft and just, this whole combination wasn’t something I really learned to value from the way I was brought up, but it was an attitude I really admire regardless. And I learnt that I have the capacity to be moved by things like this, and to also adjust the biases or inherent assumptions I have

Did alot of research on BDSM and kinks and a lot of non-traditional things that I think I was always interested to know about and felt okay about actually reading up and knowing and writing and reading and discussing such things in a community of writers who did similar stuff. And realised there’s so much more in the dynamics behind these kinks, why people have them, how people can engage in them safely, what are safe practices and good practices, and just, having that knowledge also brings with it a better awareness of how similar power dynamics affect normal (unkinky) relationships

In a similar train of thought, to reserve judgement when I see people write or know or whatever certain things, because you can know something, write it, but not necessarily be agreeble to it (that’s why warning tags agree. It conveys self-awareness without telling the writer, no, you can’t write about this touchy taboo topic)

Learnt how to think horizontally when writing fics

Learnt how to get a beta to read my fics, or even why test readers (and cheerleaders) are important in a project like writing a fic. It’s my name on that fic but it’s with the help of alot of people sometimes, and that’s also why community matters

Thought about fandom, private spaces in online spheres and also constructive critique and non-constructive criticism and feedback on creative work

Read up on copyright laws, both for image use for moodboards, fanart and fanfic rights and ownership and whether one can make money off of it

Because I liked piercings, I:

Did research on how to get them safely, so so much research. From videos, from articles. Trying to figure out what’s credible, what’s not

Got piercings, also realised how biased I can be when someone has piercings. It’s a positive bias and completely groundless, like I see someone with piercings, it’s like +2 impression points or something, like I don’t know why. But it’s definitely something I should be aware of because of how seemingly groundless it is

Because I like unnaturally coloured hair, I:

Learnt how to bleach my hair with youtube tutorials and articles and learnt the dangers of doing so before I did it

Learnt how to dye my hair myself, how to transition between shades of cool and warm colours

Experimented and figured out the rest by actually dyeing my hair, enlisting the help of dorm mates

Learnt that purple is a colour that never shows up on my hair, maybe unless I bleach my hair to almost white

Learnt that I am/behave like a slightly different person with a different hair colour, and that such things affect not just my mood but how I perceive myself. And unnatural hair colours make me feel fun, but more importantly, that I can have them means I have time for myself (to dye my hair and to maintain it), and that kind of mindset is something I miss right now with my natural hair colour

Learnt that I am more open to change and okay with people talking about my hair than I thought, and that it’s fun to keep changing, but also maybe necessary for my psyche, to avoid feeling stagnant and boring

Because I like Peppertones, I:

Set up a tumblr and a blog for them in a day (helped that I’ve had a blogspot and tumblr account for ages before for other things)

Figured out a way to translate Korean songs to English even though my Korean is really really really basic. Like I can read Hangul, I can understand some words, but I can’t really write properly sentences by myself. But despite this, I wanted to know what their song lyrics are so much that I figured that I can use my ability to check a dictionary, my ability to read Chinese (so many things have Chinese translations compared to English), my cross referencing skills, and my Sec 2 literature inference skills to translate their songs despite my language incompetency. And so far I’ve modified 2.5 songs (i.e. added onto existing English translations to make it more accurate) and properly translated 1.5 songs with Chinese lyrics for reference. And there’s more songs in my drafts.

Figured out how to navigate Naver with mostly ctrl-c and ctrl-v of keywords

Compiled playlists of their live performances by individual songs, and created masterlists of their appearances and performances

Looked into Search Engine Optimisation to see how my peppertones blog can be more searchable for people like me who wanted translations of their songs, realising that blogspot is way more indexable than tumblr and finally understanding after so many years why my blogspot doll blog would show up on google image searches while my tumblr never really did

What I’m saying is, like things. Love things. Let your heart do what it wants. And then let these serve as your spark, your driver, and your direction (if for a little while). Let them inspire you, let them bring you to action, and let them remind you a little of why life is worth living. So much of this is not necessarily apparent at first glance because a lot of times, what we like may seem so trivial and trite and pointless, but the energy it offers can be so much more. I’ve learnt and picked up so many things along the way because I liked something so much that I HAD to learn something to do what I wanted to, and I cobbled my way to learning it with whatever available skills I have, and to research the heck out of whatever I didn’t know. And that is such a valuable lesson. 

I got a bit caught up in the details while listing some of the things above, but I just wanted to write down what I could before I forget. Obviously if we want to assess, some of these skills are probably more valuable than others. But the point is, all these are things and skills and abilities and learning experiences that can be picked up, and built upon, and they don’t exist in isolation. And maybe the tiny pieces don’t make particularly good sense at this moment, nor do they seem particularly useful, but like leaves falling, over time they’ll make a pile, and if you like something enough, that’s going to be a big pile of leaves, and it’s up to you what you want to do with that.

Me? I’m going to make a bed to lie on with that pile of leaves with my mediocre sewing skills and listen to all the songs I like.

[comicteaparty]

May 23rd, 2019 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on May 23rd, 2019, from 5PM - 7PM PDT.  The chat focused on Maiden of the Machine by Caitlin Like.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- THURSDAY BOOK CLUB START!

Good evening, everyone~! Our final Thursday Book Club is officially beginning! Today we are discussing Maiden of the Machine by Caitlin Like~! (https://maidenmachine.com/)

Remember that Thursday discussions are completely freeform! However, every 30 minutes I will drop in OPTIONAL discussion questions in case you’d like a bit of a prompt. If you miss out on one of these prompts, you can find them pinned for the chat’s duration. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is fun and respectfully appreciating the comic. All that said, let’s begin!

QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?

i think my favorite scene so far is when elizabeth and victor decide to sleep together. part in for its serious drama. theres so many questions about victor created from just the visuals, and then theres the stakes at hand of elizabeth's reputation. but then, there is also a good balance of comic relief to a degree since victor told her to ask no questions and she asks the one question that he probably didnt see coming. all around it was a pretty satisfactor culmination of their relationship so far at a juncture that felt natural.

another scene i really enjoyed was the ball scene where victor and eric are having a chat about elizabeth and then elizabeth and victor have a passionate liason. im mostly a fan cause of the dramatic convo. cause theres a deep and terrible sense that both characters truly know what their risking, what the situation is, and how they still are into each other. plus, its all very tense cause it just takes one person being in the wrong place at the wrong time to blow their cover.

honestly i think itd be accurate to say all my favorite scenes are with elizabeth and victor. romance is one of those genres i can struggle with, because theres always something missing. but oh man do i love the romance in this comic. there is nothing more i want than to see then elizabeth and victor finding a way to be together in spite society trying to kick that down at every turn.

i will give a special shout out to the scene where eric, abhaya, milo, and the cousin are meeting to discuss the affairs of the estate. i just like it because it basically shows all the characters' worst sides. abhaya is brash and reckless, milo is just kind of there, and eric is a greedy mofo. and whats worse is literally none of them thought to bring elizabeth. they may have their excuses of protecting her...but part of me still thinks thats a super dick move and shows even abhaya just kind of views elizabeth more as a pawn than a person. but all in all, nothing like money and estates to show off everyone's worst traits. it is very true to life, and i can respect that.

another non-victor/elizabeth scene i respect is the scene where elizabeth is out dress shopping and eric is like here i got you these dresses. just cause i knew eric was kind of a creep, but ho boy, he dialed the creep up to number 11 on a 10 meter scale. but at the same time, i think that really helped to erase all sympathy i might have had for him. thus paving the way for me to not really feel guilty on elizabeth's behalf for her trespasses against him.

mathtans

Hello, I made it... unfortunately this is a rather bad week, I only made it through the first two chapters.

RebelVampire

i also like scenes with west in them. cause I like that between all the people around Victor, West seems the most honest in a scoundrel sort of way. Which that is basically what I like about him in every scene. He causes trouble and pushes the limits, but at the same time hes always at least pretty upfront about his intentions.

thats unfortunate cause its a great comic, but glad to see you anyway math!

mathtans

Which kind of sucks, I like the whole concept of the kick ass ladies. Even the pirates.

Maybe I'll find time to read more in the background.

The bit I liked most of what I read I think was back in the first chapter, when Elizabeth makes the callback to when she got out of the ropes at the very start of the story. It was a nice subtle detail which I found very clever.

I'm not at your bits yet but I can see how the Elizabeth/Victor thing is being set up. Also there seems to be some question of whether Abhaya likes him... or possibly other ladies? I may be reading my own interests into that.

RebelVampire

you may be reading your own interests but later on there is a female character i ship abhaya with atm

so there is that

i dont think youve met her yet tho

mathtans

Also, yeah, the whole estate thing creates an interesting dynamic. That was a clever way of using the period to generate conflicts.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 2. A large focus of the comic is on Elizabeth and Victor’s relationship. At the end of the day, do you think the two will find a way to be together? If so, how will they get over the scandal Elizabeth would face and the fact those around Victor want him to marry a titled woman? If you don’t believe they’ll find a way to stay together, what will stop them? Further, given the most recent events, how will Eric Wollstonecraft play a role in the future of their love story? How does the narration framing seen where Elizabeth is addressing her potential son affect your opinion? How do you think that future came about, and how soon will it come to pass? Last, what do you think of their relationship in terms of Elizabeth wanting to make her own choices in life?

mathtans

I ship Abhaya with everyone.

RebelVampire

yeah i have to say if theres one thing i appreciate its combination of progressive themes while at the same time acknowledging that the period was not the friendliest towards these things

especially in regards to how elizabeth is treated since her only purpose apparently to everyone is to get hitched to a titled guy

and i mean

thats depressing

yet also true to the period

even though we get to see elizabeth take a journey and reject those social conventions

in regards to the current question, i am choosing not to think about whether in the long term elizabeth and victor will get together for the rest of their lives. because if they dont i will cry but i could see this realistically being the case given the tone of the narration. cause that...does not sound like an elizabeth who lives in eternal happiness.

mathtans

Back, sorry. Yeah, I'm usually not much of one for period pieces, but I like the narrative viewpoint. Also, pretty neat airships.

There was the point where she talked about leaving Victor behind back in Chapter 1 (I don't recall the exact circumstances) but I wondered if it was because he causes her heartache, or just because it make their lives more complicated.

Incidentally, the first thing I thought of with the name "Lovelace" was Lady Ada Lovelace. The mathematician. Not sure if that was an intentional reference to another well regarded woman.

RebelVampire

i love period pieces but i think the steampunk aspects help twist it enough to make it a bit more unique.

mathtans

(I don't think the time frames synch up but I don't recall when the comic takes place...)

Oh, it's definitely unique. I like the gadget aspect too.

RebelVampire

i would not be surprised if the name choice was purposeful. if only because the comic has lots of strong ladies. i doubt well see any real historical figures though.

i appreciate that the comic actually kind of starts off with the airship escapade

cause it really showcases the ways in which their world differs

where you get airships

and sky pirates

mathtans

That's a good point. Helps with the world building before we get down into some of the classic period issues.

RebelVampire

yes. and i also kind of like it starts off more action-y. not that there isnt action bits later mind you. but more i think it helps set up the main conflict while tying in the romance. because it makes it so the romance isnt some forced subplot. rather its kind of integral and has as much to do with the whole highjacking as the rest of the story. since later on youll see that elizabeth's proximity to victor keeps bring that part of the story into the limelight

mathtans

That's a good point, in terms of tying things together. Also possibly sets up a key antagonist (or at least revenge plot) in that burned pirate lady.

RebelVampire

she does come back

i will spoil that much

mathtans

I figured she had to some time, whether it was by the present updates or not.

I've resumed reading a bit in the background. Seems like both the Watson ladies are doing their best to get arrested. ^.^

RebelVampire

well at least Abhaya is.

cause Abhaya is a risk taker who puts herself in many situations where people are gonna stop and stare

mathtans

Well, yes. But Elizabeth also seems to be taking risks where Victor is concerned. Or at least stepping out of her comfort zone.

Certain people have certain effects on us I guess.

RebelVampire

nah thats true. I just think Elizabeth just takes more social risks. Like not the kind that are gonna get her arrested, but more the kind that are gonna get her socially shunned.

whereas Abhaya is the punch one who is gonna get charged with assault

mathtans

That seems like a valid viewpoint. It fits with their personalities when we saw them in their youth.

The cutting back and forth between the two sisters in Chapter 3 is well done.

RebelVampire

yeah in general i like the PoV switching of the comic. because every scene is pretty well-chosen and advances the plot in some manner. and it lets us see others parts of the comic developing. cause later on you do get to see more of victor without elizabeth some and get to go "hmm" to all that hes up to.

mathtans

Ha! I like Chapter 3, page 31, where all the dialogue seems to fade out as Victor touches her. Cute.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. Besides romance, there is a larger plot posing real and deadly danger to the characters. Who do you think the Angel is? What are the Angel’s goals, and why is she excessively targeting Victor? Further, what do you think the source of her power is? Also, what does have kidnapping people like Ambrose have to do with her goals? Alternatively, is Ambrose there of his own free will (and if so, why)? Considering Abhaya is being sought by Amabel for help, what do you think Abhaya will do? Will Abhaya be able to uncover more of the truth, or is Abhaya just going to get herself into more trouble? How will Abhaya’s involvement affect Elizabeth and herself? Last, can Amabel be trusted, or is it possible she’ll abandon Abhaya when Abhaya might need her?

spoiler Amabel is who I ship Abhaya with

mathtans

Related to those questions, I do wonder a bit if Victor has a sordid past or something. Like maybe his empire wasn't entirely built on the up-and-up... with his knowledge or possibly without it. So there could be a reason there for him to be targeted.

I've looked on the character page and I approve this ship.

RebelVampire

oh yeah. Victor is 100% definitely a scoundrel. There is one scenes that really hints at this, but even before that i agree with you. Victor is not on the up and up entirely. I don't think he made his fortune without cracking a few skulls.

although idk if this is what makes him a target persay

or maybe it oes

but more in the way hes done the forbidden when it comes to tech

mathtans

Was he totally aware of the repercussions of whatever he did though? Because the people around him seem to like to keep him in the dark.

brb

RebelVampire

im sure he knew the repercussions. the people around him are more about keeping him in the dark about romantic matters. cause as was implied by one of the questions later on you find out the main thing ppl arent telling victor is that elizabeth is just there to open him up to the idea of marriage so he can marry a titled lady

cause everyone is all about those titles

In regards to the current question while you're away, I think Abhaya will help Amabel and get herself caught and get into a whole mess of trouble that for once, Elizabeth will have to break her out of. But I think it'll be a dual sword cause I do think Elizabeth's relationship to both Abhaya and Victor is gonna put her in the crosshairs. cause like, what an easy way to get Victor to show up. Get Elizabeth, tell Victor you'll never see her again if you don't show up.

as for the angel's goals, I feel shes on a path of vengence against the entire world, but particularly victor cause hes high up there in the industrialist chain

and knows something she doesnt and that she needs to bring her plans to fruition

mathtans

Back. Okay, that does make sense, darn titles.

Interesting, this Angel talk. I wonder if it's the same "angel" we see in the title card for Chapter 2?

Sounds like you think it's not personal, the Angel's path, merely that Victor is a convenient figurehead.

RebelVampire

i mean the angel is kind of the one from the title card. those are her wings for sure, though she doesnt look quite like that the one time you meet her

it could be personal, but i feel like the angel just has bigger fish to fry

from the impression i got from her

since shes kidnapping a ton of ppl

and you dont need to kidnap ppl to your cause if all youre doing is hunting down some industrialist

who almost got caught

if not for abhaya and elizabeth

mathtans

Ah, so she's the one behind the disappearances then.

(Still reading in the background.)

RebelVampire

yes. i mean its pretty implied but you get confirmation later that yes its her. though you can definitely speculate on the why

cause i have no clue

shes still enigmatic

mathtans

Looking for a husband? ^.^

RebelVampire

shes reading the wrong romance advice book

when elizabeth and her meet, elizabeth will point her in the right direction

and the angel is like "oh wait so youre not supposed to kidnap them? huh?"

mathtans

And then we ship Angel and Elizabeth.

RebelVampire

no. ill ship Abhaya and Angel

Elizabeth and Victor are the OTP

i said but then was like "nah id totally ship Elizabeth with West"

mathtans

Heh. That's fair, they are the main couple. Though West is an interesting guy, just needs to learn social cues.

RebelVampire

nah thats why west is amazing

he doesnt know social cues

and is awkward

yet helpful

and hes the only dude of victor's who seems to be in elizabeth's corner

mathtans

Right. I think it was said that he's not used to the lifestyle?

RebelVampire

yes that is what he said

which makes me want a side chapter just about what he did before he came to victor

cause i dont feel like victor would just hire some rando. he must of seen something in west

mathtans

Maybe he took pity on the guy, something about the scar.

RebelVampire

that could be cause victor understands the burden of scars

or something like that

whereas i just think west's scar gives him character

QUESTION 4. Mixed in with the present drama is a lot of unsolved past drama. Who do you think Victor really is? What do you think happened to Victor based on Milo’s story that he was telling Abhaya? How do you think Victor managed to overcome this to become the person he is today? Also, what do you make of the room Victor seemed to have sealed off in his house? Besides Victor, there is also a lot of drama between Jules, Abhaya, and Milo. What do you think happened between the three of them that managed to damage their relationship forever? Will spending more time together heal their wounds, or is it impossible at this point? Further, what was Jules up to the whole time he was away with Victor? Last, what do you think Jules’ goals were for introducing Elizabeth and Victor, and why does he seem immensely conflicted about her presence?

mathtans

Sorry, biab

RebelVampire

kay

I think Victor was some fellow servant kid who was Jules' only friend after Jules got sent away. And then Victor almost died. Although I'm changing my previous speculations. Maybe the Angel is more literal and she literally showed up, saved Victor with tech with the promise to return, and then left. So now shes back for her comeuppance. Meanwhile, Victor decided technology was great and he needed to bring it to the world cause it was what would keep him alive and save others.

as for the three, at this juncture it seems pretty heavily implied Milo and Jules were in a relationship and that Milo called off the wedding to Abhaya cause he didnt want to live a lie in regards to how he felt about Jules. Regardless of the what, while Milo i feel will legitimately forgive and forget, I dont feel Abhaya or Jules will. Abhaya cause she doesnt seem the type to ever forgive ever. And to just hold onto her hatred and seethe. Jules in the meantime I think wont forgive until he gets revenge in some way. Cause the two probably betrayed his trust big time and he kind of got the most screwed over by what happened

i think Jules wanted them to meet for the exact reason that the others implied: they want Victor to warm up to the idea of women so he can get married. However, I feel Jules now feels like a jerk who is taking out his anger at Abhaya on Elizabeth who had 0% to do with what happened between the three. and yet he knows hes in too deep to turn back now.

mathtans

Could be that Victor was initially poor... in fact maybe he married into the company somehow? Could the Angel be his wife? o.o

I wondered about Milo and Jules. My initial thought had been that Abhaya had called off the engagement though, so that's an interesting other look at things.

Jules and Elizabeth were close too, back in the day. One wonders if he's that good at seeing how things play out long term.

RebelVampire

nah its definitely his company. but victor was probably poor. if only cause everyone calls him new money. so it means he has no predecessor parent who made their fortune.

Jules strikes me more as the type who things hes great at planning but really, really, really isnt

and then tons of consequences come about that he has to accept and deal with

mathtans

That makes sense and could explain the sympathy for West too, maybe he knows West even though it doesn't necessarily go both ways.

Yeah, Jules seems to think he's got everything well in hand but he doesn't seem to account for the human factor.

Made it to the end of Chapter 4/Act 1 now. Apparently the Angel kidnaps people to literally graft wings onto her spine. Ouch.

Interesting callback to Victor's wounded leg though.

RebelVampire

i think even more than the human factor, Jules is just bad at making plan Bs for when things do go wrong. then panics and makes bad decisions

like not telling victor the factory is in danger

mathtans

Maybe that thing that Victor has in the factory is a time machine. Turns out he's actually from the future, he brought back all the technology and that's why the Angel is after him, she thinks it's stolen.

You're not wrong there, about Jules.

RebelVampire

ya know...i can support this time traveler theory. i mean it doesnt quite fit considering flashbacks

but id 100% buy victor built a time machine

cause why not

victor is amazing

mathtans

Maybe his company is corrupt because they're still trying to get the patents.

RebelVampire

i mean

its a company

so its probably corrupt to some degree regardless

mathtans

That's also a good point.

RebelVampire

i mean i can point out the fact they want victor to marry a titled lady to be a form of corruption. cause thats just marrying someone to advance your social standing for the business

mathtans

I guess we're near the end... haven't said anything about the art yet. I suppose I like the shading, and I thought the sound effect use was clever.

Need someone to star in the commercials.

"Ladies and gentlemen, my wife loves this new device I call a roomba."

RebelVampire

i really love the clothes. i mean theyre simple, and yet all seem to fit within the period that this comic is trying to go for

but if they get a roomba what are the house wives supposed to do

not sit at home cooking and cleaning all day?

also about the art, i really love the steampunk designs. you can definitely tell the steampunk inspiration in them, yet theyre really unique and not really like any steampunk ive seen before

and i can for sure appreciate uniqueness

mathtans

Yeah, that's true. And there was that neat detail of the corset being laced up the front, I wouldn't have thought of that.

Uniqueness is good. I wonder what the machine connection will end up being.

With the whole "maiden of the machine" thing there. (Won't be a roomba, after all.)

RebelVampire

ah thats a good point as well. i loved that detail about the maid being able to tell elizabeth didnt have a maid

mathtans

Maybe Elizabeth gets upgraded too.

RebelVampire

the comic was about the angel all along

and the angel's victory

COMIC TEA PARTY- THURSDAY BOOK CLUB END!

Sadly, this wraps up our final Thursday Book Club chat for now. Thank you so much to everyone for reading and joining us! We want to give a special thank you to Caitlin Like, as well, for making Maiden of the Machine. If you liked the comic, make sure to support Caitlin Like’s efforts however you’re able to~!

Read and Comment: https://maidenmachine.com/

Caitlin Like’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/CaitlinLike

Caitlin Like’s Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/caitlike

Caitlin Like’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/caitlike

#ctparchive #comics #webcomics #indie comics #comic chat #comic discussion #book club #bookclub #webcomic book club #webcomic bookclub #comic tea party #ctp #maiden of the machine #caitlin like

[sunnybimbo]

New Year’s Wrap Up

i was literally just thinking about this and surprise!! boss has got me covered 

weathered (887 words)

Blueberry and Dandelions (2614 words)

Candlelight (1811 words)

Pas de Deux, adagio (23369 words)

Greasy Kisses (1080 words)

Me First! (1563 words)

Howling Heart (2553 words)

Dearly Beloved (3671 words)

Silence is Golden (2153 words)

Molten Gold (2953 words)

Dreaming (5303 words)

Chrysalis (483 words)

Marks You Leave (1182 words)

The Heart Speaks In Whiskers (2612 words)

Refracted (973 words)

All We Need (15983 words)

Whipped (2823 words)

dusklight (2025 words)

left in the dust (2218 words)

Pull of My Hips (3448 words)

the notion of the idea of waiting for you (3242 words)

Fall In (2000 words)

catching your light in my palms (2891 words)

Total Fics: 23 (excluding spice fics which raise it to 31) Total Words: 93,128

(read more bc s u p e r l o n g p o s t)

Ship/character breakdown: Ship breakdown:

Heith - 8 Fics Shunk - 6 Fics Sheith - 2 Fics and the rest have less than one fic attached, or are gen <3

Character breakdown:

Hunk - 20 Shiro - 15 Keith - 14 (w/ Kosmo at a solid 4 appearances yeet) Lance - 7 Pidge - 5 Allura - 3 Lotor - 2 Coran - 2 and special shoutout to Kolivan @ 2 as well

Characters that had the main focus: u already know it,,,,,,, 💛

Specifics:

Best/worst title? Best title:  i really can’t decide between: ‘the heart speaks in whiskers’ vs ‘blueberry and dandelions’ so take both Worst title: Dearly Beloved,,,,,,, i could’ve gone WAY cheesy

Best/worst first line?

best (Dreaming)

“You don’t have to do this.” Pidge says to him, just as the dawn begins to settle. He’s surrounded by faceless people, or atleast it feels that way with how little they look at him, so he focuses on nothing but her. Heavy makeup is traced across his eyelids, golden lines echoing the whisper of sun beams that paint his skin.

i love,,,,, yellow imagery in my fics,,,,,,, sue me 

also hidge friendship! yeah!!!

worst (Molten Gold): 

Lotor falls for the boy in yellow before he realizes it even happens.

just because i Remember not being able to think of anything more interesting to start with so i just slapped that on

Best/worst last line?

i waver so much but FINAL ANSWER:

i have TWO best ones, though.

(Dreaming): 

And Shiro is a greedy god, a selfish god, a lonely god. But forever and always would he be a kind one.

(Pas de Deux, adagio)

It feels the exact same way about two months later, — sending a current of pleasant electricity thrumming through him, until his fingertips tingle and his heart soars— when Hunk proposes in the very pasture they'd met in. Keith, if it isn't obvious by the way he smooches Hunk silly, says yes.  

And they lived happily ever after.

everytime i think about this fic i always wanna write a million and one words about it

worst (weathered):

They didn’t say anymore words, but the love (not to mention, the unadulterated mitigation of their combined grief) still nestled its way to his heart. There would never be enough time to describe how happy he was to see them again. And he knew that (and maybe he always knew) despite everything, here in his mama’s arms with his brothers and the familiar smell of grass and ocean, would always be his home.

only because it’s s o l o n g and kinda confusing to read

General questions:

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

I wrote a bunch less than last year, but this year was OOF so I didn’t do as much (93k vs last years 200+k ;w;)

although this IS disregarding my spice fics where i wrote almost 38k so,,, i didn’t do TOO terribly :D

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year? spice: hunk/sendak......

but other than that, i’ve really stuck to heith/shunk! What’s your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.

Familiar Faces is by far my favorite of the year.  It was fun, it was kooky, it was funny, it was dramatic.  Structurally it was among the most challenging (Two chapters happen simultaneously and that had to be plotted out well).  Also, it was just super fun to work with Velkyn!

Okay, NOW your most popular story.

By kudos, Coming Through the Noise.  Which is cool!  I’d never seen a Gen truth serum fic before, and it was extra fun for a very reserved character like Shiro. Story most underappreciated by the universe? Unrelenting, probably.  It’s all about the nature of being a Hufflepuff from Hunk’s POV, so I get why it doesn’t get a big audience.  But I love it.  Puffs need more love :( Story that could have been better? I like Shackles on my Wings, but it probably could have done with an extra polish (most things I write could tbh) Sexiest story?

DEFINITELY on my mind over @ my horni write write

Saddest story? god.... Silence is Golden for sure,,,,, (tw for torture/whump/i guess mild gore???)

Most fun? Pas de Deux, adagio,,,,,, i love myself some fairy tale (*cough* barbie* cough) crossovers.

Story with single sweetest moment?

i really gotta go with Pas de Deux again

"I'll be fine." Keith says as he pulls away. "Tonight isn't about this. Let's... let's dance. I've never danced before."

"Really?" Then, realizing that no, Keith probably would have never gotten the opportunity, Hunk stands and offers his elbow to him. "Well, I'm obligated to show you the best time of your life now."

They don't head towards the ballroom. Instead, they skirt around the edges of the castle until they find a window, left ajar just enough so that they can hear the music loud and clear.

Hunk offers his hand, and Keith lets his drop in his large palm. He's gathered up, then, with one arm around his waist, and it takes a bit of ushering from Hunk for him to catch the rhythm. Keith stumbles over his own feet more than once, caught between looking down at the motions and up at Hunk's face.

In the end, Hunk lifts him just a few inches up and lets him rest on the tip of his boots so that he can dance them around without having to worry about stepping on Keith's toes. He isn't wearing shoes, after all.

They dance until the song changes twice, and Keith finds himself pressing an ear against Hunk's heart, basking in the steady beat for as long as he's allowed. Every so often, Hunk will hum to the tune and the vibrations will course straight through Keith's body, like light through a rainbow prism.

Keith was right when he'd assumed that his dress would be fun to twirl in. The fabric is kind against his skin as it flips this way and that, but Hunk’s touch against his back is even kinder.

Hardest story to write?

All We Need, because i was at a r e a l l y bad place when i tried to tame that beast, but i’m so proud of how it turned out, and also i’d probably do anything for peach c’:

Easiest/most fun story to write?

left in the dust flowed out of me like water out of a spout,,,, it was Magical

Did any stories shift your perceptions of the characters?

mmmm i don’t think so? All We Need made me more conscientious of canon characterization, but by like maybe 10% asljhadl

Most overdue story?

dude..... All We Need, again. peachie was so patient and kind while it took me like 80 years ;w; 

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

i tried to be more Flowy n Metaphorical in my writing because i love that shit, and i think it’s going pretty well. i lost my touch somewhere around the end of summer for a bit, bc again i was having some Fucky moments, but overall i think i’m doing alright!!!! 

What are your fic writing goals for next year?

i have a couple long fic ideas i want to do!!! which i totally don’t mind talking about if anyone happens to be a little curious. one is an arriety au (bc i’ve never read the borrowers) and the other is that one old west au i literally never shut up about. 

there’s another one i’m iffy about where it’s basically shunk in Therapy together yayyyyyy, but we’ll see if that one stays dead

but overall: my biggest goal is to write more longfics for rarepairs!!! also more things w/ women bc i’ve really been slacking on that end. 

also maybe something for she-ra? i wrote down a couple ideas the other day that i’d love to explore

✍️ wish me luck!!!

tagging: 

@grassepi @drdone @ironinkpen @darlingaces @tootsonnewts @oops-i-accidentally @dansantsouslalune @sakura-daydream @call-me-kaii @maternalcube @turtlelady17 

plus anyone else who sees this that wants to do this!!!! i always forget people for these things

#long post #WOOF that took three hours #jam gets fuckin tagged in something holy shit #yayayaayaya #i'm proud of my progress this year!!! #i hope im able to write a bunch more next year!!!! #ask to tag

[icarusatmidnight]

Oleander, Thyme, and Daed? :D

Absolutely!! :D Sorry, this took a few days too! I had many words, heh.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Full Name: Oleander Everclear Wormwood.

Gender & Sexuality: Agender + Grey-aromantic pansexual.

Pronouns: He/Him or They/Them

Ethnicity/Species: Child of the Inbetween?? is his best guess??

Birthplace: Northern Iceland.

Guilty Pleasures: Ha, Oleander doesn’t do guilty pleasures. He likes what he likes and what he likes is nunya business~ :P

Phobias: Water in the sense of being wet; not being able to breathe.

What They Would Be Famous For: He’s pretty infamous as Lund’s former apprentice (har har) and for being an Archmage at a terribly young age, at least in the sense people know of him in a really vague sense.

What They Would Get Arrested For: He can be so lazy at times, I’m going to go with just plain ole trespassing or being Daed’s accomplice.

OC You Ship Them With: Thyme!! Kingcup too in that good brotp way, but Thyme’s the only person I ship him with ~*romantically*~.

OC Most Likely To Murder Them: Hahahahahahahaha!! Best of luck ‘cause you won’t succeed. Lund has the most motivation to do so though, just out of pure spite, but he’d never get close enough.

Favorite Movie/Book Genre: Horror, horror, horror! From classic and shitty, he loves bingein’ on horror films. Reading is basically a chore though so he doesn’t have a favorite there.

Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: Mhm. I don’t think Oleander is well-versed in the language of cliches enough to know what his least favorite is. He doesn’t like it when the hidden big bad is revealed to be an Inbetweener (so so lazy and overdone!) or when people just split up. He’s always gonna death-glare while muttering to himself ‘why do you want to die?’. It’s just madness.

Talents and Powers: He’s absurdly talented with Anima Magic for his age and there’s …other… things… too… :)

Why Someone Might Love Them: He’s sturdy like a rock! That’s definitely a huge reason both Kingcup and Thyme like him. It’s really hard to honestly rattle him and that’s kinda nice to have in a friend, you know? He’s also a massively sarcastic little dipshit with a sharp but not cruel tongue and a love of truly bad things. He knows how to have a good time, you know? :P

Why Someone Might Hate Them: I wanna say the massive sarcastic little dipshit thing sarcasm (and it’s definitely a possibility) but I honestly feel the monotony of his voice would probably get to people first. In high doses, I imagine it grates real easy.

How They Change: Out of the three mains, Oleander probably changes the least. He starts as a deadpan snarky kid who goes to support club to basically shut up his roommate and at the end, he’s still really similar to that person. But~! That’s okay. He ends knowing more about himself and what happened to him in his past and he’s on a much healthier path for healing because of that knowledge and that kinda overjoys me a lot. c:

Why You Love Them: !!! I love his silliness! I love his bluntness!! I love his monotone sarcasm and his love of ugly awful things that he sincerely feels are wondrous!! He’s been such an old character of mine for years and years now and I still just love learning new things about him and seeing how far he’s come from his original pissy protective edgelord beginning and I’m so so so happy I finally wised up and made him the main character of Icarus. It works so much better now. Just! /love love love

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Full Name: Thyme René Oxeye!

Gender & Sexuality: Cisguy and bisexual!

Pronouns: He/Him

Ethnicity/Species: He’s from a werewolf clan, though not technically one himself. He’s a junk wolf and has a bit of fae in him too. \m/!!

Birthplace & Birthdate: Romneya Backwoods and March 20th!

Guilty Pleasures: Tabletop RPGs. He needs to run a game for Oleander and Kingcup one day, needs!!

Phobias: He has a lot of general anxieties and a nasty habit of internally catastrophizing most of his actions but as for actual phobias, not really.

What They Would Be Famous For: Raising the Dead? Unfortunately??

What They Would Get Arrested For: I’ve mentioned it before but stealing dogs, for sure! He hates seeing them neglected and he has no qualms stealing them to give them some joy~ 💕

OC You Ship Them With: OLEANDER! 😭💕💕  I love them together so much but for less obvious choices though, him and Deacon are my strictly fwb guilty pleasure and I think him and Volkamenia would be good together too. They’re both just so cute and dopey.

OC Most Likely To Murder Them: I wanna say Kingcup just because but she’s really not the type to murder. So Thyme’s roommate Deacon is gonna be my choice! They have a fun relationship. :’D

Favorite Movie/Book Genre: Thyme loves documentaries so damn much, that nerd!! 😭! He knows so much useless and stupid info because of them, especially given how many bad ones he watches it. It’s ridiculous. Like Olea too, he’s not a huge reader but he likes …absurd queer adventures like River of Teeth? He’d love that kind of book.

Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: Mhm. He’s really bored by gritty grimdark cynicism? Just, no.

Talents and Powers: He has his death empathy thing and Thyme totally does the Elle Woods ‘What, like it’s hard?’ thing when it comes to natural magic too, lol.

Why Someone Might Love Them: Despite his anxieties and insecurities, he’s a very outwardly bright and compassionate young man who does honestly try his best to bring some more warmth and happiness into the world.

Why Someone Might Hate Them: Oh ho ho. Outside of his anxieties and insecurities which feel like unfair hits, Thyme comes off as a little goody two-shoes at times and someone who is more nice than he is kind. It’ll rub people that wrong way for sure but honestly? Kingcup is screaming that Thyme is far too reckless when it comes to his magic!! He took a miles width chuck of the Backwoods into the Inbetween, raised a rabbit from the dead, got burned and took none of that to heart!! What the Fuck, Thyme!! Any one of those things would be bad but all of them combined?! What were you thinking!!

How They Change: 😭😭😭💕💕💕  Thyme starts off treading through a sea of guilt while spiraling downwards in anxieties and chipperly trying to pretend ‘Everything Is A-Okay! :)’ It’s not, at all. I love seeing him grow the most of out of the three, coming to terms with his connection to death and what happened in the Backwoods and actually accepting kingcup isn’t wrong about him being a reckless little shit either thyme what the fuck. By the end, I’m basically rolling on the ground in glee and pride about how far he comes in maturing into and working towards that better version of himself that’s still uniquely Thyme and It’s Wonderful!

Why You Love Them: I love his sincerity! I love his anxieties! I love his compassion and I love his recklessness, oh my god! He is my darling bisexual disaster of bisexual and the type of character I’d fell over heels for as a teen. His journey is so so much fun and while he’s no longer my main character for Icarus, I still have a massive soft spot for him (clearly). His family back in Romneya is also extremely dear to my heart, lol. I adore puppy-like werewolves who just adopt every misfit in sight because ‘we’re your family now!! :D’. Sue me.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Full Name: Ira Myrrh Young Daedalus York

Gender & Sexuality: Cisguy & Aro Ace!

Pronouns: He/Him

Ethnicity/Species: He’s pretty human.

Birthplace & Birthdate: In the woods and he’s pretty sure it was like July 25th. Probably. 

Guilty Pleasures: See his favorite genres except like Olea, he ain’t that guilty over it. :P He really loves living domestic life too.

Phobias: Having his horror rub off and fuck up Oleander is kinda high up there. Also, he doesn’t like insects or iguanas.

What They Would Be Famous For: He’s pretty famous for his ability to break things and his vague detective skills too actually!

What They Would Get Arrested For: ….everything. Grand Theft Auto is real high on the list though.

OC You Ship Them With: No one, not his thing! I do think him and Thyme’s mother Dahlia would bond  (and drink) over their mutual aro-ness and their delinquent children though! FRIENDSHIP! FRIENDSHIP! FRIENDSHIP!

OC Most Likely To Murder Them: Lund? His folks? Other Knights of Pandora? There’s plenty of options.

Favorite Movie/Book Genre: Trashy Romance Novels and Rom-Coms until he dies!!! \m/!!

Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: Blood-Family is Absolute. Some people you need to cut out of your life and cut them out viciously. Also, just badly written love triangles?? You can do so much better than ‘x loves y and likes z and can’t choose between them’.

Talents and Powers: He has a natural talent for breaking things. \m/

Why Someone Might Love Them: He’s an effortlessly kind soul who tries his best to put some good back into the world. After all the Hell his folks have tried to raise, it’s the least he can do, you know? He’s also a great drinking buddy and the type of person who won’t ever leave you to feel sorry for yourself. He probably won’t actually help much but he’ll be there for you.

Why Someone Might Hate Them: People who figure out he’s a (former) Knight of Pandora tend to avoid him like a plague. Like there’s no need to get involve with them, and Daed doesn’t blame any of them any one bit. And while he is honestly very kind, he’s still blunt as fuck and doesn’t have the best handle of how to socialize politely.

How They Change: In the story, not much. He’s already dealt with his demons the best he’s ever gonna by then start so he doesn’t have much of journey. He’s actually more the mentor type to the three leads and I love him being the figurative dad/uncle type to them all. :’)

Why You Love Them: Daed’s Daed!! Oh my gosh, he’s a frickin snake in the best way. You see him and just thinks he’s a drunk idiot weasel and he kinda is but he’s also using that as a cover to map out your whole life and motivations and plans and figuring out if he needs to Deal With You or not.

But, you know, just for fun! :D

He’s just a strange character that you wouldn’t think sincerely wants to be a dad and dreams of having a cliche as fuck family but he does?? So so much?? Living in Dead Leaves with Oleander is like his dream come true and he’s so ready to help him be the very best Oleander that he wants to be! He’s also so ready to Beat The Ever-Loving Shit Out Of Anyone Who Dares to Hurt Oleander too. He knows Oleander can handle himself but he’s been through enough already. No more, no more.

#indecentpause #thank you!! #this is a little crash course into these lovely fools #i'll probably do kingcup too later just to have the complete set so to speak~ #thyme oxeye #daed york #icarus at midnight #oleander wormwood