#the trailer is very good btw there is tons to be excited about

[ambrosiagourmet]

NIGHTMARE SPOTTED. NIGHTMARE CHAPTER SPOTTED

#animeposting #that second clip no joke made me start to tear up oh my godd I’m gonna CRY. IM GONNA CRY #(new trailer is on youtube - search for ‘official anime trailer 3’) #the trailer is very good btw there is tons to be excited about #I’m just. Nightmare……… #also the clip of Laios falling in a white void I think is from the chapter too but it’s less iconic lol

[heymrstargazer]

An Unnecessarily Long Analysis on Chevalier: The Trailer

joseph bologne, otherwise known as the chevalier de saint-george/s, was, to put it in simple terms, a badass. i have done months worth of research on this man, including out-of-town trips throughout my state to obtain archived materials and the only (and outrageously expensive) book written about him (the chevalier de saint-georges: virtuoso of the sword and the bow by gabriel banat). ive been beyond excited for chevalier, a movie coming out on april 21st, which explores his life. but, the more and more i watch this trailer and think about it, the more inaccurate it's seeming to be. now, to preface, im not a critic, i havent seen the movie early, im just a person who knows an unnecessary amount about him so now im going to share (also i am going off memory alone, though i am pretty damn confident in my ability to remember everything chronologically)

to give a very short rundown, joseph, born in guadeloupe in 1745, was born to a wealthy plantation owner, his father, and his enslaved mother. after a few years, (and his fathers murder conviction, which he fled from before he could be beheaded,) his father's wife brought him and his mother to france where his father had fled to. his father enrolled him in the best schools, particularly a fencing academy where he was taught by nicolas texier de la boëssière. throughout his time there, and presumably before, he also studied and played the violin. his talent was utterly clear to anyone who watched him, whether it be fencing or playing, and he even came to surpass his fencing teachers

fencing was what originally got him in with the likes of france's higher-up society members, both fencing for and with them. this didn't turn out to be his primary passion, though. fencing, composing, and anything of the sort was what he focused most of his time on. by the age of 24 he took over gossec's concert des amateurs, and had plenty of a presence in the musical scene. despite being mixed, he was able to establish himself within many communities, including with royalty (he taught and worked with marie antoinette for a considerable amount of time). he was actually met with very little resistance because of his talent, but when it came to more sophisticated positions and opportunities, there were setbacks. most notably, he applied to lead the paris opera, to which many members said they would quit because they wouldn't work for a man "like him," to which he withdrew his application

this is not where he stops, of course. he continues on to write operas, concertos, and any other compositional piece he put his mind to (as well as fencing on the side)

with his royal connections, he also became good acquaintances with prince philippe, duke of orléans. eventually (and after a shit ton of events that i dont have time to get into), through this connection, he gets involved in the french revolution (bc of course he would). due to racist laws of the time, he was put with an an all-black legion that he lead as colonel, which is later renamed to la legion saint-georges because of his astounding leadership and skill (he was still doing concerts and shit on the side btw)

his revolution career came to an end when he was falsely accused of misappropriating funds and jailed for a period of time because of it. after that, he eventually went back to making music until he died in 1799

okay, i know that was a lot, but trust me thats just scratching the surface of his life. now, to get into the actual reason im here:

this trailer, for the movie about his life, is, from what i can see, at least partial bullshit

their biggest point, and the opening scene according to the reviews that have been published so far, is of him interrupting a mozart concert. throughout the sources that are available about him, researches are adamant that he never interacted or was in direct competition with mozart. from what i can tell, hes about 19-23 in this, meaning he hasnt taken over the concert des amateurs yet. this also means that mozart can be no older than 12 years old. yes he was a prodigy, but even in the trailer they look the same age. like how tf are you going to base your MAIN EVENT. YOUR SELLING POINT. THE FIRST THING ON SCREEN. on something completely fictional. also, if mozart is an adult by then, joseph was well established and already assisted in creating a whole new genre, one which mozart eventually took inspiration from

also, from everything else ive seen, theres a significant focus on the singular relationship we know about in his life. yes okay it was a part of his life, and yes theyre trying to make it sell, but it had nothing to do with his success

now you might be asking, so? its a movie? who gives a shit? and i see you. i understand it. no matter how much i tear it apart im still excited about it bc theyre acknowledging him at all. im literally going to see it the week it comes out. but. but, theyre claiming to be telling an untold, true story, when they're clearly dramatizing a large majority of it. listen, im not entirely stupid, i know this is how movies work, but my god is it driving my crazy that this is going to be his "reintroduction" to the modern world

listen, they didnt do everything wrong. i dont have context for a majority of it, but from what i can tell the rest of the events are more or less plausible. im also beyond happy that he is being represented in the masses for the first time since his death, and being recognized at all. im hoping this sparks more research about him, especially more attainable research (seriously the only book about him is available for no less than $300 and for what????)

also, i also understand that this is only 2 minutes of the entire movie. yes you should also know i have watched it over 30 times since it came out (hyperfixation at its finest <3), but i understand this is just barely a glimpse at it. im going to of course do a full update when the movie comes out, but for now this is what i have to say. please, if you go see (for the love of god if this has taught you anything go see it), know that the movie is probably not going to be a great representation of his true story (and hopefully look into some more research about him)

#please ask any questions if you have them this has been my entire life for a while now so #chevalier #joseph bologne #chevalier de saint georges #chevalier st george #chevalier movie #joseph bologne chevalier de saint georges

[wooahaes]

Hi, hope you’re doing well. Just wanted to stop by and say that “Under the Sun” is so good. Straight up, it might be one of the best things I’ve written. The pacing, characterizations, world, and plot are so good! The AU itself is familiar in the way it reminds me of Maze Runner/Divergent, but remains novel in every way — the freedom, memories, church, hierarchy, timeline... I’ve only read the intro plus days 1-3, so I’m excited to read each boy’s solo piece. Take care! ❤️

PS from the anon a little ago who gushed about “Under the Sun”: I’m also totally going to read through your entire Masterlist now, because your writing is just so good and I’m in love. Seriously, thank you for sharing your writing. I know it can be hard and can be a thankless hobby, so I want you to know that your talent and hardwork is definitely appreciated. Take care! ❤️

anon im in love with u (also sorry for what feels like a late response haha ive been playing sims all day!! self care hehe)

ignoring the wrong word there (it happens, pls don't feel embarrassed dkdsfhdsf unless ur also somehow me) thank you so much!! i've heard the maze runner thing a Lot more than i ever thought i would (which doesn't bother me tbh i've never read the series or seen the movies past like... maybe a trailer and some snippits from when my dad's watched it), but this is the first time i'm hearing divergent i think!! it's also a series i'm very unfamiliar with tbh! both books were published before i was a teen haha (2009 & 2011! i was babie lol) so i think it's fair that i'm unfamiliar lol

but thank you so much nonetheless!! the intro days are honestly something i really loved writing tbh <3 worldbuilding is a lot of fun to me, so getting to write something pretty original in terms of that has been a ton of fun!! even if it requires a ton of googling of things like what fruits would be ripe at the time of year i'm writing (summer, but specifically somewhere around late may or early june) and stuff like that :0 its fun tho i love researching shit >:3

also aaAAA THANK YOU!!! it always entertains me when i notice ppl going through my masterlist btw (its usually spam likes which don't bother me a super ton--prefer reblogs/replies/asks just to know what ppl are thinking, but i get it: i've read through fics late at night when i didn't have the thoughts to spare), so its kinda sweet to hear it outright from someone? i hope u enjoy it <3

thank you for such sweet asks tho!!! it can def be a thankless hobby but writing is what i love and i wouldn't trade that for anything. you take care as well, nonny <3 have fun reading!

#wooahaes.ask #asks.anon #in my defense: most books that were popular somewhere around 2009-2014 i probably did not read #i was a baby (9-14) then sdfkhsdf i was going through MIDDLE SCHOOL for part of those years lmao u can imagine reading wasnt like #my number 1 at the time sdfkhsdf writing + video games were #plus roleplaying cringe things with my dumb ocs with my friends <3 #didnt have time for reading id rather play pokemon and get bullied for it bc 'isnt that a kids game' #(said a child (12) to me (12) once it was wack)

[korissideblog]

Ok! ONE more actor AU post, then I’ll start switching Aito’s quirk <3

(if you have any recommendations for that btw, send an ask lol)

[work in progress!!]

[We need to get this out for next week’s issue. Ichiro’s working on the visuals, you guys make the transcript look nice.]

[yes sir.]

[Aye boss!]

[You got it]

Hello! I’m Kiyoshi Ono, joined here today by none other than Shishio Ramos! Actor in the new series Kimi no Hīrō Akademia!

Hi! [awe! This kid is so sweet] [He’s barely said anything yet] [hush!]

Hi there Ramos! Could you tell us what this new series is going to be about, and who you’re playing?

Oh yeah! Totally! Well- pretty much it’s a highschool for super powered kids, where[nice][Nice!][?][look at the word count!][juveniles]they each can show off their special abilities and train to become pro heroes! Pro being taken literally there- they’re training to become professional heroes! It’s a really fun thing. Ah- and my character is Aito Takao! Takao’s a silly sort of character- kinda like a villain but she’s on the hero’s side in the end. She’s comic relief for when things get too heavy- mostly because she doesn’t care about what’s making everyone else all bummed out [laughter] yeah- she’s a really narcissistic character- but she’s funny so it’s ok.

Yes, my daughter read the manga that inspired Kimi no Hīrō Akademia, and she says that you guys are making a lot of changes- specifically to Takao?

Oh- yeah [laughter] we’re making a couple changes. Takao’s gonna have the same personality and stuff- don’t worry fans- but… you know, we’ll be adjusting a couple things to make Takao an easier role for me to play. He’ll be going by she/him pronouns for one-

She/Him pronouns?

-yeah! Takao’s gonna be genderfluid! For those who don’t know, there’s a ton of different ways to be genderfluid, but the way that I’m gonna portray Takao as- you know, the way I am- pretty much he’s gonna be kinda a little mix of boy and girl? Ah- it’s kinda hard to explain without getting into a lot of different topics, but- pretty much what the audience has to know is that you could refer to Takao with both he/him and she/her pronouns, and his uniform is gonna be both slacks and a skirt! [Ahhh! I just adore Ramos <333] [he’s just explaining gender presentation?][I KNOW!!!]

Alright, good to know! Anything else you think the fans would like to know about changes?

Yes actually! So- in the manga, both Takao’s parents are like, super dead [laughter] but! The writers thought it would be more fun to [nice] [juvenile][JUVENILE!!!] keep Takao’s mother alive, and be kinda ambiguous with his dad. I won’t go too much into it- but I think new and returning fans of the series are really gonna like it!

Perfect! Now, let’s talk more about you

Oh boy-

[laughter] Don’t worry Ramos- I just wanna learn a bit more about behind the scenes stuff. You’re just coming off Good Morning Nakamuras!, how would you describe the transition between Hanta Kobayashi and Aito Takao?

oh lord- [laughter] yeah yeah- there’s a lot of difference between the two. You can see it really prominently in the writing. Good Morning Nakamuras! was a family sitcom, so it was a lot of ‘someone says something’ ‘someone else says something’ ‘Hanta says something either funny or dumb’ and then a laugh track. Sometimes someone else would come after Hanta to carry the joke, but usually it was just that. [awe… I’m gonna miss Good Morning Nakamuras!] [same here, it was my mom’s favorite!] But with Takao, it’s a much faster pace. It’s just ‘someone says something’ and then immediately ‘Takao says something funny or dumb’ and then immediately back to ‘someone else says something’ and then ‘Takao says something funny or dumb.’ I-I don’t know if I’m explaining it well- it’s just that Takao talks all the time and always has something new or witty to say. He’s just a chatter box without a filter and- that’s kinda fun to do- I always get the final word and it’s always gonna get a laugh, you know? [have you guys seen the trailer yet?] [no, but my niece has! She’s really excited to see the premiere!!] [i have. it looks weird, but my brother is excited for it. his favorite is the blonde one i think]

There’s also the problem with the stunts, you know? Like- the worst of it on Nakamuras! was just the parts where I had to jump the fence, and even then it was just every couple of episodes. On KNHA I have to do all these cool fighting moves- and not to mention how deranged Takao is just… naturally [laughter] he’s just a very energetic guy with a fondness for climbing things- and people! Like you have no clue how tall someone is until your boss points at them and is like “hey, go climb them.” And you have to do it! The pro tip I’m gonna give people-climbers: it’s all in the legs [laughter] you just have to get your legs around them and pray that you don’t look as stupid as you feel. God- the worst part is when you’re climbing someone who's the same height as you! Hiroharu’s actor is about my height, and I have to climb him all the damn time. It feels like you’re gonna crush them, you know? Like you just have to be as light as possible and hope and pray that they can support you. And- and I know that he can, you know? Like me and him have the same personal trainer, and Kyo-San doesn’t do “easy” [laughter] I know that he can hold me, there’s just always that fear you know?

Oh definitely- and speaking of Hiroharu’s actor, we know you’re on the lower end of the age spectrum, do you think that affects how you all work together?

Oh no, definitely not! Yeah I’m younger than a lot of my coworkers, but not by much- 19, 20 in June. I mean I’m glad that I’m so young! Like I said- Hiroharu’s actor is about my height, and I’m like 173, and… you know… Hiroharu’s actor is over 21 I think- he sometimes offers to get drinks with us, so he’s definitely 21 and up- and I hear people stop growing after 18…

What? [laughter] What are your tying to say?

Oh my god wait- wait you can’t leave that in! I work with that guy! I can’t call him short in an interview before the show actually starts- ohh no! Oh god!

The average man’s height is 175!

Oh- ah I’m sure- I’m sure that-that’s true- oh my god-

I’m 174!

Oh my god we can’t leave this in! [laughter] oh my god- I’m sorry I just- I come from a tall family so sometimes I forget that- that you know people- oh my god we have to cut this out [laughter] [make sure to remove this bit] [awe! But it’s funny!!] [we’ll literally be sued if we don’t] [you two are no fun :(]

But yeah, age doesn’t really get in the way of things. We’re all good friends on set- especially Hoshizawa’s actor! Him and Shimoda-san are really cool guys, I love hanging out with them!

Shimoda-san? As in Kosuke Shimoda?

Yes! Shimoda-san plays Ikuto Maekawa, and since our characters are such great friends, I’d like to think we are as well! He’s a real fun guy, and I’m excited to work with such a huge talent- everyone- everyone there is so talented and I’m so lucky to be there.

Ah, speaking of talent. While a large portion of the cast is hidden, we have seen some familiar faces in the trailer. We’ve also seen some familiar faces on social media…

Oh my god-

[laughter] you never publicly addressed it, Ramos! Do you want to talk about your fight with Bryce Aoki?

Oh lord… [laughter] everyone’s so dramatic- so it wasn’t a fight- it’s just- ok so we had a little scene together where I would push him out of frame, but he wanted to still be seen and I was fine with that. Choreography is very important to me, so we had a passionate discussion-

Passionate discussion that ended with Aoki getting a black eye?

That- [laughter] that was an accident! I was- so we were practicing by the makeup desks- bad decision I know, but- stop looking at me like that! [laughter] It was just- we’re standing like we would in the scene, and I go to shove him- and- and I’m aiming for his head but- but maybe I accidentally hit his eye - and he absolutely wipes out, like this kid’s on the ground and I’m like “holy sh*t I just punched a kid” you know? [laughter] [she’s like, barely a year older than him…] but! Bryce is a sweetheart, and luckily he’s alright-

He got a black eye! He posted about it!

Oh he! He’s just a bit dramatic! He’s an actor though, it’s our jobs to be a bit looney [laughter]

Alright then, it seems we've run out of time for tonight. Anything you want to say?

Yes! I want to wish everyone a lovely evening! Thank you for the support! -And make sure to watch Kimi No Hīrō Akademia when it comes out this summer!

#Adding little editor’s notes by beloved <3 #knha actor au #knha // kimi no hero academia #bnha oc comback #aito takao

[eloarei]

Okay, I’m going to babble about Greedfall under a cut. I just have to.  tl;dr, you should have been able to romance Petrus and Constantin, no I am not taking critique.  Under the cut: 1500 words of basic Greedfall explanation, and then me lamenting ships that didn’t happen; includes spoilers (noted). 

So. Greedfall. Basically, I had never heard of this game until it was free on Playstation Plus a few months ago, and I was like “yeah okay sure, I’m not doing anything else”, so I played it. I had no idea what to expect. I don’t recall watching the trailer. From the icon, I expected maybe pirates? As it turned out, no pirates ...exactly? But kinda. They’re mostly just colonists with pistols and big hats. Lots of big hats. There are a faction of characters that live on ships, but they’re not pirates. I don’t think they’d appreciate being referred to as such.  Anyway, it’s a rather Dragon Age-like game. I don’t mind saying so, since everyone else has. It has its similarities and differences, but it definitely feels familiar in that way. It’s definitely not a copy, just... inspired, I guess.  You play as Lord or Lady de Sardet, (that’s a silent t, btw), who’s tasked with representing her people on the ‘new continent’ of Tir Fradi-- mostly to the other countries that settled there in the past few years, but also to the natives, who’ve lived there for ever and ever and actually respect the land, unlike you dumb colonizers.  The factions are real pains in the ass, but in a way that’s a litttttle bit charming. Theleme is full of propagandizing Catholics who aren’t above a little witch hunt now and again. The Bridge Alliance are all science-obsessed atheists who think progress is more important than basic morals. The natives are VERY in touch with nature, and have cool Russian accents, skull-like face paint, and sometimes branches growing out of their heads. (The natives have the most diverse opinions, so they’re the least annoying. In fact, they’re rather likeable, except that sometimes they hate you, and don’t bother with pretending they don’t for diplomacy’s sake.)  There’s also the Nauts (the pirates), the Coin Guard (mercenaries, but they kind of work for your country?), and the Congregation of Merchants, aka your country, which are basically neutral ground capitalists that everyone sort of doesn’t hate. (Theleme and Bridge Alliance despise each other, roughly a little more than they hate the natives.)  You’ve got one companion from every faction:  Siora from the natives, Kurt from the Coin Guard, Vasco from the Nauts, Petrus from Theleme, and Aphra from Bridge Alliance. They’re all representatives of their people, but also (as you might guess) non-extremists. Because otherwise you’d want to murder them.  Siora isn’t desperate to kick out the foreigners, she just wants her people to be safe and respected. Kurt and Vasco are basically just following you because it’s Kurt’s job and Vasco’s boss told him to. Petrus is a conniving old man, but he doesn’t shove God down your throat too much and seems to respect the natives, sort of. And Aphra has enough morals to agree that killing for science ain’t cool, and maybe the natives aren’t just savages. All in all, they’re all pretty reasonable.  Compared to Dragon Age, none of your companions (or other NPCs) have a ton of personality, but somehow they still manage to have a good bit, and I ended up really liking them.  SO LETS TALK ABOUT SHIPPING You can romance Kurt if you’re playing a woman, Aphra if you’re playing a man, and Vasco and Siora in either case. But, oh my god?, getting the romance to happen is practically impossible. Save first. I romanced both Kurt and Siora (in different saves; can’t do ‘em both in one), using a guide, but by the time I had thought about romancing, I’d already said one wrong thing to Vasco and screwed my chances hahaha. There’s basically 3 specific conversations you have to have with them, and each time you have to pick the right thing to say, out of three choices. If you offend them at all, there’s no going back. Wow. They’re not very intuitive, either.  ANYWAY. The romances aren’t all that interesting, but they add a bit to their stories, so it’s cool. I think my ship preferences with these four characters are Kurt, Siora, Vasco, and Aphra, in that order.  But you KNOW WHAT? I wanna romance Petrus. Yes, the old man. The bishop. And yeah, I know why you can’t.  (It’s spoiler time!)  You can’t romance him basically for the exact reason you should be able to romance him: he was in love with your mom. Your birth mom, who was a native, which you never knew about. He pined for her after she was captured and taken from her land, and when she was in pain and wanted to die, he didn’t help, and now he’s like “woe is me, I’m flooded with guilt”. Which is partly why he’s following you/ de Sardet around.  So you can’t romance him because he sees you as his kid... kinda?... ish?... I guess? Sure. Ok. I mean, that’s cute. I like it. He makes a pretty bad dad, to be honest, because he’s more like that one slightly morally corrupt uncle who lets you drink hard alcohol when you’re a teenager but only under his supervision. But he cares, and that’s the important thing. I don’t dislike dad-Petrus at all.  But you should still be able to romance him because of the good old classic “you’re so much like your mother”. Problematic? MAYBE. =D But a real missed opportunity. Also he’s my favorite companion. He’s a real manipulator. Gets excited about blackmailing politicians. Sounds like he’s smoked a pack a day. I just like the guy a lot. (And you know how much fanart he has? Like none. Le sigh.)  (Also very few ship fics with him; I’m not surprised, but of course I must remedy this. I’m 4k in already and it’s a lot of de Sardet thinking, and her friends poking at her.)  BUT ALSO, to move on from Petrus.  There’s a character I neglected to mention at all, because he’s not a playable companion (except for a tiny while in the beginning, iirc). He’s perhaps my real favorite character... or maybe tied with Petrus.  Yes, it’s Constantin, de Sardet’s “dear cousin”. Oh my lord, Constantin. What a cutie??? He’s basically the prince. He’s been appointed as the governor of their city on the new island, and he’s precious. Genuinely a puppy.  And I think you should be able to romance him. (It’s less crazy than you might think!)  MORE SPOILERS TIME  So, as it turns out (well, I already sort of spoiled it up there), because de Sardet is actually a native, s/he and Constantin are not actually cousins. They love each other immensely. The game makes no mistake about this. They’re absolutely besties. I think Constantin calls you his lucky star. He’s always so flattering, and seeing de Sardet just makes his day. And since it turns out you’re not really cousins, you should be able to romance him.  And do you know why?  I mean, because they love each other, clearly. But also, that ending. Good lord that ending. I mean, if you didn’t think that they loved each other that much, the ending basically says, “HEY ACTUALLY they totally love each other more than anything”, which makes it terribly depressing either way, because you can either... well, stay with him forever, to the detriment of literally everyone else, or, you know, not stay with him, in order to kind of save everyone. It’s already very heart-wrenching, but letting them literally be in love? GAWD. Talk about pulling heartstrings. It would have made the ending like... an actual choice.  (BIG SPOILER BELOW although you probably already guessed.)  Yeah so you have to kill Constantin to save the island. OR, you two can become the new gods, and everyone fears you and it’s terrible. Lordy. Just terrible either way, because there’s no way you played the game and didn’t end up loving Constantin somewhere along the way, even when the red flags started going up that he’d gone power mad. (Because even when he’s power mad, he still obviously loves de Sardet SO MUCH,  OH my god...)  So. As I said. You should be able to romance Petrus because, well, I want to. Need me that problematic ship, c’mon! And you should be able to romance Constantin because the whole plot is literally written that way??? It’s like the romance that is set in stone, you know? And it literally drives the plot.  The whole “Constantin gets native powers and decides he wants to be a god” thing was sort of predictable (as soon as it started happening, because shit, I didn’t have a clue what was going to happen before!), but overall I thought the game and story were pretty good. I recommend playing it if you’re got 40 hours free and it’s really on sale or something. I give it an 8.2 out of 10. (Higher if it didn’t start to feel kind of grindy at points. Lower if I’d had to pay for it. Much higher if they let you romance your pseudo-dad or pseudo-cousin, hahaha.) 

#elo talks #Greedfall #elo rambles #not a coherent review actually just me giving a rundown of the game and characters #and then babbling about ships that didn't happen #long post

[gra-sonas]

This hiatus has been hell and we still have 26 days to go I think the very lack of cast content during filming didn't help as someone who also followed them during season 1 they were very much active not even with on set stuff just them hanging out together I was surprised they went the total opposite for season 2 with the Hiatus so long and there actually being a fandom now I dont hold much hope in CW promotion but I would love some on set pics or a q&a for us not going to Atlanta

The good news is: we’ve made it do day 303 (THREE-HUNDRED-THREE) of this hiatus. Which is utterly ridiculous, but also pretty awesome. GO US!

I don’t know why the cast shared so much less compared to S1, I would’ve loved to get more random silly stories to tide us over. Alas, I’m sure they were all super busy filming S2, and didn’t have much time to update their social media. 💚

Looking at the S2 ‘key art’ (YAY for reusing all those awkward S1 promo pics btw, with that sparkly pink-lavender-orange-yellow-starry-night filter slapped on, the next-to-no effort put into that poster was barely noticeable. 👏) they released recently, the next 26 days will be a firework of… days and days without any promo activity.

On the 28th it’s time for aTVfest in Atlanta, which will hopefully give us an idea (i.e. TONS OF SPOILERS) about ep 2x01, and some more details about S2 in general.

Then it’s probably another couple of days without any promo (wouldn’t want to risk alarming potential casual viewers to the fact that the show’ll return March 16 🙊🤐), before they’ll maybe (MAYBE?????) release a trailer? With actual new footage of S2??? In a somewhat decent quality? Goodness, we won’t know what hit us watching all that shiny new content!

Not sure whether to hold my breath for a S2 press day or other random cast interviews closer to the premiere? 🧐 I mean, the CW pr team will undoubtedly do everything in their power to sweep us off our feet with great promo content (like their particularly enticing pre-scheduled posts letting us know that the show’ll be available on the CW app, or - another highlight - they’ll helpfully promote other CW shows that are not Roswell New Mexico, yay 🤨), so cast interviews are probably not in our future. 🙃

Looks like we’ll be having a BLAST the next 26 days

(I’M KIDDING, in case that wasn’t obvious. I hope we will get some more promo stuff, I’m excited for aTVfest, I can’t wait to watch the trailer a million times, and I also still hope for a press day/cast interviews. Preferably with Vlamburn paired up, please and thank you 🙏)

#nonnie asks #rnm crack #this hiatus has been going on forever #look at me trying to be funny at 11pm #please pretend you chuckled at least once #roswell new mexico #roswell new mexico s2 #rnm trailer

[praphit]

GLASS FOR YOUR ASS!

Glass for your ass!

I know, people. That was unnecessary and childish, and I'm almost halfway sorry, but it IS fun to say.

Say it with me GLASS FOR YOUR ASS! One more time, let's shout it together - GLASS FOR YOUR ASS! Yes!

I'm thinking of starting a business with that name. Idk what would actually be sold, cuz... I can't imagine that anyone would want glass literally sticking in their butt. Though... who knows what the young people are into today?? Maybe I'll sell custom glass chairs instead. Can you imagine that commercial?? "Come on down to John Praphit's Glass For Your Ass today for a free fitting." 

But, no, people! This post is not about my new biz venture, but a new M. Night movie! "Glass"

He has taken some of his old twists, and brought them together in this new movie!

Twist number one: Bruce Willis - An old geezer

Come on, young ladies - follow the creepy old dude in the poncho.

The twist here is that this particular geezer is super strong. He also has the power to touch people to find out their motives (good for catching bad guys). I guess another twist would be the fact that he has been walking through the city groping people for decades and no one has reported him. He is "metoo" proof!

M. Night has a chance here for a cop show idea. He could sell this idea to Fox or someone (seems like they'd do this): A cop who always gets his man or woman, BUT he has to grope several people to do so. He doesn't enjoy it, he's simply utilizing his God-given talent. The show could be called "The Groper" or maybe not... maybe "The Geez". Yeah, that's better, I think.

 The next resurrected twist on M. Night's list is Mr. Glass!

He's lookin good isn't he? It's crucial to look sharp when you're also crazy and evil.

Sam L has the power of super intelligence, and cool hair.

The twist, unfortunately, is that he is also super-breakable. He could pass gas and break a rib. They should have put that in the movie. Sam L giving a speech, then *fart* "Aaaaah! Shit! My rib! Anyway, back to my master plan."

It's just another day. The last resurrected twist is James McAvoy - aka The Horde

We can just call him "Mental Illness Man". He has D.I.D (multiple personalities)

Allow me to step on my soapbox for just one moment: I've said this before, and will continue to say it - Can someone please create a character who happens to have a mental illness, but is not defined by that illness or driven to evil by it?! PLEASE!

Ex. Let's say Dr. Susie has an extreme case of OCD. One could write her as having this illness leads her to become a serial killer. If you're messy, you've gotta go! OR - one could write her as managing her OCD, and giving others with OCD hope... now you could still have her kill people if you want, but not because of OCD. See what I mean??

Anyway... By these three twist combined, we have "Glass"!

Sarah Paulson is also in this movie.

She looks like a poltergeist in this pic. Maybe she is... ANOTHER TWIST!

I love her, btw. She is good in everything. She plays a doctor who is trying to treat these three; believing that they are suffering from delusions.

The movie does a good job of selling that all of this might be bullshit. The characters are doubting themselves. Their families are doubting them. Even I was doubting them. I started to get mad. When did "Unbreakable" (Bruce Willis' movie) come out? 2000?

If all of this is leading up to lies, that would mean that M. Night has been lying to us for almost 2 decades. That's worthy of an ass whupin if you ask me. There's another twist for you. Me tracking down M.Night to slap him around for his lies.

But, this is pretty much the movie. It's a Blumhouse production, meaning that not a whole lot of money went into this flick. Most of the scenes are shot in the clinic that those three end up in. This is a story of doubt, possible lies, Mr. Glass plotting something, and an eventual twist that you know is coming. This is all fine if this is the movie that you believe you were sold.

From watching the trailer, I thought we'd get a flick with Mr. Glass breaking them out of a very temporary sitch in the clinic, him convincing The Horde to join him, and Bruce Willis fighting for justice! - maybe even get a good love scene with Sarah Paulson.

Oh, I wish that they had promised Bruce that love scene, cuz maybe he would have tried in this movie. He's pretty much sleep-walking through this film. This is the face he's making throughout the whole picture

- the face of exhaustion and contractual obligation.

The movie comes down to Mr. Glass scheming (which is actually cool), breaks for James McAvoy to be his schtick (and it does feel gimmicky. Less like a man with an illness and more like a one man show), and plot twists that don't make much sense. There is a message of believing in yourself depsite how the world tries to suppress you. I think this message is cool, and is planted well through the film. The prob is that nothing else is planted well through this movie. Yet, I still reccomend it... I couldn't tell you why... maybe that's another twist.

It does a good job of creating anticipation, it just doesn't deliver. Like a first date that's driven by anticipation and excitement. You keep thinking it's going to be something that it never turns into - anticipation, excitement, anticipation, excitement... and then you go home confused. BUT, you don't exactly regret going on the date... i guess... idk... that damned M.Night has got me so twisted around that I'm not making any sense.

Regardless, I give this movie an entertaining D+

I still have some things to get off my chest (that'll also explain the low grade), but I can't do this without spoiling anything, so here's your chance to get away.

Surrriously

Surrrrriously

Ok (you've been warned):

1) Bruce Willis gets caught, but how?

His son is working with him (same actor who played his son all of those years ago btw). His son is his eyes. Where were those eyes when it counted? If I were Bruce, I'd ground the son. Idc how old he is now. In your 20's or even your 30's, STILL GROUNDED! - until daddy gets out of prison. And even then, there'd be a spanking.

2) Why aren't the mass murderers (Mr. Glass and The Horde) better secured?!

And that whole flashing light in the face of The Horde whenever he jumps into a dangerous personality, to change him into a less menacing one? Really?? Assuming I go with that, why couldn't he have simply closed his eyes?

3) The dumbass girl, who was The Horde's victim, whom he took hostage and was going to kill in his movie "Split" - she visits The Horde in lockup - TWICE! Towards the end of the film she puts her life at risk even more for him... WHY?!?!

4) Never trust Sarah Paulson! In most of her roles in movies or shows, she's never what she seems. This wasn't a bad thing, I'm simply voicing my mistrust.

5) The question is asked "If we DO have these powers? and it's not all delusions -  Why aren't there more of us?"

Yeah... WHY?! Good question! M. Night twisted himself on that one!

6) Lastly, his master plan to show the world video evidence of these feats done:

In 2019, would we even care for that long? Not much of a master plan.

Man, Jesus could return, with us having video evidence, and He could rapture tons of people. In two weeks we'd forget all about it.

Person A: "Hey, remember when Bob was raptured two weeks ago?"

Person B: "Who? Oh yeah, Bob. Right."

Person A: "It's crazy about Satan running around melting people's faces off isn't?"

Person B: "Is he still doing that? It hasn't been trending. Have you seen this cat video?"

We are the worst!

#glass #john praphit #praphitproductions.com #movies #Movie Reviews #mr glass #m night shyamalan #bruce willis #sarah paulson #comics #superheroes #samuel l jackson #nami #praphit

[sadfangirl05]

My thoughts - Arrow SDCC 2018

I have lots of thoughts from SDCC, and I want to share.

This trailer got me excited for season 7. It looks amazing.

My favorite season of Arrow was 3 - it was the biggest angst fest and I loved the torture of it. I watched the show since season 1, but season 3 made me a FAN.

This looks as though we’re going back to this. Olicity is separated by circumstance and can’t communicate. Felicity is angry (as she has every right to be, he didn’t discuss his decision and left her to care for William).

Boy should be in trouble.

And look at this angst. Our boy is pining for his family.

He’s got a ton of work to get back to them.

And Felicity is going to get her agency this season, according to Emily, Felicity will be angry and horny. Now that would be great to see on screen.

But she’s going to step up and get proactive to protect herself and William. The interaction between Felicity and William is one of my favorite things, and the exploration of this will more than make up, in my opinion, for a lack of Olicity.

And our girl is getting in on the action.

I’ve seen some theories that this is a dream, but I don’t care. It shows a fierce mama protecting her cub. 

Spoilers

We NEVER get much spoiled at SDCC, and we now know that Beth hates spoilers. She’s redacting scripts so even the cast are going to be surprised. I wasn’t expecting much, but there was enough to keep me tuning in come October. 

Even David, our spoiler king, was subdued. Beth has them all wiped.

Cast behavour

I think most of the old guard cast were over it this year. And their schedule was brutal. The Arrow cast were still doing interviews at the same time as other casts were heading out to parties (after being able to go back to their hotel to change).  They had to be in prep for 5 am, then run around and wait all day. And SD is hot this time of year. Arrow was first in the press room, yet the last scheduled interview for most outlets. Whoever scheduled that needs fired.

I saw people complaining that 2 interviews were dropped and blaming the cast. The IGN interview - none of the Arrowverse shows did their scheduled interviews.

And the other interview, it was the interviewers fault - she was held up at The Flash panel, and I’m sure by that time the cast was tired and hungry. I would have left as well. 

The interviews I saw were nice, funny and gave nothing away. Just like every other cast.

I also saw people complaining about pairing Emily with Echo. I saw a few press room videos, those two bounced really well off each other. And I’m pretty sure Emily asked to be paired with Echo. She’s had some nasty interviewers in that press room over the years (like the woman who asked her what she thought of some fans saying she ruined Arrow), so no wonder she wants someone with her who makes it light. 

One more thing

This could be wishful thinking on my part, but I found it very strange that KC didn’t attend this year. Even if she was filming late on Friday, they usually fly those cast members in early the next day. From what I understand, KC spent Saturday playing with her cats.

SDCC is mandatory for all regular cast members, unless they have an exception or have a really good reason (last year Paul didn’t attend because he partner was very ill).

Then I remembered the press release for season 7:

Why no mention of KC in this run down - they’ve mentioned all the other season regulars.

I live in hope that KC won’t be around for long... Maybe I’m just too optimistic, but I really hope they’re pulling a Sara S3 stunt. 

btw NTA and BS can choke. I’ve watched since season 1 - I can FF or tune them out, no problem.

#arrow #arrow season 7 #arrow sdcc #my random thoughts #i'm still with arrow

[setsuntamew]

Kingdom Hearts 3 Liveblog: Part 1

As promised, all spoilers will be under a cut! My understanding of Japanese is very limited, but even with that in mind, there will be plenty of gameplay spoilers and some plot summaries. For now, all "screencaps" are taken with my phone, since I don't wanna spam my PSN friends with spoilers >< Sorry for the low quality shots!

So, for some context: I'm the one doing all the actual playing while Liz (dragonofeternal) and Pat (arahith) watch and provide commentary. I know very minimal Japanese, but the two of them know enough bits and pieces to translate the menus and get the gist of cut scenes. So while we're obv missing a lot of details, we've got a general idea of what's going on! However, this also means that I only have so many pics, because I was doing the gaming. Liz has a more detailed liveblogging experience going on over on their journal, and Pat is just dying of emotions (tho we're pretty much all doing that). 

oh my god oh my god oh my god I honestly lost my mind just over the download. I didn't plan this is advance btw; I only realized I could buy digital games on the Japanese PSN a few hours after the game released in Japan, because I have no common sense I guess lmao.

IT'S REALLY HAPPENING!!!!! AHHHHHHHHH!!!! The opening was super gorgeous which like, yeah, I knew it would be from trailers...but seeing it actually happening on my TV??? SO GOOD. It's an extended version of the trailer too; it's got more scenes in it!! Also the only thing (so far at least) that blocks sharing of screenshots/video. The stained glass beginning is done differently than previous games, with floating screens showing clips from past games as your way of choose what to value versus what to give up. It is SLICK as fuck!! And then the big fuckin shadow that you fight (because there's always one....allways) is mirrored and different and it's in a world of pure sky. It's beautiful. It's enough to make me wish I had a 4K TV and PS4 Pro, tbh.

.........uhhhh excuse me? Fuck you Nomura I wanna play the god damn fucking video game please just let me into the fun fucking part of the game!! XD Anyway, the first world was Olympus and I spent most of it figuring out the controls, aka fucking everything up because X and O are reversed in Japanese. I knew this even, from play Final Mixes 1 and 2 back in the day, and yet? Still fuckin it up hardcore XD It's so much fun to play though, which is something I'm probably gonna say a ton of times, but it's true. Since it's the first world, it is technically the "tutorial" world but it doesn't feel like one. Learning all the new play styles comes organically, and it's all very intuitive- especially considering I can only understand about 30% of the instructions they game is giving me. I love Hercules; it's my favorite Disney movie. I nearly burst into tears of joy when I got to explore Thebes because holy shit it felt like walking through my favorite Disney movie??? It felt like it was crafted with such love and care...There was a lot of thought put into KH3, and it shines for it. I wish it hadn't been such a long wait but also? It's done so well, it was worth it. Also, controlling a giant magical pirate ship is the dopest thing ever and I would like to kill basically all heartless with that now. The magical Disney rides as an attack system works even better than I had hoped :D It's my favorite new addition so far. Going to Mt. Olympus was fantastic as well!!!! The whole time, Liz, and I were making jokes about how Sora was gonna have to apologize to Hercules for breaking all of the stuff in his dad's house, and I think Pat almost had a hernia when I started breaking things in Hephaestus's forge.

Finishing up Olympus rewarded me with my boy Riku!!!! He's been my fave since KH1 and just...hello Riku :D I fucking hate demon towers but playing as Riku was slick. It definitely reminded me of Aqua in 0.2, and it reflects the growth he's had versus Sora having to start all over again.

......why are your pants so awkward lookin though??? Like that's an......interesting bulge :T Please...please wear your pants differently in the future...

Aaaaaand my other boy, Ienzo!!!! I just about screamed and jumped out of my seat in excitement; I somehow didn't expect to see him quite so early!! I'm a little disappointed that we haven't gone to Radiant Garden so far, but cell phone Ienzo is more than enough to keep me satisfied. I loved him asking Aeleus if he wanted to talk to Roxas, too, because fuck that's adorable?? Too cute. Too good. If anyone makes Ienzo cry I will fight them. FUCKING TWILIGHT TOWN IS GORGEOUS I DIED FIFTY TIMES FROM JOY (but not during the massively overpowered demon tower fight because I'm good at video games). It was so fucking good to get to go back and see it lovingly rendered in high def. I almost immediately went to find the crack in the wall, got upset that someone had apparently fixed the glaring hole in the wall, and found a back way to the forest through the sewers :D

Remy is adorable??? Like I didn't get good enough shots because I was just too into the cut scene, okay, it was cute. I was very sad that they left him behind (and pleased when apparently Scrooge decided to employ him later, because he knows what's up).

Hi sorry I have to go cry??? Forever????????? Because apparently I wasn't ready to see the Twilight Town mansion without being a big fucking baby! I just...it breaks my heart. These kids and their tragedies hurt me deeply and just. It hurts so good.

R O X A S!!!!!!!!!!!! sobs sobs please help him Sora ;w;

Pence has hacked into the mainframe :D

NOT.

Real talk though, getting to see Hayner, Pence, and Olette again was so fucking good, and watching Pence be a useful nerd was A+ for sure. And just basically everyone being like yeah Sora can't work technology please keep him away from it forever, thanks. It's good. It's good shit!!!!

Something about this shot feels very melancholy, and I while I don't think it was what the end of this cut scene was supposed to feel like, it feels a bit like foreshadowing.

Speaking of problems...I know they were talking about something serious in this scene, but Liz and I kept re-dubbing it with cracky bullshit and so now it makes me giggle. Oops!! Seriously though, it's like "Hey Ansem, maybe stop checking out teenagers? It's getting kinda creepy, even for us villains." "But they're so cute..."

I'm so sorry I'm like this.

Aaaaaaand I'm gonna cut it here, with this fantastic Xemnas face! See y'all next time with Toybox, Kingdom of Corona, and potentially Monstropolis, depending on how much time I have to write at work today :D

#kingdom hearts #kh3 #kh3 spoilers #kingdom hearts 3 #kingdom hearts 3 spoilers

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Fear 4x10: Analysis

Good morning! Who watched Fear last night? I have to say, I'm really enjoying this season, still. I thought last night’s episode was excellent! And, as a bonus, it had tons of relevant symbolism in it.

***Spoilers abound for Fear 4x10. Don’t read until you’ve watched! You’ve been warned!***

Let's first talk about the broad stuff. Alicia ends up at the cabin or house. It's very much like a lot of the places we've seen before. There are a lot of things that reminded me of the moonshine shack, and also the cabin Carol, Tyreese and the girls went to in 4x14.

Remember last week when I said it seemed like the group would be split up for the B part of the season and we’d have individual episodes about each group? Did I call that or what? This episode was about Alicia and Charlie, and the next episode will (based on the trailer for next week) be about Morgan.

If you want to see this as a repeat of Beth and Daryl at the moonshine shack (and you probably will as I go along) then Alicia would be Daryl and Charlie would be Beth. My reasoning on that is just that Alicia is the more angry, surly one, and Charlie is the more sad, weepy one. Between the two, Alicia is also the stronger and more capable. In a minute I'll show some dialogue but also supports this.

So, when she gets there, Alicia finds four walkers in the house. Two men and two women. This was meant to be the family that lived there. Father, mother, son, daughter. The son and daughter were at least teenagers, if not adult age. So, the family all died in the house together.

In terms of Alicia, that would've reminded her of her family a lot. Before the apocalypse happened, it was Madison, Travis, Alicia, and Nick. I think that's why she threw the pictures out. She couldn't stand the reminders of a family she once had and no longer does. But everything about this is symbolism we've seen before. There is a very obvious example of the Bethyl side-by-side walker theme.

In this case, there were two men and two women. I'm not sure what to make of that exactly, but it's interesting. I don't think we've ever seen an example of two men and two women side-by-side like this in regular TWD. But I'm wondering if the other couple (besides Bethyl) could be John Dorey and June. So maybe they're doing to show there are now two couples, one on each show, that are following the same symbolism? Just an idea.

The photos themselves reminded me of Sasha in 5B. Remember, she used the photographs as target practice? Even though what happened was a little different, in both cases these women (Sasha and Alicia) were in pain and couldn't stand to see pictures of happy families around them. Even what was in the pictures was mildly suspicious to me. A lot of them were taken at the beach, which plays into the beach theme of this episode. But I noticed one was the little boy playing baseball (Negan?) And there is also one at an amusement park, kinda like one Rick and Michonne went to in S7. And there were other ones that had water in them.

I will also say that there were several things in this that made me think Alicia was being somewhat paralleled with Rick as well. There was a part where she looked at herself in the mirror, which reminded me of Rick getting to Alexandria in 5B. We also saw her silhouette against the light several times, which they did with Rick S8.

Later in the episode, Alicia goes out to look at the four walkers she dragged out and Charlie has wrapped them in shrouds. I noticed that three of them were dark and one was white. I'm not sure exactly how to interpret that, but it's the black/white theme that we see around Beth and Daryl a lot (X). I wonder if it's something like three deaths and one resurrection? Or could be connected to the St. Nicholas/pickle story which is three resurrections. I'm not sure. But I thought it was super-interesting.

At one point, there's something dead in the fireplace. It had been stuck in the chimney and fell when Alicia was cleaning it out. I couldn’t tell what it was at first, but I’m fairly sure it was a dead bird. That’s kinda huge! 1) It’s literally a bird surrounded by ashes. So, Phoenix theme. 2) Even more than that, remember that in 4x11, Carl saw a dead bird in the pudding house. 

I’ve ALWAYS thought that was a foreshadow of Beth. Dead bird = Beth before she’s resurrected. If that dead bird had just been about Carl’s death, it wouldn’t still be a thing now. (This shot from S4 also includes a bird cage. Remember the bird cage in Beth’s cell in 4x01.)

Alicia apologizes to it and says, "I'm trying." The trying theme was especially big in TWD S5. I’m not sure what to make of the fact that she’s apologizing to it, but I’m sure it’s symbolic in some way.

On TTD, they said the family was supposed to have asphyxiated because the fireplace was clocked. So the dead bird actually killed the family. Also highly symbolic. Think of it this way: Beth’s death “killed” Daryl emotionally. In other instances of the side-by-side theme, Karen’s death “killed” Tyreese emotionally. So it’s very interesting that this bird literally killed the family in this case

In TTD, they also talked about  the bird Madison talked about in 4x08. That’s what it was about for Alicia. But it all goes back to the bird symbolism from S4. And remember, who is the song bird?

This is probably the thing that made my jaw dropped the most. When she's trying to start a fire, she burns something that says "Rottweiler" on it. 

Remember that Emily was rumored to be filming scenes at that white cabin with a Rottweiler. Wouldn’t it be crazy if those missing scenes from season five showed up in fear instead of in TWD? That would be insane! But this does seem to be foreshadowing something with a Rottweiler on Fear and having to do with Alicia.

While we’re on the subject, there were at least two other dog symbols that I saw in the house. (Sirius/Dog Star theme). When Alicia first enters the house, there's this plaque that has a dog and a paw on it. 

It was also featured on TTD. The fat that it says “Rotty” made me think of the fact that at Grady, they called walkers “Rotters.” Perhaps another rottweiller clue we totally missed?

Then here in the background, I think this might actually be a picture of two Rottweilers. It's unclear, so I can't be sure, but that's what it looks like to me. See why I’m excited?

This house also had a lot of canned food in it. That's similar to both the funeral home from Alone and also from Carol and Tyreese's cabin in the Grove. It also reminds me a lot of the cabin we saw on the Red Machete miniseries. 

Just cans of food out on the counter. 

Alicia picks a green one and a blue one. It doesn't show us the labels on either one of them, so obviously what’s in the cans isn’t terribly important for us to know. But the color scheme is there. I also noticed that in this part, there's a water bottle on the left that says Green Valley Springs.

When Alicia finds Charlie in the house, she tries to leave because she doesn't want to end up hurting Charlie. 

The sequence with the car was really strange. Alicia had the keys and tried to open the car door, but for some reason, the door stuck. I watched it several times and I'm still unclear on why the door wouldn't open. There is what looks like some sort of strap on the inside of the door, and I thought maybe it was some sort of bungee cord holding the door shut. Looking more closely, I honestly think that might just be decoration on the door. The door randomly wouldn't open and as a result, Alicia ended up with a mild head injury.

It just smacks of Beth to me. I'm not sure if we should be interpreting it literally—like something about Beth being left behind in the car had to do with the door not opening—or if it's more just the "please associate cars with head injuries" kind of thing. I don't know, but that seemed really suspicious to me.

Of course the cabin has the Grady lighting, where the inside is dark but light is coming in from the outside. We also see pictures of plants in the laws, which I think we seen before in a few different places in TWD. (Btw, on TTD, Chris Hardwick said we should be looking at the lighting, the pictures and things in the background, the shots, etc. So we’re totally justified in reading into this stuff. ;D)

Onto the dialogue. Charlie wants to save the pictures. Alicia is against it. I thought this was a really interesting way to do this theme. Alicia keeps telling her that the people are gone. (“Just gone” theme) and saving the pictures won’t bring them back. To which Charlie replies, "You don't know that!" 

Exactly what Beth said. So once again, Charlie equals Beth and Alicia equals Daryl. The Alicia later says, "No one's gone until they're gone. And "When they're gone, they're just gone." Another Daryl line.

Remember that the “just gone” line specifically means that someone is not dead, but just missing. Daryl said it about Beth in 4x16. Also, 4x08 of Fear where Madison “died” is called “No One’s Gone.” So we’re seeing this a lot and to me it always means that someone who is presumed dead is not truly dead and will return.

The candlelight dinner Alicia and Charlie share reminded me of both Beth and Daryl’s in Alone and Carol and Tyreese in 4x14. We’ve seen other similar candlelight dinners as well, but none quite as potent as those two.

The basement was flooded, which reminded me a lot of the food bank in 5x02. At one point, Alicia has flashbacks to Nick and Madison's deaths. 

That reminds me a lot of Sasha in 5x13, when she flashed back to Bob, Tyreese, and Beth's deaths. But it occurred to me that we actually have kind of an opposite thing going on here from Sasha. I found this episode to be very powerful. Charlie and Alicia, much like Beth and Daryl, came out of it in a much healthier emotional place. They found forgiveness and healing. 

That was not the case for Sasha. At least not when she had her flashbacks. She was a great deal of pain and having the flashbacks did not heal her. So, kind of an antiparallel there, but still similar to S5.

The walker in the tree. This is pretty huge too. There's a walker impaled on a tree outside the upper window of the house, which Charlie keeps looking at. We can only assume it got there because the wind picked it up and flew through the air and it ended up being impaled on the branches of the tree. I wondered while watching it, if perhaps we could relate that to Beth in some way. It occurred to me that this was a type of crucifixion. The walker was up on the tree, just hanging there. It's not uncommon for Christ's cross to be referred to simply as a tree because it was made of wood. But I also wondered if I was reaching. Looking at something that wasn't there.

Then, near the end of the episode, that walker fell out of the tree and onto the basement door. Apparently, that made it possible for Alicia to push the door open and for them to get out. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure how that was supposed to work. The door was chained from the outside, and I'm not sure how the walker falling on it actually freed them. It could be that it's weight, and possibly the weight of a tree branch simply broke the chain. Still a little unlikely if you ask me, bordering on unrealistic. It doesn't actually bother me, though. I think the whole point is the symbolism. 

Because Christ is seen as the Christian savior, I think it's important that this walker was hanging on a tree, and then ended up being the thing that saved them. There are some major Christian themes in this episode. And does this point it Beth? I don't know. It might. We have the Rottweiler references and now a reference to someone who was crucified. (Remember that Beth wore the cross bracelet at Grady to show that it was her crucifixion and Father Gabriel talked about how one of their own was “sacrificed”) will save them. I hope it refers to Beth. It may be more of a Christian theme than anything else, but Beth has also been set up as the Christ figure in TWD. So either way, it makes me pretty excited.

It's also worth noting that when Alicia shot the crucifixion walker, she shot it exactly where Beth was shot.

A look! A bunch of burials. Alicia buried a bunch of walkers that nobody actually knew or cared about. And who that we did know and care about didn't get the burial?

This brings me to another theme that we saw both in 4x13 and 4x14. Charlie said she wanted to leave the photos for anyone who might come later. That theme really came together for me at the end. After burying the walkers, Alicia said she done it for the people who might come later. I mean, this cabin could BE the cabin that Carol and Tyreese went to. It's not, but in that case someone else came before them and buried the people they found there. So when Ty and Carol got there, there were already graves on the property. Alicia’s set up was like a prequel to that. She stayed in the house, and ended up bearing the people she found there

This theme was also in 4x13 because Beth wanted to leave the thank you note in case anyone came back. It's a theme about doing something, leaving a message for anyone who might come after them. 

I think it's a really interesting and powerful theme. Oh, and there's the “friends and family” sign behind the graves. Almost as if to show that friends and family always get burials.(Sorry this pic is a little blurry. My internet connection was being a chump at the time.)

Alicia passes the weapon her signature weapon to Charlie. Kind of reminded me of Daryl giving Beth his crossbow.

Alicia and Charlie are now looking for the others. Just as Beth and Daryl did in 4B.

I’m not going to say too much about the beach theme. It does suggest something about the coast, and possibly Oceanside, but I'll leave it at that.

Alicia drives back to Strand’s mansion but everybody is gone. I did notice one thing that I didn't notice last week. I don't know if we never got this angle or if I just missed it, but there is a black and white horse artwork over the mantle.

The school bus is now on its side. We know from last episode that nobody was actually there when that happened. John and Strand are out looking for someone and Luciana went chasing after Charlie. Meanwhile June and Al are in Al’s truck. But the overturned truck reminded me a lot of 5x05 when the short bus crashes. Even in 4x10, Inmates, the bus wasn't on its side, but Maggie, Sasha, and Bob did find the bus wrecked on the side of the road.

And back to the “just gone” theory. At the end, Alicia tells Charlie that the others are “gone.” Once again, this is an example where we (the audience) KNOW the other characters are still alive. Alicia and Charlie don’t know it, but we do. And they’re being described as “gone.”

I think that's all I have for now. This is structurally REALLY feeling like a mirror of TWD 4b, and that’s where Bethyl first happened, so it gives me tons of hope. I really loved this episode and Fear is really given me the TD tingles lately. How did everyone else like the episode?

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here

[daskleinehaus]

Tiny Transitions

If I haven’t made it well aware - I’m pretty terrible about updating our blog. I don’t even want to see how many months it’s been since I wrote something. I really thought this would be so helpful to others who were doing the same thing we were - and yet we have been so consumed by our build that we very rarely had time for anything else. Good news though - WE FINALLY LIVE IN OUR TINY HOUSE! 

We seriously could not be more excited! Here’s a little run down of the few days leading up to the move:

-- Basically June 16th - June 20th - STRAIGHT PANIC MODE COMMENCES. We needed to be out of the house we were living in on the 21st, we were moving the house up to the Colorado Tiny House Festival that same day, I had a meltdown at work that Monday or Tuesday b/c we had not secured a parking spot yet (sidenote: I work for Trailer Made Custom Trailers - my boss Damon has ALL the tiny house connections and, without hesitation, picks up his phone and starts calling anyone and everyone to help us out), we had SO much work left to do on the interior to be able to basically camp in it, and we were not even close to being done packing. Stress level: MAX. 

--Tuesday June 19th & Wednesday June 20th - Ray, myself and our helping hand Kevin are in full blown construction mode. I’ll spare you all the crazy details but there was a lot of alcohol, not enough sleep, and I almost threw a screw gun through a window.

--Thursday June 21st - 5am rolls around (I think we went to bed at 2ish?) and we have to load up our house, Uhaul, and my car to caravan up to the fairgrounds where the event is being held. Move up there - NO PROBLEM! Drop the house off, and head back down to the house we were living (which - by the way, was my grandparents’ house. My grandfather passed back in October and they were putting the house on the market June 22nd). Second round of packing - mostly odds and ends, food, etc. Ray and I had to part ways - he went back up to the fairgrounds to start getting the house set up, I had to run into work for a hot second. Fast forward a few hours - the house is in it’s place for the festival but we have NO POWER! Apparently our house doesn’t like GFCI outlets. So that’s cool - I have 2 not-great coolers full of food and it’s a million degrees out and our fridge isn’t running. Thankfully - our amazing neighbors, Tiny House Twin Travels are kind enough to lend us their generator for the weekend. *CUE TEARS OF JOY* Anyway - rest of the day is spend setting up, meeting people at the fest, blah blah blah.

--June 22nd -24th - COLORADO TINY HOUSE FESTIVAL! This is the second time we’ve shown our home at this event - last year we had just put in the flooring and the interior walls, so it was basically a shell. This year, we were definitely finished enough to convince people we were done. I would also like to point out, that we were the only DIY tiny house people there living in their tiny home (not including skoolies, etc). We got a TON of feedback from people about how it was nice to see how people live in these. All in all, it was a long, hot weekend, but it was an amazing pop-up community and I wish we all could have just stayed put forever <3

--Sunday June 24th - post festival, we had to move the house again to our parking spot (which BTW, we had only secured the day before we moved). Check out the time lapse of our drive here. After finally pulling in around 9pm or so, we got unhitched and our Uhaul GOT STUCK IN THE DIRT. We attempted and failed to get it out ourselves so a tow truck arrives around 11:30 - 10 minutes and almost $200 later it’s finally out. Truck gets returned and we finally settle in with no power, no water and we both have to be at work in the morning. 

--Since then - thankfully we were only power and waterless for less than 24 hours. Our mini split system was running shortly after that. Our dogs, who had been shuffled between family members over a week and a half joined us and were none too happy at first (aka stress poops). We’re mostly unpacked and still trying to tie up some loose ends. We are still without propane - so no hot water unless it’s running mid afternoon on a hot day. Also without internet, but I’m not terribly upset about that (I can’t say the same for Ray). 

All in all - we are loving tiny house life so far! I’m excited to see the last little bit of the house come together. There are a few plans in the works to really fill it out as a home for us. Please also stay tuned - I promise to be better about blogging! <3

#tinyhouse #tinyhousebuild #tinyhousemovement #diytinyhouse #thow #tinyhouseonwheels #tinyhouseliving #tinyhouselove #tinyhousenation #tinyhousecommunity #livesmall #thinksmall #tinylife #diy #legalizetiny #homeiswhereyouparkit #lesshousemorehome #cotinyfest

[ilovedeadlypremonition]

Deadly Premonition director, Hidetaka “Swery” Suehiro, officially announced his upcoming “Debt Repayment Life Simulation RPG (with Cats)” The Good Life at his PAX West Panel this afternoon!

We already got a short teaser trailer a week or so ago after the”cat was let out of the bag” but now with Swery’s official announcement we have a brand new trailer, tons of concept art, the game’s crowdfund details, and thanks to the official press release a more detailed plot outline.

THE STORY

Based in an RPG-style town filled with fun activities and fascinating people, THE GOOD LIFE offers a thrilling, twisting murder mystery. At first glance, Rainy Woods looks like a normal country town in Northern England comprised of stone houses built in the Middle Ages, nestled in abundant nature and surrounded by forest. Looking deeper, however, Rainy Woods is home to a bizarre and deadly mystery. Throughout the day, the townsfolk work hard, look out for one another, love their families, and enjoy nightly drinks at the local pubs. Each character has a unique personality and lifestyle. Events change depending on the time of day, weather, and season. Even though some may argue that they live in a video game world, the townsfolk of Rainy Woods still worry, suffer, love, hate, and have fun as any real person would. Rainy Woods and its small English aesthetic exudes a unique sense of charm, fully realized when, in the dark of night, its villagers transform into cats.

Players star as Naomi, a photographer straddled with debt who moves from New York City to Rainy Woods. As an étrangère, players feel both alienated yet strangely comfortable as they must make friends, solve mysteries, and become emotionally invested in Naomi’s quest to make a life for herself in the happiest and most bizarre town in the world. To pay off her debt, she sends reports and photographs on villagers and their town as she uncovers its deadly secret.

THE GOOD LIFE is a mystery tale in the vain of Raymond Chandler or Conan Doyle. Players make a tragic discovery in the town’s river—the brutally murdered body of a young girl, her heart pierced by an ancient, medieval sword. Having first arrived in Rainy Woods to uncover the secrets of the happiest town in the world and payoff her debt, Naomi is thrusted into a bizarre mystery, setting her journalist heart ablaze as she sets her sights on revealing the truth behind the young girl’s murder.

THE GAME

Genre: Debt Repayment Life Simulation RPG Platforms: PC + TBD Console(s) Release Date: Q3 2019 Target Developer: White Owls

So we got a murder mystery/life sim, with cute cats, a cast of bizarre characters with their own 24 hours schedules, AND events that will change depending on the time of day, weather and season?

[More details, pictures and my thoughts under the cut!]

The Campaign

If you are as hyped as I am you can help make Swery’s new game a reality by contributing to The Good Life’s Fig campaign. The development team is hoping to raise at least $1.5M USD to bring a digital version game to both PC and consoles. Fans can lend support via traditional reward based backing or by investing in Fig game shares of the game. There’s a number or different tiers and rewards available for The Good Life ranging from simply receiving a digital copy of the game when it is released for $29 to actually becoming a character within the game as a reward for donating a whopping $35K! Though if any rich fans out there are considering the $35k tier please note that there’s a chance you might end up being brutally murdered in the game. (Yikes!)

Looking at all the tiers though I must say I’m a bit disappointed by the lack of any sort of physical rewards being offered. I mean a real signed message card from Swery is a lot more tempting than a digital one… But there seems to be some hope that this may change looking at the responses to some of the early “backstage” backers. It seems Swery and the campaign team are looking into the possibility of including some physical rewards in the future and are even asking for suggestions!

Personally I would love to see a physical copy of the game or an art/guide book myself! Heck a stuffed kitty Naomi or even a sheep would be pretty awesome additions too!

[Update!]  A physical award tier has been added and for $269+shipping you can get a package with some cool game swag! Now if you picked another tier don’t worry you can update your pledge and pick choose to add a number of DLC and physical items!

The Idea

Even though Swery’s announcement of a new game so soon after returning from retirement and opening his studio, White Owls, was kind of a surprise (or maybe it was just me?) it turns out Swery’s been developing the idea for The Good Life for quite awhile now.

According to the “SWERY’S Voice” video on The Good Life’s fig campaign page that describes the game’s inspiration, vision, and story the idea behind the game was sparked after Deadly Premonition’s producer (I assume Tomio Kanazawa) was suddenly transferred to London, England while Swery continued work on Deadly Premonition in Osaka, Japan. Swery was sad to be left behind but the long distance communication between the two ended up inspiring the idea of being sent to a rural English town and being unable to leave.

Swery’s initial idea continued to refine and expand in the back of his mind over the years even while developing, the now sadly incomplete, D4 – Dark Dreams Don’t Die.

Back in 2015 Swery took a brief retirement from game development to focus on recovering from reactive hypoglycemia and during this hiatus he finished the first draft of a murder mystery novel set in a British countryside town from the perspective of a cat.

I've been eager to hear more about his mystery book for while but now with the The Good Life's announcement I'm beginning to think Swery's novel may have inspired the whole investigating a murder mystery while as a cat angle of The Good Life game.

Now this connection between the game and novel it is pure speculation on my part at this point but given that both are revolve around a strange premise of cat investigating a murder in a rural England just seems way too coincidental.  Plus the novel's working title of " I Am Not a Cat " really makes me believe that the main character may have been a human at some point which is very similar to Naomi's situation in The Good Life as she only temporarily turns into a cat during the night while living Rainy Woods!

By the way the characters listed on the campaign page are kind of amazing…and here I thought the residents of Greenvale were a bit strange. I like how Swery seems to be continuing the tradition of a single black male among a caucasian population (who is also named the “totally normal cat” btw lol) and an insomniac who works with the dead. I wonder if the “person name Kaysen” that has occurred in Swery’s last three games (Spy Fiction, Deadly Premonition, and D4) will also continue in The Good Life?  It is also kind of amusing that the “Handsome Nurse” is known just as “Gay Cat” I’m guessing this means Naomi won’t be able to make any love connections with that bloke?

Game Mechanics

In The Good Life the story mission  focuses on three core points: paying off a huge debt, uncovering the town’s secret, and solving a murder of Elizabeth, the lone daughter of the village pastor.

Photography

Since Naomi is a professional photographer from New York it is no surprise that taking photos is a major gameplay mechanic featured in the game. The monetary rewards for Naomi’s daily reports will heavily factor around the quality and rarity of the photos players take during the day.

Capturing the perfect photo may prove to be a little difficult at first. You won’t actually know how any of your photos will turn out until they are developed them back at Naomi’s house and ranked as either a “success” or “failure” and only successful photos will be sent over to the client for rewards. As players progress through the game there will be opportunities to upgrade and even purchase special cameras that will help the players take better pictures.

Part- time Jobs

But taking photos and sending daily reports isn’t the only way Naomi can cut down her debt. The game also allows players to take a number of part time jobs around town including bartending at the local pub, delivering milk, shearing sheep and other rural tasks.

Some of these part time jobs will give the players opportunities to make a fortune but they can also be exhausting and some can even be dangerous so you have to choose your side jobs wisely!

Any money earned in these ventures can be put towards paying off the ever looming unpaid debt or spent on fun things for Naomi.

Customization

The Good Life is a RPG after all so it’s no surprise that as players progress through the game Naomi stats will improve and fun customizations for Naomi in both her human and cat forms can also be acquired. Naomi’s range of daily activity will expand based on her stamina and movement speed so the more points you earn or temporarily acquire via clothing will allow for more photo taking and fun activities during the day.

Life Maintenance and Stamina

…and speaking of stamina just like in Deadly Premonition and D4  it is important to keep Naomi well fed and rested during her stay in Rainy Woods. I’m pretty excited to see all the English dishes that will be available for consumption… There were a few dishes listed over on the campaign page including one of my favorites, Fish and Chips, which I have a feeling Naomi will end up eat a lot of during my own play through unless there happens to be a lot of smoked salmon…

But eating and sleeping isn’t the only thing players need to keep an eye on during Naomi’s stay they also must balance Naomi’s income so while she’s paying back her debt she will still have enough money left over to not only take care of her daily needs, but also have enough for the upkeep of her camera, the development of photos, and her daily shipments of reports back to New York.

The most surprising examples of one of her special expenses that’s listed over on the campaign page is the need to buy sanitary goods for Naomi once a month. It’s a normal expense in my own life but it’s something I’ve never seen mentioned let alone forced on a player to even consider while in control of a female protagonist before. It’s pretty amazing that sort of detail was even included!

I also thought that way alcohol consumption in the game is handled is really interesting as well. Giving Naomi alcohol will provide some high rewards in the short term as it will alleviate both her hunger and her thirst in one shot but if she continues to overindulge in drink throughout her stay she will develop a dependency for it. It’s pretty neat to see the real life consequence of addiction in a video game... I hope Rainy Woods also has a good 12-step program!

Special Events

The Good Life also features several seasonal events that offer special rewards. The game’s campaign didn’t go into a lot of details but in Spring there will be cherry blossom dance festival,  there’s a Tea Harvest in Summer, while during the Fall Naomi can harvest nuts and catch fat river fish, and in Winter  find minerals and maybe earn a present from Santa Claus(?)

Being a Cat

During the night while Naomi is in cat form players have the opportunity to investigate places you may not have access to while in human form and a chance to get closer to different villagers while they are in their cat forms by bringing them various trash…er I mean “kitty themed” presents…Some items you find while as a cat may even fetch a high price during the day and unlock some more special story events.

A few of the possible treasures a player can find are seen above...Hmm, I wonder if those “suspicious seeds” are anything like the ones you can find in Greenvale…

Graphics

As for graphics The Good Life’s campaign page describe them as being both “Nostalgic and Modern” using low polygon models with simple textures but also making use of CG-esque atmospheric lighting, fog, shadows, and glare elements well.

The game does look rather simple but it still has a very distinct and unique look. I’ve always prefered a great story over great graphics so I don’t mind the game’s simple design in the slightest :) I do think the sheep are really adorable in this art style though!

Atmosphere

If all of the features above hasn’t already peaked your interest maybe the Fig campaign description of The Good Life’s atmosphere will do the trick:

“THE GOOD LIFE has intriguing elements inspired by Twin Peaks. It will also feature the old-timey British traditions seen in classic shows such as Downtown Abbey and Poirot.  This is a Swery Game, so expect a healthy dosage of horror, mystery, humor and taboo topics that helped make Deadly Premonition such a cult hit.  Our humor will reflect some of the elements from Hot Fuzz and other classic British comedies.”

Man it was already a give-in that I would be excited for The Good Life since I’m such a big fan of Deadly Premonition (and Twin Peaks) but I can also expect some Hot Fuzz style humor too?!

Guys, Hot Fuzz is one of my all-time favorite films ever so this comparison has me even more excited to play the game!

Hmm… Rainy Woods is described as the “Happiest Town in the World” with the “happiest people on the planet” which is pretty similar to the situation of Sandford always winning “Village of the Year” in Hot Fuzz…I wonder does Rainy Woods have an equivalent of the Neighborhood Watch Alliance?

Hey Naomi, if the townsfolk start chanting about things being “all for the greater good” I would make run for it!

The Developers

The Good Life will be the  joint effort between three developers: Swery’s studio, White Owls, along with G-rounding and Camouflaj. Swery and his team will provide the creative and artistic direction for the game while G-rounding will manage the production and game creation and Camouflaj will provide both production support and supervision.

I really hope The Good Life’s Fig campaign is successful as it looks like a whole lot of fun. I’m eager to see how the game will come together and “enjoy my best life” in 2019

#deadly premonition #the good life #swery65 the good life #swery65

[reactingtosomething]

Reacting to Sweet/Vicious

Part I: Remember Fondly When 4th Meals Were a Thing and Breakfast at Night Reigned Supreme

The Setup: It started, as much does, with a tweet. That tweet was followed, as many are, by regret. Fortunately, Jennifer Kaytin Robinson is a generous sort.

Robinson’s glorious but short-lived vigilante dramedy Sweet/Vicious was always on the list of candidates for an all-hands Reaction -- Miri started watching a day or two after Kris did, back in the fall, so Liz and Marchae added it to their (lengthy) to-watch lists -- but we didn’t put a timetable on it until our loyal reader @crazyhannibalthedaisiesslayer suggested it.

In this post (and its continuation, on Friday), we cover the first three episodes: “The Blueprint,” “The Writing’s on the Wall,” and “Sucker,” and many thoughts and feelings about campus sexual violence and related topics.

LIZ: First thing: I only had time to watch the first 3 episodes, although I wish I’d been able to see more!

Kris you here?

MIRI: Ok, that’s how many I rewetted!

MARCHAE: I watched 4

KRIS: GOSH DARN IT

MIRI: DAMMIT rewatched 

hahahahahha insert gif here

So, Liz and Marchae, what did you think????

MARCHAE: It is oddly addicting

KRIS: Why oddly?

MARCHAE: I think because I used to work in student affairs and dealt with some of the scenarios so in that way it is weird to see a comedy/drama of this topic

LIZ: I am IN LOVE. I thought episode one was amazing and I am pretty much hooked. I am here for the message and the premise and i think every college campus needs these 2 ladies!

MARCHAE: however the characters are 100% engaging and you want them to win so hard...

I called my mom after episode one and was like should i feel bad for wanting to see the guys get beat up

LIZ: The way they show the victims of sexual assault and discuss their stories is just so real even though the show suspends our disbelief in other ways so much

MIRI:  Marchae, I don’t think you should feel bad

How do you feel about how stylized it is? I love it, but I feel like it’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea

LIZ:  Rapists who are getting away with it 100% and ruining their victims lives? no I would not feel bad

KRIS: When I first saw trailers for it (while my old roommates watched MTV reality shows) I was like oh, man, I don’t know, this seems like it might be trashy and exploitative

MARCHAE:  I do agree Lizzie... it’s weird because my brain wants this to be a straight drama

yet i am oddly satisfied with the moments of comedic relief

LIZ: I didn’t think the stylization was OVER THE TOP

MIRI: Yeah, it’s a hard show to sell but SO GOOD

LIZ: theres a lot of comedy

MIRI: I think it all works together beautifully

LIZ: agreed

I was pretty much in love

KRIS: I was almost upset at how good it was

MIRI: For me, the cold open of ep one says it all

KRIS: I had to text Miri immediately

LIZ: and then they were singing defying gravity in the car and i was like

KRIS: THERE’S A LEVERAGE WRITER

MIRI: You were definitely upset

KRIS: THE EMOTIONAL CLIMAX IS A WICKED SINGALONG

MIRI: THERE IS???

LIZ: yeah

like

MIRI: WHo?

KRIS: BRANDON MYCHAL SMITH FROM YOU’RE THE WORST

M Scott Veach

MIRI: Cool!

LIZ: oh end of sentence about defying gravity.. i felt like the show understood my soul

MIRI: Moment of appreciation for Brandon Mychal Smith playing SUCH a different type of comedy equally well

LIZ: ALSO.. it takes a certain type of weird ass show for all 4 of us to be VERY on board.. and I also like that about it

KRIS: He’s one of the only men who can say the word “bitch” and not make me a little uncomfortable

MIRI: True!

hahahahaha

LIZ: Is that Harris?

MIRI: Yes!

KRIS: Yeah

LIZ: I LOVE HIM

MIRI: Yay!

KRIS: One of the reasons I really wanted us to do 3 episodes was so you could see the start of his thing with Fiona

LIZ: What do you think about that?

MIRI: Is that the sorority girl?

KRIS: I like it!

Lemon as the one of us with the most first-hand sorority expertise what’s your general sense of the Zeta dynamic?

LIZ: I identify with the sorority characters who are actually smarter and much more .. defined as human beings than most would give them credit for or that they initially come off as

KRIS: (Harris gets crystallized so instantly with the line “I’m not saying I have sexual dreams about Ruth Bader Ginsberg... but I’m also not saying I don’t”)

LIZ: I mean.. I had several (male) friends and family members say to me when I joined my very small.. one of a kind local sorority.. “oh so you’re a sorostitute?”

MIRI: SUCH A LINE

LIZ: Yes i have a note about the RBG line

MIRI: UM that’s horrible and fuck them

LIZ: right, but that kind of mentality and characterization of college aged women who are friends with other women in the form of a sorority is so widespread

MIRI: The pilot honestly does SO much to characterize Jules, Ophelia, and Harris so quickly

KRIS: I do really like how they initially lean into the less generous expectations about sororities and then flesh out I think all of those characters in great ways

Mackenzie was a sleeper favorite for me

(the anxious redhead safety chair)

LIZ: this gives them facets.. like fuck what you thought about me and also.. I don’t have to not like to do my makeup or sometimes dress up for me to be a smart or valid female.

MIRI: I feel like Kennedy takes a little longer, but not in a bad way

Liz, you are amazing and I love you

LIZ: i don’t know many shows that give girls that kind of credit.. very legally blonde of this show..except Elle Woods was the exception there

MARCHAE: They have to save Kennedy (I say this not Having seen more than 4 epi)

KRIS: You will be pleased

MIRI: Definitely

LIZ: Visually, I am impressed with the shows set designs, makeup, and wardrobe

MARCHAE: I feel like they have to hold her close because of nick and Jules 

LIZ: hold who close?

oh kennedy

MARCHAE: (Also back to thumbs on the phone)

KRIS: I LOVE the world-building, especially on what I assume is a pretty small budget

MIRI: I do love her moment when Ophelia tells her she has a very calming presence and she’s just like “I know"

LIZ: yeah i am also worried about her

KRIS: Lemon talk about makeup

MIRI: Yeah!

LIZ: ITS EXPENSIVE

KRIS: (please)

LIZ: what else?

oh as far as this show is concerned

MIRI: yes, world building 

LIZ: Jules and Ophelia (yes to the names btw)

have such amazing looks and their hair is bouncy like they are comic book drawings, but their makeup isn’t like that (bc that would be fucking bizarre) and I love how the fresh rosy-cheeked and bright eyed look of Jules is enhanced with her makeup and Ophelia’s brows and eye makeup are dark and defined/ grungy at times, but she is also kind of sweet because they don’t cake her up or give her a heavy lip.. idk if that makes sense to anyone else

their eyes are so expressive as actresses

and then they’re important because of the ninja outfits

MIRI: That all makes sense to me and I would never have thought of it at all

KRIS: it is right on the edge of my comprehension

MIRI: Sidebar: SUPER excited for you to see more Orphan Black and discuss that makeup

LIZ: but I am pleased with the fine line between real world and cartoonish that the MUA on this show kind of stride beautifully to give them unique looks that foil one another and bring out their strengths and sometimes their faults

KRIS: Ophelia I think I understand best in this context

MARCHAE: YESS LIZ!!!

I do want to ask a question

LIZ: It is more subtle with Jules, because she is made to look more fresh, but I mean everyone on any show has lots of makeup on

ok done w makeup ranting/ observing

MIRI: What’s up, Marchae?

MARCHAE: *sorry liz...go on***

LIZ: oh no thats pretty much it

are you getting things in real time marchae? (with your computer)

MARCHAE: I wanted to chime in about wardrobe because it’s super similar to the way in which makeup is handled... and you definitely know who these people are and the kind of persons that this show is trying to share

MIRI: Ooh, please do!

LIZ: oh yes, the wardrobe feels almost theater like to me.. do you agree or am i wrong

MARCHAE: ( It was touch and go for a moment but me and my thumbs are finally #winning on the computer... I couldn’t take the tiny keyboard anymore)

LIZ: bless you for trying

MIRI: I never really notice Ophelia’s wardrobe that much, but the props they have for her are iconic and say so much

MARCHAE: I think it does... the show feels VERY comicbook-esq like I mentioned it reminds me very much in aesthetics to deadly class and there is another comic that focuses on a high school that I’m blanking on

LIZ: was this ever a graphic novel or comic book?

MARCHAE: but you get a lot in terms of wardrobe via colors that they use for these characters... Ophelia is almost always in darks, Jules in pinks and pastels

I quick checked and didn’t see it

KRIS: it was original to Jenn Kaytin Robinson

I mean she did a shit ton of research, and the producers watched The Hunting Ground and stuff

LIZ: nice..and yes I agree with the colors

MARCHAE: But these choices are interesting because they are almost opposite to the characters we meet in the show

LIZ: and the fact that Jules keeps her identity even as a vigilante with her pink backpack

MARCHAE: so Jules we meet as the original vigilante and she’s the one in the brightest colors ALWAYS in the show

LIZ: and then Ophelia has that car!

MARCHAE: that backpack is definitely our hint

MIRI: Because she’s trying SO hard to still be that girl

KRIS: Oh that’s so interesting. Jules is super dark and “damaged” and Ophelia’s ultimately a sweetheart.

MARCHAE: and Ophelia is always in darks

LIZ: right!?

MARCHAE: **taps nose at kris**

MIRI: I like that even when they put Jules in the Spitters are Quitters shirt, it’s light colored

MARCHAE: so its totally the opposite of what we see

in terms of how they are portrayed in their “normal life”

any who enough of my rant

LIZ: I find Ophelia to be much more innocent.. not because of being sexually assaulted, but because she is kind of playing catch up and barfs when she kills a guy and Jules obviously took this mission upon herself to become a kick ass fighter and to start doing something

MARCHAE: liz i absolutely agree

ophelia definitely the more innocent seeming of the two

KRIS: Ophelia’s so fucking great

MIRI: Yeah, Ophelia thinks of herself as So Hardcore but is basically a sweet 19 yr old with some abandonment issues

I love her

MARCHAE: and she tells you as much in her dialogue

LIZ: I love her!

MARCHAE: some is an understatement miri

KRIS: I loved the vomiting and I don’t even know why

MARCHAE: she has ALL the abandonment issues

LIZ: i loved that it was pink

MIRI: Because it’s pink!

KRIS: I guess the unexplained pink?

MARCHAE: the vomiting is AMAZINNNGNGGGGGGGGG

LIZ: yes

MIRI: It’s absurd and so totally the show

LIZ: hahahha

KRIS: wow we are ALL on a wavelength tonight

MIRI: But it is!

LIZ: like.. I don’t need to see chunky soup barf

i get it

MIRI: The show is 100% going to show you the puking

MARCHAE: i usually don’t want to see it at all period ever

but it works for the show

MIRI: But it’s also going to make it funny and stylized

MARCHAE: and that character as kind of a she seems hard core but is not!

OH OH

KRIS: LeBong James

MIRI: YES

MARCHAE: so my question and this was a thing that kind of made me curious

LEBONGGGGG

MIRI: She’s a nerd ❤️ 

LIZ: There is a lot of suspension of disbelief in this show.. not bc girls can’t fight injustices, but because of how they  should’ve gotten caught and how Ophelias mad hacker skills save the day alot

LEBONNNGGGGGGG

MIRI: I feel weird being the only one who hasn’t said LeBong

MARCHAE: (THEY MURDERED SOMEONE CLUMSILY AND CHICA BARFED ALL OVER THE SCENE!!!!DNA MUCH)

there it goes

LIZ: Also the male assailants aren’t even cookie cutter like on other shows or movies

MIRI: I KNOW BUT JUST GO WITH IT

KRIS: Without spoiling anything I’ll say they’re generally really good about chickens coming home to roost

Maybe not DNA specifically? But the show is serious about Consequences

MARCHAE: so question... what institution do they go to where there is an assult like every freaking second

LIZ: they are all different and some are even charming (most are) and they have different personalities and hobbies.. like Nate is acting like a really good boyfriend to Kennedy so if we didn’t know what he’s capable of, we’d forgive his jerk reaction to her missing his football thing bc of his super sweet apology

MIRI: Well, it’s Darlington University, right?

KRIS: Well A) that doesn’t actually strike me as unrealistic but B) I got the sense of a “backlog” of assaults -- they’re using that wall, which was started who knows how long ago

MIRI: So it’s at least big enough to have masters programs

KRIS: not responding to like the student weekly or something

MIRI: True

LIZ: i mean i know so many people in so many schools (large, small, medium and very small) who all have sexual assault stories

MARCHAE: thanks for the wall reminder

LIZ: i didn’t find the number to be at all shocking

KRIS: yeah

MARCHAE: I think maybe again its the dissonance of this being a drama/comedy that has me a bit jarred

LIZ: maybe the number of guys that were turned in or reported seems high, but SO FUCKING MANY are floating around in my mind right now

MARCHAE: i dealt with lots (more than i have ever wanted to) but not weekly by any stretch

that definitely doesn’t mean it wasn’t happening

MIRI: Well, just because the show aired every week doesn’t mean it’s only a week in universe

LIZ: right

thats true

MARCHAE: thanks gang

MIRI: And Kris is right--they definitely go into past exploits some

KRIS: That wall, man

MIRI: It is BRUTAL and so effective

MARCHAE: yeah the reminder of the wall definitely does it.... i literally was like

DAMN this is INSANE and darlington should be shut the hell down

KRIS: I texted Miri something like “I never do this but there’s a pure drama beat that made me 😭😭😭😭”

LIZ: I wish every college had a wall

KRIS: and it was definitely Ophelia handing Jules the Sharpie

MIRI: He did and I treasure that text

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

LIZ: oh something that I meant to google.. could be such a coincidence

MARCHAE: UGHHHH

LIZ: at my college, in the same kind of font.. the party dorm/ suites were called “Reimert Hall” and they are like “see you at Leimert” spelled the same and then they show “Leimert Hall” and it is creepily spot on

KRIS: Huh

MIRI: Whoa 

LIZ: not related to the wall

separate

MARCHAE: we did have a question from one of our readers and I promised I would bring it up to react to

LIZ: lol.. it is student housing but.. idk weird to me but maybe not to anyone else

MIRI: Yes, I want to talk about that!!!

LIZ: go for it! I don’t know the question

MARCHAE: about student housing or the question from our loyal reader

i get confused sometimes

KRIS: our loyal reader

LIZ: I’m assuming she means from the reader

MIRI: The question

yes

MARCHAE: BWHA

sorry

LIZ: mine was just a point thrown out and doesn’t really leave much to comment on haha

MIRI: Share the question with us, Marchae

MARCHAE: OH MY GRIEF I  am typing then stop to read...

LIZ: I know.. Kris and Miri are too fast for me

MARCHAE: ok so the reader wants to know if we read Ophelia as bi

MIRI: Sorry!

KRIS: NO STOPPING the overlapping is half of our charm

MIRI: Omg Kris

LIZ: There was one thing that made me think that

MARCHAE: GO!

MIRI: Ok, I am deeply bi-ased (hahahahahah) so I want yawl to discuss it first

LIZ: hahaha

MARCHAE: STAP!

MIRI: 😉

MARCHAE: go lizzie

@miri you are my everything LOL

LIZ: Harris said something about her being with Jule (I’m having a brain fart and can’t remember if it is jules or rule..)

MARCHAE: her being with rules?

LIZ: and I think Ophelia was like “not like that” kind of blushing

jULE*

damnit

KRIS: For all of my striving toward wokeness I am generally still slow to pick up on, I guess, Sapphic vibes -- although being a social media-engaged Supergirl fan is training me better -- but I did also note that on my rewatch

LIZ: but it was a micro second kind of moment that made me think.. oh she dates girls too.. cool

so what do you think Kris

KRIS: This is pretty convincing to me:

http://wistfulwatcher.tumblr.com/post/154191025349/harris-has-most-definitely-seen-ofeefs-kissing-a

MIRI: Kris I offer my services if you ever need a consultant on this quest

LIZ: OHHH and PERSON yes thats smart

MARCHAE: AHHHHHHHHHHH

I didn’t even pick up on it!

MIRI: Ahhhhhhhh shit I didn’t even notice the person thing

MARCHAE: SWEET

i also think there is a lot of tension with Ophelia

MIRI: Ok, Reacting to Something officially rules Ophelia to be bi

Or pan, who knows

LIZ: I kind of also thought that was just a more interesting way of putting it..  like IS THERE A LIVE HUMAN JUST RIGHT THERE IN YOUR HOUSE?

MARCHAE: the writing and ACTING are smart like that

KRIS: And on my search for gifs to add to the post later, the scene in the cemetery -- “I think you’re amazing” -- seemed to be another touchstone

MARCHAE: yes!

MIRI: So when we got this question I was like “huh, are people seeing that?

Outside of shipping her and Jules?”

MARCHAE: but we also know that Ophelia doesn’t have friends

MIRI: But upon rewatch it’s pretty solidly set up

MARCHAE: so before the question i suspected that she was just kind of enjoying her new friendship with this person

LIZ: wait whats solidly set up

MARCHAE: she’s wanted that

LIZ: her being bi?

KRIS: yes

LIZ: just confirming

MARCHAE: then after the question we received not only did I pay more attention, but I think again there is definitely some tension

MIRI: I’m honestly so jaded from shows that like to dip their toe in the idea of something happening but will never go for it that I tend to only accept stated queerness

MARCHAE: and she might have a crush on jules!

MIRI: But it does feel very genuine and deliberate here

Which is lovely!

MARCHAE: agreed miri

LIZ: good!

K: consider it canon

KRIS: I think it was a writers room with only one straight man

LIZ: Im HERE FOR THAT

MARCHAE: That’s kind of awesome!

KRIS: (the past tense here kills me)

MIRI: I love it

UGhhhhhhhh I know

LIZ: wait

is it done?

forever

KRIS: I don’t think I’ve ever been so upset about a cancellation

LIZ: LAWD

MARCHAE: yup

LIZ: I CANT

KRIS: They’re shopping it to streaming sites

MIRI: Guys, sorry we’re making you fall in love with a cancelled show

LIZ: THIS FUCKING WEEK

MARCHAE: yeah i found out today

yeah

MIRI: OMG did we not tell you???

LIZ: *BREAK FOR EMOTIONAL BREAKDOWN*

MARCHAE: i was PISSED OFF

LIZ: NO

I DIDNT KNOW

MIRI: I’M SO SORRY!!!!!!!

MARCHAE: and like this is why I DON”T WATCH TV

LIZ: This is the devils week. why not this too!?

anyways

MARCHAE: LOLOL

LIZ: also.. good girls revolt was amazing (to me)

MIRI: I loved it!

MARCHAE: also can i just have my moment for the fact that this show also digs into the issue of racism

LIZ: why can’t bad bitches get a win? why

yes

MARCHAE: and handles it kind of nicely

KRIS: That scene was surprisingly upsetting

LIZ: super upsetting

KRIS: I love that it’s the cop we saw be nice to Jules

MIRI: Yes! Let’s talk about that froyo scene

It’s so well done

MARCHAE: reminded me of trayvon martin

MIRI: And the other cop recognizing that it’s wrong, but not stepping up enough to actually stop it

MARCHAE: i also love that is it harris?

LIZ: like he was being racially profiled.. but he also had the one good thing he was looking forward to smashed on the ground

MARCHAE: yup

LIZ: yeah just kind of being like “sorry, but this is kind of what we do, i won’t stop it”

MARCHAE: it is heartbreaking and realistic

KRIS: That younger cop also comes back

MIRI: I’m glad that they played it very seriously

LIZ: ooo

MARCHAE: I was glad that he didn’t want to be seen as only one kind of black when he fought back with the paper editor as well

KRIS: This show has a really deep bench of minor-ish supporting characters

MARCHAE: they better had!

KRIS: MM I think that’s episode 4

On a lighter note I also really appreciate the importance of froyo to the world-building of this college town

LIZ: yes I’m not familiar

MARCHAE: YES

MIRI: Froyo continues to matter

As does pizza

MARCHAE: and dairy queen soft serve

LIZ: In college, we would plan a whole trek to froyo (we got one a few min away my senior year)

MARCHAE: GURL

MIRI: We once drove to Waffle House at 4 am in the snow

In South Carolina

KRIS: From earlier than I remembered, too -- Ophelia running away from Barton and running into a guy carrying a cup -- “Tart?!”

MIRI: where they can’t handle snow

KRIS: YES the pizza place

MIRI: Huh? What is the cup thing?

KRIS: of froyo

LIZ: Food culture in college .. is something very important and lets think abouthtat

MIRI: OHHHH

KRIS: Ophelia has no patience for Basic things, clearly

MIRI: Also that running away scene is great

LIZ: and by think of that .. I mean.. remember fondly when 4th meals were a thing and breakfast at night reigned supreme.

MIRI: Ophelia has a lot of opinions and I have a lot of feelings about her

KRIS: (I love Jules’s “I like sunsets on Instagram”)

LIZ: ophelia is hilarious.. i love her comment “she’s literate”

KRIS: Ophelia’s ramen diet

MARCHAE: LOL

LIZ: and also that girl [Fiona] trying to be sexy and saying “there are no drapes” so seriously

MIRI: Yeah I definitely want to see that girl eat a vegetable

LIZ: and giving up and being  like “IM SHAVED” ahaha

KRIS: Lemon I laughed so loud at “She’s literate?” on my rewatch

MIRI: I love that girl!

MARCHAE: there are a ton of one liners

LIZ: yeah the popcorn for breakfast made even me feel like OH HONEY NO NUTRIENTS

KRIS: So real

MARCHAE: that’s usually my breakfast on sundays after i mop

LIZ: miri what are your many opinions about ophelia

MARCHAE: and i’m old

MIRI: WAIT

LIZ: my dogs eat better than I do so I get it

MIRI: Marchae eat real meals please I worry

LIZ: and you mop before you eat

MARCHAE: yes almost every sunday

MIRI: Ok back to my many opinions: as stated I LOVE HER

LIZ: i had a banana, fake chicken, vegan pasta and granola today.. that is kind of healthy

MIRI: I also really love her need to belong

MARCHAE: i eat popcorn, drink a pepsi and catch up on my shows

LIZ: her need to belong to who or what

KRIS: just in general

LIZ: I guess I am really new

MARCHAE: YES

KRIS: to have friends, to have a cause

MIRI: She’s obsessed with the idea that she’s this cool fuckup who doesn’t need people, but she needs people so MUCH

LIZ: I get that

MARCHAE: its evident from episode one almost immediately

LIZ: we all do! even when we aren’t good at.. people!

MIRI: She jumps head first into this insane vigilante thing

LIZ: MARCHAE

MIRI: and kicks it into a higher gear

LIZ: STOP DRINKING SODA

MARCHAE: i think it makes her so relatable too and you fall in love with her

LIZ: IT WILL KILL YOU

MARCHAE: (mostly only on SUNDAY AFTER MOPPING but WITH POPCORN)

LIZ: I know, she is the perfect.. not robin.. robin

MIRI: She hurts Harris so easily but would be devastated if she actually lost him

LIZ: yeah i love her apology scene to him

MARCHAE: but he loves her no matter what

MIRI: She thinks she’s beyond needing that sort of connection because she can’t have it with her mom

LIZ: just a girl standing in front of  a boy.. asking for her job back

KRIS: Yes her bad-friend-ness is great

MARCHAE: *snap snap snaps fingrs*

MIRI: But she’s wrong

KRIS: Dammit Ophelia you know I can’t resist Notting Hill

MIRI: and she needs people so badly

Also she’s just hilarious and brilliant and I love her and Harris’s friendship so much

LIZ: her mom was so rude to her on the phone it made me sad especially because Jules doesn’t have a mom.. and I know those were really briefly introduced to me, but I’m sure those are important issues

MIRI: OH YOU JUST WAIT

On the subject of friendship, there are a ton of examples of girls being very affirmational to each other that really interest me

LIZ: I also love that Harris is.. presumably straight and is not afraid to love RBG or Notting Hill

KRIS: I’m so jealous you’re experiencing this show for the first time

MIRI: Because sometimes they’re played for laughs

But not most of the time

and I love that

MARCHAE: YES!

MIRI: Like, the high girls just need to hug!

LIZ: I wanted to be in the back seat of their car screaming along to Defying Gravity

MIRI: And sometimes Kennedy is a bit ridiculous with her goddess stuff

MARCHAE: i love your love for defying gravity liz

MIRI: But for the most part it is 100% genuine

MARCHAE: Kennedy is the most

MIRI: And so what I do with my friends

LIZ: yeah kennedy suggesting that shit to ophelia was HILARIOUS

basically like “HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO GOOP.COM?”

MIRI: kennedy is indeed the most

MARCHAE: I am so CURIOUS about what happens when Jules tells her

KRIS: That shot where I assume Fiona and Gabby are on a dolly when they enter Vinylton high on shrooms is perfect

MIRI: So I love that there’s drunk girl in the bathroom type compliments and Woke Freshman type compliments AND really genuine support for each other

KRIS: sorry I was just slow there

LIZ: i think that kennedy will eventually (i mean who knows since it is cancelled) be an ally and join the cause or at least be supportive in a protective way

MIRI: OH JUST WAIT

MARCHAE: if she does I may ink myself!!!

KRIS: I repeat, I am so jealous you’re experiencing this show for the first time

MIRI: It’s a very well plotted season and that is all I will say

MARCHAE: *hugs kris*

UGHHHH i’ll probably finish it this weekend

LIZ: hahaha kris I’m feeling like that repetition is to keep yourself from spoiling

KRIS: There is Jules-Kennedy closure, for sure

Yeah, so, we went really long, even for us. Find the rest of our Reaction here.

EDITED 20 April 2019: You can and should buy Sweet/Vicious on Amazon, Google Play, or iTunes. If you’re here because you just watched Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s Someone Great, maybe now’s a good time to renew calls for Netflix to add S/V to its library.

#sweet/vicious #juphelia #jules thomas #ophelia mayer #save sweet vicious #miri #liz #marchae #kris #tv #pilot #superheroes #miri is a mom friend #and liz is a daughter of physicians #hence the concern over marchae's diet #they're not wrong #robin's a bitch #feminism #reaction

[kinetic-elaboration]

March 2: Thoughts on 4x05 The Tinder Box

Finally watched 4x05. I have to say… I was anticipating that it would be bad (by which I mean uninteresting to me) based on the trailer but it was actually SO BAD that not only do I think it might be worse than even the shittiest S3 episodes, but I also think it might have tanked the whole season. And I was really optimistic and giving generally positive reviews of the season so far! But this was ATROCIOUS. I am so disillusioned and upset tbh.

Putting the rest under a cut so as not to harsh the buzz of anyone who might have liked the ep and/or not be so fatalistic about the season as I am.

Okay, a few things I liked-ish first.

I think the Raven stuff, with her brain going on overload, was interesting and I didn’t have a problem with it so much as it appeared in this episode, although it does make me wary. I’ll put the wariness below with the other ‘bad’ stuff but I will say I liked the floating sequence and I liked seeing a happy, excited, super-smart Raven even if the context was not so great.

Generally speaking, I had the least problems with the Becca’s lab story. I liked seeing more of Jackson and I thought Abby had some good moments too. Plus, while I don’t think tech-heavy sci fi of the bright white sheen variety fits this show very well, Becca’s lab was cool I will give it that.

It was a good Monty episode.

Yet again Bob Morley tragically under-used but his subtle expressions when he first suspected and later found out Octavia was alive = A+.

I’ve never had very strong feelings about Niylah since we’ve seen like 5 minutes of her before but I thought she was great in this episode and if we see more of her and more of her like this I’ll be happy. I loved how she and Clarke greeted each other this is my ideal ex-gf/ex-hookup scenario personally.  

I liked seeing Clarke in doctor mode.

…That’s it lol. The rest sucked major rhino balls.

 The stuff I didn’t like:

Oh where to start? I think I’ll go plot by plot.

Becca’s lab: I realize they’re somewhat constrained based on what they set up in that shitshow that was S3 but the narrative quality of the Becca story line was so poor last season—like I don’t care if the science is fake, even obviously fake, but it needs to be internally consistent and the Becca stuff was 100000% nonsense all the way down to the core, and pretty shallow and childish nonsense at that—so anything they come up with this season, whether “consistent” or retcon, is going to be side-eyed by me. The bar is VERY high for me to give a fuck and this episode didn’t meet the bar. Basically any time I hear about Becca’s lab or Becca’s experiments or Becca in space I just have this Pavlovian eye roll response because I know it’s going to be dumb; like I’ve just given up on any sense being made in this “story.”

I see you, Star Trek reference. (Okay, to be fair the concept of putting criminals on a boat and sending them away isn’t something Star Trek created and it is sort of an important detail of “Space Seed” that the criminals were super humans AND the tragic ham handed way that sci fi is dealt with here makes me think the PTB aren’t really familiar with sci fi let alone such classics as TOS BUT I’m sorry why did they have to be criminals? What sort of random detail is that? How does that make any sense? That just screams gratuitous “Space Seed” reference to me. And I put it in the negative column because I like The 100 but it’s often a mess and it’s not allowed to put its grubby paws on TOS.)

It was weird that last episode we had this big crew of people at Becca’s lab and now like half of them have disappeared. I mean, I know most of them are guest stars but, first of all Harper’s been in like every episode so far so fuck that and second of all it’s just jarring, like where the fuck did EVERYONE GO?

I’m getting pretty tired of the torture Raven Reyes show. Like it’s just literally never fucking ending.

I can’t believe they unveiled a fucking space ship and now they’re going to go into space? I’m sorry I’ve suspended a metric fuck ton of disbelief for this show but this is just beyond the pale I have rolled my eyes so far back into my head that all I can see anymore is the back of my skull.

The tinderbox: I anticipated finding this to be stupid because I am BOOOOOOOOOOORED of war stories I have literally seen 50 of them in this show alone I’m done. And there was nothing new here. Like...was this not literally the situation in 2A when Lxa’s army was ranged outside Camp Jaha? And Clarke has to negotiate to make it work? I’m not saying plots can’t be re-worked and called back to but there’s a difference between ‘we’ve shown you a similar moral problem in the past, here’s a new twist, do you still feel the same way?” and “this is literally the exact same scenario, without nuance then and without nuance now, that you’ve already watched. Let’s spend a good 50% or more of the episode on it!”

From a story telling perspective this plot suffered from two major and related flaws: First, the tension was created using Riley, a character who anyone with two brain cells to rub together should know should absolutely not be given a gun and brought to a tete-a-tete with the Ice Nation. I mean that’s just good sense. At the very least, perhaps they might have learned from previous Jasper experiences that mentally scarred people shouldn’t be armed and then set in front of their former tormentors. (Not that I blame Jasper for the Unity Day thing just saying that he has multiple times proven himself a liability for reasons very similar to the ones creating today’s Riley situation so not only is it obvious it’s a lesson they have literally learned before.) And people even note this! Repeatedly! Like 2, 3 different characters are like ‘hmmm maybe we shouldn’t given Riley a gun….?” YOU THINK SO HUH? Anyway I’m having a lot of fun mocking this but it’s just hilarious to me that not only do they write in this gigantic plot hole they have multiple characters point it out louder for the people in the back.

Second, and on a related note, there were too many main characters at stake for me to ever believe the tinder box would be lighted. Kane AND Bellamy AND Monty, plus potentially Harper and Riley (already credited in another three eps btw) and Papa Miller? Um yeah that bloodbath isn’t happening, I don’t care how long you stretch out that Bellamy/Riley/Echo scene. The result of these two issues was that there was no dramatic tension and the whole thing fell flat.

On a more personal level, while I loved Bob’s acting in the aforementioned show down with Riley and Echo it was VERY obvious to me that the point of that scene was not Riley, or Echo, or Ice Nation, or developing a theme, or developing the plot, or literally anything at all other than yet again shaming Bellamy for the massacre. I mean my fucking God Monty and Harper are given dialogue that implies Monty wasn’t part of the Pike Kill Squad (I know he joined up post-massacre but he was a Pikist let’s not forget that) and yet here Literal Male Lead Bellamy is STILL FUCKING ATONING I mean I’m bored of this. If the audience hasn’t forgiven Bellamy now they never will. Stop beating the dead horse.

And on an even more personal level… I’m sorry, I don’t like Harper, she’s yet to show a personality and this episode managed to simultaneously include a metric fuck ton of shots of her and not develop that non-personality in the slightest. I don’t think it would be clear that she and Monty were “dating” from this episode alone but I’m sure it was supposed to deepen their relationship for the viewer, yet for me it just yet again made it quite obvious that there is nothing here. This is the Emperor’s New Pairing. Why do they like each other? Why do they care about each other? I saw a million shots of Harper looking worried about Monty but that could have been any delinquent at all (except…wait…THEY’RE ALL DEAD WHOOOPS). So I just felt like it was a lot of shallow fuckery that did nothing but remind me of my hatred of this pairing without doing anything alleviate that hatred. (I’m being really incoherent here but my point is I hate Monty/Harper and I’m never going to pass up a chance to say this.)

“Ain’t we a pair?” Hilarious, but if this were fan fiction, I’d say “that’s so OOC Roan would never say that.” AND LOOK IT’S CANON AND I’M GONNA SAY THE SAME THING. ...That’s so OOC Roan would never say that.

Also I never saw anything particularly amazing about L or her leadership and it’s a little ridic that Roan is praising her now but tbh the thing that bugged me the most about that dialogue was the way he was shaming Clarke for caring about her people? I mean it’s all well and good to say you’re “tired of taking sides” (coughBellamycough) but at the end of the day literally everyone would choose their loved ones over randos, let alone their former/current enemies I mean DUH. If you can only save a few people you’ll save yourself and your family. A slightly larger handful, yourself and your community. This is just the human response to a dire situation, not Clarke’s Grand Moral Failing. Also if you think for one second L wouldn’t have chosen her people first and foremost you didn’t watch 2x16 you’re crazy. Also also what is Roan doing right at that moment but planning to kick Clarke’s people out of their own home to save his people like way to be a huge hypocrite you asshat.

The Arkadia plot: By which I mean the Arakadia explosion. Only the destruction of Mt. Weather has saddened me more. I LOVED the Ark. That was (is, in the form of the still living people) my favorite society on this show. And I don’t just like the people I like the whole aesthetic of it and now it’s gone, all gone, and I’m just like…. Was that really necessary? The need to make Nightblood the only true viable solution already exists: only fifty Arkadians saved? Several major characters not on the save list? Please, they didn’t need to do an extended reign of destruction scene to make the other solution more important.

Besides destroying a set I motherfucking loved which I’m not going to lie is my main complaint here, it also just…like we’re almost halfway through the season? This was the midseason finale? And I just feel now like every episode so far has been a giant waste of time? Like literally what have they accomplished: the peace with Azgeda is (was?) broken; a whole episode was wasted on a trip to get a piece of machinery that was destroyed and would have been useless anyway; another episode was wasted on the main characters going on a mission to find a bunker that was useless; the result was that that plot was really the catalyst for the making of the list; which was allegedly destroyed in the next episode anyway and is AGAIN useless now post-explosion; this whole episode with the extended Roan/Clarke negotiation was important for literally .2 seconds, then it becomes...wait for it...useless too--almost everything that’s been done so far is UTTERLY WITHOUT POINT because of the Alpha Station explosion… I mean I know that filler is necessary sometimes. I would say, at a conservative estimate, that 1/3 of 2A was filler. But this just… I have real complaints about the narrative structure of this show; I think it is incredibly sloppy and so many things—little things that build up—make me REALLY question the ability of JRoth/the writers to construct a narrative in even the most basic sense. It’s very, very disorientating and dissatisfying to me.

I never liked Illian and now I’m like…lol bye get outta my face. I should have seen this coming when JRoth (?) said that the killing-his-family scene was included so as not to repeat the Bellamy massacre story line mistake, by making it more clear what the motivations for the character’s bad actions are. But here’s the thing. First, Bellamy is a lead and from the protagonist society so it’s a lot more important that his motivation be clear and viewer sympathies remain with him, than in the Illian situation. It’s not that every character has to be sympathetic. It’s that main characters who the audience is supposed to consistently identify with and root for over time have to behave in understandable ways and maintain sympathy even when they behave badly. (Again—do they not get basic concepts of narration?? A legitimate question because it kinda seems like no.) Second, I will NEVER EVER IN A MILLION YEARS put my sympathy with anyone being antagonistic to the protagonist society. Yet again, a basic middle-school-level English class concept here. If some fucker steps up and destroys the people I care about I’m not going to give a fuck about his sob story. (This is different from morally ambiguous villainous characters like Dante or love-to-hate-them villains.) Third, because I actually know how technology works and I also know the back story of how ALIE got out into society, I know that Illian is just fundamentally, objectively wrong when he says “Skaikru made me kill my family.” Lol nope you’re wrong they didn’t. I understand why you think that but you’re wrong. And on a related note, because the ALIE stuff was so inconsistent and poorly constructed, I’m not super sympathetic to any “this is the consequences of ALIE” story generally because I just want to forget that bullshit entirely. So yeah basically Illian is a villain I don’t need to see him redeemed, I don’t need to see him and O hook up. I don’t give a fuck about him.

Misc. complaints: NO MILLER. NO JAHA. NO JASPER. SAD.

#the year 2017 #2017: fandom thoughts #2017: the 100 s4 #s4 reactions #s4 negativity #i hated this episode basically is what i'm saying in this long post #the 100 spoilers

[thegamingjunkie-blog]

Sonic Mania Review

So it's been about three weeks since the release of Mania on consoles, and with the PC version finally out, I've decided to finally set down and write my own review of the long, highly anticipated game called Sonic Mania! I must apologize for not writing something on my blog in a while, and I've decided to write a review on a game from my own personal favorite gaming franchise. I must warn you, if you haven't played the game yet and don't want to get spoiled, I suggest you don't read my review.

Tuesday August 15th, I woke up excited to be able to finally play Sonic Mania! Ever since the announcement trailer last year, I've been eagerly waiting to play such a gorgeous looking Sonic game! So at 9:59, I fired up my Xbox One and waited that one minute to finally be able to launch the game! That minute was one of the longest minutes of my life, and I truly do feel sorry for those who had to wait even longer for the PC release. Once I launched the game, I was greeted with that familiar "SEGA!!" chant that many of us have heard many times growing up, that is if you grew up with the Genesis (or Mega Drive if you live outside North America) titles. I smirked upon seeing the Sega logo, and hearing that all too familiar sound. Then came the awesome title screen, which was previously shown to us about a year or so ago. It was just amazing to finally be able to see that in person, with my own two eyes! I didn't press any button as the title screen stated, instead I waited for the intro to play, as I didn't watch it when the official Sonic the Hedgehog channel on Youtube uploaded it just a day prior to release.

The intro was gorgeous! The music, made by Hyper Potions, the group behind the promotional trailer music, was beautiful and catchy at the same time! The cutscenes were animated well, and reminded me of the cutscenes from Sonic CD, though in better quality of course! Seeing Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles in their classic styles made me feel like a kid again, and I almost teared up. It was awesome seeing the three run through different zones, each which of course appeared in the game itself. (See that's why I didn't want to watch the trailer, I didn't want to get spoiled myself!) Once the cutscene was done, it was finally time to play Sonic Mania!

The game starts you off at a familiar place, on the Tornado, if you play as Sonic and or Tails, and they're on their way to Angel Island Zone. As Knuckles, you're just chilling and relaxing like the intro in Sonic and Knuckles. (Though he's chilling in Angel Island of course, not Mushroom Hill. Which btw, that level doesn't appear in this game.) Both run into Dr. Eggman with some Egg Robos, who dig up a purple emerald, which is called the "Phantom Ruby", that warps the enemies and players to a revised Green Hill Zone. The egg robos from Angel Island have also been affected by the Phantom Ruby, and now take on the form of the "Hard-Boiled Heavies"! From there, the player can finally start their adventure in Sonic Mania! Green Hill Zone was one of the three levels shown very early in development. Honestly, I wasn't too thrilled to see Green Hill Zone yet again but it's the most iconic Sonic level. When someone mentions Sonic, the other person most likely will remember running through Green Hill Zone in the first game. I can see why the level was included in the game. Now it's not identical to the original Green Hill we all know, of course every level that returned in Mania has different graphics and gimmicks that make it a new experience for the player. Plus playing as Knuckles will start you off in a different area than playing as Sonic and or Tails, which changes up the level. Not to mention that there's water in certain parts of the level, like in the 8-bit version of Sonic 1! The mini boss is pretty easy, especially if you grab a invincibility power-up not too far from the boss arena. Dr. Eggman's final machine from Sonic 2 16-bit also makes a reappearance as the main boss in Act 2. (Though he's not as much as a pain in the ass this time around. xD) So once the boss is defeated you're greeted with another cutscene, this time it shows Dr. Eggman and enemies known as "The Hard-Boiled Heavies". Once again some of his creations ends up betraying him and steals the phantom ruby from their creator. This then warps everyone to the next level in the game which is Chemical Plant Zone!

I knew CPZ was making a return, as it's one of the levels that was announced towards the end of the game's development cycle. Again, I wasn't too happy to see CPZ return, as just like GHZ they both were in Generations. Alas, it's probably one of the more known Sonic 2 16-bit levels, which is why they picked it to return. However the main new gimmick in the level really makes Mania's CPZ way better than Sonic 2's! It's a combination of Wacky Workbench from Sonic CD, and some of the later levels from the Aspect 8-bit Sonic games. As seen in the reveal trailer, there are two different chemicals that make the mega mack mimic the bounce pads from Wacky Workbench. A darker blue chemical allows the player to bounce a little above the ground, whereas the green chemical makes the player bounce just like in Wacky Workbench! As for the gimmick from the 8-bit titles, the tubes allow the player to control where to go. In Sonic 2's CPZ, it didn't allow you to choose which path to go, instead it was controlled by the timer if memory serves me correctly. (Please let me know if this information is incorrect.) There's also platforms that the characters stick to, which allow you to reach higher platforms. Interestingly enough, Sonic's sprites are based off a unused wall climbing sprite found in a Knuckles Chaotix prototype. (Thanks goes to Rlan of the Sonic Retro forums for that information!) The mini-boss here resembles the mini-boss found in Ice Cap Zone of Sonic 3, though it uses the mega mack to shield itself rather than ice cubes of course. Now Eggman's fight is one of the moments in which I had to pause the game to really take in what was happening. The boss is a Mean Bean/Puyo-Puyo puzzle! I actually lost the first time I made it here, because of how excited I was! This alone made me somewhat happy to see CPZ return. Once you destroy the egg capsule, you're taken to the next level which is Studiopolis!

Now this is one of the few brand new zones in the game. It's also one of the earliest zones shown in the launch trailer and the very first level made. Studiopolis is a huge tv station, there's screens showcasing "Egg TV", some badniks resemble giant lights, there's reels that the trio can spin on to reach new parts of the level, and the music in both acts are beautiful. Everything in this level just screams 90's! There are some pretty cool easter eggs in this zone, one being a node to the Game Gear! The biggest and best easter egg IMO is the SegaSonic The Hedgehog Popcorn Maker, which is a obscure popcorn machine that was actually released in a "playable" state around the time Mania was first announced. Not to mention the streets of rage references too! Studiopolis has the most easter eggs out of all the levels in the game, with even references from other Sonic and Sega games besides SOR! This level also marks the first time that the trio is up against one of the Hard-Boiled Heavies, which one you ask? Heavy Gunner, and he's got some fellow Egg-Robos under his command. This boss honestly gave me some trouble the very first time I played through Mania, Gunner shoots three missiles and only the blue ones can damage him. You jump on the blue ones to  make them bounce, and it takes down one of his egg-robo buddies. Destroy all three egg-robos, to hit Gunner himself and that's pretty much the boss fight. However you must jump over the red missiles, as they do damage to the player. I love Eggman's boss fight however. He controls a weather machine, and there's a Cluckoid who tells you what type of weather is about to happen. There are three different patterns, one is a thunderstorm which causes clouds and lightning bolts to appear above the player's head, one blows strong winds that can knock the  player up into spikes along the celling if they don't hold on to the bars that appear on each side of the boss arena, and one is a heat wave that makes beams of heat damage the player  if they're not directly under Eggman. This also causes Eggman's ship to move closer to the player, making it easier to land hits. Once Eggman is defeated, the tv that contained the weather forecast will cut out and a buzzing sound can be heard, which funny enough was the annoying buzzing from the 25th anniversary party live stream that happened on 7/26/2016. (And that date can be seen bellow the tv monitor too! The anniversary party was how Mania and Forces were both announced.) You sly bastards! xD I honestly didn't notice that until I heard it a second time while playing the game as Knuckles. From there a breaking news report shows that Flying Battery Zone is back, and on the screen you can see the player jump on the ship, and it's on to Flying Battery Zone!

Yet again it's another rehashed level, this time though it's a rehash of my second favorite level from Sonic and Knuckles! Flying Battery Zone has plenty of new and old gimmicks that really make the level more of a challenge than in Sonic and Knuckles. This is a good thing from my perspective, seeing how I've been playing the classics since I was four years old. However I did get some game overs a few times the first time I played through the game... Anyways let's talk about those gimmicks. First off, there's tons of old broken monitors, signposts,badniks, and other scrap metal that appear on the new FBZ, which is a nice little touch. You'll even notice that there's a unused badnik from Sonic 1 that appears in the scrap, but we'll go into that during the next portion of the review. (You'll see soon enough why. ;) ) Some enemies from Wing Fortress Zone in Sonic 2 16-bit appear in the level, as well as the electric fields from Wacky Workbench Zone. You can even destroy the Mushroom Hill badniks that pilot the FB, which I thought was amusing. The level also reminds me a bit of Sky Base Zone from Sonic 1 8-bit, and Sky High Zone Act 2 from Sonic 2 8-bit. (During some portions of the level you're in a thunderstorm, kind of like in Sky High 2. Thankfully there's no hang-glider though!) The magnets return, but this time the trio can be pulled up alongside the metal platforms if they have a lightning shield, which I thought was a cool gimmick. The mini-boss is a node to the short Eggman boss that encloses you between two energy beams, while a laser draws those beams closer and closer to you. This time though, you're dropped into a machine that crushes scrap metal while a laser shoots. It's a bit tricky to beat, but a badnik spawns which allows you to jump and hit the laser beam if you're not in super form. Now Act 2's boss gave me some trouble at first. You have to use the poles to knock Eggman into some spikes, and even then his hit box is a pain to get used to. One random fun fact, act 2's boss is actually foreshadowed before you're dropped down into the boss arena during Act 1's mini-boss. You can see a blue print in the background right before Eggman drops you down. Honestly, FBZ was better in S&K IMO... Anyways once you defeat Eggman, you're taken to the next level with sadly no cutscene, and it's another original level known as Press Garden!

Press Garden Zone is by far my favorite level in Mania! You run through an old printing press in act 1 and end up outside during the winter time in a Japan-like setting in Act 2. This level contains some new gimmicks never seen in a classic Sonic title before. Honestly it feels more like a mega man level to me, which isn't a bad thing! Maybe the music has something to do with that, which by the way Act 2's is one of my favorite tracks in the game! Remember also how I mentioned that there's some scrap metal that contains a unused badnik from Sonic 1? Well it's name is Splats, and it appears in Press Garden Act 1! These guys pop out of glass jars that contain ink, fitting the level's theme perfectly! Act 2 of the level really makes up for Mania not containing Ice Cap Zone, which I really wanted to see in this game. There's tons of Shinobi references in this level as well, too. Act 1's mini-boss is a random Eggman robot that uses a saw to damage the player. Hiding behind crates will break off the saw, allowing the player to get in some hits. I didn't get this at first, so I lost quite a bit of rings. Act 2's gimmicks are pretty cool, no pun intended. There's parts of the level that the trio must get frozen solid to make it pass certain barriers, some blocks of ice contain power-ups and even springs made of ice, which break after using them once. The main boss is yet another Hard-Boiled Heavy, simply known as "Heavy Shinobi" with yep you guessed it, ninja-like attacks and even the sound effects are taken from the Revenge of Shinobi on the Genesis! Also the stars he throws are those annoying badniks from Metropolis Zone. You may be asking why I love this level so much, despite it having lots of platforming sections. I really dig the aesthetics of both acts, the first act reminds me of old abandoned buildings, which I adore while the second act takes you out into a winter wonderland in Japan. Having two different tropes added to just one zone makes it amazing IMO. I just wish there was a transition from FBZ to PGZ... Anyways once Heavy Shinobi is defeated, you see Eggman sending coordinates to Metal Sonic to return to Little Planet and Stardust Speedway.

Stardust Speedway is my favorite level in Sonic CD. However in Mania... it's not. While there are some parts of the level layout that gives you enough speed, I feel that it's one of the slower levels. I'll probably get some hate for saying that, as Press Garden Zone really isn't all about speed all the time and it's my favorite original level found in Mania. However, the level was much faster in Sonic CD, which is a slower paced game than Mania is. Not to mention that the music in act 1 really wasn't on par with other remixes in the game, up to this point. I'll admit it has grown a bit on me since it was revealed before the game was released, but Act 2's track really does a better job at remixing the track. Act 1's boss is a giant firefly badnik, which is pretty easy to beat. However, I may not have liked the remixed level all too much but Act 2's boss had me freaking out. At first I thought I was going to have to race Metal Sonic yet again, but to my surprise you fight him. And this fight was a special treat for someone who wasn't expecting any more nodes to the 8-bit titles, Silver Sonic from Sonic 2 8-bit appears as a badnik in the boss fight, and you have to spin dash into him while he's spindashing in order to damage Metal Sonic! I had to pause the game to soak in what was happening, and I even freaked my girlfriend out a bit because she heard me freaking out over this moment! Not to mention that the machine that Metal Sonic was hooked up to resembles his fight from Knuckles Chaotix, which is pretty cool! After destroying that machine, you have to damage Metal Sonic himself and avoid running into a wall full of spikes that's chasing after you. Once he's defeated, and you destroy the egg capsule it's time to go to the next level which is Hydrocity.

This level really didn't give me that wow factor, well up until the bosses that is! Anyways Hydrocity Zone really wasn't one of my favorites in Sonic 3, so I wasn't too excited to see it return in Mania. I do like the boat gimmick they've added to the level, and best of all the giant bubble gimmick from Aqua Lake Zone from Sonic 2 8-bit. I seriously can't get over all the 8-bit references! Honestly though, it feels as if this level was rushed. Act 2's layout is almost a exact replica of the original zone, and the bosses aren't original. (Well aside from the first Eggman phase.) I really got a kick out of the mini boss, it's nice to use one of Eggman's own weapons against him and best of all it's his weapon from the original Hydrocity Zone! Act 2's boss is act 1's mini-boss from the original zone, but as stated above the first phase has Sonic and his friends being chased by Eggman. Since the bosses aren't original, that factor also seems to back up my theory that Hydrocity was rushed. There's not really much to say about Hydrocity, it could have been better but in my opinion the original really wasn't one of my favorites. The next level is another original zone, and one that was also revealed long before the game came out. That level is Mirage Saloon!

Now this is one of the coolest levels in the game. Sonic and Tails' Act 1 plays exactly like Sky Chase Zone from Sonic 2 16-bit. I know many people don't care for that level, but personally it was one of my favorites from Sonic 2, so I was happy to see it return in some fashion. Knuckles has a completely different layout and level, and not to mention mini-boss, but we'll get into that shortly. I think many fans prefer Knuckles' Act 1 to Sonic's and Tails', since it's the typical Sonic zone. Mirage Saloon's graphics are based off the scrapped level called "Desert Dazzle", a level that originally was supposed to be included in the Sonic CD remasters, but was cut. It's also based around Dust Hill, a scrapped level from Sonic 2. It's a western zone that takes place in a bar like setting, but out in the middle of a desert. The level gimmicks are pretty cool, but the best part of the level are the bosses. Remember how I mentioned that Knuckles has a completely different mini-boss than Sonic and Tails? His is actually the Gigalopolis/Gigapolis boss from Sonic Chaos! That blew me away when I first played the game as Knuckles! Sonic and Tails' is based on the catakiller badniks found in Sonic 3D on the Genesis/Mega Drive. Act 2's boss blew me away as well! Once again you're up against one of the Hard-Boiled Heavies, this time Heavy Magician. She actually transforms into some lost but familiar characters to long time fans. Specifically she transforms into Fang the Sniper (or Nack the Weasel), Bean, and Bark! Not only that, but the sound effect that plays when she transforms is directly taken from the 8-bit titles, and is actually the ring loss sound effect! This was another moment where I had to pause the game and fan out a little bit! Once Heavy Magician is defeated, we actually get a level transition, the trio jump into a giant gun and is thrown into the next level, which happens to be Oil Ocean!

Oh how I despise Oil Ocean. It's always been one, if not my least favorite zone from Sonic 2. Not only that, but combined with my least favorite zone in Sonic and Knuckles, it really makes me despise the level even more. I will say that I do like the oil burning effect that happens if you have a fire shield, it makes logical sense for fire to be igniting oil. I will admit that I do enjoy Mania's OOZ a tad bit more than Sonic 2's. However it's not really by much. I also do like the new submarine gimmick that the mania crew added, it works really well. I think the Act 2 gimmick of the level getting hotter and hotter after defeating the Act 1 mini boss is creative as well, but that mini-boss can be a pain in the ass if you don't defeat it quick enough. Act 2's boss was a absolute nightmare, especially as Knuckles. I found myself losing most of my lives here, but really you just need to take it slow to beat it without losing a life. I did find myself dying because the pillars rose and I was slightly facing them, causing me to get crushed a few times. (Which the crushing hazards being a bigger pain in the ass in this game than in the classics means you'll probably die a few times by getting crushed, even if you're not directly in a spot to get crushed.) That's really all I have to say about this zone. It's a shame that there's no level transition to my all time favorite level from Sonic and Knuckles, which is Lava Reef Zone!

This is the only zone I got spoiled on. I wasn't happy that I got spoiled, but what can you do? Anyways Lava Reef Zone is just as amazing as ever, but I love how they added the conveyor belts from Quartz Quadrant Zone in the level and even added some loops that resemble the loops from Endless Mine Zone from Sonic 3. Another gimmick they added from Sonic CD are the giant weight like platforms that move when you jump on one at a time, they're from Tidal Tempest if memory serves me correctly. Act 1's boss pays homage to Mystic Cave Zone's boss, which is pretty cool. Act 2's boss is very special to those who are or were a member at Sonic Retro at some point. You fight another hard-boiled heavy, Heavy Rider, but she rides on a Motobug named Jimmy. For those not aware of this easter egg, it's a rather depressing one. There was once a Tech Member on Sonic Retro know as Polygon Jim. He was quite well known at Retro, his mods of the Sonic games were hilarious, but one particular mod was a hack of Sonic 1 known as "Motobug in Sonic the Hedgehog." Yeah you got to play as a motobug, who was slow as hell, but the mod was hilarious. In memory of him Christian Whitehead named the Motobug that Heavy Rider joyrides on, and the sprite is based around the sprite in his hack. This is one of the best parts of Mania, and shows a better part of the Sonic fandom, one that always gets overlooked because of all the negativity.

Well I've went over the majority of the levels in Sonic Mania. I think I'll wrap this review up, and let you experience the last few levels the game has to offer. But before I do end this review, there's still another part of the game I'll go over, something that always appears in the classic titles. The special stages that is! Well they don't actually appear in Sonic 2 8-bit, and other spin off titles, but the Genesis games have them and of course Mania is no exception. The special stages are in 3D! They look as they would have if this game was a Sega Saturn game. In order to collect all 7 chaos emeralds and get the good ending, you have to chase after a UFO while dodging bombs and mines. There's also blue spheres that help the trio pick up enough speed to be able to catch the UFO, before time runs out. Rings replenish the timer, and running into bombs and mines makes you lose 10 rings. You can even fall off some levels if you're not careful, but almost all stages start you off at a position that has bumpers alongside the stage, preventing you from falling off. The backgrounds are absolutely gorgeous, and the special stages are a blast to play once you get the hang of them. The game also has local two player versus mode that resembles Sonic 2's split screen competition mode.

Overall I had a blast playing Sonic Mania! I've been playing the game almost every day, and I've personally bought it on the Xbox One as well as on Bundled Stars. Being a huge fan of the classic Sonic games, I was amazed with how much love and dedication was put into this project and it was definitely worth the wait. It even gave the Sonic franchise a better outlook from various gaming websites who recently had nothing but negative things to say about the franchise. It's just a shame that Sega of Europe had to delay the PC version to include DRM to the game, and one that doesn't even do what it was programmed to do. Another thing that I wish the game had was more original levels, but I can't complain too much about the rehashed levels as it was stated numerous times that it was going to have more rehashed levels than new, and even then those rehashed levels had new elements that made those rehashed levels different from their original counterparts. I give Mania a very positive 9 out of 10. It may not be as good as Sonic 3 and Knuckles or CD, but it's definitely my second favorite game in the franchise. Give it a try if you haven't yet!

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic mania #Sega #xbox one #steam #ps4 #nintendo switch

[jurassicparkpodcast]

Our Jurassic Journey - A Documentary on Jurassic Explorer | INTERVIEW with Michael Pearce!

Fans of Jurassic World and its video game incarnations may remember our look at Jurassic Explorer, a fantastic three-dimensional game which lets fans get explore the world of a functioning Jurassic World park from a first-person perspective. Before you read today’s piece, we recommend you check out our other feature on the game, where we chatted to the Game’s lead developer, Michael Pearce.

Today we are breaking down an upcoming project tied into Jurassic Explorer, known as ‘Our Jurassic Journey’ – a behind the scenes documentary which will explore the creation of Jurassic Explorer. Ahead of the documentary’s debut in December, we wanted to catch up with Michael again to discuss more about what goes into creating a project of truly ‘Jurassic’ proportions. Check out the interview below:

Hi Michael – thanks for sitting down with us again! It doesn’t seem that long ago that we were chatting about Jurassic Explorer. I heard you and your team have been making a Documentary. So, what is 'Our Jurassic Journey'?

It's good to be back here, Tom! Last time we talked was just before we released Season 2 of our fan game, "Jurassic Explorer", which was more than a year ago now. Since that time our team has been hard at work making a Documentary which will explore the three-year journey our development team took to make Jurassic Explorer. We call this Documentary “Our Jurassic Journey: A Documentary on Jurassic Explorer".

What inspired you to make a documentary about the journey behind Jurassic Explorer?

There were a lot of little things, but I’d say there's two main reasons. Since we released Season 1, the project really blew up and got noticed by many members of the community. Having all those ideas and having the opportunity to expand on the game with Season 2 was a dream come true. By that time, we had learned so much about game development, art, music and our own abilities, and we wanted to share that process with everyone. I think people don't understand what really goes into fan projects behind-the-scenes, and how valuable those skills can be as game developers.

Our Documentary isn’t exclusively about Jurassic Explorer however, and this is the other reason I wanted to make a documentary. My brother and I have been making games since we were young (5 & 7 years old), and as we've grown up it's been a consistent thing we've both pursued. With both of us now entering the industry, I wanted to highlight our journey into employment within our dream sector too, and how we've progressed and gotten to where we are by working together.

How long can we expect the Documentary to be? Is it a short film? Something more?

Our Jurassic Journey will be roughly an hour and twenty minutes long. It’s feature-film length, purely because we had a lot to say and many things to cover.

This Documentary explores much more than just our fan project. It looks at game development all around the world, and follows us on that journey together. We always aimed to make it feel enjoyable to both those who have and haven't heard about Jurassic explorer before.

What was the biggest thing the process of working on Jurassic Explorer taught you?

So, as a game developer, it’s a unique industry. It's something that can be taught in schools, but it’s not as straight forward as getting taught other jobs. I think something a ton of upcoming developers are missing these days are the practical skills you learn when not only being in a development team, but by making a game together whilst directing and guiding the team yourself. Those three major skills become incredibly important when you make a game yourself.

There's a lot of programmers, artists and designers out there who have the theory down but can't find a team to work with, or can't quite complete a full game. It happens all the time, as it’s not easy to find a team or find the opportunity to complete a game.

So, I’d say my biggest takeaway from working on Jurassic Explorer is working on a game, completing it, and directing all of it as a lead dev. Learning all the intricacies of that process along the way was also beneficial. Those practical skills are incredibly valuable and I wouldn't have been able to gain them without the amazing team we've formed together.

Where do you hope to go in the future, now Jurassic Explorer is under your belt?

We dive into what’s next for me and the team in the Documentary, so I don't want to give too much away. I will say that there's a ton of opportunities out there that we're working towards.

We have many ideas and lots of experience that I think will hopefully continue to impress people, and put smiles on people’s faces. With JE we really identified both our skills and our own unique style as a team. I hope that all our future games can capture the same mood and feelings that JE prompted in the audiences who experienced the project

More than anything, I hope people will continue to follow us through our next journey.

Let’s talk about the team – how did you assemble a group of people who wanted to work on this project?

It began in 2015 when I made a (looking back at it, terrible!) 3D Model of the Innovation Centre from JW. It was never supposed to be anything more than that, and I simply did it as a fun learning experience. But, as I shared it online, it gained traction, and people wanted more. So, I made more.

I expanded from the Innovation Centre, eventually forming the whole park, and over time I found our first team member, Andreas Strom.

For about a year we worked on that early project (Back then, simply called "Jurassic World 3D Project") and released three versions to the public which got coverage across YouTube and social media.

After that, we restarted the project from the ground up to build it in new and better software, and alongside three other new team members (Bernard, Zack and River), we began work on Jurassic Explorer.

From day one we knew it was a project we could learn from, and we knew it was an opportunity to grow and develop our talents as a team.

The rest is history!

What did everyone who got involved contribute to the project?

We have a team of 6 members.  The core team consisting of Bernard, River and I.

I am the lead developer and 3D Environment Artist. My job is to not only lead the project and decide what is happening and how, but to also make all the art for the games. I also have been involved in directing and editing the accompanying films, too!

Bernard is our Music Composer, and is incredibly talented. All our melodies, musical pieces and anything you hear in both the games and the film will have been composed by him. I've worked very closely with Bernard on each piece produced, and have even been lucky enough to write out some melodies for the game too.

River is our General Programmer and will play a very important role in the next journey we undertake.

Andreas is our Character Artist which means he makes all the Dinosaurs and other organic visuals in our games.

Zack handled all the AI Programming in Jurassic Explorer and brought the dinosaurs who appeared in the game to life.

Lastly, we also had some help from my brother Brandon with programming.  You may know Brandon from the famous Minecraft Mod - 'The Aether'.

One member of the team found a very cool job after JE – can you tell us a little more about that?

I can't mention anything specific until after the Documentary is released. But, I will say it really puts into perspective how valuable projects like this can be. It's not just making something that gets you to where you want to go, but it’s keeping at it and persisting throughout the trials and tribulations that projects can face. You must make it your everything. You can’t just give up.

This whole journey for all of us has been amazing and the opportunities we're finding because of what we've learned along the way are both special, and extremely exciting!

I hope you're excited to find out more when the documentary releases.

Lastly, what is next for the Dimensional Digital Team?

 A lot! We're not going anywhere, and this is just the start of another journey we're taking.

Creating this Documentary has been incredible for us, and has taught us so much. I've never done something like this before, so making a feature length film which allowed us to express ourselves this way has been amazing.

I hope that you all continue to follow our journey in the future.

Where can everyone follow up if they want to learn more?

Our Jurassic Journey : A Documentary On Jurassic Explorer will release in December this year, An official date will be coming very soon. Look forward to the first trailer on the film coming November 28th too! We currently have a info page on our Fluminus website (Which Fluminus btw ties directly into the film so be sure to watch to find out!) and will be posted to all of our social media and YouTube channels.

For the time being, and for discussion after, people are free to join our Fluminus Discord server to talk everything Our Jurassic Journey and more.

Big thanks to Michael for taking the time to talk about ‘Our Jurassic Journey: A Documentary on Jurassic Explorer’.

You can watch an EXCLUSIVE sneak peek of the documentary here:

The Documentary will release worldwide in December, and will be available on the Fluminus Social Media and YouTube channels, which can be found by visiting the Fluminus Website.

Fluminus welcome people to also join their Discord to discuss the project in the build-up to its release: https://discord.gg/7F3mKrz

Written by: Tom Fishenden

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