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mediaevalmusereads · 3 years

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When A Scot Ties the Knot. By Tessa Dare. New York: Avon Books, 2015.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Genre: historical romance

Part of a Series? Yes, Castles Ever After #3

Summary: On the cusp of her first London season, Miss Madeline Gracechurch was shyly pretty and talented with a drawing pencil, but hopelessly awkward with gentlemen. She was certain to be a dismal failure on the London marriage mart. So Maddie did what generations of shy, awkward young ladies have done: she invented a sweetheart. A Scottish sweetheart. One who was handsome and honorable and devoted to her, but conveniently never around. Maddie poured her heart into writing the imaginary Captain MacKenzie letter after letter … and by pretending to be devastated when he was (not really) killed in battle, she managed to avoid the pressures of London society entirely. Until years later, when this kilted Highland lover of her imaginings shows up in the flesh. The real Captain Logan MacKenzie arrives on her doorstep—handsome as anything, but not entirely honorable. He’s wounded, jaded, in possession of her letters… and ready to make good on every promise Maddie never expected to keep.

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

Content Warnings: graphic sexual content, blood, violence

Overview: I came across this book while doing research for a blog post on Scottish fetishization in romance. While writing the post, I encountered YouTuber Jean Bookishthoughts’s video “ An Actual Scot Reads Highlander Romances,” and she gave this novel a fairly positive review. So I decided “why not? I’ve got nothing better to do.” Overall, the premise of this book was really enticing - the idea of a woman writing letters to a fictional sweetheart only to have a flesh-and-blood man show up at her door is quite the setup. I also think Dare does a good job of writing humor and moving the narrative along. But I ultimately couldn’t give this book more than 3 stars for a number of reasons: for one, the main crux of the plot felt like it could have been a bit more robust. Two, I didn’t find Logan to be a very interesting character. And three, some of the random “Highlander” references felt cheesy.

Writing: Dare writes prose that is quick, witty, and humorous. I very much enjoyed the jokes and the banter between our protagonists, and I appreciated that Dare didn’t get bogged down in some of the details of day-to-day life. If I had any criticisms, it would be that I think Dare moves almost too quickly at times. Some of the more emotional moments could have used some room to breathe or some more description of how the characters’ emotions are faring. But it wasn’t so bad that I felt like I was being rushed through the novel. Another way of putting is may be that sometimes Dare told where she could have shown, but the balance of telling vs showing didn’t feel egregiously off.

Plot: This plot mainly follows our heroine, Maddie, and our hero, Logan, as they try to work out an agreement. Maddie, in the attempt to avoid going on the marriage mart, invented a sweetheart at age 16 and wrote letters to a “fictional” Scottish captain in the army for years. Unbeknownst to her, the letters were actually being received by Logan, and when he and his men come home from the war, Logan is determined to marry Maddie in order to get her land in Invernesshire.

Personally, I found this setup to be quite intriguing and whimsical. I liked the embarrassment that arose from Maddie’s letters actually being received and read. I liked that Logan secretly looked forward to the letters from a stranger. I even liked the dilemma of negotiating a marriage of convenience. But I think where this plot fell apart for me was the whole challenge of consummating the marriage. Logan and Maddie agree to marry and live separate lives (it’s early on, so this isn’t really a spoiler), but Logan is adamant about consummating the marriage so that there’s no possibility of an annulment. Maddie, for her part, wants to avoid consummating the marriage because she finds that marriage will threaten her career prospects; as an illustrator, she finds that men will not hire her for work if they think household or parenting duties will interrupt her work schedule. To be completely honest, this challenge was quite good; I thought there was a real opportunity here for Dare to explore the sexist challenges women face in the workplace. Where I thought the challenge was weak was in the whole obsession with consummation. Unless there was such hostility between the Scottish and the English that an Englishwoman’s word would always be taken over a Scotsman’s, I found the question of “did they actually have sex or not” to be quite trivial. From what I know, annulments were notoriously difficult to obtain, so it wouldn’t matter much if Maddie and Logan had consummated the marriage. It seems like Logan could just say they did and an annulment would be near impossible. Nor do I think the law would care much if they only had non-penetrative sex. It seems like the whole plot hinging on whether or not they had “real sex” was a non-issue for me.

Instead, I would have liked to see more conflict in Maddie between balancing her desires for romance and a family with her career aspirations. Once Logan enters the picture, it seems like her career takes a backseat (except for a couple of scenes), and I would have rather seen it be more front and center. Either that or I think Maddie’s story could have mirrored her aunt’s more closely. Maddie’s Aunt Thea was long ago caught up in a scandal that ruined her, but later, Thea reveals that she had enjoyed the freedom. I think having Maddie be independent and struggle with the idea of being “tied down” by marriage could have also been good, and while there’s a little of that, I think it could have been more apparent to the reader.

In terms of small-scale narrative points, I think a lot of the scenes Dare writes are very funny and entertaining. I liked, for instance, the scene where Maddie falls into a bog, or when Maddie shows kindness to Logan’s friend, Grant. The scenes that truly did bother me, however, were some of the more “fluffy” ones that were a bit too cheesy for my tastes. For example, there’s a scene in which Maddie finds Logan reading Pride and Prejudice and he’s wearing spectacles. She makes a big deal about him being a reader and I had to roll my eyes. There’s also a scene towards the end in which Maddie attempts to make haggis, and I hated it because it felt like it was inserted so Dare could check off a “Scottishism” in a list. Tartan? Check. Brogue? Check. Haggis? Check. The scene also erupted in random violence, too, which felt out-of-place and inserted for pointless drama towards the end of the novel.

But I will admit, I did like the scenes that were very self-aware about what Dare was doing. For example, there’s a scene in which Logan is debating about what to do to get Maddie into bed. His friends give him suggestions like “offer your heart to her on a platter” or “throw in a lot of oochs and bonny lasses when you speak” or “dive into the loch and have her go looking for you. Then, when she’s found you, pretend you don’t notice her and have her watch you bathe for a while. Then emerge from the lock all dripping wet.” This self-awareness was a nice stab at romance cliches, though I wish Dare had done a better job herself at avoiding them.

Characters: Maddie, our heroine, is fairly likeable in that she’s bookish, generous, and a bit clumsy at times. I liked that there was a juxtaposition between her confidence and her social anxiety: while she wasn’t afraid to assert herself in some situations, big crowds made her nervous, and I think navigating those two scenarios made for some interesting characterization. The main thing I didn’t like about Maddie was how quickly she seemed to give up her career ambitions for Logan. There’s a point where she has to make a choice between letting Logan go and following her dreams, and she claims that she’s choosing Logan even though the choice is really made for her based on sexist norms of the day. I would have liked to see her wrestle with her ambitions a little more.

Logan, our hero, has some admirable qualities, but in the end, I found him rather uninteresting. He’s your basic roguish Scotsman with a tragic past, and though I liked the loyalty he showed to his men, I ultimately though he was a little too jealous and a little too used to his orders being obeyed. I would have liked to see him be a little less dictatorial so that his romantic appeal would shine through a bit more brightly.

Side characters are charming but, in my opinion, underutilized. I liked all of Logan’s army buddies and appreciated that all of them had disabilities in some way (and those disabilities were important but didn’t define them). I really appreciated Maddie’s relationship with Grant, the soldier whose memory resets every hour or so. She was kind to him and he was sweet to her; I just didn’t think his random violent outburst towards the end was necessary or in-character. Maddie’s Aunt Thea could have also been used more effectively, but I did like that Thea had this quirk of making a lot of cosmetics and remedies that were, ultimately, rubbish. It was charming.

Romance: Logan and Maddie’s romance was... ok. The premise started out really interesting, but over time, I lost some enthusiasm because I felt like I was being told that they had feelings for each other (rather than being shown). Sure, Logan does some things that challenge Maddie’s assumptions and vice versa, but I wanted them to have a stronger basis for a romance than just “they’re hot and I’m horny oh wait they were nice to me and aren’t exactly what I expected.” Part of the reason I wasn’t super enthused might also be the focus on sex and sexual attraction as well as Maddie feeling pity for Logan on account of his past. I prefer romances where the focus is on each person lifting the other up emotionally, and while there was a little of that, I think I would have liked to see it be more of a centerpiece within the plot.

TL;DR: When a Scot Ties the Knot is a funny, light, historical romance, but ultimately doesn’t have a “meaty” enough plot for my personal tastes. Some readers might enjoy the banter and the heroine’s determination, while others might be turned off by the cheesiness and lack of a complex hero.

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thefloatingstone · 4 years

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If you’re doing Self Quarintine (and you should be if you can help it) here’s some Youtube recommendations! Some of these I have posted about or recommended before but with almost all of us stuck indoors now’s a good time to remind you of some cool things you can watch for free!

I’m not gonna imbed the videos, I’ll just post the link because otherwise I would only able to post 5 and I want to collect a few so you can make a playlist or something. (I could make a playlist too but then I couldn’t tell you what each video is and you can’t pick and choose which one sounds interesting to you)

In no particular order:

Polybius: The video Game that doesn’t exist

An hour long documentary in which the youtuber did extensive research to find the origin of the “Polybius” Urban Legend, which speaks of an early arcade game reportedly seen around the early 1980s which reportedly gave people migraines, insomnia, nausea, subliminal messages, and in some cases heart attacks.

The Universal S

A shorter video in which LEMMiNO does his very best to try and track down where exactly this S that we all drew in middle school comes from? Why does literally every country on earth seem to HAVE their children draw this S?

I also recommend LEMMiNO’s video on the Dayltov Pass Incident and the perplexing UFO cases

Down the Rabbit Hole: Henry Darger

Fredrick Knudsen has an incredible fascinating series called “Down the Rabbit Hole” which simply focuses on... anything you can discover and go digging into. From weird internet personalities, to bizarre happenings in history. This video is about the artist Henry Darger, a man who lived in the early 1900s and for all intents and purposes had a perfectly average, lonely life, until it was discovered just before his death he had spent literally decades writing and drawing a fantasy world in what is possibly the longest piece of literature ever written.

I also recommend his video on the Hurdy Gurdy

Bedtime Stories Channel

I’m actually just gonna link the whole channel for “Bedtime Stories”. If you like weird and creepy stories, all of which at least claim to be “true” then Bedtime Stories is great. Coupled by illustrations and subtle sound effects, Bedtime Stories is literally listening to someone tell you a story about such things like hikers who mysteriously went missing, Sightings of Bog Men in Florida and giant Birds over Chernobyl, as well as weird and unsettling murders that remain unsolved. Sometimes the facts are a little dubious or have been disproved, but that’s not the point of the channel. It’s here to tell a creepy story, not give you a documentary.

A Journey Through Rule of Rose

Rule of Rose is a Survival Horror gave for the PS2 which has rather bad gameplay... but a FASCINATING story with just as many layers and symbolism as Silent Hill 2 could boast. It tells the story of one young woman traveling back into her own childhood in an orphanage in the 1930s, and all the horrors that contains. From repressed grief, abusive relationships, child neglect, abuse, and bullying... but it ALSO contains symbolism of societal class structure, politics, eating the rich, and how power structures work. Not for the faint of heart, but HIGHLY recommended.

I also super highly recommend his video on the similarities between Silent Hill 2 and Solaris

Clemps Reviews Crisis Core

Mr. Clemps is a great internet gamer who reviews JRPGs and other games he simply enjoys. Sprinkling in a heavy dose of comedy and very fast jokes and observations, Clemps’ videos are always upbeat, fun, and incredibly enjoyable to watch. I’m linking part 1 of his Crisis Core video in which he explains why the PSP game remains a personal favourite of his despite its flaws.

I also recommend his video on Eternal Sonata

Defunct TV: The History of Dragon Tales

Defunctland is a channel that deals with theme parks and theme park rides that are no longer standing, or which are no longer around in their current form. Defunctland also has a sub series though, called “Defunct TV” where they look at the origin of children’s TV which are no longer airing. I recommend the video on Dragon Tales which is incredibly wholesome, and a genuinely uplifting and soft story of good people trying to make good things for children. (I also recommend the videos on Bear in the Big Blue House, Zoboomafoo, and Legends of the Hidden Temple)

Hagan’s Histories of Polar Exploration

A Playlist for Diamanda Hagan’s videos about the doomed Franklin Expedition from the late 1800s, where England tried to find a passage through the Northern Arctic to the Pacific Ocean. This went horribly horribly wrong, with every member of the Expedition dead. Over a 100 years later we are still fuzzy on what EXACTLY happened, but apart from the arctic chill, there is also evidence of faulty canned food, a series of bad decisions, and cannibalism. Caution advised for this series.

I also recommend the rest of Diamanda Hagan’s channel. She is NOT for everyone, but if you enjoy somebody reviewing Z grade indie movies as well as just BIZARRE films, really bad Christian media bordering on Science Fiction (without making fun of religion itself) hot takes of classic (and modern) Dr. Who, an introduction to Red Dwarf, She’s an EXCELLENT channel to check out.

Good Bad or Bad Bad: Pass Thru

A half podcast half review show where two guys watch a terrible film, decide if it’s “Good” Bad or just Bad Bad and tell you if you should watch it too.

That’s it. That’s the whole show.

I recommend diving into the untold madness that is one of the best(?) bad film makers currently still producing batshit insane movies, the immortal Niel Breen.

There is literally nothing I can say that’ll prepare you for Niel Breen.

(I also recommend their more recent video for “Dancin’ It’s on!”)

History Buffs: Apollo 13

Do you like History? Do you like movies ABOUT History? Do you want to know if the movies about history you watch actually resemble what really happened in any way at all? History Buffs is an EXCELLENT channel, which does talk about the merit of a film itself, but is mainly focused on letting you know just how true to life that historical film you watch is. I highly recommend his longest video which covers the space race between the USA and the USSR, leading to what is known as “The most Successful Failure in NASA’s History”. The Infamous Apollo 13 and where the words “Houston, we have a problem” came from.

If you’re not interested in Apollo 13 however, I also recommend his video on the movie Casino, as well as his video on the female philosopher, Agora.

The Internet Historian: The Goodening of No Man’s Sky

With videos with literally MILLIONS of views, you probably already know the Internet Historian. But I still want to recommend him very highly because his videos are just THAT good and entertaining. I recommend his newest video, documenting that time we were all pissed off about No Man’s Sky, the difficulties the game studio was in when the game released, and how they have been working hard to finally create what is now a truly brilliant game which is winning major awards. A really good underdog story of how a video game company actually saw what was wrong with their game, and FIXED it.

I also recommend his video on Fallour 76 as well as the Failure of Dashcon

8 Creepy Video game mysteries

Hey. Did you know that sometimes there’s some REALLY weird shit in video games, hidden easter eggs which took literal decades to find as well as just a lot of “what the actual fuck?”. Oddheader is a channel with a dedicated discord and Reddit form solely focusing on trying to find or replicate bizarre video game finds, mysteries, and hidden glitches. Even if it means getting in his car and driving to a specific arcade just to check a rumour about Street Fighter II’s arcade version. So if you like getting spooked by weird game shit that’s not just some dumb creepypasta, this is a great place to start.

I also recommend his video on weird discoveries in DVDs and movies.

Red Letter Media: Best of the Worst

Look you already know who Red Letter Media is.

You know... these guys:

Here’s a video of them and Macaulay Culkin watching 3 terrible movies together.

I recommend literally any and all of their videos. Their discussion on Carpenter’s The Thing is amazing.

The Impact of Akira: The film that changed Everything

Ok trying to pick just ONE Super Eyepatch Wolf video is literal torture. Originally I was going to suggest his recent video on Final Fantasy 7 for the PSone but I realised I recommended something FF7 related with Clemps, so instead I will recommend The Impact of Akira, a video talking in depth about Akira both as a film as well as a manga, how it completely and utterly changed the anime industry both in Japan as well as the west, and why it is still a meaningful and one of the most important anime/manga even to this day, still being unsurpassed despite so much competition.

However, ALL of Wolf’s videos are incredible, so I also recommend his videos on wrestling (despite me not caring about wrestling at all), His video on how media scares us, The bizarre reality of modern Simpsons, Why the Dragon Ball Z manga is great, and literally any other video he’s made. He hasn’t made one bad video yet.

Was Oblivion as Good as I remember?

Exactly what it says on the tin. The Salt Factory goes back to playing The Elder Scrolls Oblivion and now with hindsight and modern sensibilities, gives feedback on his experience and whether Oblivion still holds up. This isn’t a super in depth review of the game’s mechanics or how its put together or how it was made. This is simply one guy talking about his experience replaying it with somejokes thrown in and how he felt revisiting it. It’s pretty good.

I also recommend the video he did on Morrowind (because I’m biased).

Weird Japan Only PS1 games

Thor High Heels is SO GOOD and deserves SO MUCH MORE subs than he currently has. THH focuses a lot of obscure and lesser known games as well as big popular titles like the Yakuza series, talking about what he likes about them, what he thinks is cool, and just what kind of atmosphere and mood a certain game has, even if the game itself is kind of ass. He’s done several videos on games that were only released in Japan, as well as videos talking about the fashion in Squaresoft games and how it inspired as well as was inspired by real world street fashion, the aesthetic of PC-98 games and other topics. He also styles his videos and thumbnails after promotional art for video games from the 90s and generally just has an excellent style to his channel over all. Very chill.

Blue Reflection Review

ValkyrieAurora is a channel run by Sophie where she talks about games she personally likes and enjoys. Her videos are really laid back and her voice is really calm and pleasant to listen to. She’s made a bit of a reputation for herself as “The channel that talks about the Atelier Games” and general is just a really enjoyable channel worth checking out if you just want something soothing to listen to.

Ancient Chinese Historians Describe Japan

Voices from the Past is a channel were historical text is read out loud in english. These can be anything like the above video where Chinese historians describe the people of Japan around 297 AD, Accounts of “Dog-Men”, or the worlds oldest letter of complaint from 1750 BC. If you’d like something interesting historically to listen to but don’t want a full blown history lesson, this is a really good way to hear contemporary people talk about their experiences and what they thought about each other in their own words, without opinions or input given by the narrator.

The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet

Whang! is a channel that covers weird internet stories, some horrifying, some curious and interesting, and some just plain weird. His video on The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet and its update, are about a song which was recorded off the radio in Germany around the 1980s, and after one person online asked if anyone knew who the artist was as they couldn’t find any information, led to the realization that NOBODY online knows where this song came from or who sang it. It’s a fun mystery to look into that, unlike some others on this list, is not creepy or unsettling, although perhaps a little frustrating.

I also recommend his video on The Most Mysterious Anime theme song, and the haunted Ebay Painting.

5 Lost, Destroyed, and Locked away Broadcasts

Yesterworld is similar to the Defunctland channel in that it talks about obsolete rides, theme parks and other forgotten pieces of entertainment. Although the majority of the channel focuses on movie rides, rollercoasters and Disneyland, I recommend the video on lost and locked away broadcasts which you can no longer see. I also recommend the video about Lost and Rediscovered movie props.

The Nightmare Artist

I talked about this one recently as I just discovered this channel. This video is about the renowned Polish artist Zdzislaw Beksinski who painted surreal and horrifying paintings during his lifetime. There is no mystery here or anything like that, it merely talks about the impact WWII left on Beksinski and how the trauma his country and people suffered influenced his painting, and how certain images and motifs can be seen to directly reference this terrible part of Poland’s history.

Disabilities in Prehistory

Modern media likes to portray how “savage” the ancient past is, and tell us stories of how any person born with a deformity or disability would be thrown over a cliff or dumped in a well because they would be too big a drain on a community to look after. But here’s the thing... according to archaeological evidence, it turns out our ancient ancestors actually did their best to look after its disabled members to the best of their abilities. This video talks about archaeological finds of people who had genetic disabilities and what we can learn from their remains. TREY the Explainer is a great channel for archaeology and also talking about what answers we could have for sightings of cryptids. (not ALL of which we have answers for)

I also recommend his video on Pre-Contact dogs as well as Homosexuality in Nature and the Genetic History of the Ainu.

Decoding “The Secret: A treasure Hunt”

“The Secret” was an art book released in the 80s full of beautiful paintings, but it is also more than that. The book has a fantasy story talking about 12 fantastical races who left wonderful treasures for humans to find,and the book’s paintings and riddles will tell you where you can find each of these treasures which are yours to keep if you can solve the puzzle... and the treasures are 100% true and can actualy be found and claimed, if you can solve the riddles in the book. The video tells the story of the artbook, who was behind it, what the treasures are, how many have been found and various other facts and details.

I also recommend the videos on this channel “The Game: A scavenger Hunt” and “The investigation of Erratas”.

5 Ancient Inventions That Were WAY Ahead Of Their Time

I would recommend you be careful with this channel as its main focus is existentialism and rather alarming topics such as “how close are we to the apocalypse” and other things whose titles alone are enough to upset me. However this video is nothing like that. This video is exactly what the title suggests it is. 5 ancient inventions that were so incredibly ahead of their time you’d think they were made up. From the computer used by ancient Greeks to steel swords we don’t know how to replicate, this video is a great mix of mystery and history.

Although I caution you with this channel, I recommend Joe’s other videos about mysterious books, as well as his video on the most inbred people in history.

However, I know I keep repeating this, I highly recommend caution with this channel. Perhaps its just me and the topics of life and existent are just triggering for me, but I’d recommend maybe just doing a search for the titles I mentioned and not to go searching through the video library unless you’re not bothered by this kind of thing.

Anyway I could keep going, but I think that’s a LARGE amount of videos to keep you occupied for the time being as well as some suggestions for further viewing.

Please enjoy, let me know if you found something interesting, and look after yourself!

If you enjoyed this list at all, please consider tipping me for a coffee

☕️ Ko-fi ☕️

#self isolation #Youtube #Links #Recommended #recommendations #documentary #long post #ask to tag #tumblr ate the 'read more' I put on this so screw it #Just scroll past or hit J to skip this if you want #No editing we die like men

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bistevethor · 4 years

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Why Steve’s sacrifice at the end of First Avenger is important and why he has to do it that way (comment by Nocturnal Rites on this video). Text:

I honestly think the whole scene with the Valkyrie (Schmidt's plans in general) make a LOT more sense (and become a HELL of a lot more threatening) if you know more about WWII history. If you don't, they lose some significance. That, of course, is part of the problem with TFA: most people don't have a clue when WWII *was*, much less what happened during the war. I'm just a history nerd.

We live in an era of smart bombs, where we take for granted the ability to drop a weapon at the touch of a button. We forget that in 1945, it was still a pretty damn big deal to fly a plane *all the way across the Atlantic*, much less one that could carry the kind of payload the Valkyrie could. We forget that there was a time when there was not only no GPS, but when radar was new and spotty at best, and that most of the time if you couldn't see a landmark, you were SOL as a pilot. Appreciating TFA fully (and what Cap does) requires having some historical perspective. Most people are just clueless.

The fact is, Schmidt's plan and capabilities went past Hitler's most far-out wet dreams. Hitler didn't have the power to aim any pre-emptive strike at the United States, period. The closest he came was with the U-boats, and by 1945, those were pretty much under control. Germany never managed a real A-bomb program, either.

To put what Schmidt is doing another way: He's essentially capable of dropping multiple A-bombs on the biggest war production cities America has ALL IN ONE STROKE. That's the genius of it. If he leveled one city, we might fight on, but he's doing it all at once.

Steve would know New York City to be absolutely crucial to the war effort. It's not JUST because he's from there that he's getting worried. 80% of men and materiel going to the Western Front came through NYC. If Schmidt could have leveled NYC, even as late as 1945, the Allies would have lost. Period. Taking out New York would have taken out our biggest port AND one of our biggest shipyards AND one of the biggest war production cities AND our country's financial center. Taking out Chicago would have taken out the food collection point for the Midwest, which may not sound like much, but given that we were basically feeding our troops AND most of the Allies, would be devastating. (My big quibble is that they refer to the whole thing as the 'Eastern seaboard', when Chicago clearly ISN'T there, but whatever.)

Further, we know (though Steve doesn't at the time) that FDR died about a month after this took place. A massive strike like Schmidt's a month before with the death of a president like FDR? The US would have been in chaos, the war effort would have collapsed, the Soviets would have pulled out (no way Stalin would stick around if the Allies couldn't help his sorry self) and everything would have been chaos. From Schmidt's point of view, it would have been the perfect time to swoop in and take over. Very reminiscent of what HYDRA ends up trying to do with Project Insight in TWS.

Why do I believe Schmidt could do that? Well, for one, we've already seen how devastating those disintegration weapons are, but also, *look at the Valkyrie*. Maybe I pay more attention to it than most because I had relatives who worked on the B-2 stealth bomber, but that design is flat-out the one used by the B-2...fifty years later. It's INCREDIBLE technology for the time.

Cap absolutely won the war by downing the Valkyrie. No question about it. The problem is, the film just didn't have time to give everyone a history lesson so they could grasp the very real significance of what Cap chose to do -- and that's really the biggest problem with TFA; not the content, but the completely lack of audience knowledge.

The problem is, I'm just not sure how Johnston could have handled it without bogging everything down with a lecture that most of the audience would have glazed out over, anyway. They already make the point about Schmidt taking down the Eastern seaboard, and everyone basically says, 'yeah, whatever, okay.'

If there is ONE thing I wished they'd done in TFA, it's to have kept one thing from the novelization I read. In the novelization, it's clear that Schmidt breaks off the toggle switch on the autopilot. We see Schmidt's hand on it, but there's no reference, so we don't get just what that means. What it means is that unless someone's forcing the plane down (and someone with Steve's strength, because just TRY overpowering hydraulics like that), it's going to stay on course and blow the hell out of everything. Steve even has a line in the novelization that explains it, but apparently, they cut it for dramatic effect. I sort of see it because it focuses everything on what Johnston really wanted us to see: Cap doing just what he did in the training camp and diving on another grenade to save everyone. (Which, by the way, was phenomenal foreshadowing.)

#Steve Rogers #Captain America #am i posting this because i am salty #yes #90% of my reasons of doing anything is because saltiness and pettiness #txt

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mst3kproject · 4 years

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Bog

Imagine Creature from the Black Lagoon but made by the creative (for lack of a better word) team behind The Giant Spider Invasion. That’s Bog.

Bog Lake is the type of little nowhere town that looks as if it ought to have a local cryptid, like the Flatwoods Monster or Mothman… and sure enough, tourists who come to fish in the lake are getting drained of blood by some creature with a chitinous proboscis! The police are baffled, the locals are buying guns, and the coroner straightfacedly suggests it might be Count Dracula. The only person who seems to really know what’s going on is The Old Hag of the Woods, and she claims that the swamp monster is some kind of ancient god. Once awakened, it must feed on blood before it can return to the slime at the bottom of the lake and sleep for centuries more. At this point, the viewer is probably expecting something like the Giant Leeches crossed with Cthulhu, but the truth manages to be even cheaper than a Corman film and, unfortunately, infinitely rape-ier.

Why does this movie remind me so much of the works of Bill Rebane? The main reason is probably the 70s soft focus and the midwestern accents, but there are quite a few points that spark specific memories of The Giant Spider Invasion. The movie’s heroes are two people in at least their forties, in which the woman is a more qualified scientist than the man. The married couples we see are totally dysfunctional and dissolving in booze. A shotgun-wielding mob forms and chases the monster towards the instruments of its demise. There’s even a middle school chemistry classroom that stands in for a laboratory (I particularly enjoyed the fact that this, which presumably represents a room in the town morgue, has a map of the moon on one wall) and science that starts out grounded in reality but then dives headfirst into bullshit while hollering “cowabunga!”

On the other pedipalp, there are also ways in which Bog is notably better than The Giant Spider Invasion, most of which have to do with the characters. Admittedly, these do not get off to a good start. The first people we can really be said to meet are two assholes who have come for the camping and fishing, and their wives who have come to complain. The couples clearly hate each other and we can’t imagine why they ever got together in the first place, and each individual is kind of an idiot. I won’t complain too much, though, because the crabby wives get eaten almost right away and the asshole husbands fulfill their plot function by bringing it to the attention of the authorities and then follow their spouses out of the movie. Good riddance.

The real characters are the Sheriff, Ginny the Coroner, and Brad the Doctor. None of them are exactly likable but they come across as the sort of very ordinary people you’d probably meet in your day-to-day life and while they’re not your close friends, you don’t dislike them. Ginny is of an appropriate age for her position of authority, and her colleagues treat her with the respect she is due. Her romance with Brad is clearly something that’s been going on for a while now and doesn’t suddenly develop over the course of a weekend, and the two of them are close in age. All three of these characters behave in a professional manner and seem to have good working relationships, which is a breath of fresh air. Far too many movies try to insert unnecessary drama by having characters who hate each other for no reason.

The best of the three is actually the Sheriff, who is one of a very few small-town movie sheriffs who actually seems to take his job seriously. Aldo Ray used to be a real actor, and you can tell – he plays the Sheriff a with nice everyman quality and a great deal of integrity. This unfortunately makes it all the more puzzling when the character suddenly runs off to fight the monster with fisticuffs and gets killed for it. Brad says it was in the Sheriff’s nature to do this but it doesn’t seem to match the sensible and down-to-earth characters we’ve seen so far.

I got the impression, actually, that the Sheriff was what was keeping the movie sane because after he dies it starts getting weird. Ginny does some scientific tests that consist mostly of pouring coloured liquids into Erlenmeyer flasks, and determines that the monster is made of cancer and molybdenum. If either of these facts have any effect on the plot I missed it, although I did imagine Crow deciding the monster was his long-lost relative. Then we get into how it reproduces and things go right off the deep end.

You see, there’s only one of these monsters, and it’s a boy. Fauxilla got around this through hermaphroditism, but the monster from Bog prefers the Humanoids from the Deep route. If you’re lucky enough not to have seen Humanoids from the Deep, its fish monsters have decided they need human genes to speed up their evolution. The monster in Bog does kind of the opposite, devolving humans to make them compatible with itself. It does this by injecting a dose of its own blood into the victim and the result is a huge clutch of transparent spawn that Ginny describes as ‘not really a seed, not really an egg’, whatever that means.

This, we later learn, is how the Swamp Hag knows so much about the creature – she’s apparently been its mate for hundreds of years! She dies attempting to warn the monster that it’s walking into a trap, which leads Brad and an ichthyologist to conclude that one effect of this infusion of monster hormones is that ‘the victim becomes willing’. That is icky and I hope it doesn’t reflect the writers’ feelings about real-life situations of sexual assault. The idea is intended to add urgency to the need to rescue Ginny from the creature.

Creature from the Black Lagoon never did give a reason why the titular monster was interested in kidnapping human women. It was obvious enough that the Creature was supposed to be a sexual threat, but its quest was clearly doomed and it was not apparent why the women were attractive to it. Humanoids from the Deep appears to have arisen from the brain of somebody who spent way too much time thinking about these questions and trying to come up with answers to them. Bog decided its monster simply didn’t have any choice – there aren’t any other bipedal things around for it to mate with. What neither of these movies realize is that the questions didn’t need answers to begin with.

There are things movies need to be explicit about, and slimy swamp creatures raping women is not one of those. A lot of times, horror works better when the details are left to the viewer’s imagination, and the fact that Creature from the Black Lagoon doesn’t understand that it cannot get what it wants from its captives actually makes it worse. The writers of Saturn 3 did something similar with Hector the robot’s crush on Alex and while Saturn 3 was not a good movie overall, that aspect worked fine. Going into the details just gives the audience an opportunity to think about how stupid it is.

It is worth noting that neither Creature from the Black Lagoon nor Saturn 3 felt a need to use the words the victim becomes willing, either.

The monster’s silhouette resembles a man in a fish costume he probably bought on Amazon, and it sounds like it doesn’t want to get up in the morning. I suspect that hidden in the poor lighting is something that would be a shitty movie monster classic on the order of The Giant Claw or the spidermobile from The Giant Spider Invasion, if only we could see it. There are very few things I enjoy more than movies that are loud and proud of their abysmally cheap monsters, but sadly Bog doesn’t want to show off.

This is doubly a shame because a lot of this movie just drags. The bit with the scuba divers takes way too long for the payoff it gets. Brad and Ginny’s makeout scene lasts way after we’ve gotten the point, whether or not it bothers you that the people doing the kissing are middle-aged. And anything with the two fishermen and their wives is not only slow, but annoying. The movie is at its Giant-Spider-Invasion-est here, when everybody on screen is a repulsive caricature of a human being and you can’t wait for them to die.

There may be a slight 70’s Nature’s Revenge angle to this film, in that the monster is apparently awakened by some idiot fishing with dynamite, but Black Lagoon is evidently the primary inspiration. Unfortunately, all the things that made that movie enjoyable are missing here. The monster doesn’t look particularly realistic or well-adapted to its environment. Attempts at suspense are just boring and the movie is unnecessarily explicit about things that should remain implied. Bog is not a complete write-off as bad monster movies go, but it’s not all that great either.

#mst3k #reviews #episodes that never were #bog #tw: rape #it's beginning to look a lot like fishmen #70s

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ordinaryschmuck · 3 years

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What I Thought About The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Salutations to you, random people on the internet who most likely won't read this. I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons!

Gonna be honest, I didn't think The Falcon and the Winter Soldier needed to be a full-length TV series. I mean, if Spider-Man can discover that he didn't have to replace Iron Man in a two-hour and nine-minute long movie, then the Falcon can learn he can't replace Steve Rogers in the same amount of time, right? I was excited, don't get me wrong, but I didn't know how they can fit a plot for a movie into a six-hour-long series. Unlike WandaVision, which needed to be a TV show to get those TV homages right for each episode, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier didn’t sound like something that would honestly work better as a film. But, once it started airing, and my excitement increased each week, I can positively say that it would not have worked as successfully if it wasn't a TV series.

Unfortunately, I'll have to get into spoilers to explain why, but trust me when I say that if you haven't checked it out yet, you definitely should. Because I'm about to dive in (or fly in) as I explain why The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is easily in the top tier MCU projects.

WHAT I LIKE

Sam Wilson: If WandaVision was about developing Wanda, then The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is about developing Sam. He might share the spotlight with Bucky, but this is so clearly Sam's story. It's his journey of becoming the new Captain America that gets more of a focus, and it is one of the best aspects of the series. And as I said, it's similar to Spider-Man's journey in Spider-Man: Far From Home. Sure, this time, it's more about stepping up to the mantle, but both Sam and Peter have to learn how to be their own hero rather than replace the one left behind. In Sam's case, it's more than just being the new Captain America, but also being the black Captain America. I'll talk more about the implications of that later, but for now, all I'll say is that it was so engaging seeing Sam accept his role. Plus, even though Sam tries to carry Steve's title, that doesn't mean he's Steve Rogers 2.0. He has his own ardor and personality as Captain America, on top of still representing the aspects of what that title entails. Partial credit for that goes to Anthony Mackie, who does a phenomenal job of portraying a man who's inspirational and charming in all forms of hell. I'd salute him as much as I'd want to have a beer with him...except not really because I refuse to touch a single drop of alcohol. But Sam Wilson would make me consider it! Because he's that good of a character.

Bucky Barnes: Much like Vision in WandaVision, Bucky takes the sidelines as Sam acts as the main face of the series. Unlike Vision, however, Bucky's story seems more like its own thing rather than something that's connected with his co-star. In a way, it's better, but it also seems worse. Because without having it be locked with Sam's story, Bucky's is still compelling as it develops him further in his own way. His journey may not be as engaging as Sam's, but it's still entertaining enough to watch his own narrative get continued in small spurts. Although, the fact that Bucky's story has little to do with Sam's does have the unfortunate side-effect that he doesn't need to be there. His inclusion is very much welcomed, but I feel like Bucky dealing with his own guilt and trauma as the Winter Soldier could be something that can fill up its own series rather than half of one. That being said, Bucky absolutely needs to be in this show. The emotional turmoil that Sabastian Stan portrays so well hits hard, and his dry humor works for some comedic highlights. Bucky's half of the story might be unnecessary for plot reasons, but it is unquestionably necessary for enjoyment.

There’s a lot of talking: This seems like a misstep, especially since most superhero shows are bogged down by characters talking to pad out the run time. Although, the dialogue in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is more like the dialogue in the series Daredevil. There are more words than action, but nearly every line is so incredibly engaging that I do not care. Sam and his sister talking to a banker about getting a loan might not sound as entertaining as Sam being in an air chase against terrorists, but I surprisingly held onto every word being said due to how well-acted it was. Plus, these discussions help make these characters more human on top of making the world feel believable. I understand the argument of show don't tell, but to me, as long as the dialogue is written well enough and said convincingly, I can learn to live with it.

The Flag Smashers: The concept of the Flag Smashers intrigues me. The idea that a group of people believes things were actually better when half the world got turned to dust is a perfect concept for the MCU to explore. In fact, this is the third story in a row that dives deep into the consequences of what happened post-Infinity War and Endgame, and I'm all for it! The universe is forever changed by this one big event, and it's not going to be irrelevant anytime soon. For the Flag Smashers, they offer the most striking glimpse of how the world is forever changed. Now, I'll admit, after seeing doom and gloom in Avengers: Endgame, it would be better to see the benefits of the Blip that characters claim to have existed rather than told about them. But seeing how there were dozens of fans who made the audacious claim that Thanos was right, I don't consider it too far of a stretch to believe that the Flag Smashers could exist. Especially since the arguments that characters present do seem persuasive enough. It's only the actions that the group makes that derail any sense of the discussion. But in a good way...for the most part. But I’ll get into that later too.

The Reveal of the new “Captain America”: This was the dirtiest, sickening punch in the gut that the first episode could have ended on...and I love it!

John Walker: I often find the best antagonists are the ones I'm willing to psychologically analyze. That's John Walker in a nutshell. He is an arrogant ass who deserved to get slapped around when taking things too far. Yet, I always find myself coming back to those scenes where he seems conflicted about becoming the new Captain America. I get a sense that he genuinely wants to do the right thing and those moments when he asks if he is all but confirms it. John's problem is the constant support he's given by his friends. I'd argue that building his ego is the very reason why he gets frustrated so quickly by people denying him, as he often reacts like a toddler who throws a tantrum when a parent makes the "mistake" of saying “no.” This is why it's satisfying seeing people more powerful than John kick the s**t out of him because it results in his ego going through a well-needed deflation. Still, the constant frustrations he has for not being respected as the new Captain America makes his further descent into insanity all the more appealing to watch. Because him taking the super-soldier serum proves Dr. Erskine's theory is true: "Good becomes great. Bad becomes worse."

...And this is why the writers dropped the ball when trying to make John Walker redeemable. It's exceptional if that was the intention. After all, I did say there were glimpses of a man who wanted to become great, not worse. However, given what John does in later episodes, we're going to need more than glimpses to believe his switch from bad to good. Especially since his decision to set his anger aside to suddenly help people is a little too unbelievable for my tastes given how fast it happens. It's not an awful decision. It's just one that needed a bit more polish. I still find John Walker an incredible character regardless, but I don't blame people for being a tad more hesitant given how poorly paced his redemption arc came across as.

Readapting “Star-Spangled Man”: I adore this for two reasons.

Reason #1: It's a solid callback to Captain America: The First Avenger, which I will always stand by as my favorite Captain America movie.

Reason #2: It proves how much John Walker doesn't understand what it means to be Captain America. When Steve did this song and dance routine in his movie, he hated it. Better yet, Steve despised it. Because he wasn't helping anybody. He was just being a dancing monkey to appeal to civilians, and you see how much he regrets doing it with each show. For John, he relishes the whole thing, because of course, he would! John loves having his ego appealed to, and this routine is doing nothing but inflates it. It's a solid case of visual storytelling to prove to the audience just how disconnected John is from being Captain America. Steve or Sam wouldn't have done this, because being a hero is more than respect and adoration. It's about actually doing the right thing. A lesson that John desperately needs to learn.

Sam’s and Bucky’s bromance: You remember how I said that Bucky's dry sense of humor can be a comedic highlight? Well, that's only second rate to the times he and Sam bicker like an old married couple. Whether it's because of the writing, directing, or Makie’s and Stan's natural chemistry, seeing Sam and Bucky interact with each other is always a blast to see. And on top of being funny, there are these well-handled moments of drama shared between both characters that make their relationship convincing. It's why you can't have this series without Bucky, despite it so clearly being Sam's story that gets the more focus. Because without either character, we would miss out on some entertaining interactions that I wouldn't trade for anything else for this series.

Isaiah Bradely: Well, this character was a pleasant surprise. Although, "pleasant" might not be the right word because every scene with Isaiah is absolutely gut-wrenching in all the right ways. Carl Lumbly gives a phenomenal performance for a character that has been beaten down, with very little hope he has for any change that matters for his race. Plus, his backstory may not be as unbelievable as you might think. Between 1932-1972, America performed what is known as the Tuskegee Experiment. Scientists tested the effects of syphilis by injecting it into African Americans, telling them that they were receiving free health care when they didn't. So the idea that scientists tested super-soldier serums on African Americans, not knowing the dangerous effects, is not that far of a stretch. Neither is the knowledge that a black man was disrespected despite fighting hard for his country. If you researched African American history, you'll find that this type of horse s**t happens way more times than it should. It is heartbreaking, and Isaiah Bradley represents all of it. Thus making the little Isaiah exhibit in the Captain America museum all the more tear jerking just because of how sweet it is to see him get some semblance of a win. This level of discussion of what it means to be an African American is something I never expected with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but I greatly appreciate it nonetheless. What's even better is that these discussions don't end with Isaiah.

The discussions of racism: Again, this was something I didn't expect, but grateful for it nonetheless. I mean, I should have expected it given that one of the co-stars is black, but given how the story was about Sam being the new Captain America, I didn't think discussion of racism and racial injustice would come into play. Turns out that I was naive to think those things are separate. The burden of being a black Captain America is something that not many white people, including myself, consider a big deal. But looking at America's past and how others react to any African American in power, you realize that, yes, it is a big deal. Isaiah, and several real-life POCs in history, prove that America doesn't respond well to a person of color being better than the average white man. So it is easily reasonable to believe that there would be issues with a black man becoming a symbol of what America should be. Hell, I'm willing to bet that there were issues when this happened in the comics way back when. Not because of some bulls**t about how it doesn't fit with the character or story, but solely because they can't handle a black Captain America. And if you don't believe something like this wouldn't happen to someone like Sam Wilson, look back to that scene with the police who didn't know he was the Falcon. This crap happens every day, and it's The Falcon and the Winter Soldier that shines a light on it. Despite being something I didn't expect, the talks of racism are very much appreciated. And I'm as pale white as an introverted vampire. I can't even begin to comprehend how the African American community must feel about all of this.

Zemo: Who the f**k expected this guy to be one of the best things in the series?!

Seriously, from Captain America: Civil War, I wasn't too into Zemo as a character. I loved the idea that this powerless guy tore apart the world's greatest superheroes through intelligence and coercion. But his needlessly complicated plan and stale personality weren't enough to win me over. So when he returned, I expected to dread every minute of it. Little did I know that Zemo's comeback would skyrocket him into top-tier MCU villain territory!

Zemo is a character that, despite "helping" our heroes, still works on his own agenda. He might put them on the right path and occasionally assist in a fight, but only because he still won't stop at anything to make sure fewer super powered individuals are in the world. Because that's the thing about Zemo: His motivation was fine and understandable to a point, but his personality was flawed in Civil War. Here, I finally see how Zemo can work. Despite having no power, he uses his mind to look for any angle to control the situation, gaining an advantage even if it is for a short time. For instance, while he can't harm Sam or Bucky without risking his own life or jeopardizing his temporary freedom, he can still annoy the hell out of them. Like when he forced Sam into a situation where he had to drink literal snake juice. It's actually a ton of fun to watch, and I'm honestly glad that Zemo gets to live to see tomorrow. It means that he might make another return, and I can't wait to see what's in store for him in the future. Which is something I didn't think I'd say five years ago.

The Dora Milaje: It was actually pretty cool seeing these characters make an appearance, notably when they slapped around John Walker like it was nothing. Although, a part of me wonders that if Chadwick Boseman hadn't died last year, we would get to see T'Challa himself make an appearance. This lines up with the character, as I can see him dropping everything to hunt down the man who killed his father. Which would be just as awesome, if not slightly more so, to see. Still, we work with what life gives us. And what it gave are awesome cameos that make the MCU feel more inclusive about its characters rather than limiting them to their specific sections in the universe.

Walker killing the Flag Smasher: There is something so wrong with seeing that shield stained with blood. 'Cause here's the thing: Captain American can kill. He's a soldier. It's expected for a soldier to take lives for the sake of justice. What John Walker did isn't justice. It was vengeance. Vengeance that is fueled by anger rather than the need to do the right thing. Because when Captain America leads an army to kill the man who whipped out half the universe, that's fighting for a just cause. But when “Captain America” kills a man, the wrong man, for killing his best friend, that is an act of selfishness that no one would see your side on. And it was the final nail in the coffin that proves how John Walker does not deserve that shield.

Sam and Bucky vs. John: This might just be the best fight in the entire series. Not only is it so satisfying to see John Walker get everything that he deserves, but the whole thing was pretty intense to watch. After seeing what John can do with that shield, it makes moments when Sam and Bucky barely dodge his attacks with it all the more blood-rushing to see. Plus, Civil War's motif playing the background is another solid callback that fits well narratively since this is technically two superheroes fighting another superhero. It's an incredible scene that was worth the wait of four hour-long episodes to see.

Setting up Joaquín Torres as the new Falcon: I don't know if Marvel will follow through with this or even if they should. That being said, if they do, I'm all for it. Joaquín already seems like a pretty fun character, and his interactions with Sam show there's enough chemistry there to give Captain America a new wingman. I probably won't lose sleep if he doesn't become the new Falcon, but I'll still be excited regardless.

Madame Hydra: I know that she has an actual name, but I refuse to remember it due to how long and convoluted it is.

Anywho, we get a small glimpse of who Madame Hydra is as a character, but already I'm intrigued. She seems to have a fun personality, added by Julia Louis-Dreyfus' dry energy. Whether this is set up for the next big bad or just introducing a fun character, I'm interested. Madame Hydra was already a blast in the short amount of time she was in the show, and I can't wait to see what future installments have in store for her.

“Louisiana Hero”: Or as I like to call it, "Sam's Hero Theme." Because while this is the track that plays for the intro, it still shows up when Sam is training as the new Captain America. Not only is it insanely catchy, but I love that you hear a hint of the theme of Captain America: The First Avenger, yet "Louisiana Hero" is still very much its own thing. And that's another reason why I consider it Sam's motif because it fits precisely with the character. Sam is a person who has a hint of the good man that Steve was but still does his own thing when wearing the stars and stripes. Not a copy, but still heavily influenced by the original. So kudos to Henry Jackman for creating a musical piece that fits so well with a character far better than any other themes or motifs prevalent in the MCU. Because, let's be honest, there aren't that many.

Sam’s new suit: ...I mean, it looks cool. Kinda corny at times, sure, but points for comic accuracy.

Sam Carrying Karli: I mean, look at it.

This looks like something that should be painted and hung up on a wall due to how beautiful it looks.

Sam’s Speech: Two meaningful things are going on with this speech.

First, it proves once and for all that Sam Wilson is Captain America. He doesn't just fight for his country. He also believes the government that runs it should take accountability for any missteps before dealing with something worse than a person who took the term "rebellious teenager" into an extreme.

Second, it is so satisfying seeing Captain America tell government officials off about unjust treatment. Even if it does diddly-squat about anything in the real world, it's still a big moment that's effective because of the bulls**t that happens every day. It's far from an actual win, but it still feels good (I hope). And that still counts for something, right?

“We’ll need a U.S. Agent”: Credit to Louis-Dreyfus for saying a stupid cornball of a name and making it sound...not that.

WHAT I DISLIKE

Still running that Marvel Studios logo in every episode: It's still a nitpick, but its still annoying. It's alright if you want to use the full fanfare for the first episode, but at least shorten it for the rest of the season. Please? For the love of all that is holy?

The CGI: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has some pretty...not great CGI. It's not as awful as the CG in the DC shows on the CW, but it is way too easy to tell what looks real and what doesn't. Failing to make CGI convincing has been a problem in the MCU for a while, as most of the time, characters barely look like they really exist in the scene. To me, I compare it to when Red vs. Blue switches between actual animation and Machinima. The CG models stick out like a sore thumb to the in-game models, but at least it looks cool. Because while I don't believe that I'm seeing an actual man with bird wings flying through a canyon while chasing helicopters...it still looks cool. Still, not many people would be as forgiving as I am to this type of thing, so it's onto the dislikes it goes.

The direction of the action: Now I want to clarify that I have no problems with the action itself. Some fight scenes are pretty cool while also added with some exciting set-pieces that kept me engaged the whole way through. It's just the direction of the action that I have issues with. The camera is always shaky with so many cuts that it's hard to follow half the time. It's an understandable technique to hide the stunt double's faces or to make it look like it really is the actual actor who's doing the fighting. The issue is that once you know a show like Daredevil exists, with its plethora of well-directed action, the cracks in the armor become much more noticeable for a series like The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Karli Morgenthau: Karli...frustrates me. Because on the one hand, Erin Kellyman does an impeccable job at portraying the heartbreak, frustrations, and determination that Karli has when fighting for her cause. On the other hand, Karli's cause is so layered with hypocrisy that it's hard to understand her position. She wants to prove how the world was better during the Blip, saying that everyone was happier then. So why do things like blow people up and kill “Captain America?” I get the latter. The guy's a d**k. But to prove to people how better things were, is death and destruction really the best choice to get that point across? I get the mentality of how people respond better to a harmful fist rather than a tranquil hand, but really, has that mentality ever worked out either?

However, you could argue that her hypocrisy is fueled by the super-soldier serum, with the "good becomes great and bad becomes worse" theory that John all but confirms. Although, unlike John, we never got to see Karli pre-serum, so we don't know how much it really had affected her. With John, it's easy as many scenes indicate how close he was to snapping and murdering someone who disrespects him. We don't get that for Karli and are left to assume she was already crazy about thinking how intense violence can show the world how great things were during the Blip.

Then again, that could be the plan. Show how a person with the best intentions is ultimately wrong, given the lengths they go through to accomplish them. It worked for Thanos, so it should work here. And it would have...if not for Sam saying that Karli has a point. Because for the main hero to say that the villain is correct, you have to show them doing more good than bad. I understand the mentality Karli, and the Flag Smashers, have. But by doing nothing but committing crimes and violence, any point they have is discredited. Take note of the fact that nobody but nutcases on the internet says that Thanos has a point. Because he doesn't. He's a maniacal supervillain who does something so intense that nobody should be on his side. It's similar with Karli, but because we're apparently supposed to agree with her, she doesn't work as well.

...DO YOU SEE WHY SHE'S FRUSTRATING?! Because while I can see how she can be an incredible character, there are so many holes in how she works that I fail to appreciate any of it. And seeing how she's the main antagonist, a character who takes up a good chunk of the screen time, it's not a good thing that she tends to flounder more times than she should. I want to like Karli, but given everything that's wrong with her, I just can't.

Rewriting Sharon as the Power Broker: This is an intriguing idea met with a mixed execution. You see, I like the idea of a character who was once an ally becoming a villain, yet the heroes have no clue about it whatsoever. It creates solid dramatic irony, but only if done well. With Sharon, it's not really done well. It genuinely feels like her character was changed radically to give her this personality. A fun personality, I'll add, but one that comes across as really jarring when looking back at her previous appearance. Don't get me wrong, a character's current personality feeling so radically different from their previous one can work a treat, but only when we see them go through point A to point B. We're told about the s**t that went down with Sharon, but unlike understanding the mentality of the Flag Smashers, her personality change would have been more effective if we saw it. So while I like the idea of Sharon becoming another big bad in the future, I would have liked it more if we saw her decline into possible villainy.

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By using my usual scoring system for MCU shows and movies, I'd give this season of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier a solid 8/10. There are problems. Quite a lot of problems. Hell, even the stuff I like comes with a fair share of issues. It's just a matter of asking yourself, "Do I like some parts more than I dislike them?" For me, I find myself enjoying much more than I didn't. It's not perfect by any means, but while it definitely falters at times, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is a series that soars to great heights. You might not be in love with it, but you’ll have a helluva good time regardless.

Now if you don't excuse me, it's time I swap from one superhero series to another as I share my more in-depth thoughts on--

#marvel cinematic universe #the falcon and the winter soldier #mcu reviews #what i thought about

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egoat · 3 years

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“detransition, baby” “””review”””

bloggin’

“Detransition, Baby” is a deeply mesmerizing, deeply flawed, deeply tragic novel. It’s a really special read, which owes itself to Torrey Peters’ voice being as profoundly entertaining as it is. I’m telling on myself a bit, but this was the first book I’ve read in a long time that was able to get me to engage to a point where my internet-addled attention span didn’t flit away to other things. Part of that is the book brings terminally online culture to you; the book’s greatest strength is Peters’ wandering observations and commentary on culture. Sometimes these are just truly great and funny - there’s a bit where she directly attacks the tendency of millennials to desperately employ political concepts and arguments to settle the most petty of personal conflicts. Other times, and this might just be my own personal beef with postmodern novels in general, I feel like this book gets so bogged down and engaged in whatever point the “characters”, but more obviously the author, is trying to make, that the plot gets hopelessly lost.

The novel revolves around a completely simple premise-a former trans woman who has detransitioned, Ames, is living as a straight man who accidentally impregnates their current girlfriend, and boss, Katrina. This causes a personal crisis-they want to be able to support this pregnancy, in fact, but being a “father” would be entirely too dysphoric an experience for them, so Ames opts to recruit their ex-girlfriend, Reese, also a trans woman, into their relationship as a co-parent, thus allowing them to be a parent, but in a queer way.

There’s obviously lots to unpack here, and “Detransition, Baby” for the most part does. In its best moments, it is able to sink its teeth critically into gender, into family, into the question at the heart of the novel, how this generation of slightly more empowered queer people could possibly interact with the concept of family. If that sounds like it might involve some slightly fluffy queer utopianism, or if you got that impression from some of the discourse surrounding this novel, I assure you it’s not. This novel is starkly realistic in its outlook; it doesn’t shy away from the ugliness and the magnetic pull of heteronormativity. This isn’t a novel aimed at fancifully re-imagining a happier, queerer world-it lives precisely in the place where trans women interact with gender, which is to say, an often miserable and dire place. In fact, what makes this novel work so well, the engine its tragedies and pathos runs on, is precisely its ability to so fully explore how people really interact with gender. It’s a trans novel that first and foremost has to deal with ever-present cisness, in how its trans characters navigate the basics of their own lives, how they conceptualize and warily approach motherhood, and particularly how they engage with sexuality.

A prime example of this is Reese, and in her relationships which are the subject of most of the novel’s first half. Reese is probably the most effectively sketched tragic figure I’ve read in my limited memory-her every thought and thought behind that thought echoes so much of what I’ve seen in a lot of my own experiences, and it creates a character whose pain is vividly real. Her relationship with men, with abuse, with how that abuse appeals to her sexually and her own self-perception, is written boldly and with the nuance necessary to give it a sense of reality, which only makes it even more physically painful to read. I’m trying to avoid reducing this novel to “a trans novel” and comparing it to other trans lit, but Peters’ engagement with gender in exploring the thoughts that go into Reese’s unfortunate affairs, seems, at least to me, honestly groundbreaking.

What doesn’t work quite as well is Ames. As a detransitioner, Peters introduces a lot of intrigue in supposing some kind of inversion of what you would expect of Ames’ character, but then doesn’t really follow up on it. About midway through the book, we arrive at the revelation that Ames has probably just detransitioned because masculinity is a shield for them to cut off their own emotional engagement after a particularly traumatic moment for them, which is probably what you might already assume of Ames the moment you find out they’re a detransitioner. I do feel like there was something more to explore here that isn’t-the conclusion of Ames’ story in this novel ends in basically a “I don’t know” as to whether they’re ever going to retransition or not. I don’t doubt Peters’ psychological work with the character, but I don’t think it ever reaches any kind of satisfying shape narratively, and what’s left seems a bit like tragedy for tragedy’s sake, particularly in some painful flashback scenes where Ames goes shopping in a crossdressing shop with an internet stranger.

The cutting back and forth gimmick of the novel sometimes works, and sometimes doesn’t, and feels a bit like checking a box on a postmodern novel checklist. It allows Reese to reveal some layers of depth cleverly, particularly in the Wim Hoff-inspired climax, although other times feels a bit like circling the drain, particularly like the journeys back to Reese’s and Ames’ courtship, where Peters only ends up revealing what you already knew from other dialogue. Katrina might have possibly benefited from some additional layering, as most of the impressions we get of her being “not what you’d expect” are in interactions with other characters who meet her and then say, “She’s not what you’d expect”. Perhaps the point is that she’s cis and that’s a bit uninteresting, which, well, I don’t suppose I can ultimately argue.

Besides these structural complaints, I can’t really fault the novel for anything. When it really operates, when it really is able to dive into its core conflicts, its characters, its analyses of gender, it’s mesmerizing, and almost certainly the deftest and smartest writing I’ve read in some time. It may not be perfect, but there are paragraphs so sharp and cutting and moments so deeply bitter and sweet and perfect, that I honestly can’t recommend reading it enough.

#detransition baby

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carrollstreetstation · 4 years

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SPEAR OF DESTINY: A LEVEL-BY-LEVEL BREAKDOWN

(note: due to the extreme simplicity of wolfenstein’s design ethos, i will be forgoing screenshots, with one exception. you’ve seen one wolf3d screenshot, you’ve seen them all. if you would like to see the game in action, i recommend this LP.)

spear of destiny

with the smash success of the original wolfenstein 3D, it was perhaps inevitable that there would be a followup -- and this time, it was to be a retail release, meant to be put in a box and sold in stores by formgen. developed over the course of two months as john carmack worked on what would form the basis of the doom engine, "spear of destiny" is an "expandalone" of sorts in that it's shorter than the main game by far (only 21 levels) but did not require the main game to play. it stands as a prequel to the "nocturnal missions" (which were themselves prequels to the original episode trilogy. unlike the main game, where the hint manual gave indirect attribution to most of the maps, it's unclear who at id was responsible for which map. the only thing we can say for certain is that the level design is a massive improvement on the original game, generally eschewing the more abstract design ethos as embodied by the likes of episode six for a more realistic setting.

tunnels 1: entrance to the tunnels short and sweet intro to the mapset. opens up similar to the first level of wolf3d ep 2, with BJ infiltrating the castle through a tunnel entrance in the castle's lower levels. no mutants to be found here, though, just regular goons. it's more or less a straight shot to the exit, but there's no harm in poking around.

tunnels 2: corridors of confusion awesome music in this level. in the tunnels deep beneath the castle, this is a confusing maze that loops in on itself repeatedly. mostly staffed by low-level guards and SS goons, this level won't make you sweat much.

tunnels 3: cave-in! another quickie, this one's defined by a long hallway with multiple rooms along it, some of them seeming to be torture chambers. the hallway has been bisected by a cave-in (very cutely done by simply placing a couple of stony-looking wall blocks in the middle of the passage) so you'll need to navigate some tunnels to get around the blockage. very low-key action.

tunnels 4: fortune and glory the castle's treasure vault is a sprawling underground complex. the western half of the map is quasi-realistic castle-style architecture, but get into the secret areas and watch the path turn into spaghetti. it's worth it though -- 1-ups at the end of one secret area, the secret level at the end of the other.

tunnels secret going a bit old-school here, this is a sprawling map made up of different sections, each annoying in their own way. despite being a prequel, mutants make their first chronological appearance in this level, and several sections are designed to take advantage of their utter silence and breathtaking firing speed.

tunnels 5: guardian of the dungeon door unlike the original wolfenstein which was split into six episodes of 10 levels with a boss at the end of each, the 21 levels of spear of destiny are split into much smaller contiguous episodes. the "tunnels" chapter thus comes to an end with this level, an absolute shitshow of guards and SS coming after you from all sides. clear out the bullshit and you'll have to deal with trans grosse ("beyond big" in german) -- a relative of the grosse family by the looks of it. he's enormous, he's got two chainguns, and he goes down like a sack of dead chimps with enough concentrated fire. but with all the goons he's got in his boss arena, your first priority should be clearing out a safe area in which to deal with him.

dungeons 1: dungeon depths pretty standard level. the first area is a blue-stoned dungeon; beyond the dungeon exit is a labyrinthine network of tunnels and hallways in red brick. it's a maze down there and all too easy for enemies to get behind you. otherwise, nothing of note.

dungeons 2: winding dungeons like the last level, this is a bog-standard wolfenstein map split between a blue dungeon area and a separate area, in this case mossy stone. though the dungeon area is large, resistance isn't too fierce. that changes when you get into the lower half of the map, when nazi goons start coming at you from all directions.

dungeons 3: guard post i get the feeling john romero did this one. it's an enormous maze of mostly blue dungeon walls, filled to the brim with enemies. one shot and they all congregate on you, leading to a frantic firefight that requires constantly moving forward to not get overwhelmed. find the key to the locked door and you'll find yourself in a long corridor that surrounds the entire maze, equally heavily guarded as you work your way around to the other side of the map to reach the elevator. great map.

dungeons 4: main dungeon this level can actually be mostly bypassed if you know the secret paths. so you can effectively dodge a room full of SS and officers guarding the key by simply sneaking in past them, and then taking another secret passage that leads directly to the exit. it's a neat little trick that suggests tom hall's involvement. if you choose to do this the hard way, it's a bog-standard map split into three areas with little in the way of resistance, so a bit of a breather after the massacre that was the previous level.

dungeons 5: barnacle wil the jailer similar to the tunnels boss level, this is a map featuring an arena with some heavily guarded antechambers. find your way into the boss room and you'll face barnacle wilhelm, who carries a chaingun and a missile launcher, but he's hardly a threat. the bigger issue are the officers and other losers who attend him, who lie in wait until they see you, meaning it's unwise to move about too much in the boss arena until wilhelm is down.

castle 1: castle entrance the back half of spear of destiny shows some more of the quasi-realistic philosophy behind the level design. the bulk of the level is a confusing maze of rooms that serve no real purpose, but they're surrounded not only by a wall hollowed out by a secret passageway, but an outer wall that serves as the main defense of the castle, complete with two trucks parked in the gateway, the outside world visible beyond. it's a neat touch that adds a bit of a realistic vibe to an otherwise abstract level.

castle 2: barreling through the castle fuck you for this pun, id. (and fuck you for doing it again with doom 2's "barrels o' fun.") the early part of the map is full of ambushes in which barrels are used as barricades, with nazis firing at you from cover and no way for you to recover their ammo. past that bullshit is another standard maze of rooms and halls, with mutants occupying a wing in the southeast.

castle secret: pushwall panic! if there's proof that sometimes secret levels just aren't worth it, it's this one. as the name suggests, the core conceit of this level is pushwalls, pushwalls everywhere. it's a massive, confusing nightmare maze made up of different sections, all of them hidden behind pushwalls. if you're not attempting this with a map like the one in the hint guide, you'll probably go mad.

castle 3: castle hassle resuming the castle shape of "castle entrance," this opens in a broad, cavernous loop around a lower level of the castle. entrance into the castle proper is through the four corners. the level is mostly populated by mutants and a few handlers, so quick reaction times are a must. the interior of the castle is another abstract maze sectioned off into four different areas you must access from one of the corners.

castle 4: militant mutants oh god. mutants are everywhere on this level, especially in the cave section to the northwest. it's honestly a real shitshow. the tension is palpable, but id do reward you with a great fakeout -- throw the switch of the first elevator you see and the wall moves back, revealing health and ammo and a 1-up.

castle 5: gauntlet guards the mutant mayhem continues with this abstract spaghetti of a map partially bisected by two parallel hallways. the opening of the map is very cruel, a gauntlet of thin hallways you must wind your way through while being fired upon by mutants. get past that and the rest isn't too bad provided you know where to go.

castle 6: king of the mutants chriiiist. this boss level is even worse than the tunnel boss level. jammed absolutely full of nazis, ammo is scarce and often behind the very enemies you need the ammo for. the main room has a central area from which dozens of guards can fire at you with relative impunity from behind columns. if you can work your way through the swarm of assholes that dominate the side hallways you'll get the key that lets you into the inner chamber. the big metal box that dominates the room contains the ubermutant, a giant, four-armed mutant on steroids. fortunately, unlike his regular-sized brethren, he isn't nearly as quick on the draw, meaning you have a little time to dive for cover before he opens fire.

ramparts 1: the ramparts top floor. this is most emphatically not a large level -- in fact, it's literally just the castle walls, with a small chapel to hitler of sorts at the center. id software have cleverly managed to make it look like an outdoor section, with the outer walls resembling rampart walls with a sky the color of the dark cyan ceiling this game commonly uses. however, despite the small size, it's wall to wall nazis, without a lot of health or ammo.

ramparts 2: guardian of the spear as boss levels go, compared to the ubermutant level this one is much more forgiving... provided you can get past the death knight, a massive fascist in power armor who takes a hell of a beating and can dish it out just as good. and he's not alone, with an army of officers and their mutant pets. luckily, there is an *assload* of health and ammo on either side of the level, so keeping yourself well stocked should be easy. when the dust settles, you can unlock the chamber holding the spear of destiny, and take it for yourself...

the death dimension WELCOME TO HELL. in what had to have been foreshadowing for what would eventually become doom, grabbing the spear sends you to a nightmarish dimension that very much looks like hell as envisioned in doom's third episode, a cavernous maze filled with skulls on poles, blood and skeletons everywhere, the souls of the damned zooming in on you, and the so-called angel of death, a massive demon who throws green fireballs at you. it's a frightening, unexpected climax to the game, and by far one of the best curveballs a game has ever thrown. even if the boss himself isn't a great challenge -- though watch out for the ghosts flying around, as they can only be put down for a few seconds.

final thoughts: in an era of shareware and games being spread across an episodic structure, a game that just gives you a single adventure across a series of levels was a bit unusual, particularly from id software. 21 levels of nazi murder without a break, split across five different themes, with five bosses to keep you amused. it's a bit of a mixed bag, however. the early tunnel levels are light and easy, letting you dip your toes in. the dungeon levels are more standard wolfenstein, akin to something we'd see out of, say, wolfenstein 3D's second episode. the castle chapter mostly just kind of... sucks. the final two levels are brutal, though not as bad as the ubermutant level immediately preceding. if you can survive the ramparts, the game drops a great surprise finale. overall i'd say that the level design is *generally* better than wolf 3D, but there are some missteps, namely that second secret level. i do like the attempt at creating some semblance of a real-world castle, but in general it seems to be the case that they simply use the basic outline of a castle to construct a more abstract maze within, and even then they don’t do that consistently. still, it’s a nice early attempt at realism in an FPS.

#wolfenstein 3d #spear of destiny #pc gaming #classic fps #classic gaming

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animebw · 4 years

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Binge-Watching: Demon Slayer, Episodes 17-19

Hoo boy. In which the central trio all get a chance to barely escape death in epic fashion... but it stumbles right where it really counts.

Flashing Before Their Eyes

You know, it’s kinda noteworthy that 16 episodes into this show, we still didn’t really have much of a sense of the backstories of our central players. And that’s not inherently a flaw, per se; not every character needs their entire life story charted out to make sense of who they are. Tanjirou’s been making a strong enough impression in the present that we can empathize with him despite how little of his childhood and development we’ve been made privy to. Plus, Zenitsu and Inosuke had only really just become important, so of course we were still in the process of learning about them. There’s no rule saying you need a characters’ backstory for them to work as characters, even if anime tends to favor doing so regardless. And I do appreciate that Demon Slayer is trying to avoid the shonen trend of bogging the plot down with flashbacks upon flashbacks (which the latest season of My Hero Academia has been suffering from a bit). Still, it would be nice to know a little more about the people they used to be, and this stretch of episodes decides to finally address that by giving each member of the central trio an episode-long desperate battle against a demonic foe, each climaxing with a near-death flashback that gives our hero the strength to just barely scrape through and achieve victory. How well do they each work? Let’s dive right in and find out.

First and most simple, Inosuke continues to squirm his way into my heart as Tanjirou’s defiant empathy continues to break down his defenses. There’s something really charming about how poorly he’s equipped to deal with someone being genuinely nice to him (”Don’t you go showering sympathy on me!”), to the point where he takes it as a genuine insult that he’s started following Tanjirou’s lead and using his head in battle instead of just rushing in recklessly. He’s so freaking offended at the idea of fighting smarter, and it’s easily some of this show’s best comedy yet; how dare this person make me feel things and try to be better like- like some kind of nice guy! But there’s also a kind of tragedy in that realization; this kid’s been so emotionally suppressed that it’s a genuine shock to find someone who treats him as more than one more rival in the mad scramble for survival. Judging by his repressed memories of his mother leaving him out in the wilderness, he’s unwittingly internalized a lot of not-very-healthy ideas about the nature of life and human interaction by necessity, a defense mechanism to keep him alive that’s now standing in his way of a life worth living. And watching him finally start to lose control of himself as the battle grows increasingly desperate, until his wild fury is completely subsumed by the thought that he’s about to die... man, that hit harder than I expected. I suspect this kid’s only just starting to figure out how to balance survival against human connection, and I look forward to where that journey takes him.

Honed Steel

Moving right along, if there’s one thing that really, truly, impressed me about these episodes, it’s that it might have finally started to turn me around on Zenitsu. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still annoying as hell; I’ve noticed that he tends to repeat himself a lot, which might be a big part of the reason why his freakouts are so goddamn frustrating, since he’s not just screaming obnoxiously, he’s screaming the same thing over and over and stretching it out to twice as long as it would otherwise be. But like I mentioned in my last post, there are moments where you can see an actual character peeking out underneath that abrasive exterior, and his extended dream therapy in episode 17 leans into that side of him more effectively than anything we’ve seen before. He’s been under intense pressure and scorn his entire life, looked down upon by his family for all the (very justified) issues they have with him. He’s weak, he’s a coward, he runs from difficult situations instead of standing up to them. But it’s also a self-fulfilling prophecy on their part, because if no one’s around to help him get better, what else can he do but get worse? Only his grandfather was stubborn and caring enough to never give up on him; he kept training Zenitsu and pushing him to be better no matter how many times he wimped out. But even that training was so harsh and demanding that he could barely stand it. He tries so hard to find reason to keep going, but when the pressure is that intense and you’ve got doubt pressing down around you from all sides, how easy would it be to just give up on the idea of ever being better?

And it’s that self-awareness that really hits home. There’s a great line where his grandpa talks about honing him like forging a sword under intense pressure until it’s as strong as it can be, and Zenitsu can only respond in his head: ”But I’m not made of steel, am I? I’m living flesh.” He’s just a kid; a weak, terrified, really helpless kid who probably isn’t worth wasting this much time, effort and investment on trying to kick him out of his almost inescapable neuroses. He wants to get better so badly, he wants to be a “competent person,” but he’s seen himself fail so many times that keeping hope in that possibility is so damn hard. Even when he pulls through pain and agony to slay his opponent, he can’t help but think that he must be dreaming, because only in a pleasant dream could he ever be this capable. But as rough as it’s been, something about his grandfather’s mantra of “never give up” sticks with him, refusing to let him give up on himself, pushing him to resist the poison creeping through his veins just long enough for help to arrive and fate to give him another chance to stand back up and take another step forward. Something about him still believes he’s not a lost cause yet. And god damn, that’s some really strong writing. I have no idea how far Zenitsu’s gonna grow, but if Demon Slayer can lean more into this side of him and less into, well, the other, then there might be a chance to redeem this character yet. He may be a limited instrument, but like the old man said, if he can hone that limited instrument to perfection, there just might be something worth fighting for in him.

So Close...

And now, sadly, we come to the part where I must crush your spirits, because in my opinion, Tanjirou’s close encounter with death in episode 19 is easily the weakest of the three. I can already hear the angry comments incoming, but let me try and explain myself before you flay me alive. Conceptually, there’s a lot of strong stuff going on with his showdown with Rui; they’re very directly cast as mirror opposites to each other in the way they view family. The reveal that Rui’s a member of Muzan’s Twelve Moons (I think that’s what they’re called? Correct me if I’m wrong) explains why he’s somehow managed to craft a family out of a species that’s supposedly incapable of forming close connections; with enough demon power, you can fake anything. But in the end, it is just a fake, a cheap imitation of the bonds he sees among humans. He thinks the way to make a family is through strict order and hierarchy, where everyone fulfills their role and loses their purpose should they fail to do so. The father and mother guide and raise, the elder siblings protect the younger, and should any of them fall short of those goals, they deserve to suffer and die. His bonds aren’t bonds of love, but of control and fear. The terror his “mother” and “sister” showed in his presence, the mindless devotion his “father” has to destroying all who threaten them... it’s like staring at a family through a funhouse mirror, seeing it warped and twisted into something nightmarish and contrary to its intended purpose.

But all that changes when he sees Tanjirou and Nezuko’s devotion to each other. Suddenly, he realizes that he’s been playing a shadow game all this time; what he has with his pretend family is nothing compared to the genuine love and trust between a brother and sister. Tanjirou really said it best: ”Using terror to shackle someone hand and foot is not the bond of a family!” Rui’s attempt to reverse-engineer the power of human connection through coercion was doomed to fail from the start, because it’s not bonds of blood or loyalty or fear that define family. Love defines family. Compassion defines family. And Rui’s so incapable of grasping that concept that even upon realizing how short he’s fallen of what he’s searching for, he still can only try and steal Nezuko from Tanjirou with fear and coercion. He thinks he can subdue her into loving her just like he did all the rest; he’s still just as blind as he was before he met them. It’s a strong center, it tracks emotionally, and it sets up a decent thematic point to structure this fight around. Sure, it’s a little awkward how eagerly Tanjirou engages in that debate with him- even considering what an incredible empath this kid is, jumping straight into a philosophical discussion with the most dangerous, bloodthirsty opponent you’ve faced yet is kinda dumb on its face- but hey, if Symphogear’s taught me anything, it’s that I’ll always take being too obvious over not being obvious enough any day.

Unfortunately, while all that setup works just fine, the ultimate climax of their duel falls victim to the oldest of anime sins: pulling a new random superpower out of your ass to escape a situation that should be inescapable. Look, I’m not the kinda guy who needs much explanation for whatever cool shit characters are able to do, but how freaking convenient is it that Tanjirou’s dad just so happens to have taught him a technique that could overcome Rui’s killer threads and we just so happen to never hear about it until the exact moment where it can serve as a deus ex machina power-up? We’ve never even caught a glimpse of Tanjirou’s dad before, so thrusting him into a near-death flashback just in time to learn about the live-saving training he dispensed only draws attention to how cheaply his victory is earned. The contrivance is too obvious, even for me. And for all the talk about the importance of companionship and mutual trust as the foundation of family, Nezuko sure doesn’t get to do much but get kidnapped and brutalized for most of the fight, does she? You’d think she and Tanjirou would at least have a chance to fight together, symbolically proving Rui’s isolation through force of their teamwork or something like that to drive the point home even further. But no, apparently the only named female character in the show thus far has to be tied up for pretty much the entire fight despite her considerable strength. And as sick as her big climactic save was- seriously, hearing her actual voice for the first time in ages was awesome- I’m frustrated she wasn’t allowed to do more. She’s been hiding in a box for episodes on end, can’t she do a little more that serve as angst fuel to give the dudes something to fight for?

I dunno. Maybe if this episode hadn’t been hyped to heaven and back I wouldn’t be as down on it as I am. And it’s not even a bad episode! The actual fight is still entertaining, and that awesome climactic animation made for a hell of a finisher (seriously, god damn, Ufotable). But for what I was led to believe was gonna be the crowning moment of awesome that kicked this show into an entirely new level, I can’t help but come away from it thinking, “Seriously, was that it?” In a year that gave literally every single episode of Mob Pyscho 100′s second season, this is the episode that we’re holding up as the paragon of animated fight scenes? This show isn’t bad, but every time it comes up to the line of really coming together, it just doesn’t have what it takes to crest that final hell. And every one of those near misses only makes me more and more depressed at what it could have been. Once again, Demon Slayer is so close, and yet so far.

Odds and Ends

-”HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?!” akjsdhas oh my god the timing on the reveal of that demon spider was perfect

-”I REFUSE TO SPEAK TO ANYONE LIKE YOU!!!” Not gonna lie, pissed-off powering-through-by-sheer-force-of-spite Zenitsu? That's actually kinda working for me. More of this, please.

-Hey, it’s that guy again who’s name I forget! And Saori Hayami! Always nice to have her around.

-Aaaand sudden random asshole demon slayer who exists to be an asshole and die to show off how dangerous the bad guy is. Lame. Obvious. Do better.

-”I have two swords!” Insert “Inosuke has two hands” joke here

-”Did he just tie me up?” ...I think I like this guy.

Man, that’s a shame. Oh well, two sessions to go now, see you next time!

#anime #the anime binge-watcher #tabw #demon slayer #kimetsu no yaiba

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whitelabelingnation · 4 years

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What Does White Label Seo Reseller Program Services

Ask them about the procedure, about the deliverables, and about the interaction. The more you comprehend their process the more you'll understand if it's a good fit for your customers and the simpler time you'll have offering it in on jobs. Needless to say they should have the ability to walk you through both a partner on-boarding procedure and the project on-boarding process. You can learn more at https://whitelabelingnation.com/ if you’d like.

If you've decided to select a white-label solution over a simple reseller plan it's most likely because you wanted the support and team that comes with that. Ensure you get a possibility to fulfill some of the team the sales associates, strategists, job planners and get a sense for how they run and what they resemble.

What are the deliverables that your clients will see? What will you have access to? How do they interact modifications, development, reporting, and so on. Finally, try to find openness. Sometimes, even after years of dealing with a white-label SEO supplier, it might make sense for you to make the dive and work with internal or relocate to a different provider.

It's important to understand what this implies and what insight you can bring from one service provider to your own internal option or bring to another service provider. A lot of white-label SEO business will have their own set of deliverables that are their intellectual home. This is what they have actually enhanced throughout the years to bring you performances in providing SEO to your clients.

We often suggest a shift process that includes a series of emails to your existing customers that intend to inform them on a new process and method to their SEO projects in order to provider a better service and deliver exceptional outcomes. Various types of clients need different kinds of services.

For instance the requirements of a regional SEO client is going to be various than that of an eCommerce SEO customer or media or blog style site. What we have found is that these kinds of seo reseller plans typically work best with the following kinds of sites: Regional business with single or multiple areas for local seo services eCommerce shops or shops that sell online Authority figures speakers, specialists, coaches National or International focused high ticket product and services business If your customers fall into among those categories you should be alright to continue.

#white label agency

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theinquisitivej · 6 years

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‘Avengers: Infinity War’ - A Movie Review

Here’s how this is going to play out – this first section is a spoiler-free review of the general characteristics of this movie. I still point out all of the films’ accomplishments and shortcomings, but in a sweeping way that’s not too specific about plot details. After the first score which summarises the film in a spoiler-free way, we’ll be diving into complete spoiler territory. I want to talk about the details of this film but I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, so check out the spoiler-free review if you haven’t seen it yet, then go watch it, and then come back for my full thoughts after you’ve done all of that.

Avengers: Infinity War would be an impressive accomplishment if it just showed up and existed. Marvel was tasked with its most difficult juggling act to date with this film, having to bring in countless characters who have each had significant roles in their own movies, and find a way to allocate the appropriate amount of time to each of them so that nothing feels forced or clunky. Oh, and it had to convey the established personalities of these characters almost instantaneously so that familiar viewers are happy to see them again, while newcomers get a sense of who they are without too much explanatory dialogue bogging down the run-time / pacing of the movie. Oh! AND it had to introduce a central character who has been hinted at for a long time but hasn’t really had more than three minutes of screentime across any of the 18 movies up to this point, and develop him enough to make him seem like a legitimate threat, as well as a compelling enough character to take the weight that’s placed on his shoulders as the source of conflict in this two-part grand finale.

Not only does Infinity War pull all of that off, but it does so while telling a cohesive story which constantly marches forward with an unwavering sense of purpose. It delivers on the promise of being this colossal team-up event movie while also taking you by surprise as the scale and stakes of the movie start to sink in. As the film progresses, the tone causes you to feel an ever-increasing amount of adrenaline and uneasy dread. They are both in constant balance with each other, making you wonder when, if ever, one of these feelings is going to win out over the other. Some characters don’t get much room for an emotional scene or to do much more than show up, be themselves, and engage in some enjoyable banter with old friends and new faces they’ve never met before. Even so, there are a great deal more characters who get the chance to have a meaningful moment or just sit down and talk than you might expect. Infinity War is a film that’s filled to the brim with content, but it has a clear focus to it which gives it a coherent theme and makes it work as its own movie, and not just the last act of an ongoing series. I’d be lying if I said that I was as invested in some of its threads as I was with others, and there is going to be a lot of debate over whether every character was handled as well as they ought to have been. But Infinity War, despite the hype, meets many of the lofty goals it has set for itself over the years, and its story also ended up giving me something I didn’t expect which has caused me to sit and process this film long after I finished watching it.

8/10 – I don’t know if it breaks the Top 5 MCU movies, but its tone and impressive balance in many areas certainly makes it one of the better films in the series.

OKAY SPOILER TERRITORY FROM HERE ON OUT GUYS

After having time to sit on the film and reflect on how each character was used, I’d say that each character was properly represented and used effectively. Given the apocalyptic circumstances and the particular nature of what Thanos is after and what each person involved brings to the table, the film ensures that the characters all act in a way that scans with their personal history and what they would feasibly do in this situation. The fact that the film pulls this off with arguably every single character, whether they’ve got the luxury of time with full emotional conversations like Gamora and Quill, Thor and Rocket, or Vision and Wanda, or if they’re present but not quite focused on like Okoye, Bucky, Black Widow, or Captain America, is hugely commendable. Those are some of my favourite characters in the series, but I didn’t feel short-changed because I still felt that they were the same people I’ve grown to care for, and I’m pretty confident that a good number of them will have more time dedicated to them in Part 2. With the film spinning as many plates as it does, you’d expect one or two of them to fall down and break, and depending on the individual audience member’s level of investment in certain characters, they may well feel like someone they cared about was under-served. But I was personally satisfied with the overall handling of the characters.

However, one area where the film felt uneven for me was how invested I felt about each of the individual ongoing threads. Character groups move back and forth throughout the film, occasionally overlapping or splitting up, which means that things are constantly shifting, but not so rapidly that you can’t keep track of everything, which I appreciated. I enjoyed the characters simply being together, so ultimately the specifics of what they were doing didn’t matter all that much to me. Nevertheless, two threads which felt weaker to me for different reasons were Thor, Rocket, and Groot’s quest to forge Stormbreaker, and the stuff on Earth with Cap’s group between his awesomely triumphant entrance, and Thor’s group arriving onto the battlefield at Wakanda. I loved seeing Rocket and Thor interact, as Rocket shows some growth and actually reaches out to Thor to try and offer support and check he’s okay, and Thor shows Rocket genuine respect and heartfelt comradery in their conversations. However, while it’s cool to see where Mjolnir and the Infinity Gauntlet were forged, the amount of time dedicated to these guys as they forge Stormbreaker feels like busywork, and lacks the palpable sense of tension which is ever-present throughout the rest of the movie. We don’t doubt that they’ll forge Stormbreaker, and while I wasn’t sure whether Thor would make it through the movie, the danger of the forging sequence never sold me on the possibility that Thor might die here. I do appreciate what this plot thread brings to the ending when Thor uses Stormbreaker on Thanos and comes so close to preventing calamity, but still ends up failing, even after all the work they put into forging this weapon. However, when they’re actually forging Stormbreaker, it all just feels a little too removed from everything to do with Thanos, which makes it feel too removed from the main thrust of the narrative.

The reason the group on Earth and their fight to protect vision left me a little cold is that, while the other groups get more time to slow down and actually talk to one another, I felt less of that with Cap’s group. More than any other group in the film, their dialogue felt preoccupied with what needed to be done next, making the conversations and character lines feel functional rather than opportunities for unique moments of introspection. Granted, there may have been more of these quiet emotional moments going on than I give the film credit for which could have passed me by, and I might just catch some of them when I go see it again for my second viewing. Still, when I hear some people talking about how they had an issue with how the film never stops moving forward, this is the section of the film that comes to mind for me. Neither of these threads are weak enough to drag the film down all that much, but because the rest of Infinity War felt so lean and well-balanced, they do stand out.

But I’ve danced around it long enough. Let’s get to the real meat of this movie and talk about Thanos and its ending.

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SERIOUSLY GET OUT NOW JUST GO SEE THE FILM ALREADY

As many others have pointed out, this is Thanos’ movie. I love seeing this character land as well as he has with people after all this time, and hearing all the various thoughts about his twisted hero’s journey, his understandable yet inherently broken philosophy and conception of what love is, and all the debate around just how much we’re intended to see where he’s coming from. What stuck out to me was that, when the film is over and the credits have rolled, we see the typical Marvel ‘X will return’, with X being the main character(s) of the film you’ve just seen, and the statement serving as a simple yet tantalising promise that, while you’ve just enjoyed a complete narrative with this hero, their story isn’t over yet. This time, however, the final tagline is not ‘The Avengers will return’ (though that statement would certainly be very confusing to our emotions after that ending); it’s ‘Thanos will return’. That made everything slot into place in my head, and suddenly made me realise that we were watching Thanos’ movie this whole time. This isn’t a film about the Avengers facing a new villain and finding a way to triumph over them like in Age of Ultron. It’s a film about someone with such overwhelming power and conviction in what he must do that he succeeds in his goals, even though getting to that point meant coming close to losing or receiving a fatal blow, and even having to sacrifice everything he cared for in this world. By the end, as we sit and look at this man, we see the scope of what he has worked so hard to accomplish, and his sad acceptance of the role he had to play, and that no one will thank him for doing what he truly believes was the right thing. It just so happens that the thing this man wanted to do is horrifying, and that the people opposing him on his journey are the Avengers, the heroes we’ve grown to care for over this series. Bringing in this villain at this stage in the game and having him land as strongly as he has is a triumph, but it didn’t happen because the MCU spent this long hyping the character up in his brief appearances up to this point. It happened because this film executed the character masterfully through a combination of Josh Brolin’s commanding and nuanced performance, and the exceptional CGI work through motion-capture which creates a kind of villain we really haven’t seen before.

The ending is profoundly unexpected. Not just because the heroes lose, not just because we see so many of our heroes die, but because the final tone of this huge movie, what all this whole series has been heading towards, is not grand or bombastic, but quiet and understated. It simply lets the horror of what just happened speak for itself, and it echoes out as we take in the stillness of the aftermath and realise just how much has been lost. In our anticipation for this film, many of us thought that the Old Guard, the original six from the first Avengers, would surely fall, dying in a moment of noble sacrifice as they protect the new heroes and the world that these films have built up over the last decade. Perhaps that might happen in the sequel, when things resolve in a way which fixes what lies so immensely broken at the end of this first part of the story. But right now, it just feels so intensely wrong that all of these old soldiers are left behind, while the young, the people they took it upon themselves to protect, are the ones who were snatched away.

This is why, although I understand and, in some ways, share the opinion that many people have voiced when they say “oh come on, they’re all coming back, there’s no way they’re killing Black Panther, 90% of the Guardians, and Spider-Man, we’re not buying it for an instant”, I still think this emotional ending works. It doesn’t matter if we, the audience, don’t believe that these people are gone forever; what matters is that the characters within the film believe it, and that the emotional performances of the actors portraying them sells us on that idea. We see, in a matter of minutes, moment after moment of intense heartache and devastating loss, and it all registers because of the strength of these performances and the writing which adds so much weight to what each of the survivors has just lost. Rocket’s heartbroken response to seeing Groot die for a second time, Okoye’s world being shattered when her king and the young man she’s protected for so long is suddenly blinked out of existence, Tony seeing his worst fears come to pass when Peter begs him not to let him die, and Steve being overwhelmed by the magnitude of what’s been lost, both on the large scale and on the small scale with his friend and last connection to his old life fading away. All of these hit, and they hit hard. For me, even if next year’s follow up to this film undoes much of this and brings those characters back, that won’t rob this ending of its power. Whenever I watch this film, I will always believe that these characters are seeing their dearest friends disappear, and, within the context of what we see within the borders of this contained film, nothing changes or undoes this. For the next year, these characters are dead. After that, they will always feel dead whenever I finish watching this film. That’s what makes this instalment in this ongoing series as powerful and as praiseworthy as it is.

Infinity War is both a thrilling joyride with some of your favourite characters and a haunting story about facing inescapable loss even after you fight with every ounce of energy you have. Some of its components aren’t as strong as others, and it hinges on the audience being invested in these characters, which means it’s not going to change your mind about the MCU or be the best entry point for the series, but that much should be obvious to anyone signing up at this point. But in every other respect, this film impresses and surprises, even with all the anticipation that has been leading up to it.

8/10 – Balances countless characters as well as feelings of elated joy and devastating loss. Depending on my ever-changing mood on this subject, this could just be my favourite of the mainline Avengers films so far.

#The Inquisitive J #film #films #movies #film review #movie review #film reviews #film critic #film criticism #movie critic #marvel #infinity war #avengers infinity war #avengers infinity spoilers #infinity war review

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blackstar · 7 years

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p5 rarepair dumpster diving: director’s cut edition

last night on discord i spent two full hours of my life typing up a canon-compliant akechi/ryuji timeline and frankly that kind of effort isn’t something i want to waste by keeping the fruits of my labor private. so! here it is. welcome to my special hell: a hilariously obscure and hilariously baseless ship that i seem to be invested in purely to clown my own damn self.

this is an extremely long post and there are a lot of spoilers contained herein, so be wary of both those things. events that happened in actual canon are bolded, and everything else is just me elaborating.

- first off, the initial meeting at the tv station, where akechi introduces himself, and then slips up by talking about pancakes. this is the first time ryuji's met akechi, though not the first time he's heard about him, and he can tell that something is off about akechi's behavior from the get-go, but can't tell what, because he's kind of extremely distracted and not thinking right. this boy is pretty. he's pretty and ryuji doesn't like it. is he wearing mascara or are his eyelashes really that dark? why is he thinking about that? true to form, he goes for aggressive behavior to cover for internal confusion. hating akechi for making him face his own repressed masc attraction is very easy.

- the class returns to the tv station for a second day, where they see akechi give an interview live. ryuji is not friendly during this. after the interview, akechi runs into akira alone in the hallways. ryuji is a good friend, so he goes looking for akira. akechi and akira are done talking by then, and ryuji crosses paths with the wrong dude. akechi appears nonetheless. ryuji isn't friendly, but even when he's being actively hostile the poor guy wears his heart on his sleeve and akechi might not be a true ace detective but he is a little more observant than the average person. not that you would need that to be able to tell from how ryuji's talking about the friend he's looking for that the guy is crushing hard on glasses mcgee. akechi assures ryuji that he won't let that friend of his in on his secret, and, not knowing what he's talking about, ryuji assumes that akechi's noticed him staring. he denies that explicitly, which tells akechi that ryuji's got something for akechi himself on top of a crush on akira. noted. akechi swears up and down that he believes ryuji and they part ways. ryuji goes back and meets up with akira again. still does not know what feels off about akechi.

- akechi starts visiting leblanc semiregularly about midway through things. usually it's akira that runs into him, but ryuji swings by now and then too - looking for akira, of course, but somehow he always ends up at leblanc after akira's already headed out to do something else. so it's just him and. that dude. he ignores akechi for the most part, but just him being present in the area is enough to remind ryuji that yeah, actually, he really is attracted to this guy. ryuji's behavior experiences a sharp uptick in forced heteromasculinity as ryuji starts to doubt himself and attempts to affirm his identity as a straight dude to fix things. this fixes nothing. akechi is still frustratingly attractive.

- eventually ryuji decides to confront akechi. he doesn't come to leblanc that often without an invite from akira, but he's getting sick of akechi always hanging around the place. he catches akechi walking back from leblanc to the station, and asks him what business he's got always hanging around here. akechi says plainly that he's just after a good cup of coffee in a charming atmosphere. ryuji asks if akechi is trying to piss him off. akechi assures ryuji that he's not, really; he knows they haven't talked much but he really doesn't have anything against ryuji and if this is about ryuji's little crush, he promises he doesn't mind. ryuji tells him to shut the hell up, but that's a lot less effective when he's beet red. poor kid. akechi promises that he'll stop coming by the coffee shop so much once work picks back up, and ryuji tells him that he better damn well do that. akechi laughs, like a fake bitch. he tells ryuji that he doesn't know why ryuji tries so hard to seem like a thug; he's really such a nice person to be around under that act - maybe once ryuji accepts that they have no reason to be enemies, they can get to know each other. he knows a great place that serves brunch around the clock. ryuji ends the conversation as fast as humanly possible because he's throughly rattled - which is exactly what akechi was hoping for, obviously - and needs to get away from this man and his beautiful eyelashes. they split. ryuji does not sleep that night.

- at some point, ryuji realizes just why it was that akechi's behavior bothered him the first time they met, and comes to understand that akechi is able to hear morgana's voice. akechi mentioning a place serving brunch and leading him to daydream about a brunch date with lots of fluffy pancakes might have been what triggered his memory, but look, ends justify the means, right?? it's fine to think about dating another guy if it's for a just cause like figuring out important stuff. trouble is, he doesn't know what to do with this information. he considers telling the others, but ends up keeping quiet. after all, maybe akechi's got issues of his own. but also fuck his issues, because he's terrible and ryuji hates him and would never do anything out of consideration for fucking akechi's feelings, except that is exactly what he is doing.

- while ryuji is stewing in a bog of internalized homophobia and unresolved crushes on boys, shujin academy's student festival is rolling around. makoto appoints ryuji to the planning committee along with the rest of the phantom thieves to give them an excuse for all meeting together. as part of their committee duties, they tally the student votes for the special guest, and decide that akechi will be this year's guest, if they can convince him. makoto texts akechi to ask him to attend. they wait. when she doesn't get a response for a while, she asks if they should consider having a plan b ready to go in case akechi doesn't show. by this point ryuji's been keeping his realization that akechi is a metaverse user under his hat for a while now, and for some reason hearing makoto talk about this brings that to the forefront of his mind again. he tells the gang that there's something they should know, if they're really gonna invite akechi - he intends for this revelation to dissuade makoto from pursuing akechi as the festival's guest, but it only makes her more determined. akechi agrees to attend the festival shortly after. ryuji does not like where this is going.

- during the festival, akechi calls the mystery gang out on being the phantom thieves, reveals himself as a metaverse user, and pretends to have never heard morgana's voice before, which is bullshit. he strikes a deal with them, and becomes a temporary member of crimesquad. thanks to their conversation earlier, however, the crew already knows that he's lying to them, and takes countermeasures immediately. one of these countermeasures includes a war room style meeting to decide how to deal with this situation, in which makoto tells everyone that if anyone knows anything, anything at all about what akechi knows or things they could use against them, they need to have all cards on the table right now. ryuji keeps quiet. akira notices. they're pretty close by this point (rank 10 confidant, hello), and they've recently had a few pretty serious heart to hearts - nothing romantic between them yet, but ryuji's trusted akira enough to open up about his sexuality crisis a little, which is part of why ryuji's instances of forced heteromasculinty have decreased in frequency in recent weeks.) ryuji receives a text message when he checks his phone, it's akira telling him to 'tell them about that conversation you had with akechi outside leblanc. everything about it. they won't think any less of you, i promise. all of us are your friends.' deep breaths, ryuji.

- after a little psyching up, ryuji says that he's got some info. he reveals both his major encounters with akechi since their first meeting at the tv station, and explains that akechi knows... something about him. his phone buzzes. he does not have to look at it to know it's akira telling him that he can do this. makoto asks if ryuji is worried that akechi will try to use that 'something' against him. ryuji says that akechi's definitely gonna use it, if akechi's really a bad guy, at least - he clarifies that what akechi knows is the truth of ryuji's crush on him. yusuke suddenly sits up much straighter, in the way of a gay guy who has just realized for the first time that he isn't the only queer person in his friend group. ann seems like she's about to say something, but gets interrupted by makoto telling ryuji that they can use this. ryuji wants to die a little!!

- with that incredibly stressful meeting over with, the process of infiltrating sae's palace begins shortly after akechi strikes his bargain with the phantom thieves. before the heist even begins, however, the thieves have already made a couple important plans of own: firstly, they've plotted to bug akechi's phone, a scheme that gets carried off without a hitch on the day that the heist begins. secondly, they've decided ahead of time to wait until the last possible day to send the calling card, not knowing that akechi will suggest this anyway. they need time to prepare for what they're about to pull off, and they've guessed that akechi will go along with this because he needs time to arrange his own plans as well.

- futaba works fast. that little hack of hers isn't just recording akechi's conversations, it's rooting through all his calls and texts for information on what he's planning, and boy oh boy there is a lot to unpack. by the time they head home early after the first day's infiltration, she's already got more than enough for them to work with. another war room gets called. by now they know what akechi plans to do and roughly how he plans to do it, so it's time to prepare a defense against him. problem is, it'll be difficult to get away from him to investigate and prepare things when they're inside the palace - unless akechi suggests that they split up himself. they know that akechi wants joker dead, but hasn't talked about any specific plans for the rest of them, so they decide to take a pretty big gamble.

- the thieves do not infiltrate the palace again the next day, and therefore, neither do akechi or ryuji. instead, ryuji once again catches akechi outside leblanc - this time in the early afternoon, while akechi's on his way there. he tells akechi that since they have no reason to be enemies anymore, maybe it's time akechi made good on that promise about going to brunch together. akechi agrees. breakfast at tiffany's, but it's brunch at some upscale diner. during the course of this dinner date, ryuji does some complaining. he tells akechi about how he doesn't feel like a real member of the phantom thieves, how everyone else thinks he's just a stupid thug, how sometimes he just wants to quit this whole thing, and how he's glad that there's finally someone here who doesn't think he's an idiot. akechi, who thinks ryuji is an idiot, assumes that ryuji isn't smart enough to have an ulterior motive and takes him at face value. he tells ryuji that he's sorry ryuji feels that way, and that he's just glad that ryuji's trusting him a little more ("especially after some of the things you said at first! haha :-)"). ryuji tells akechi that he's not so bad after all, and hey, maybe he could take akechi with him if he really does split off from the phantom thieves. akechi says he'll think about it. he is coming to understand that ryuji 1) is kind of very handsome 2) has a nice voice 3) is probably dumb enough to be useful, which is obviously the most important part and that's why it's listed last. as most important things are.

- during the next infiltration, the gang comes across a frustrating scheme to force minors into gambling. accumulating coins in sae's casino is difficult work, and everyone's itching to hurry on with things. akechi chooses this moment to both assist the team in proceeding forward, and to get ryuji on his own. he asks ryuji to help him with something, and the two of them go off on their own - leaving the rest of the team free to investigate. futaba has already briefed ryuji on exactly how long they need to keep akechi busy. all he's gotta do is listen to akechi talk. coin collecting goes fast, of course, since they've already hacked most of the machines. ryuji's almost worried that he won't be able to keep akechi busy long enough. luckily, akechi chooses that moment to ask ryuji if they can talk. sure, ryuji says, there's nothin' suspicious about two dudes sneaking off on their own to 'talk.'

- akechi asks ryuji if he truly is unhappy with the phantom thieves, and if so, why does he stay? after all, the police will close in sooner or later - does he really want to serve life in prison for a group of people he doesn't even seem welcomed by? ryuji's a little uncomfortable acknowledging something he mostly tries to ignore - that yeah, actually, the way his supposed friends treat him sucks, but he's ready for this conversation. he tells akechi that he doesn't know. maybe it's because he wouldn't have anyone there for him if he left. akechi asks him what he'd do if they ever did get caught. would he go down with these so-called friends, or cooperate with the police. ryuji asks akechi what he's getting at. akechi drops a small fraction of his act and tells ryuji that the police are much, much closer to making arrests than the phantom thieves think - meaning that ryuji is that much closer to that reckoning. but, he says, this detective thing isn't meaningless. akechi tells ryuji that if ryuji would be willing to testify to the identity of all the other phantom thieves - giving the prosecution bulletproof evidence for conviction - then he could pull some strings to get ryuji immunity. maybe. okay, ryuji says, but what then? ain't i just going back to square one? starting over again all on my own? good point, but: don't be silly, akechi assures him. i'd be there, wouldn't i? i wouldn't abandon you after you've been such a great help to me.

- ryuji doesn't have the best internal clock, but he thinks it's been probably twenty minutes since they split up - though he's worrying about that way less than he should. there's a lot of emotions happening right now, and he deserves a fucking oscar for keeping them in check. akechi wants akira dead - akira, the one person ryuji cares most about - and he'll get his wish if this plan doesn't work. for that, ryuji hates him - well, for that and other things. but the way they're talking right now, akechi seems so... nice. kinda sad, somehow. and he's still aggravatingly pretty, and that doesn't change no matter how much he pisses ryuji off. ryuji asks akechi what he means. akechi asks ryuji what ryuji thinks he means. ryuji asks if they can go to that brunch place again sometime, because if he answers that question he'll end up verbally punching akechi in his snake-ass mouth. anyway, like a date, right? that, akechi agrees to. it's weird, but the way he's talking, he seems like he's happy to have someone to talk to. ryuji seriously doesn't get this guy. he's also torn between feeling a single gay emotion and wanting to throttle akechi on the spot, so all things considered it's lucky that akechi notices the time. they head back to rejoin the party, and we all know how the rest of the heist goes.

- cut to the part where akira escapes death by akechi. the plan laid out by the phantom thieves successfully leaves akechi convinced that he's killed akira for good, as most deaths are in fact permanent. akechi enjoys the attention of the media too much to bother with contacting ryuji for help in rounding up the remaining members, which ryuji considers to be for the best. akechi's main goal of killing akira has been 'accomplished', after all, so he's no longer prioritizing this mission. eventually, he declares on tv that he will certainly catch the remaining phantom thieves, though he's no longer as pressured to do so quickly since the head is already cut off. at this point, he calls ryuji. they agree to meet up again, but not to discuss a testimony yet - just a celebration for the leader's arrest. it's time to do brunch. all the prep time in the world could get ryuji ready to listen to akechi talk about akira's supposed death as though it's a good thing. the more he listens to akechi talk, the more he doesn't fucking understand this guy. he's seriously close to physical violence here, for real, but suddenly akechi's talking about how securing these arrests will finally earn his father's approval, and suddenly. a part of ryuji's anger deflates. he doesn't like to think about it, but he remembers how it feels to try to please a father who considers you worth less than the dirt on his shoes.

- akechi cuts brunch short after letting that slip. ryuji goes home with a lot to think about. they've made plans to talk again in a week or two at the courthouse to get statements from ryuji on the identities of the other phantom thieves - akechi is hoping to time the complete defeat of the remaining members to occur just after his father is elected prime minister, knowing that the public will take such instataneous good results as proof of the new prime minister's righteousness. this second meeting never occurs, because the phantom thieves break into shido's palace before that happens. akechi is waiting for them. akechi is not happy. it's not just that he's stressed to hell and quickly becoming unhinged and just absolutely furious that joker evaded him - joker's the main reason his mental state gets so bad so fast, but part of it is the fact that ryuji is there, still with the thieves, and akechi feels like a fucking idiot for falling for anything ryuji said. the fact that he couldn't see through that act serves to reinforce his fears about not being even half of what he presents himself as (what kind of ace detective can't see past such an obvious lie???), and ryuji's betrayal is just another reminder that no one, no one he's ever met has actually wanted him around. ryuji would rather side with friends who tear him down constantly than with someone who was trying to be in his corner.

- shit goes south. a fight happens. a second akechi shows up. for the first time since they met, ryuji's comments towards akechi aren't hostile - the opposite, in fact. he jumps to defend akechi when the puppet akechi tries to say some fuck shit, and seems to actually. worry about him, kinda. because even with all this shit happening, he's remembering what akechi told him about his father, and now he's got context for that. it's. hard for him to hate akechi knowing now what kind of a father akechi grew up with, and yeah, maybe he is taking this a little personal because of his own issues with his father, but he has come around to care about this guy. he still hates that, obviously, because having sympathy for someone who tried to kill akira feels positively foul. not like he can do anything about it, though. especially after akechi dies.

- ryuji gets left with a lot of messy feelings and unanswered questions, but the main thing he keep wondering is this: would akechi still be dead if he'd stuck by him? is it his fault that this happened? akechi didn't have anyone there for him, he knows that, so as the one person who could have been, isn't he responsible for his betrayal? the phantom thieves might have done the right thing, but on a personal level, he doesn't feel like he did. no one is happy here. akira buys ryuji a burger after the heist is over but that like, barely helps.

IN CONCLUSION:

#p5 blogging #long post #SORRY MOBILE USERS

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exilesofembermark · 7 years

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Game Dev Update | 3.8.17

There are seven-- SEVEN-- delivery ends for this battleaxe. Sadly, there aren’t seven different ways for this axe to connect with your opponent in Exiles, but that biggest big blade there will connect for sure. It was designed to destroy the FACE of your enemy when they dare to oppose you. This axe has been a regular entrant to many previous screenshots which heavily featured the Warrior Class.

So it’s fitting to use a Warrior weapon to say goodbye to the Warrior for a little bit-- this Dev Update will be so much moar about MAGES. Last time, we dug into the visual telegraph system for gear, the state of PVE, our upcoming presence at GDC and a couple Ability Deep Dives.

This update, we are focused on running. Cuz now we run. The game version that we brought to GDC was the first time Exiles was running entirely from the backend-- with PVP battles, PVE Quests, Choose-Your-Own-Adventure choices and even hidden treasure pushed to your device from a magickal computer in the sky.

Why care?

Cuz now we run-- all of the static screenshots and concept art and whatnot we’ve shown throughout development will now make their way INTO the game, and it will happen like Chain Lightning.

EXILES GOT TO GDC!

The GDC booth for Epic’s Unreal Engine was gigantic, and Exiles was honored to play a role within it as a showcase mobile title. All week last week, the Gunslinger team demoed to showgoers, players and press. We got a ton of great feedback and some new ideas from the show, and swung by the Touch Arcade GDC homebase to do a video demo you can see here:

youtube

If you want to see what TA had to say, the full article is here. As always when I demo, I hid some stuff-- I hid a series of numbers in this discussion-- they’re throughout the video. 2...15...20...5...10...13. If you can tell me where they “show up” in the demo, PM TheWizard in the forums with the answer, and you’ll receive a free Chest of loot in the game when it launches.

SO. MANY. MAGES.

At long last, wizarding is at hand. There are always a few times during the development of a game when you go “yes finally! WOOT” and this is one of them. The three starting Classes in Exiles are Warrior, Mage and Rogue (each with three specialties) along with three others designed, but we’ve been working through development with the Warrior as the template. Now that the game is getting ready for testing, Exiles systems support the input of any number of Classes (<-- foreshadowing), and the remaining few are going in.

We have a huge number of Rogue fans in the community, so a word of caution: don’t expect the Rogue in next week-- we need to fill out the Mage’s gear. And fill we will!

Robes, boots, shoulders, staves, books (yes, books), orbs, gloves etc are all rumbling through the art pipeline. A Legendary or two will make an appearance and then we’ll get Mr/Ms Thief McPocketses into the game.

Mage Talent Trees are up as well! Here’s a look at the Elementalist Tree, one of the three specialties within the Mage Class (the other two being Blood Mage and Warcaster). Characters can pick and choose from each tree as they like.

THE NEW WILDEWOODS

The Zones (regions) of Embermark have been evolving since day one and the starting Zone, Wildewoods, has been a particular favorite for the team. We’ve been working on Lore behind every town, landmark, ruin and port in Embermark and there will be plenty to find (and fight) once the game is live (remember, the world map in Exiles functions like a Google Map, with various activities, Quests and events appearing in different places and at different levels of zoom).

To see how the map art is evolving, take a look at what Wildewoods used to look like and where it is now:

The new icons there in the screen represent where a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure type choice would be made (affecting your Motivations and Standings) and the other one is... TRAYSURE. These can be visible or hidden depending upon your character’s development, the current Season’s plot and what events are live.

(And if you want to know where that old Bog Hag lives and what she’s up to, look no further. Is she evil or good or purely pragmatic? You decide...)

PVE IS LEGIT

Huzzah! I’ve said it often, but one of the ambitions of Exiles is to have a living, breathing world, with ebbs and flows of faction, politics and motivations (even morality, if Lord British can dig it), so having our PvE system online is a big milestone for the team.

Questing, events, making choices and finding caches of valuables are all driven by your actions (and achievements) in the game and that system saw its debut in this last build. The screenshot below is a big deal for us, not because the Ogre is trying to squash a bug, but because his actions are driven by the backend of this game and that means we can push any NPC at any time with any abilities and any loot into the game in real-time. With no update. You’ll just get the goodness in your game.

STAVES

What’s an RPG without them? And this one is looking at you...

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE MAGE IN ACTION

Here’s a bunch of GIFs that illustrate how the Mage is coming along. Ol’ “MadeOfMagicks” here starts off with a classic-- the Fireball, which does decent damage (affected by stats and gear of course) along with a chance to Burn the enemy. (he rocks a Crit too, so Addrighar is in trouble)

Blizzard doesn’t do a ton of damage, but its Chill effect slows down the other player for a few rounds, offering some first-shot chances and decreasing the enemy’s defense.

Poor Addriggar. Poor, poor Addrighar...

Huzzah!

(please note that these GIFs made the Warrior look like a knucklehead. He is not a knucklehead and will soon have his revenge)

TRAYSURE

Last update, we showed what you might find in the placed (and random) treasure caches found around Embermark. Oftentimes, you’ll get a drop (random-ish), but sometimes you’ll get something specific. Something that matters to someone that might not be you...

ABILITY & TALENT BREAKDOWNS

Each Update, we’re featuring a couple of Abilities (active) and/or Talents (passive) to preview what kinds of effects the choices you make in developing your character have. This time, we’ve got one of each, both from the Warrior Class:

Devastating Swing

So the “devastating” part of this swing isn’t when it connects. It’s what comes after. This Warrior Ability does a decent amount of damage (affected by stats and what weapon you wield, of course), and then leads to an effect-over-time. It increases Crushing damage for 2 rounds after the move is played. So if you follow with Bash, Shoulder Rush or the armor-increased Skull Crush, your enemy is in for it.

Blood Madness

“No, my friend. You’re crazy.” This one isn’t an active Ability. This one’s passive, despite its name and disconcerting icon. Bleeding (an effect that can sit on either combatant) causes the Warrior to flip his/her lid, increasing the weapon damage they can do, and it’s increased if you spend more Talent Points on the Talent (max of 5). The interesting part is this-- either combatant bleeding trigger this effect, and both means PUNISH.

THE 3D LOOT INSPECTOR

Want to check out that new piece of loot that just dropped on your character without having to equip it (or upgrade it... or salvage it)? Booyah:

See that triple-dot on the bottom-right part of the armor’s description box? Click that to get all the details you could ever want about a Pounding Mage Chest.

REMEMBER

We’ll keep sharing details as we head into testing (remember to PM TheWizard on the Exiles forums if you want in on closed testing & beta later), and you can count on early impressions from the testers throughout our various channels.

If you haven’t already, follow along with the Exiles development on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. And if you haven’t, I’ll find you. And SMITE you.

DISCORD, IF YOU WANT TO KNOW...

If you want to hear about the game, ask questions or connect with others who are helping the development team think about features, design and narrative, hop into the Discord Channel for live chat and say hi-- it’s a friendly lot and there are daily shenanigans (there’s even a Shenaniganizer).

BONUS: A VERY BAD GUY

Very. ‘Cross the Breaches came many a monster. Not all of them were rampaging. Some were measured, thoughtful, insightful...

(back-only is shown to you on purpose for dramatic effect)

BONUS BONUS: SCREENSHOT

Oh boy-- Armadillo is coming in with Destruction’s Wake, and Nezuja’s not super-happy about it, given his 74 remaining HP...

Ha! You thought after the Bonus Bonus, we were done!

WRONG.

Remember how I’ve been showing the evolution of Embermark’s awful, awful wolves from concept to in-the-game? Well, here’s the next step-- what kind of RPG wolf would she be without a blood-curdling howl?

Now we’re done (till next month)!

#gamedev #rpg #gdc #mobile #wizards

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hentaigame963 · 3 years

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Though it's mild on purposeful choices, this dive into the world is filled up with strong writing, interesting personalities, and gorgeous art.

The set-up for hentai games, the 2nd hentai games visual novel following last year old Coteries of newyork, is irresistible. The protagonist, Julia, can be really a newly turned vampire whose entire life like a struggling freelance investigative journalist is now happily supporting her. But in lieu of dwelling a glamorous, intriguing vampire presence, she becomes a glorified immigration officer, broadcasting vampire motion and outside of New York. This is a rather adorable presence until her background for a journalist gifts her opportunity to venture up an investigation in regards to the locked-room murder of an highprofile star, along with her prospective within ny's vampiric culture will probably be dependent on whether she is ready to address the crime. In training, hentai games is not as stimulating than that premise implies. There is a murder, yes, and Julia has to fix it. Nevertheless, youpersonally, the player, are barely involved. This is really actually a five-hour visible book that's very lower on meaningful choice and outcome, although there will be several differences and exceptional components to unique playthroughs, your effects on the analysis will be negligible. But though it's gentle on participant entered, hentai games is a fun visual publication for that most part, using an interesting central personality, strong script, along with strong demonstration.

hentai games is someplace within a self indulgent spin-off and an immediate sequel to both Coteries of both newyork. Julia and also a few other personalities are all new, but the majority of the main cast carries over specifically out of that very first match, including the murder victim. The principal thrust of hentai games's narrative involves meeting the four characters that you can decide to serve in the first game's titular coterie, every one those who possess any insight into the instance and exactly what took place... type of. In fact, the investigation into the murder never really coheres into a satisfying who dunnit --you may spend the majority of your time looking at text that's projected around animated backgrounds and character portraits, also occasionally you have to make a choice about what Julie states or will next. But these don't contribute to meaningful effects, but with a lot of the major reveals happening proper nearby the ending . Not one are especially surprising . But if the murder storyline fizzles, hentai games is more successful like a story about a youthful vampire coming into terms of everything she desires for himself. Julie's an interesting personality, a young woman having commitment difficulties and also a short fuse, and a sense of spirituality and morality which clashes discriminated contrary to her newly undead standing. Julie is really a comparatively intricate figure, also if the options that the player can result in her really are few, becoming to know her better over the plan of this match is satisfying. The match's writing excels best when it's attempting to match everything exactly is inside of Julie's mind, and the script does quite a superb job of balancing Julie's individuality from your choices you can possibly make with her, and so that no choice ever feels hugely from character.

Julie's vampirism is performed compared to the protagonist at Coteries. Some times, the choices you're going to be given simply take her powers in to consideration -- aliens within this universe have super strength, stealth abilities, and some hypnotic powers--however because the story is largely place a month or two later she has flipped, you don't view Julie coming into terms with her own powers at the same way the very first game's protagonist did. Her powers don't have an effect on gameplay in a purposeful way very often, both. You may make your choice to feed sporadically, but there isn't any more a mechanic--in the first match, some options would be locked off in the event that you failed to keep your appetite for bloodstream thirsty, but that's not the case for hentai games. Julia's vampirism is a lot more essential to her characterisation than it's to your decisions that you make, nonetheless nevertheless, it may even now, some times, feel to be an after thought.

At various factors, you'll get to decide on which side story you experience and go alongside. All these sections are largely inconsequential for the overall murder puzzle, but can include some pleasant insights into Julie's life, and also the vibe of the new-york she occupies. This does imply that you simply can't experience everything in 1 playthrough, but Shadows doesn't exactly branch widely --in the event that you perform the game twice, you are able to definitely watch everything. There are exactly five choices that truly matter concerning the match's narrative, ordering the"characteristics" Julie owns, and also the end you get is contingent upon the traits that Julie exhibits across those five two-option options. One ending is considerably more satisfying compared to the flip, but I eventually didn't feel as though I had had some true impact on the match's events by the endresult. hentai games is put in early 2020, which is apparent the real-world COVID-19 pandemic changed the match creating --characters start referencing it midway through the match, also ultimately it really is directly impacting the storyline, as Julie explains empty characters and streets share what this means for its metropolis. This real-world accuracy feels a little out of position in a story about a vampire detective, and also one of the game's endings contains a brief acknowledgement of how a character's plan does not make sense in light of what is occurring, but it's undoubtedly interesting the game really doesn't shy away from the very real shadow that has dangled over New York (and much of the remaining portion of the entire world ) this past year. This is simply not the only element of the match which produces hentai games sense like it had been written over a short space of time, even nevertheless. While the dialog flows well and feels correct to every character, and Julie and some other personalities are well-developed throughout the script, there certainly are lots of ideas and concepts which are hurried around. Unexpected details of personalities are revealed and immediately dropped, along with lots of unnatural elements which are introduced do not really perform in just about any interesting manner, like they will have already been abandoned. The in-game dictionary gives you total definitions of most the vampire along with lore-specific conditions which the characters utilize inside their own conversation, that is appreciated, however this means that the ball player is bogged down down with literary jargon that has to be retained at heart to completely know what's taking place. hentai games is obviously meant to be part of a bigger hentai games world and mythology, also in the event that you're not acquainted with this RPG universe, it feels as if you're passing up some context.

hentai games has radically increased the grade of its backgrounds from the first match, together with greater info and revived components. They look great, and if there's a great deal of repetition (and most coming locations in the preceding sport ), the solid artwork and great, distinctive character designs help to keep the game engaging. Even the soundtrack, written by Polish artist Resina, stands outside, way too. It has equal portions magnificent and menacing, and also the brooding, moody paths that engage in under all the match's beautiful graphics put the tone superbly. The songs can be used to excellent effect, putting the tone and which makes it much easier to envision actions that have been clarified in the script however, never portrayed. Every time that I loaded up the game, I would take a little time to delight in the tremendous principal title subject before commencing. Do not move into hentai games hoping a Choose Your Own Adventure puzzle, however much it appears just like you. This is a casual dip into some other world, a game with big ideas that it doesn't quite follow through on pursuing, however, which remains pretty convincing because of some sound writing, entertaining personalities, and breathtaking artwork. It truly is far from the authoritative hentai games practical experience, however it's worth paying one long, dim night with.

#video games #video game #games #mobile games #android games #pc games #online games

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williamlwolf89 · 4 years

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How to Write an Ebook: 21 Dumb Mistakes to Avoid in 2020

Want to learn how to write an ebook like a pro? It’s not just what you do, but what you DON’T do that can make or break your work.

Admit it.

You’ve thought about writing an ebook.

In fact, you’ve already imagined the front cover.

You can see the main title and, underneath, your name.

And when you picture it, you feel a ripple of pride.

An ebook would be a big step up for you as a writer.

Because while blog posts and freelance writing gigs are great ways to express your ideas and earn a side income, you can’t help feeling they’re a little, well, fleeting. Lightweight even.

But your own ebook? That’s more substantial. It’s taken more seriously. It has more gravitas.

And having an ebook with your name on the front transforms you from a mere writer into that more impressive beast — an author.

But how do you become an ebook author without falling victim to the same mistakes that sabotage the attempts of so many other writers and bloggers?

Why Most Ebooks Are Embarrassingly Bad

On the surface, writing ebooks seem relatively easy.

Lots of writers seem to be doing it, so how hard can it be?

But in reality, most ebooks that see the light of day are horrible. Embarrassingly bad.

That’s because your average ebook author doesn’t have a clue how to write an ebook. They can’t afford to hire a ghostwriter, and they don’t have the support system a traditional author would be given by their publisher when writing a book.

They do their best, but they don’t know what they don’t know.

The good news? We can learn from their mistakes. In this post, we’re going to show you the common mishaps first-time authors make when writing an ebook.

In other words:

Want to write an ebook like a pro? Avoid these 21 common mistakes:

Table of Contents: How to Write an Ebook Like a Pro (Don’t Do These Amatuerish Things)

Choosing a Topic You Know Little About

Writing the Ebook Your Audience “Needs”

Thinking Like a Writer, Not a Publisher

Picking Up Your Pen (or Laptop) and Starting to Write

Trying to Make Your Ebook Too Valuable

Starting at the Beginning

Only Writing When You Feel Like It

Letting Your Inner Editor Take the Lead

Quitting Just Before it Gets Easy

Trying to Keep Up The Momentum

Throwing Your Best Work in the Fire

Reviewing With a Microscope, Not a Telescope

Telling Yourself You Don’t Need an Editor

Hiring the World’s Worst Proofreader

Indulging Your Inner Perfectionist and Procrastinator

Assuming You Know the Best Format for Your Ebook Already

Using the First (Yawn-Inducing) Title that Comes to Mind

Designing Your Own Front Cover

Forgetting to Link Back to Your Blog

Completely Ignoring the Power of Social Proof

Acting Like Your Ebook Isn’t a Big Deal

1. Choosing a Topic You Know Little About

If you want to create a premium ebook, you can be tempted to pick a “hot topic” thinking that’s where the money is.

Likewise, when creating a sign-up bribe, you might think you need to entice readers with the latest information about an emerging topic.

And if you’re self-publishing using Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), it’s easy to think you need to target one of the most popular categories.

But picking a topic like this is a BIG mistake.

If you know little or nothing about your chosen topic, creating an ebook will be a huge amount of work. You’ll have to do a ton of research on Google, interview experts, and perhaps even pay a real guru to get you up to speed.

What to do Instead

Write about something you actually know about — which almost certainly means tying your ebook to your blog’s core topic. You’ll not only save a ton of time on research, but you’ll also have a ready-made audience for your writing.

2. Writing the Ebook Your Audience “Needs”

I’ve fallen into this trap myself (twice) and I’ve seen a heck of a lot of other bloggers do the same.

It happens when you realize there’s a topic you know your readers need, and you know you can write the perfect book that will genuinely help them.

Sounds great, but people don’t always know what they need. And your sense of what it is might not be spot-on either.

What to do Instead

Don’t give your readers what you think they need. Give them what they know they want.

How? Run a survey, and ask your readers to choose between three or four ebook topics.

(This is also a good opportunity to find out how much they’d pay, whether they’re beginners or more experienced, and what specific questions they need your help to answer.)

3. Thinking Like a Writer, Not a Publisher

Planning isn’t just about deciding what you’re going to write and what order you’re going to write it in.

Because when you decide to create an ebook, you’re not just a writer; you’re also a publisher (and marketer). You have to write and publish.

If you don’t start thinking now about how you’ll sell your book — whether that means selling it to make money or just selling the concept to your readers — you’ll run into problems later on.

What to do Instead

Draft your sales page while you’re planning your ebook. Make it sound as attractive and useful as possible (try Jon’s list of power words, and make the reader the hero of the story) … and use that pitch to drive the writing process. This will make your ebook much stronger and will make your life much easier when you launch it.

4. Picking Up Your Pen (or Laptop) and Starting to Write

Once your survey results are in, you might be tempted to start writing straight away.

Whoa there.

Jumping into the writing at this point will cause you serious problems. You’ll find yourself repeating things, or wasting time exploring ultimately unhelpful tangents.

What to do Instead

Plan your ebook before you start writing.

This means having a clear outline that has, at the very least, a title for each chapter. Yes, that might seem a bit boring, but it will make the writing stage far easier (and more fun).

This doesn’t have to mean opening a blank Google Doc or Microsoft Word document and writing a linear outline. Try freeform brainstorming, mind maps, or index cards as creative alternatives to help get your ebook ideas flowing.

5. Trying to Make Your Ebook Too Valuable

With your first ebook, it’s easy to think you need to deliver the definitive ebook — the only one your audience will ever need.

If that sounds like a good idea, ask yourself this: “What will I give them next?”

Chances are, you won’t write just one ebook. You might write several in the same series, or you might create a short starter ebook for free, and then write a more advanced one to sell.

Even if your ebook is destined to be your subscriber incentive, if you give your readers everything they’ll ever need, why would they come back to your blog?

What to do Instead

Go back to your survey and determine what aspects your audience cares about the most. Focus on those. If you have lots of extra ideas, great! Keep them in a separate place and use them for your next ebook. Or explore them in a detailed blog post.

If you inadvertently miss something crucial, you’ll find out when you get feedback, and you can add a new section or chapter to address that point.

6. Starting at the Beginning

Although it might be the first chapter in your book, your introduction almost certainly isn’t the place to start writing.

It’s hard to know what to include until you’ve drafted the majority of your book, and you don’t want to get bogged down at this early stage.

If you start with the introduction, you’ll often end up writing far more than you need to. And let’s be honest. No reader relishes the sight of a long introduction — they want to dive into the real content.

What to do Instead

Don’t begin with the introduction; start with your first “proper” chapter. Once you’ve drafted the rest of your book, you’ll know what needs to go in the introduction.

Also, a lot of “introductory” material can go at the back of the book – I strongly recommend having an About the Author page at the back, because it’s a great opportunity to point readers to your website, mailing list, and so on.

7. Only Writing When You Feel Like It

Although your ebook is probably a high-priority project for you, it can be genuinely tough to carve out the time for working on it regularly.

But if you don’t write consistently, you’ll never build up any momentum. You may write for a few hours to begin with, but then end up taking weeks off … and never getting back to your ebook.

What to do Instead

You don’t have to write thousands of words at a time. One of my clients wrote a short chapter every week, without fail, and finished her ebook within a few months.

Find a consistent time each day, or several times a week, to work on your ebook. You might like to try the Pomodoro technique (25 minutes writing, 5-minute break) to use your time effectively during short writing sessions. Anyone can write for just 25 minutes.

If you know you have a problem with time management, address that now; it’ll pay off for years to come.

8. Letting Your Inner Editor Take the Lead

If you’re writing regularly and staying focused but making slow progress, then you’re probably trying to edit while you write.

Perhaps you find yourself typing a couple of paragraphs, then changing your mind and deleting them. You might even be stopping every sentence or two to make minor tweaks.

This is a serious drain on your productivity as a writer.

What to do Instead

If you change your mind about a whole paragraph or section, leave it in as is, but jot a note to yourself about it. You may find, on re-reading, that it works perfectly well.

You might find it’s helpful to use a full-screen “no distractions” text editor. I like Dark Room for this — as it doesn’t have those distracting red and green wiggles that your typical word processor adds when it doesn’t like a word or phrase.

9. Quitting Just Before it Gets Easy

After you’ve been working on your ebook for weeks, perhaps months, you may find that you’ve not made the progress you’d hoped for.

Whatever the exact cause (illness, workload, etc.), you’ve hit a wall. You aren’t even halfway through the draft, and there’s a long way to go.

When you go through a patch like this, it’s quite tempting to just give up — to cut your losses and leave that ebook draft abandoned on your computer.

But that would be a huge mistake. Because this is often a sign that things are about to get easier.

What to do Instead

Push yourself to reach the halfway point. Once you’re halfway, natural momentum kicks in, and you’ll speed up as you approach the end.

Be sure to remind yourself of your motivation for starting the ebook in the first place: what’s it going to do for you and your blog? How will it help your readers — the people who you’ve come to know and care about?

10. Trying to Keep Up The Momentum

While it’s important to not let your ebook stall after the first draft, you don’t need to rush into editing. Some writers dive straight into the editing phase — but then they struggle to get perspective, and may quickly feel burned out.

What to do Instead

Let your ebook “sit” for at least a couple of days (and preferably a full week) before you begin reviewing and editing. That way, you’ll come to it with fresh eyes and a new perspective — you’ll be able to see what’s already good, and what needs a bit more work.

With a little distance, you’ll be able to see your work from the perspective of a reader, not a writer.

11. Throwing Your Best Work in the Fire

Many ebook authors start their edit using the same file they used for the draft — for example, MyEbook.doc.

While that’s not always a problem, it’s seriously frustrating if you cut something you later want to put back in.

Worse, if you manage to delete, lose, or somehow corrupt that master file, all your hard work could be gone for good.

What to do Instead

For each new draft, create a new version of your file — MyEbookV2.doc, MyEbookV3.doc and so on. And create regular backups. A simple way is to email yourself a copy of the latest version from time to time.

12. Reviewing With a Microscope, Not a Telescope

If you start your editing by looking for minor typos, you’ll miss much more significant issues.

By focusing on the micro detail, you may fail to address major problems with your book — like “Chapter 15 is way too short” or “Chapter 7 should come after Chapter 10.” These often require a bit of perspective (see Mistake #10).

What to do Instead

Read through your whole ebook, preferably in .pdf form, on paper, or on your tablet, before you begin editing.

In other words, read it in a format where you can’t easily make small changes as you go along to force yourself to concentrate on the bigger picture.

Make a note of any issues you need to fix, like chapters in the wrong order, repetitive information, tangents that need deleting, and new sections you want to add.

13. Telling Yourself You Don’t Need an Editor

When you’ve been working away on your own for (probably) several months, seeing mistakes can be tough — from the big picture issues to the small details like missing words or misplaced apostrophes.

But many first-time ebook authors are either too inexperienced to know the value of an editor or figure it’s a luxury they can’t afford.

Even if you’re not in a position to pay for a full edit, that doesn’t mean you have to go it alone.

What to do Instead

Consider paying for an editor to review just the first few chapters of your ebook. Many problems the editor identifies will probably occur throughout the ebook and you can fix them yourself once you know what to look for.

Recruit volunteers to help edit: ask your readers, or members of any blogging community you belong to. Be prepared to repay the favor!

14. Hiring the World’s Worst Proofreader

Once you’ve made any major changes and addressed the suggestions of your editors, your book is almost complete.

But before it’s ready to publish, you’ll need to do at least one complete read-through to catch any remaining typos or errors. A writing tool like Grammarly or a different grammar checker can help.

However, you’re probably the worst person to catch those errors.

You’ve likely become so familiar with the content and its layout that you’ll miss typos that will be obvious to someone else.

What to do Instead

If you can afford a professional proofreader, or if you have a talented friend who can help out, brilliant.

If you have to do most or all of your proofreading alone, here’s the secret: don’t proofread your ebook in the same environment you wrote it. Try changing the font style and size and printing it out, or reading it on a tablet. You’ll be surprised at how errors stand out.

15. Indulging Your Inner Perfectionist and Procrastinator

Quality matters, but if you’re onto your fifth proofread and you’re spending ten minutes debating whether or not a particular sentence needs a comma, you’re wasting time.

Even books from major publishing houses have mistakes from time to time. You may never have noticed this, because (like every reader) you don’t pause and scrutinize every word.

What to do Instead

Give yourself a deadline for finishing the editing phase, and accept that catching 99 percent of your mistakes is good enough.

Don’t agonize over the possibility that a typo may still be present. Readers aren’t likely to notice, and if someone does point out a particularly glaring mistake after publication, it’s simple to update your ebook.

16. Assuming You Know the Best Format for Your Ebook Already

Even if you started out with a specific end goal in mind, be sure to review your options once you’ve finished your ebook.

An ebook that started life as a subscriber incentive might in fact make a great premium product, or serve as an authority-building book in the Kindle Store.

But if you don’t at least consider other options, you might miss out on a huge opportunity.

What to do Instead

Depending on the final destination of your ebook, a range of different ebook formats are available to consider:

If you’re giving your ebook away as an incentive for joining your email list, then .pdf-only is simple and straightforward.

If you’re positioning your ebook as a premium product (e.g., at least $10), you can just create a .pdf … but you might also want to offer .epub and .mobi formats. You could also include multimedia bonus material on a password-protected webpage (e.g. audio interviews, short video tutorials).

If you’re publishing your ebook on major retailers’ sites, you’ll need a lower price (usually $9.99 or less) and to publish your file in the appropriate format for the store.

And don’t assume that a particular option is right for your ebook just because it’s what you’ve seen other bloggers doing.

17. Using the First (Yawn-Inducing) Title that Comes to Mind

Just like a blog post title, an ebook title must grab attention. It’s going to be the first (and quite possibly the only) thing your potential ebook reader sees.

When I wrote my first full-length ebook, I planned to title it Writing Blog Content. That’s what it was about, after all! But it’s not exactly sexy.

A wise friend (Charlie Gilkey) jumped onto Skype with me and spent a while hashing out better titles. We eventually went with The Blogger’s Guide to Effective Writing … a much stronger, more compelling title.

What to do Instead

If you’ve had a working title in mind since the planning stage, now’s the time to figure out whether it’s truly good enough. You might want to ask your blog readers to vote on different titles.

The same goes for the headline on your sales page — you’ll probably want to put something a bit more intriguing than just the title of your ebook.

Jon’s Headline Hacks report is packed with lots of inspiration and advice.

18. Designing Your Own Front Cover

Like it or not, everyone judges books by their covers.

Unless you’re a professional designer, creating your own ebook cover design is a hugely damaging mistake.

Your ebook will look amateurish, and readers may well be put off from buying it.

This is especially true if you’ll be selling your ebook on Amazon (or other e-retail sites) where most potential readers won’t have any prior knowledge of you.

If you need some examples, plus some handy templates you can use, take a look at Venngage’s 17 eBook Templates and Design Tips (From an Expert Who Sold 10k+ Paid Copies).

What to do Instead

If you can afford it, hire a designer. This is a crucial investment, and you’ll likely sell enough extra copies to more than pay for the designer’s work.

But if you really have to create your cover yourself, keep it simple and straightforward, and look at lots of examples of good and bad designs.

19. Forgetting to Link Back to Your Blog

Your ebook might be a reader’s first contact with you. And even those who downloaded your ebook from your blog might forget where they got it.

So failing to link your ebook back to your blog is a big mistake. You’re missing an opportunity to drive new subscribers to your main email list or to a separate list that tells your current ebook readers about your next book.

What to do Instead

Include a page at the back of your ebook — after “About the Author” — that lets readers know where to find you online.

Be sure to link to your subscriber landing page, to your next book’s sales page, or anywhere else online you want to send them — e.g., your social media profiles.

Also important is giving your readers an easy way to send you feedback for your ebook, such as a dedicated email address or a link to a contact page.

And don’t be afraid to link to relevant blog content within the body of the ebook itself.

20. Completely Ignoring the Power of Social Proof

Even if a reader already knows you, they won’t necessarily trust that your ebook is any good until it has at least one review or testimonial.

Whether your ebook is available for purchase or simply a reward for new subscribers, people probably won’t trust its value unless they can see that other people have read it and found it useful.

And if you’re in a niche that’s known for having a few sleazy operators, or one where ebooks are rare, then failing to provide social proof is an even bigger mistake.

What to do Instead

Be proactive — send out review copies to bloggers in your niche, and to any of your blog’s readers who’ve commented regularly or emailed you recently. Add positive reviews to your sales page and, if possible, use photos of the reviewers to boost credibility.

And if you can, send out your review copies before you launch your ebook – preferably at least a couple weeks before. This gives people a chance to read your book and get a review ready on or soon after your launch day.

21. Acting Like Your Ebook Isn’t a Big Deal

Many bloggers are uncomfortable marketing their ebooks so their “launch” simply involves a new link on their blog and a couple of low-key posts on social media.

But even the best ebook will wither and die without some determined promotion.

And the truth is that if you’re not willing to market your ebook when the hard work of writing it is complete, you’ve basically wasted all that time and effort.

What to do Instead

You’re proud of your new ebook, right? So start acting like it. (If you don’t feel a swell of pride about your work then go back to the writing and editing phases until you do!)

Despite any preconceptions, you can effectively market your blog without coming across like a used car salesman.

Here’s how…

Mix up your promotional messages with lots of useful and interesting content.

If you’re giving people useful information at the same time as promoting your ebook, you’ll feel less like a pushy salesperson.

If your ebook is on Amazon Kindle, you can create some buzz by giving it away free for short periods.

If this is your first premium product, make sure you tell your existing list about it and consider offering a discount for existing subscribers.

Write guest posts for popular blogs in your niche and direct readers to a dedicated landing page for sign-ups or for the sales page for your ebook.

You might even look into ways to do something more interesting and innovative, maybe creating videos, offering special extras, or getting readers involved.

Download our Ebook Cheatsheet(a free, 1-page PDF packed with info)

Writing an Ebook Doesn’t Have to Be a Dream

Lots of mistakes are lurking out there to trip you up on the path to publishing your first ebook, but the potential rewards are great.

You can get more subscribers for your blog, more authority in your niche, and even earn more money from your writing.

And now that you know the most common mistakes, you can avoid them with ease.

But of all the mistakes you can make, one trumps them all:

Not even trying.

Or telling yourself that you’ll write your ebook someday.

But you’re not going to make that mistake, right?

You now know how to write an ebook. Grab your calendar, take a look at the next week, and choose a day to begin.

Because in just a month or two, you could easily have a finished ebook … one that could supercharge your email list, position you as an expert, or start bringing in a steady income.

When will your ebook journey begin?

The post How to Write an Ebook: 21 Dumb Mistakes to Avoid in 2020 appeared first on Smart Blogger.

from SEO and SM Tips https://smartblogger.com/ebook-mistakes/

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