#this isn't a review

[bryndeavour]

Taking my fandom brain out of it, and my thirst, The Quarry is at it’s most effective (and only worth the money - esp if you buy digital on ps5) when replayed at least 3 times (that being said - Movie Mode is a great option to pick a few parameters and let it play on its own. its become a great tool for background noise while I write fic). 

Even then, you won’t see every bit of dialogue or every character option. And of course that’s the main draw of the game, but at the same time once you have played more than once you realize that it’s really a badass girlboss story about Laura Kearney. If you hit the main ‘plot points’ in order to ‘solve’ the problem presented by the game.... you realize that the game starts with Laura and the solution lies with Laura and how she gets there (and if she gets there) - and it ends with her. The other counselors are great fun and fill that movie trope role for clueless fodder really well, but thats really all they are. No matter how much i love them and grew to appreciate all their different personalities, aside from Ryan also being ‘necessary’ towards the end, they are essentially Red Shirts. Most of what they do only affects their own personal survival, and even when they find secure locations or essential clues - they don’t always share them! (Tell me they couldn’t have all just holed up in Chris’s security room and waited....???)

Laura’s face is even the biggest one on the poster. 

I do think its funny that the achievement for keeping Katelyn alive until the end is the ‘Final Girl’ achievement - but she is possibly the most competent. But still - Laura is the point. Her conflict between Travis and Max (which isn’t even much of a conflict - the game is most complete if you are compliant with Travis and Max has the least playable time of any PC) and her decisions about who live and die end up being the most important to the overall plot and ‘success’ as a hero. She also has the most achievements dedicated specifically to her choices in who she teams up with.

Obviously there are hundreds of options and variations of who lives and dies and what dialogue you get! And you can play the game however you feel, but like most RPGs with choice elements there is always a generally ‘canon’ plot that fulfills and relates the most full version of the intended story. In The Quarry, that’s Laura’s story.

#the quarry #laura Kearney #i love the counselors #but its hard to get attached after one playthrough #for me anyway #and you absolutely don't get a great scope of their personalities unless you play again #in different ways #to hear all their dialogue #BUT ITS A GREAT GAME #this isn't a review #just an observation #and sort of explanation #why there is so much fandom focus on Laura and Travis (and Max) dynamic #because its really a central plot

[hauntu4ever]

Saw the Barbie movie

I feel like I live in a bubble. Like I'm in a little place all to me, where all the sexism in the world is relegated to businesses refusing to hire women and everything else is explicable. Where other people (those outside the bubble, if you'd prefer) view sexism as this pervasive, formless thing which cannot be described or understood and is the sole product of the Inherent Evil of Men and the corruption of power, and I'm the only person who sees that that's fucking insane. Where people can say "spreading your legs too much is bad and wrong and men who do it are evil" and I'm the only one who's willing to acknowledge that this is because of bone structure differences between the sexes and it is just more comfortable. Where people can hear a man explaining things to a woman and go "he shouldn't do that because men always explain things to women, he should listen to her instead", and I'm the only one willing to accept that *explaining* is a good thing and *overexplaining* is a product of being tactless not being male. A world where half the time I also experience the things women experience from men and it's only because I myself am male that I can recognize that it's not their masculinity that forces them to overexplain but their passion and who they are as a person. A world where some of the things women say are evil about men, like being approached, are things I would *prefer*. A world where the patriarchy seems more like an anti-male sentiment than a description of a phenomenon, just because of the way people use it, and conversely where feminism is more about glorifying women than being "supportive of all genders" or whatever. A place where nobody else thinks it's weird to complain when men say "female" but not complain when women say "male".

A place where nobody else is willing to acknowledge that everybody stereotypes everyone all the time, and not only is that true, but it's also preferred, and the same is true of categorization. A world where bad people are bad people, not men; and good people are good people, not women. A world where my (at least half chosen, and certainly not fixable) existence as a cis white male in a stem field doesn't make me an awful person and entirely undateable inherently, but rather that my undateability is because of my inexperience and fear of acting in a way that the feminists don't want me acting, that the feminists say will turn the women away from me. A world where one can be and often is masculine without being toxic, and where we acknowledge that femininity can also be toxic, where these two words aren't synonyms for good and evil.

And I can't figure out if

a) I'm just sexist;

b) I'm simply not trying enough or ignoring feminism enough, and that's why I get so upset about this; or

c) It's not me who needs a shift, it's the terminology and vitriol and the way men seem to just let women walk all over them with this shift.

I know which one I feel.

I don't know how correct each of them are.

The movie did have a lot of good moments though, and even a good moral at the end. The final line was amazing too.

#someone is gonna look at this and go “how dare he make his review of the movie all about himself” #and I just want to preemptively tell that person to shut the fuck up #this isn't a review

[softpng]

sometimes I think about that guy on amazon who reviewed pride and prejudice and did an entire angry, weirdly math focused rant about how awful darcy is and then ends it all with "I could carve a better man out of a banana"

#the funny thing about the review is that hes so right about most of his points but like #that's why the book is good BECAUSE darcy is super flawed and so is elisabeth and everyone else #also his criticism of how basically nothing happens in the book except them all going to each others houses #austen literally says that's love love is going to someone's home and love is looking across the dinner table at you and love is walking #love isn't grand gestures love is saying i love you in a fucking field bro #anyways i love pride and prejudice in postmodern context because it's absolutely hilarious and deeply relevant #pride and prejudice #jane austen

[vashti-lives]

The new Martha Wells book-- Witch King-- is fucking delightful if you like slightly complex fantasy that doesn't hold your hand. This is a book that never ever commits the sin of explaining stuff to a character that should already know about it for the sake of the audience. Exposition only happens in ways that are natural and logical, which sometimes means stuff just isn't explained.

It's not as obviously accessible as The Murderbot Dairies is-- it's plot is a little more opaque, there's more moving pieces, it's less directly comedic-- but man I like it and Kai is in someways a similar protagonist to Murderbot. Powerful but vulnerable and often just a little out of his element. Lonely in the face of a lot of people who are afraid of him.

Its very much a found family story. Like, literally. The book goes back and forth between the past and the present. The parts of the narrative that are set in the past are about Kai meeting the people who become his family, and the parts of the narrative set in the present are about him going to find members of that family that have gone missing. Family is a theme that's always there.

In spite of the swap in narratives there was never a moment where I was listening to one half of these stories wishing I could get back to the other one-- they were woven together very well and I found them equally compelling.

Anyway I am very certain there are people who saw there was a new Martha Wells book, then saw it wasn't Murderbot and decided to peace out. Some people probably won't but I think it's worth trying. Tor released enough excerpts that you can get a feel for what it's like and decide if you'll like it or not. The mystery is fascinating and, like Murderbot, it's casually queer in a really good way. Martha Wells clearly loves her a lesbian power couple.

#i listened to the audibook and the narrator is also very good #martha wells #witch king by martha wells #witch king #god i hope this is the first in a trilogy #reviewing partially because i saw someone be shitty this isn't a murderbot book and this offended me #writers can and SHOULD do new things #deal with it

[welcometogrouchland]

I understand that literature nerd Jason Todd is kind of overblown in fanon compared to it's actual presence in canon (a few issues during his pre (and post?)crisis Robin tenure that highlight it) BUT consider that I think it's hilarious if the unhinged gun toting criminal has strong opinions on poetry

#ramblings of a lunatic #dc comics #Jason Todd #batfamily #it's just a fun quirk! it's a fun lil detail and I simply cannot slight ppl for enjoying and incorporating it into works #like obviously jason isn't the only one. I'm a big believer in the batfam having over lapping interests they refuse to bond over #i know dick canonically used the robin hood stories (which are pretty flowery in their language far as i can tell) as inspo for Robin #and i know babs was a librarian and even tho her area of nerddom is characterized as more computery she probably knows quite a lot- #-about literature as well #duke is a hobbyist writer i believe? i saw a fan mention that- which if so is great and I hope he's also a nerd #(i mean he is canonically. i remember him being a puzzle nerd in his introduction. but i mean specifically a lit nerd) #damian called Shakespeare boring but also took acting classes so i think he's more of a theatre kid. #Tim's a dropout and i don't think he's ever shown distinct interest in english lit and i can't remember for Steph? #I'm ngl my brain hyperfocused on musician Steph i forget some of her other interests I'm sorry (minus softball and gymnastics!) #and then Cass had her whole (non linear but it's whatevs) arc about literacy and learning to read #went from struggling to read in batgirl 00 to memorizing Shakespeare in 'tec and is now an avid read in batgirls! #she's shown reading edgar allen poe but we don't know if it's his short stories or his poems #point to all of the above being: i know Jason's not the only lit nerd in the batfam #but also i do need him to be writing poetry in his spare time and reading and reviewing it #jason at the next dead robins society meeting: evening folks today I'll be assigning all of us poems based on laika the space dog #damian and steph who have been kidnapped and brought to jasons warehouse to hangout: LET US GO BITCH #speaking of^ random poem i think jason would like: space dog by alan shapiro #wake up one morning in an unfamiliar more mature body with a profound sense of abandonment. the last four lines. mmm tasty

[fictionadventurer]

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes reviews I've seen fixate on the story's discussion of whether humans are inherently good or inherently evil as if one side or the other is the correct answer. Meanwhile the story itself is showing that individual choice in every action--choosing to act out of either love or self-interest--is what truly matters in shaping society. A free and stable society requires that people be taught to make selfless choices rather than act out of fear. Instead of oppressing people into fearful order, citizens need to have the freedom to choose the good, and be educated with the values that teach them what good is.

#the ballad of songbirds and snakes #the hunger games #i'm still mentally fighting with that christian review of the movie #'the movie discusses whether humans are inherently good or evil but the truth is we're depraved and need a savior' #and meanwhile i'm like #'well first off i don't think calvinist doctrine is going to help you here' #and i'm also like #you think the story*isn't* wrestling with the fallen nature of humanity? #you think it doesn't recognize that there's no merely human answer that can solve the problem of evil? #that we have to be fools by the world's standards to create a world worth living in? #can you actually understand what this very didactic story is telling you or do i have to do everything here?

[wiisagi-maiingan]

The app/site I use for learning Japanese, Transparent Language, has an Ojibwe section created with 7000 Languages and Grassroots Indigenous Multimedia. It has a whole complex reference book for grammar and pronunciation and GOD I am excited to find an Ojibwemowin resource that isn't just youtube videos.

#reviews tell me that the cost of a transparent language subscription isn't really worth it #but i get it free through my library so i wouldn't personally know tbh

[notesonartistry]

"... she’s not a pop star, or a classic rocker, or anything that has come before. She’s Taylor Swift."

Philip Cosores of Uproxx speaking the absolute truth

#uproxx #eras tour review #there be spoilers #this isn't a spoiler tho #you guys know this!! #''she's Taylor Swift''

[dragoncarrion]

Reviewing animal foods part one: cat food

Texture is crunchy, though it takes some pressure to crumble. Would be better if it was more brittle. Smell is average, slightly on the "pleasant" side. Taste is whatever, could be more savory and meaty; leaves a strange aftertaste but it's not too bad. Shape and size is fine, not much commentary

Overall rating: 6/10

#shortext #mom isn't home this is my chance #i am COMMITTED TO THE BIT #animal food reviews

[not-your-bro]

#the witcher #the witcher 3 #emiel regis #orianna #blood and wine #tw3 #oh and bc of the last one #geregis #geralt x regis #desperately wish that steam review was for b&w but it isn't. it should be. but it isn't

[souldagger]

so normal about the gender fuckery of the Polish murderbot translation (lie i am on the verge of tears)

#it uses verb inflections that imply it/otherwise non-binary pronouns in first person #and it looks like in third person the translator went with #she pronouns when using security unit (bc the word unit is gendered female in polish) #and he pronouns when using Murderbot (bc the word robot is gendered male) #which... isn't ideal #but in a language this excessively gendered it was always going to be messy #and it's the first person verb endings that matter most bc you're reminded that mb's opinion on gender is No Thanks EVERY SENTENCE. !!!!!!! #the fact that the translator went with that instead of the easy route of he pronouns #(which are unfortunately kind of implied in the name Murderbot/Mordbot in polish since like i said robot/bot is gendered male) #is so so so important to me #(and ofc half the reviews for this translation include complaints about 'woke' verb endings 🙄 whatever) #.txt #books #murderbot

[shopwitchvamp]

Not a callout post @ this review, but just using it as an example. If ever you order from us and have some issue like this pls just reach out and let us know!! I *want* to fix it for you and to make sure you get the skirt you expected!!

Like about this one in particular, I feel awful that of course someone who really specifically cares about which side is white would be the one person to get a split skirt where the panels were swapped & the white ended up on the other side 😭 Pls if anything like this ever happens to you just email us so I can find your order and fix the issue OTL

#witch vamp #please.. #if you just leave a review it's not attached to your order or anything and i can't do much about it #email us and i can send you one that isn't flipped :[ #psa #thank you #unhappy customers

[little-smartass]

it really irks me when people pan perfectly good movies for being "predictable". is it fun to watch a movie that keeps you guessing? for sure! but you only have to watch sherlock or moffat's run in dr who or the last season of game of thrones to know that wild plot twists do not equate to media actually like... being good. in the same way, a narrative that lets the viewer put together the clues before the reveal isn't bad just because you can guess what's going to happen! not every movie has be m night fucking shyamalan!

#this is in response to a bunch of reviews of crimson peak #'baa waaaa this Gothic Horror movie is predictable' THAT'S!!! THE POINT!!!! OF THE GENRE!!!! YOU MORON!!!! #Gothic horror isn't about mystery and last minute plot reveals it's about TENSION and INEVITABILITY #irl

[project-sekai-facts]

Your recent update made me wonder about something. I don’t know how much you know about this but wanted to try asking anyway. Hopefully this makes sense? Why would the English translation choose to censor things? I assume translations are being done in America where queer things are slowly becoming more accepted but is that a factor? Are the translators themselves changing certain things due to their own biases? I don’t know who they are and don’t want to assume anything about them, but I can’t help wondering if that’s part of the reason? Or is it because of something like, for example, sometimes movies or TV shows have certain content removed based on where it’s being aired, so is it something like that? Is the game being released in regions where queer content is banned or removed? Now that I wrote it, I feel like this is the most likely answer but what do you think? I basically just rambled in your ask my bad. Also, do you know if the Korean and/or Taiwan servers have censorship too?

oh there's more than just the Asahi thing and i have mentioned it in passing before but i'll cover it properly here. "the miles i fell in love with is so cool" -> "it was so cool! i guess that's miles for you" is definitely the biggest example though.

First off, a minor thing. it doesn't really happen anymore but in the earlier translations they quite often use words other than partner, like "pals" and "buds", in the VBS story. Probably one of the best examples of this would be An and Kohane's 3rd kizuna title, which the JP name was often fan-translated as "Making each other better" or "Raising each other up", and is called "Two supportive pals" on EN. Which does have the same meaning but the "pals" seems so unneccesary when they could've used partners. The original text is Takameau futari, the first part means "to raise" or "to lift" and futari means "two people" or "a pair/couple". So it technically is a good enough translation but using pals when partners would be more accurate to canon just seems.. off.

I’m assuming their avoidance of the word partner is because it could easily be misinterpreted as romantic, but they seem to have moved on from that at this point.

There's also THE POWER OF UNITY where they switch out "love" (daisuki) for "cares about a lot" when KAITO is comparing the relationship between Arata and Souma to Akito and Toya. Daisuki literally means "likes a lot" so often you'll see people translate it as love, though likes a lot is still valid. "Cares about" is not a direct translation but definitely can still convey the same meaning, so again instance of valid localisation it just seems like an odd choice when using love would've conveyed the exact same meaning and been more true to the original.

Then you've got another instance of them not translating daisuki correctly in Dear Me, As I Was Back Then (sorry this one is a wiki screenshot my phone died). This is worse. Like I guess if you really want then it does have a close enough meaning to the original. Like I guess daisuki meaning "like a lot" or "love" could be localised as "you're the best" if you really wanted it too. But even then, the line before this is "I'm gonna show just how much I admire her!". Minori's shout of "I LOVE YOUUU" from the original would be way more fitting here. "You're the best" feels too casual and buddy-buddy - even if Minori didn't know Haruka at this point, Haruka still had a big impact on her life and imo "I love you" would be the best to use here.

There’s also this one from Walk on and on that removes one key thing. In the original, Toya says something more along the lines of “I was able to make this track because I want to continue to be a partner who can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you from now on and always”. This is a bit more similar to the Asahi incident in that they’ve restructured the sentence to make it two, adding in the thing about performing which isn’t even there originally, and replacing “korekara saki mo zutto” with “keep singing with you”. And “keep singing with you” still works, but it’s much more toned down, let’s say. You know what really is odd about this translation though? If the quote I put seems familiar, it’s because it’s also the name of Toya’s event card. Kinda odd they omitted that from the story then, huh? The thing is the translation of the card is very accurate so removing it from the story starts to seem intentional, especially when everything around it is accurately translated like with the Asahi incident. Also doing this removes the fact that the card name references the story so what the hell are you doing EN? It's the same sentence, if you can translate it correctly on the card you can translate it correctly in the story.

And I’m gonna do a massive Dude Trust Me on this one and keep it brief because I don’t have screenshots of it and couldn't find any online, but there’s another example I can think of with Rui’s spring voiceline from 2022. On EN he says "Ah Tsukasa, what a coincidence!" but on JP he says "it must be some sort of fate that we met here". Which admittedly is still pretty much the same meaning, it's just like a way more casual version of it because of course it is. EN is just generally not great at localising a lot of Rui's more poetic speech as well, so I'll let this one slide for now.

There's definitely more than this, this is just what came to mind first and I don't want to make this post too long.

These were certainly... choices. Especially with the ones that translate daisuki wrong because they do translate it correctly on other occasions, most frequently with An and Kohane. I'm assuming the reason they omitted it with the guys is because it's far harder to pass off guys saying that they love each other as platonic because societal expectations or whatever, but I'm actually surprised by the change to Dear Me because normally they're pretty good with Minori and Haruka. Like they've translated daisuki correctly for them before and leave in everything else that indicates Minori has a crush on Haruka, so why not this line?

I'm tempted to say that they just change the things that they think are too hard to safely pass off as platonic, but then again they left all of the unsubtle ship teasing in Buddy Funny Spend Time, which has a lot of focus on Minori and Haruka's relationship (and they even left in Haruka saying that Minori makes her heart tickle in her card story), so I'm genuinely not sure why they left that in but then changed one instance of Minori saying she loves Haruka which doesn't even have to be interpreted romantically. Like what is the limit here? An can say she's going on a date (with Kohane) and the WEG regulars can ask who she's been seeing, but Asahi can say he fell in love with Tsukasa's character and it gets removed. Both of them are explicitly romantic. The only thing I can think of is that An's comes from a whole card story and event, but Asahi's is one line that's easy to remove. Same with Toya saying he wants to stay with Akito forever.

In other words, it's a mess and I don't think any of what I just wrote is coherent either.

Interpret all of this however you will at the end of the day it’s all just ship tease which is up to interpretation anyway. Except the Asahi thing that was explicitly romantic that one is a censor.

Oh and as far as I know the KR and TW servers don’t do this.

#i got this one peer reviewed on both my main account and with an irl who doesn't know anything about the game. #oh because someone will probably bring up the hiraga gennai 1koma i don't consider that one a censor #that one's definitely a localisation bc barely any players would get the joke since gennai isn't well known in the EN server regions #there's a whole discussion to be had over the fact they did completely change the joke and the context which we actually have had before #it was rui's birthday post if you go through my rui tag you can find it. #asks #mod talks #apologies for the quality on this one it's 1am right now for me

[fictionadventurer]

The worst part about reading in a genre where you have low expectations (in this case, Christian historical fiction) is that when a book impresses you, you have no idea if it's actually good or if you're just overly impressed because it was a fraction of a degree better than the usual garbage.

#basically lately anytime i read a christian fiction book that isn't romance-based i find myself surprised by the quality #i do think that some christian publishers are getting better #and trying to tell stories that dig deeper into real faith and messy issues #instead of making only vapid squeaky clean prayer-filled tropefests #but i'm not sure *how much* better #because anything above the low bar feels like great literature #the most recent is 'in a far-off land' by stephanie landsem #and let me tell you setting the prodigal son in 1930s hollywood is a genius concept #i have some issues with the history and the mystery #but the characters! #it has been a long time since i cried this hard over a book #several chapters of solid waterworks #(and i also have the issue of figuring out if it's actually that moving or if i'm just hormonal/sleep-deprived) #i keep thinking about this book but also i worry about recommending because what if it's actually terrible by normal book standards? #(also the author DOES NOT understand the seal of confession and i was SHOCKED to find that she's actually catholic) #but also looking at the reviews makes it clear that if most of christian fiction is vapid garbage it's these reviewers' fault #here you have something that's digging into sin and darkness and justice and mercy and these people are just #'how can it call itself christian fiction if it only mentions god at the end?' #are we reading the same book this WHOLE THING is about god! and humanity and our fallen nature and how this breaks relationships! #your pearl-clutching anytime someone tries to get even a tiny bit realistic is destroying this genre #i'm gonna run out of tags so i'll stop now

[sunshineandlyrics]

❤️ A fan's review of Louis at FITFWT Munich, 22 October 2023 x

#this is sweet #fan review #glad she had a great time #FITFWT Munich #22 October 2023 #she doesnt know that Louis swears because thats just the way he is and he isn't trying to be anyone else #Louis Tomlinson #about Louis #mine