#; show me how to be whole again ❪ verse / post game. ❫

[dutyworn]

@rubiesintherough said: send ⛓️ to find my muse bloody, bruised and restrained ( mahia )

an old meme    /    PROBABLY ACCEPTING ↷

She’s not sure if she’s simply been  left here  to slowly waste away, or if they are trying to play mindgames with her, making her think she’s in isolation, but actually monitoring her, waiting for the right moment to interrogate her by slowly torturing her first. Trying to make her more pliable? Wren doesn’t even know what they want from her, that’s the tricky part; she has no indication on what to expect.

That, alone, has her psychologically on edge, and tensing up further when she hears someone approach. Not that she can do much but be tense, the way she’s forced on her tiptoes in the middle of the room. Heavy-duty metal cuffs secure her wrists together, the bands too tight and large to slip, extending from the smallest part of her wrist several inches along her arms; even if she could try to dislocate a thumb or break her own wrist, it doesn’t seem likely that’d help her. The cuffs are secured high above her head, likely deliberately making it so that she has to keep balancing on her tiptoes in a constant effort to try to alleviate the strain on her shoulders, arms and back. Slow torture is what it really fucking feels like; it’s hard to think with the physical strain, and Wren is barely even aware of the other injuries she’s sustained, of the dried blood down her forehead, or the bruising on her half-naked form (they had stripped her down to her underwear).

More dazed from exhaustion than the relatively minor head injury, Wren is having difficulty knowing how to react when she recognises the woman, from the glimpses she manages, craning her neck to look at the doorway behind her.

❝ It’s you, ❞    she says, feeling a little stupid about the comment, but too tired to truly care. It’s that woman, the woman collapsed at her doorstep on her Citadel apartment a month or so ago. The woman with the wings. Wren had tried to help her, done her best to erase any evidence of... well, her unusual physique, from any security footage that might’ve caught her, afterwards; mystery or not, Mahia hadn’t appeared like a threat, and Wren hadn’t been keen on being the reason someone, a person, from some unknown humanoid species ended up enduring gods-knew-what...

But to come across her again, here?

Has she misjudged her? Is this her captor, or her saviour, returning the favour...?

[bitethedevil]

Living with Raphael

Because I’ve seen so many people do “domestic bliss” posts and similar stuff about other BG3 characters and it made me think. I love him but I would rather go skinny dipping in the Styx than actually live with this man, because I believe he would be the shittiest roommate ever. Here’s why:

Micro-managing: You can’t do shit without his endless sneering and commenting on every tiny little thing you do and it’s all in the name or “keeping the order in his house”. In reality, it has nothing to do with order, it’s just that he has a very particular way of doing things and you’re supposed to just be able to read his mind.

His tantrums: I just know he’s just like his daddy. Calm and collected one second, and literally tearing something apart in unhinged anger the next. How do you know which mood he’s in? You don’t. He can sit quietly doing his business and a simple “how are you” will be enough for him to explode about something that has absolutely nothing to do with you.

Endless yapping or total silence: You’re either forced to listen for hours about something or you literally can’t get him to talk because he’s in his own head. If it’s the former, he doesn’t even care if you don’t want to listen, he will make you listen and don’t you dare pull your attention away from him. If it’s the latter, you might get a “mm” or a ‘yes’ if you’re lucky, but he’s not listening regardless. If you’re unlucky, refer to point two.

Can’t fucking sit still for two seconds: he’s always doing something and it’s all hours of the day. He does not give an imp’s ass if you’re asleep if he decides it’s time to play a fucking symphony on the organ at three o’ clock in the morning. He’ll loudly recite poetry as well and it’s the same couple of verses again…and again…and again…”until it’s perfect”.

‘Mine’: (This is basically Raphael if you’re that age where you remember this show.) Nothing is ‘yours’ or ‘ours’, no no. You’re in his house, no matter how long you’ve lived there or even if you’re goddamn married. Everything is his (you included because you’re under his roof).

Mind games: This one is pretty obvious. Everything will be made into a manipulative mind game of some sort and it would be about the stupidest shit sometimes as well. He’s constantly playing 3D chess and I would resort to, not only eat the pieces to win, but also to maybe just throw the whole board away. Not dealing with your psychological torture, my dude.

Haarlep, I salute you 🫡 No one should be forced to live with him.

[veetyuh]

I'm reminded of that "antishipping isn't purity culture because it isn't conservative christianity" post... And I think I've done some unpacking on why it triggers me so much.

I was an intersex child shoved into the role of a female, in a rural & conservative Christian environment. I've had not just purity culture shoved down my throat, but also the shame of not being able to meet the expectations put on women in that environment.

It's not just cover up, slut. That implies I had something to show off, to begin with. And men still want to ogle you and imagine what your body is like beneath that modest dress. So here, literal child. Have this shapewear to make your figure conform to that of a developing middle school female's under your clothes.

It's contradictory that way. You have to try to be unappealing to not 'tempt' men, but you still need to be appealing in the sense of conventional female attractiveness. Moreover, you must not think about men or sex at all. But you cannot be asexual — your parents demand grandchildren.

Antis do the same with their queer representation. It's the same contradictory expectations... They champion the idea of breaking societal norms through queerness (i.e. the idea of 'queer as in fuck you'), then demand that every nuclear family norm be met. Queer characters must be disruptive without actually disrupting anything. And the contradictions apply to fans, too — you're homophobic if you don't like a canon queer ship, and you're fetishistic if you like queer ships too much. (There are more, but I'd be stuck here forever if I listed them all. 😅)

There's also the obvious — fictional sins being as bad as things done in real life. There's Matthew 5, which includes so many popular verses about thought control that Christians use, and equates bad thought to bad doing.

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

And fuck if antis aren't cutting off their entire goddamn arm and gouging out both eyes.

It's not just purity culture they embody, though — it's the satanic panic, too. Good lord the amount of times my grandma wouldn't let me watch Ghost Hunters because she thought I was welcoming demons into the home, or her concern for me watching horror movies because I'd surely become more violent. It's the same shit, different horse.

On a more light-hearted note, they play the same game that Christian demoninations do, too. I was Baptist, and considered the Methodists okay. But the Catholics? No, keep that shit away from me. Why are you worshipping Mary? That's idolatry! How horrible, to openly spit in God's face. When I read antis' DNI lists rattling off forbidden, unredeemable fandoms, it feels the same way, haha.

But what really seals the deal for me is how they smile in your face and promise they're just looking out for you. Christians do that, too. "We want you to get better. We want to help you. You're on a dark path." While they break your bones to force you into their mold. You may not be hurting anyone on your dark path, but they'll convince you that you ARE. You're hurting yourself "spiritually," you're hurting the community, your family, by being an abomination to God. You're hurting everyone and yourself, you just need us to help you realize it. Antis feel the exact same. I block them pre-emptively because I cannot handle having that shit directed at me again.

Moreover, their insults feel the same. The childish "icky," the ad hominems. It's too reminiscent for me. Of my mom hating my icky facial hair and my classmates making fun of my masc traits when they thought I couldn't hear; you are a gross person!!1! Ew!!!

It's funny that antis are so often anti-kink, considering they're so fucking intent on giving me a golden shower and telling me it's rain. I hope they're careful not to choke on the homophobic, pedophilic pastor cock they're sucking.

[maddy-k-reads-all-day]

Don't mind me....

Just casually thinking about how Wooly might just be like Amanda with different coping mechanisms. LET'S DISCUSS!

I'm talking specfically about Wooly's verse in Play My Way.

"Now watch us play our part. Now watch us dance and sing. Don't let it break your heart just play along and never-"

We see an image of Wooly half in demon form. (Similar to Amanda in the lonely kitten scene). And then we see Wooly covered in blood. But I realized something... is it just me or...

Do these blood patterns look kind of similar? Was it foreshadowing? Or is it telling us what really happened... so as far as I can deduce... Wooly lost control over himself, demoned out, and killed Mr. Fox. Amanda prolly hid the body for him but not after playing with it a little cuz it's Amanda you know how she is. Morbid girl's gotta get her thrills somehow. ANYWAY- I find it interesting how Wooly says "just play along and never-" before those two frames show up. Because... what is something Wooly is ALWAYS doing? Playing along, to the point he raises suspicion from both Amanda and the audience. But considering the way all these images line up... could playing along be some way of maintaining control? Over himself and the situation? My personal headcanon/theory is that Wooly for the most part is in this for himself. I mean like post being trapped in here he doesn't seem to pay any notice to the children getting trapped and he doesn't seem to really care about Amanda's wellbeing. Well he does, like he shows concern for her but he never acts on it. So... I think most of his actions in the games are more for his own self interest and peace of mind. A way of maintaining his own sanity by simply bottling things up and ignoring the problem. I'm not saying he was never a Hameln employee whether it be a doctor or child actor... but I don't think his actions are in Hameln's interest anymore. Heck, it's always a possibility he was put in here with Amanda as a punishment of some sort. That said, my main theory about Wooly is that he was a child actor who had been with Hameln much longer than Amanda.

Anyway, this video gave me a new interpretation of Wooly. Wooly is very much like Amanda, where he has his own demon to control and his own Hameln trauma probably. He just handles it in a much different way. He bottles things up and plays along as a way of keeping control and certainty over himself and the situation. But just like Amanda, he has his breaking points and is prone to snap. It's possible that especially in the first game, if I'm right that this takes place before that, he might've been repressing extra hard out of fear that he might snap again. But in the second game, it seems like he's beginning to break down again, especially towards the end and in the "We can Fix it!" tape. I really hope we see one or both Amanda and Wooly demon-out again because I really want to know how that whole thing works. The demons appear when their upset but not every time they are upset. They seem to demon-out when they are having a complete breakdown but what is this exactly? Is the demon taking over their TV counterpart? Why? Plus, why does this lead to violence? All I can say for sure is I am so hyped to learn more about Amanda and Wooly in the third game. I really hope we get more demon lore too!

[poppitron360]

saw your post abt epic & music theory! Are there any interesting time signatures (non-4/4), key signatures, or tempo changes in epic?

and/or something similar?

Yes!! Charybdis is actually in 5/4!!

For the normies out there, the “4” on the bottom refers to the fact that the bar is counted in Crotchets (or quarter notes if you’re American). The number on the top refers to the amount of them that there are- i.e 5/4 being five quarter notes. Most music you hear is gonna be in 4/4, but another song you might know that have 5/4 time is ��tolerate it” by Taylor Swift.

Now Jorge has said many times that one of his main influences in writing Epic is videogame music. I recently watched a video about time sigs in music for nintendo games- linking that vid here (part 1, part 2)- and one thing I noticed is that the “weirder” (translation: more awesome) the time sig got, the more often it was used in a boss battle. Charybdis DEFINITELY feels like a boss battle.

“I told myself I’d never write a song in 5/4 […] And the one idea that kept coming into my head was this idea that Charybdis throws Odysseus’ balance off. The same way 5/4 initially threw my balance off.” - Jorge, in one of his videos explaining how he made Charybdis’ music. Now what’s special about 5/4 specifically, is that it’s SO CLOSE to 4/4. SO CLOSE to what our brains are accustomed to hearing, to what sounds “right” and “natural”, but it’s just that one extra note that throws us off.

At this point in the story, Ody has lost everything. He’s back after 7 years on Calypso’s island, and he’s changed. I love how with each progressing Saga the music gets darker and wilder (re: my post about Scylla being my all-time fav in Epic in terms of music production and composition). The fact that this is the only song in non-4/4 makes it stand out. It throws us off.

Also, the little intro bit to the song (before the electric guitar kicks in)- it’s hard to tell but I believe it’s in 4/4. This is showing that it’s before we meet Charybdis.

What’s interesting to me is that after Ody survives Charybdis and sees Ithica again after 20 years, his instrument switches back to his gentle nylon-string guitar, but the music doesn’t switch back to 4/4. It stays with that extra beat. Odysseus is still shaken.

Even though he’s home, he will always be looking over his shoulder at what’s behind him. He will always be flinching at every noise. He will always see the faces of the men he was responsible for in his nightmares.

It could just be that Jay didn’t wanna have to write the melody in mixed meter, but I prefer this interpretation.

In music, we often count odd time signatures in smaller chunks, which can differ depending on the way that it’s phrased (e.g 10/8 could be counted as “one two three, one two, one two, one two three” OR “one two, one two three, one two three, one two”). What’s interesting about this specific use of 5/4 is that it’s counted as “one two three, one two”. In the video I referenced earlier, Jorge explains his struggles to get a song in 5/4 to be “catchy”. The way he tackled this was to have each instrument + the vocals highlight this rhythm. So even though Ody is being thrown off by Charybdis, he is still in control.

Let’s look at how the melody in the verse reinforces this:

The first four beats of the bar are completely conjunct (moving in steps)- staying within three notes of the root note (1st note in the scale). Then on the 5th beat (the one that throws you off) goes lower than the root:

1 2 3 1 2

You be Her men

must who mes

tioned-

This solidifies the feeling of being thrown off, showing not only how Charybdis but this whole voyage has shaken Odysseus, which makes Poseidon’s appearance afterwards even more terrifying, because we as listeners are completely disorientated by this effect.

[sebadztian]

In relation to my previous post about demon lore, I hope we will never find out too much about Sebastian (and demons in general).

Despite what the general public think, the main character/protagonist of Kuro is Sebastian the demon. And yet, 200+ chapters later we still don't know anything much about him.

What we know so far about him is from others' POVs, the servants, the Reapers, Arthur, and even Ciel himself. But the man himself remained tight-lipped. It's just like what Bard & Ciel said in the Murder arc, none of them knew where he came from, whom he served before. Bard only knows him to be the perfect butler, and Ciel didn't care, as long as Sebastian can give him what he wanted. As for the Reapers, well, it seems that they despise each other.

Is Sebastian the only demon in Kuro? No.

Grell mentioned that she was surprised to find a demon posing as a butler, which implied that there are other demons out there, but none of them has ever played the role of a butler before (as far as Grell could tell, at least).

And Will also mentioned it in the Circus arc, implying that there are other demons who'd scavenge for a meal.

And to make things even more certain, Sebastian himself has talked about his own kind.

Even Undertaker has questioned his 'motive' in Campania arc.

Now, having said that, while Sebastian is not the only demon in the Kuro verse, we can safely assume that he's not quite like other demons. Or at the very least, he has changed. He's tired of consuming souls mindlessly and he's now actively working to cultivate his next meal, a. k. a. Ciel, as per his own words in the Circus arc.

Admittedly, the Reapers might know a whole lot more about demons compared to Ciel and Bard, but I think we can safely say that whatever these Reapers know about demons do not fully apply to this particular demon.

When it comes to Sebastian Michaelis, nobody quite knows what kind of demon he is. This is not a ship post, but I'd still say that Ciel knows him best - compared to other characters, but even then, he doesn't know a whole lot about him.

Ciel knows him well enough to trust him - and not to trust him. But even then, he still doesn't know him that wellz or at least, Sebastian doesn't show him that much part of himself, as evidenced in the Green Witch arc.

Ciel told him to be 'a beast', and Sebastian himself said later on that what he currently finds most fascinating is to play the part of Ciel's butler. Ciel clearly doesn't know/understand this.

The thing is, Sebastian is not all brawl and no brain. I personally believe that he has an eidetic/photographic memory, which means he has perfect recall. But being intelligent is so much more than that.

Throughout the manga, Sebastian has shown that he is smart, cunning, scheming, and he is one hell of a manipulative bastard. He's creative and resourceful, as shown over and over again. When he battled Grell, how he came up with the Curry Bun, how he got the information about Kelvin from Beast, how he battled Undertaker onboard of Campania, how he his own way into Weston, and he was shown taking many initiatives during the Green Witch arc.

As much as Ciel tried to keep him under control, the demon would always find ways to challenge him and find loopholes and to play his own games (like with those poisonous snakesz for example). He is no idiot.

What fascinates me the most is how little we know of him, and yet, despite all those knowledge - or lack thereof, we can see how his character developed throughout the course of the manga.

And when this is all over, Ciel Phantomhive might be a blip in the long life of this demon, but he'd have the most impact in the demon's existence & character. Which is why this demon has chosen to tell this particular story of his adventures as the young earl's butler. Because if you really think about it, Kuro is Sebastian's story about this foolish yet beautiful boy and his path to revenge. He's the narrator and the story-teller and maybe that's also why we don't quite know a whole lot about him...

In other words, Kuro is Sebastian's recipe book about how to microwave a Victorian boy.

[steviewashere]

🪱🪱Worm Wednesday!!!!!🪱🪱

I was tagged by the lovely @hotluncheddie! Hello, I'm sorry for the rambling mess this is going to be. But I know I missed this like two weeks ago, so bear with me.

Okay, I'm going to try and be normal here. I have, honestly, so many worms in my brain. They're dancing and stomping and I'm just going fucking nuts with how much is in my brain at the moment. And also I took excedrin this morning for my migraine and that had caffeine in it and it's more caffeine than I would normally have—anyway.

Y'all already know one of my brain worms, the whole omega verse sensitive nips omega Steve thing. Which, I will plug the post here because I don't have the energy (yes, I do, but I don't want to echo myself) to share all the craziness about that in one post.

I'm also thinking about young Steve Harrington, which is kudos to this post and lots of people's tweets over on the twitter. I won't go into it, same reasons as the omega verse thing so just...again, bear with me.

But! But the actual brain worms I'm having currently, in this very moment, also have to do with another post I made on here. I want to go more in-depth with, though. So, some days ago, I came across an Instagram Reel that was a clip from the YouTube video interview between Jon Bernthal and Dungeon Master Deborah Ann Woll.

So, brief brief summary of this video is basically: Jon Bernthal says that he wants to play D&D, Deborah Ann Woll then gives him a scenario of walking through the woods and while he's walking he hears snap of twigs, and then she basically prompts him with "What do you do?" And he responds, now I can't remember exactly what he says, but I believe it had something to do with investigating the source of the snapped twigs.

Anyway, the video is excellent and you all should check it out. She basically explains D&D in a way that would make sense to anybody, in the matters of asking a player or a potential player what they'd do in certain scenarios, then bringing in the "rougher" elements such as the History checks or Perception checks in the game.

And I want to write something along the lines of Steve approaching Eddie about D&D. Maybe he wants to play because Dustin keeps bugging him about it, but he's too nervous to accept. Maybe he just wants to know what it's like. Maybe he even wants to be a substitute player one of these days just in case somebody can't show up. Something, y'know, where he's approaching Eddie. But he's really, really confused about where to even begin. He's got a character sheet, he's looking at the manuals loaned to him or he even bought himself, he's looking at all these stats and all these options and he just doesn't know where to begin.

Also, brief intervene here, I would be basing this off of 5e rules because that's what I play and frequently toy with. So...don't be mad at me if I get something "inaccurate for the time". I, first of all, honestly don't care. And second, I was not alive in like 1977 when the game first came out. And there's nobody in my life who played it then or possibly has played it ever outside of 5e. Moving on.

So, he tries to explain his character sheet to Eddie, obviously getting a bit overwhelmed in the process. But Eddie stops him. Says something like, "Hold on, okay? Let's just take a baby step here. I'm going to give you a scenario and then I want you to tell me what you'd do."

And he lays out that same, or even just something similar, to what Deborah Ann Woll gave. (I'm going to base this off of the video. Very original, I am.) So it's something like:

"Okay, you've got a small dagger attached to your belt, it's concealed within a hilt. And on your back, there's a bow and a quiver—or a pouch—of arrows. You're walking through the woods. It's dark, heavy clouds hanging overhead, moon obstructed, you can barely see your surroundings. There's leaves under your feet, gravel, sticks. But then, before you can step your foot down next, something crunches in the distance on your left. What do you do?"

There's a pause. A long moment where Steve is considering his options.

"It's a far away sound, right?" Steve checks and Eddie nods. There's a little hmph from Steve as he continues to think. "Can I tell how far away it is? Is there a way to distinct the length of it?"

Eddie maybe smirks, eyes already glowing. "Give a perception check." And at Steve's befuddled expression, leaning in and brows furrowed, Eddie continues on. "So, you're going to roll one of those dice that you always see the kids with. The D20, that's the one you'd use right now. 20 is the highest you can get"—

"The best I can get. And 1 is obviously the lowest, so the worst."

"Right! So...let's say you were to pick up a D20 right now and roll it. You get a...a fourteen. And your perception, one of those skills on the top of your paper"—and Eddie would grab Steve's character sheet, to point out the number he already placed there—"this one right here. And on your paper, it looks to be pretty high. A sixteen is what you have. So...I'm going to ask you to add three more to your dice roll."

Steve squints at the paper. He doesn't take long to do the math, muttering a little under his breath. "Okay...I'd have a seventeen for my perception check." And he looks up to Eddie for confirmation, in which he gets. "And if it's possible out of twenty...that means I can probably figure it out well, right?"

Eddie nods with a smug hum. "You're already a natural." He leans back a little from Steve. Eyes away in thought. Goes on, "So, I'll know right away, based on that number you give me that you're extremely perceptive. I tell you...okay, the sound you hear is roughly ten feet away on your left."

"That's really close," Steve murmurs. "I think I'll...I'll ready that bow on my back. Take it off, grab for one of my arrows. Poise it."

"Mmm...And as soon as you get your bow in the right position, you begin to make out what seems like a pair of eyes. From the darkness between the trees, those eyes emerge closer and closer, revealing the large figure of a sixteen foot owlbear. Its feathers are spread wide, splaying defensively. Eyes glowing, it seems, yellow and bright. The body girth of a bear, but the head and mannerisms of an owl. It trills and squawks in your face. What do you do?"

Anyway, it would go from there. Tried to figure out a monster that wasn't an owlbear because that's what was used in the video. But uh...my brain is not being original right now, so that's basically the whole example from the video. But I just adore that video so much, the simple, yet impactful way she taught the basics. And I think it could translate so well to Eddie and Steve messing with D&D together.

Sorry for a long ass post lmao

Tagging (no pressure): @puppy-steve @scoops-aboy86 @ataliagold @marvel-ous-m @pearynice

@wheneverfeasible @rogueddie @sidekick-hero

[doug-meat]

parts of the npmd soundtrack that scratch my brain perfectly (act one)

this soundtrack is so good. this is a long post so its all under the cut Part two coming soon. also i alternate between chara names and actor names idk why i do that. i hope this is even slightly comprehensible

HIGH SCHOOL IS KILLING ME

the little grace note in the piano bit in the last line of the piano melody before richie starts singing in (i hope this makes Sense)

jon's voice for real . just through this whole show

"a thread" and "i'm scared" happening at the same time

the violins(??) coming in when ruth starts singing

richie and ruth's harmonies during "the weight has got me sweating" bit

the "and i can survive it for only so long" harmonies

steph's "shit"

the way steph says "couldn't fuckin' study"

FOR THE CLASS OF TWENTY TWENTY WURN

agh Agh AGH!

the whispered "i'm so fuckin' dead"s underneath steph and pete's dialogue

steph and pete's repeated "my melody"s

the howling

the second delayed vocal line underneath the last bit of the last chorus

LITERAL MONSTER

the "HUH" at the start

the guitar riff motif

the little guitar squeal right before pete starts singing

the way pete says locker

richie's little riff on "seduce her"

the chorus harmonies

everyone knows how he BANGS!

the "and we pray and we pray harmonies"

you better you better!

kims voice in the he roars part <3

the harmonies in this song in general

will branners voice in this song SO GOOD

the "HUH HUH"s behind max's i roar bit

max's "don't need no one to tell me" verse UGH so good

NO ONE'S GONNA STOP ME!

max's harmonies on kind, size and rise

I WILL CLAIM WHAT IS MINE!

COOL AS I THINK I AM

the piano motif Can you tell i love motifs

i bet this song'll suck!

oo woah oo woah oh Oh

when the violins come in especially their little BA DA DUMS after "princess leia told me"

what if i were King of the hill!

the drums kicking in after the one oowoahoowoahoh oh

ensemble coming in

the little growl on the second "i'm as cool as she thinks i am"

THEN AGAIN I'M DERANGED

she's the brawn i'm the brains!

the electric guitar kicking in

IF I CAN FINALLY BE COOL I WILL KNOW THAT I'M NOT A LOSER

I'M THE RULER!!!!!!

DIRTY GIRL

the synth and drums

the way max says behave and be-betray me

baaaabe I'mma love ya all night lOOOooooong

THE LIKE MORE SYNTH KICKING IN HALFWAY THROUGH THE FIRST CHORUS UGH SO GOOD

the way grace says classroom

you want me cant be skipping skewl!

grace's "be-behayveee" UGH <3

THE GROWL ON "on your knees pray along"

the chorus harmonies <3

I DONT CARE ABOUT YOU!

the bridge harmonies

AA AAAGH!!

i'm a i'm a i'm a good girl!

WHO ON OCCASION GETS DIRTY!!!!

I WONT CAAARE ABOUT YOU!

BULLY THE BULLY

the snaps coming in

we'll make him shit his pants!

the riff on that line ^^

the jager-man??????

what's our budget?

the growl on "he's just a nerd in disguise"

stephie gonna lure him in with her charm

yeah?

JAGER GONNA JAGER OUT!

chorus harmonies!

standing for the nerdy the prudy!

WE'RE GONNA CUT OFF HIS NIPS!

AAAAHAaaAaaahh

the guitar bits in the back

we're gonna keep the beans cool! that whole sequence

BEAN SCHOOL? EXCELLENT!

THESE CHORUS HARMONIES ESP STEPHS

pete's and our problem's solved

richie's and the school can evolve

AND THE SCHOOL CAAAAN EVOLVE!!!

ugh jon and joey sound so good on the "we're gonna get the jock pleading"

the last guitar note

BURY THE BULLY

oh god she's snapping again...

this is a lot!!!

the whole hack all his limbs off bit

YOU WANT ME TO FILM THIS?

tape him up after dousing with bleach!

the chorus harmonies. every bit of these choruses i cant even isolate its everything

steph's little "bury bully line up stories NEVER HAUNT ME!"

i just cut off his nips

GRACE TELLING RUTH TO GIVE HER MAX'S NIPS

GO GO NIGHTHAWKS

the way ruth says shiny

IT'S LIKE THE START OF A NEW YEAR!

jon's higher range <3

jon's harmony on "and now i don't eat all by myself"

the trumpets behind the chorus

all the squawks

the HUH after who knew footballs a team game

corey's voice sounds so good on the "or hit u with a saturated towel"

the no more bully ball harmonies

the HUH! after no more bully ball

We're all givin the butt slaps YEAH HEAH!

the way jason sings cause we care <3

AND NOW I CAN PEE ALL BY MYSELF!!!!

the overlapping vocals coming together for "in hatchetfield high school"

N! I! G! H! T! AWK AWK! KSSSS!

NIGHT! HAWKS! NIGHT! HAWKS! NIGHT! HAWKS! FLY!

FUCK YOU CLIVESDALE GO GET FUCKED YOURE FUCKIN LOSERS AND WE'LL KILL YOU (KILL YOUR ASS)

fuuuuck you cliiivesdale gooo get fuuucked

the watch us fly harmonies

NIGHT! HAWKS! FLY! AWK AWK!

NERDY PRUDES MUST DIE (my fave song in the soundtrack be warned)

the "watch these nerds run for their lives" guitar riff before max sings

will branners voice augh

the little synthy ba duh duh duhs in the back

the BAMS! after every line in verses

the way max says "hallway safe" and "break you"

ugh the guitar kicking in and the double BUM BUM for the second verse

YA BITCH!

WOAH UH OAHHH

SHOULDA JOINED THE SMOKE CLUB YA NERDY PRUDE

the whole chorus

the watch those nerds run for their lives melody Ugh loved it in axe man loved it here

YOU PUSHED ME OFF THE EEEDGE

the way he says crusade

and youre too weak to be enSLAAAAVED

the drums AUAUDUAAUAU

CLEANSING OF YOUR KIND!!!!

the way he says anti socialites

the entire repeat after me bit. its actually incredible i cant just isolate one part of it its so good

the ensemble kicking in

IIIIM NOT A LOOOSERRRR

But you have lost. Everything.

THE HATCHET TOWN MOTIF

UGH I LOVE THIS SONG. THE NMT MOTIF

[bigbumder96]

account introduction thing!!!??

ngl i feel a bit goofy doing this🙁

general:

name: darcie

age: im a minor😭

gender: girl (she/her :3 )

sexuality: lesbian

from/live in: england unfortunately😣 east london specifically, or essex depending on if u focus on the postcode or the london borough😭 officially its east london tho

interests:

tv shows:

- the inbetweeners

- white gold

- station 19 (still have to catch up on the latest episode lmao

- 9-1-1 (also still have to catch up one episode😭)

- fresh meat

- ted lasso

- heartbreak high (both the old version and the reboot !!! i dont prefer one over the other, although i do tend to post about the 90s one more lmaooo)

- friday night dinner

- this country

- call the midwife

- ackley bridge

- baby reindeer (i wouldnt exactly call it an interest, this show fucking traumatised me, but i watched it like last week😭)

- phoenix rise

- moment of eighteen (a k-drama btw!!)

- move to heaven (also a k-drama!!)

- there she goes

- benidorm

- skins (only gen 2 tho im afraid😞)

- the inBESTigators (dont judge lmfao😭😭😭)

- little lunch (i cant theyre js both such good shows)

- dodo (a cartoon)

- taskmaster (only season eight tho for the icon joe thomas‼️)

- mr bigstuff

- supacell

im currently watching derry girls and jamie johnson atm !!

films:

- the shawshank redemption

- the green mile

- goodbye charlie bright (my absolute fav omg)

- the business

- the football factory (theyre making the sequel to this at my school im so happy i love nick love films😍i didnt see nick love himself tho💔)

- good will hunting

- bohemian rhapsody

- dead mans shoes

- ferris buellers day off

- harry brown

- little miss sunshine

- the inbetweeners movie

- the inbetweeners 2

- white chicks

- the basketball diaries

- mid90s

- spiderman: into the spider-verse

- spiderman: across the spider-verse

music:

- alex g (fav song: too many to put here, but if i had to pick then prolly the whole race, trick, and rules album, as well as hope (the song) and bobby (also the song)😭)

- tv girl (fav song: better in the dark, louise, and daughter of a cop)

- the fratellis (fav song: for the girl)

- the killers (fav song: read my mind and andy youre a star)

- the smiths (fav song: girl afraid, bigmouth strikes again, and this night has opened my eyes. guys i swr i liked them songs before they got popular im acc rly annoyed at the tiktofication of bigmouth strikes again and this night has opened my eyes😣)

- queen (fav song: spread your wings and long away)

- the stone roses (fav song: i wanna be adored and made of stone. basic i know😣😣)

my ALL-TIME FAV - the jam (fav song: when youre young, eton rifles, pity poor alfie / strangle, david watts)

- oasis (live forever. icba to type ‘fav song’ anymore😭)

- mitski (why didnt you stop me, goodbye my danish sweetheart, me and my husband, your best american girl, once more to see you, etcetera…)

extras:

- im into football and i am a big arsenal fan !!!! my fav player is def martin ødegaard, and i may or may not be one of those deluded emile smith-rowe fans who think that hes gonna have a huge comeback and be like he was two seasons ago🤫🤫🤫

(edit: im gonna kms he left arsenal🙁)

i also support england as a country (obviously) plus a tad bit of dagenham amd redbridge, because they are my local ! (before you call me a glory hunter, ive supported arsenal since i was 3 because thats what my mum and grandparents support!!! also its a bit hard to support your local when not all the games are televised and you cant afford a season ticket, not to mention i had no clue who dagenham and redbridge were when i was choosing a football team, because i had no clue how leagues worked and i didnt gaf about football tbh💀)

- i like webtoons! my fav is jacksons diary, our walk home, and crystal city killers😱 (please does anyone have any cute wlw webtoon recs im so desperate)

- in year seven my drama teacher made us watch a play (on the screen, not irl) called slowtime but we didnt get to finish it💔my teacher spoiled the ending but i didnt care and tracked down the rest of that video bcs slowtime is such a good play i love everything abt it😍

- last year i was obsessed with this book series called football academy (written by tom palmer) and it was genuinely so good but there was nobody myp age cuz it was for kids💔i dont rly read them anymore, but the interest is still there if someone by chance has read them please contact me and have a conversation with me about it🙏🙏🙏

- i also have a very obscure interest about london boroughs??? like i dont even know a lot about them, i just love talking about/watching videos about london boroughs... i blame the lb guy on tiktok

i apologise as this was very long, and i probably wont even post that much😭 sorry for the yapping tho🙏🙏🙏

[nolongerapileofashprobably]

Hi. Me again. I've been thinking and reading a lot recently about Tears of the Kingdom, and the possible... implications that its story has, and I would like your opinion on them. I would have simply sent you the posts I've read, but it'll be quicker if I give you an abridged version of the talking points. So with that said, if you're interested, let's begin:

[If you'd rather not think too hard about this game, then feel free to just ignore this.]

First and foremost, Rauru. I already asked you about your thoughts on him, and I loved your answer, but I'd like to look a bit deeper into what he represents.

So, for starters, about the Zonai as a race. I've seen the claim that the whole setup behind them about coming down from the sky and being worshipped as gods could be seen as colonialism. I think the only way that's true is if they were oppressing the people of the world, and we don't have any evidence of that, but some people think the lack of evidence means it must have happened. I don't really know what to say to that.

Since Rauru is the founder of Hyrule, you can see why I find that a little concerning. It's not clear if he adopted Hylian culture, or if Hyrule is fundamentally built on Zonai customs, but I figure its a question worth asking. And if it is built on Zonai customs, does that not imply that whatever Hylian culture was got erased?

Secondly, the Secret Stones. Rauru having the monopoly on them makes him the single most powerful being of his era. Is the fact that he is also the king not a little concerning in the face of that? Like, I've seen the argument made that people might simply have followed him because they were afraid he would wipe their races off the map otherwise. I don't think that's something he would do, but still, he and Sonia flaunt theirs like jewelry.

There's also the statement that he was apparently repeatedly inviting Ganondorf to form an alliance. Firstly, why would they need to have an alliance? There doesn't appear to be any external threat. Secondly, no matter how friendly these invitations may have been, there is still the undercurrent of "if you don't, I could wipe the desert off the map" thanks to the stones.

I've seen the claim that everything about the Zonai and Rauru's role in the story could be seen as pro-imperialist propaganda. I don't want to believe that, but I'm curious as to what your take is.

I had more to ask, but this is getting pretty long, so I'll leave it there for now.

Okay— the Zonai and Rauru’s role in Hyrule is one that I have honestly stayed away from. Simply for the fact that we don’t have a lot of information regarding either. So I’ll refrain from theorizing for the most part and simply rely on my critical literary thinking skills in order to discuss this without being completely biased (at least I will try my hardest)

For one— Rauru and Mineru are the last two Zonai and keepers of the Secret Stones. That brings SO MANY questions. How do the Zonai fit into Hyrule’s history? What are Secret Stones and why does only Rauru have access to them? What happened to the Zonai?

The Zonai are a people still so mysterious to Hyrulians nowadays and a thought to be extinct race (technically Zelda is very, very, very distantly part Zonai). Zonai thought to be gods… Now we are heading into theory land but it is very interesting to think of Hyrule’s history. While Hylians are supposedly the race closed to the gods, there was another race mentioned before in the Zelda universe that was even closer to the Gods. NOW I’m not saying the Oocca are the Zonai— but it shows us that there are races to be expanded upon in the Zelda verse and possible other gods or goddesses we do not know about.

The Zonai are thought to be Gods by Hylians… and the Hylians have a bloodline that shares the blood of a goddess. While we see a very loving relationship between Sonia and Rauru, it would honestly make sense if it was purposefully set up in this manner for them to be the first King and Queen of Hyrule. And as we see, Sonia and Rauru do wear their secret stones… but in a kingdom newly founded with an enemy in the south west whose malicious intent has been noted… doesn’t it make sense to wear the secret stones?

If I’m not mistaken, Ganondorf isn’t aware of other stones. Why would he go through the entire hassle of impersonating Zelda and killing the Queen for her secret stone if there were MULTIPLE just hidden away? Because he doesn’t know about them. He chose the weakest and targeted their stone and succeeded in stealing it.

While it is true that Rauru is keeper of these stones, we never see him monopolize them and keep them to himself. Had it been a pro-imperialism narrative, he wouldn’t have delegated them out to the others. He would have used their power for his own gain and forced his rule upon the entire land. His show against Ganondorf was simply a king protecting his people, with the aid of Zelda and Sonia sharing their power with his. It’s to force the secret stones into action— to show both us and Ganondorf that they are powerful. Naturally, it becomes the main motivation for Ganondorf in his quest to rule over Hyrule.

And the comment of Rauru repeatedly requesting Ganondorf’s presence… that was made AFTER the Modulga attack. It was Rauru repeatedly trying to peacefully discuss the attack and Ganondorf’s intent. It was not a threat. It was a basic way to hold out a hand and see if the true malicious intent is still there. And Rauru confirms it is with Ganondorf’s presence. He knows he must prepare for battle because he extended a hand, knowing it would be taken despite a knife being hidden away just waiting to strike Rauru and the rest of Hyrule down.

And as for culture, we do see that the Hyrule Zelda finds herself in is a mix of Zonai and Hylian culture. Had it been just the Zonai culture, we would have seen remnants of that reflected in the Hyrule before the Great Calamity. Instead, we only find the rare mention of the Zonai and ruins scattered upon Hyrule. Remember that Rauru and Mineru were the last of the Zonai— implementing and erasing Hyrulian culture isn’t at all supported by any details found in the game nor is a feasible feat.

Rauru isn’t meant to represent colonialism nor head a pro-imperialism narrative. He is meant to represent a King who did everything right by Zelda and in the end by his people. He makes mistakes of course, but he is the supportive guide for both Zelda and Link that King Rhoam never truly could be. The Zonai’s place in Hyrule’s history has yet to be truly discovered and I suspect we won’t gain many answers until the next Zelda game. Of course, there may be more information in the ToTK Official Guide, but we won’t know until it releases.

Naturally, I could be wrong, but I find that in a series with a character such as Ganondorf who exemplifies tyrannical, imperial characteristics… and is constantly fought against… the odds are far more in the favor of Rauru and the Zonai being a mysterious race we do not know much about beyond that they helped establish the modern day Hyrule and married into the family that holds the blood of the goddess 🤷‍♀️ and that the last two remaining Zonai would have done anything for Zelda and supported her choices no matter what

[pisscreant]

Oh before I forget: below, I have infodumped about three unfinished semi 'crack treated seriously' post-game canon-noncompliant ideas. I once planned to post them, but prob won't use the ideas here any time soon. They all involve trying to prevent the apocalypse and breaking the story/game while doing so.

They're free for you to do with as you please. Use the whole idea or tiny parts. Go nuts, because I sure did! (& again, pleeeease mention me and link me so that one day I might be able to come read!!) Message this blog or email me at artiesanscheese@proton.me !!!

Fic One: Midnight, the Stars and You v2

I wanted to play with the fact that the UI is a FELD tape computer. In this fic, the player starts editing save files to help Harry navigate The Return, much to his confusion and existential horror.

Fic Two: Volta Brackets (or the Grandpa Piss Saga)

This was my darling batshit incoherent mess. I jumped the shark, and I had fun doing it.

The 'case' part of the casefic wasn't figured out yet. I wanted to explore The Return and alternate timelines/averting or delaying the apocalypse, ect. I have no idea how the fuck I planned to actually accomplish that.

It's written from main Harry's pov. The twist I had fun was with a shady old man character dubbed 'Grandpa Piss' skulking around. Shivers and other Skills mention his activities and he shows up here and there.

It turns out that's a time-travelling older version of Harry trying to prevent the apocalypse. His stats are maxed, his morals have blurred, and despite it all he still just wants to save everyone By All Means Necessary.

A less concrete idea I considered adding to this verse involved old man Harry intentionally getting ZA/UM'ed and psychic judo-ing his moralintern interrogator so their minds switch places. So alternate body-snatching Harry slowly loses his humanity by abandoning his timeline, gta-ing some dude's body and terrifying represent timeline Harry and Kim.

Idk it was a card I had up my sleeve that I loved. Grandpa Piss was some kind of personification of how I was twisting DE into something unrecognisable, but I had too much unironic fun with him. Something something 'organ thief', doppelganger, body snatcher.

Fic Three: From You It Will Spread

Harry's mind-reading powers and Shivers checks bleed over to Kim. Then to more and more of their friends. Steadily, the number grows. Revachol hivemind time! I just had fun with Harry psychically dming Kim during cases, as well as the Skills being able to talk to Kim as well. Writing Kim noticing some things that the Skills say and prompting them to elaborate was also fun. The growing prescence of Revachol being a hivemind was also interesting to try and write. Funnier still was to write it like an eldritch group chat with Revachol as the mod. My main two goals were: 1. Write weird but cute KimHarry psychic connection and maybe nasty af sex. 2: To enable my boys to directly beam their annoying selves into the minds of their friends and coworkers.

Anyway that's it! Have fun!

[dutyworn]

❝ Make sure. He’s OK. Shouldn’t be down here, ❞    Wren says, eyes half-focused, to Chakwas. As if she would listen to reason if it was Joker buried there in the rubble. But when she’s been worried he might be dead... broken ribs is something she can handle, even if she can be overprotective when it comes to her boyfriend.

No one is dead. Her crew, her team, her family, are alive.

Tali’s words about EDI make Wren’s heart pick up pace, still. The hologram had claimed all synthetic life would die, and clearly... that’s not happened. But if EDI’s systems are somehow irrepearably altered, could it mean  ⸺  eventual destruction, permanent disability? Did she make the right choice? Could she have sacrificed herself to synthesise organic and synthetic life? Could she have controlled the Reapers instead of destroying them? It had seemed like mind games. She had followed her gut. And her people are alive, but... is it really over?

❝ The child, ❞    she mumbles, not sure if she’s speaking out loud or not.    ❝ He. It. He said. Couldn’t wipe out the Reapers. Without wiping out everyone. ❞    All synthetic life.

Her eyes unfocus.    ❝ Krogan taxi service, ❞    she says, to Joker.

"Keep your eyes open, Commander,"    Chakwas says in her firm tone.

Wren tries, but it’s hard, when everything is a blur around her  ⸺  she blinks, and they’re somewhere else, maybe the Normandy, different kinds of blurry lights, Garrus still carrying her. Something about having lost too much blood. Her entire body feels broken. Yet she feels calm. Safe.

"I'm fine," Joker offers, pressing another gentle kiss to her lips, pointedly ignoring Chakwas's quiet scoff at his half-truth. "Alright, yeah, I fractured a couple ribs thanks to the safety harness when we were knocked out of the relay corridor, but besides that I'm fine."

"A few others of the crew sustained minor to moderate injuries," Chakwas notes as she continues to run scans on Wren with her omnitool. "Nothing that we weren't equipped for and couldn't treat in the medbay."

It's then that Tali decides to speak up, adding, "We'll be in dry dock for a while making shipwide repairs - there's significant damage to some of the systems, and we'll need to properly replace some areas of the hull where we had to make emergency repairs. EDI's mobile platform was rendered inoperable, and..."

She pauses, wringing her hands anxiously before continuing, "When we lost shipwide power, EDI went offline, and at first I wasn't sure we were going to be able to get her back up. She suffered some damage in various sectors of her core programming, and while her personality remains fully intact, it's clear something happened. She's powered herself down to standby mode while running self-diagnostics to help determine what we need to do to restore her to full functionally, but it will take time."

"She'll be alright, though," Joker adds with as much confidence as he can muster. "Tali, Ken, Gabby, and Adams have it well under control. All you need to worry about is letting us get you out of here. Just try not to let the laughter from seeing my krogan chauffeur strain your ribs further, alright?"

[shmowder]

I had my suspicions... the eyes emoji may have given it away 😁 I appreciate you writing out all those tips! They'll be super helpful, especially when I get confused and am like Why isn't this working like P2?? Which I have no doubt will happen often. And the maps, yay, I love maps and have printed out the one for P2 with all the cache locations and I'll probably print these too.

Save anywhere at any time? I definitely won't abuse that at all... but still I'm glad there's no penalty for dying in P1. Even on baby mode I was about to bleed out from being knifed by 1 guy in a burned district today. Glad to have the combat tips. I've actually never bought any kind of gun in any of my P2 playthroughs and have tried to engage in minimal combat and looting so I wonder how feasible that will be in P1. I guess not very, if I don't want to starve to death. That reminds me, I'm going to have to fight the worms in the Abattoir soon 💀

No worries on the dialogue front, I'm well versed in making sure everyone in my video game party likes me at the expense of having any kind of moral fiber 😇😅

Oh, Yulia ♡ We would be so bad for each other. Give it a month and that house would be unfit for human habitation. #girlrotting

I can't tell how it was intended, but Artemy having the option of saying "Do you know who I am?" to her in that screenshot... it reads as hilariously aggressive to me. Confrontational! The way you describe all the character interactions is so funny though. It made me smile.

I know you probably didn't need this kind of response to that post but I want to acknowledge the work you put into it :) It's pretty likely that I'll move on to P1 after finishing P2 + Marble Nest. Hope you have a good night, or morning, or whatever 🫶

🐿️ anon

I LOVE MAPS TOO. It's extra fun opening my phone to show the map while playing pathologic. Also, the mental image of Artemy who grew up in this town, unfurling a large paper and staring at the map for a solid 5 minutes like a lost tourist, is extremely silly.

girlrotting indeed. Not to mention how harder cleaning would be for her with her mobility issues and the limp in her leg. She mentions in her dialogue that she can't walk around much because of it. I'm taking liberaties and assuming the injury is located in her ankle joints because that's the body part she is symbolic of. No wonder she has a roommate in P2, she's probably a lot of help to her when moving is too difficult.

I did have an idea about a new pathologic healer (maybe reader insert?) who's a medical engineer and ends up convincing Yulia to amputate her leg in order to give her a prosthetic At that time period, this is considered experimental cutting-edge technology with a lot of risks. Even the prosthetic the healer offers is still a prototype and prone to failing but Yulia takes the risk.

The tricky thing was figuring out how to cut her leg since this healer isn't a menkhu and can't open bodies. Two options came to mind. One, Yulia herself has to cut her own leg after taking a shit ton of morphine. Two, the haruspex is called in for a favour to do it for them.

But watch out! Artemy would only help with the amputation, thinking Yulia just wants to get rid of it. If you blabber too much and tell him about the prosthetic, then he immediately refuses to do the surgery or help. The whole "flesh vs machine" thing and menkhu practices forbidding mixing the two.

Either way, the surgery ends up being a success! and Yulia can be seen in more places throughout the town during that playthrough. You find her walking to the cape and alongside the river, admiring the steppe and spending more time outside in general. Man, I just want her to be happy again :(

Also, the scene I pictured of how the reader convinces her to perform the surgery is very hilarious. You just waltz in while she is at the broken heart pub, yell from the top of the stairs. "Hey Yulia, are you free? Wanna come and saw off your leg? I'm very positive I can make you a better one!'

She just stares up at you from below with dull eyes, snuffing out her cigarette against the ashtray and getting up. "Why not. Do kindly lead the way."

There is a third option, but it's more of a ship of Theseus situations? How much can the reader be involved in the surgery before they cross the line of taboo? What if they just hold the equipment for Yulia? what if they only wipe the blood away? What if it's her hand holding the scalpel, but the reader's hand holds the top of Yulia's and carefully moves it, guiding her fingers slowly to separate the skin.

If the two of you held hand and moved as one through all of the surgery, then who really is the one responsible for it?

At the least, it will give the kin a moment of pause before coming after Reader with pitchforks.

And hey, I am thankful for this kind of response. I did need it, actually. I put in effort and time into my replies and seeinh them returned like this always makes me happy. It feels like someone is truly listening and replying back, that it isn't just my own voice echoing through the blog with the occasional. Thank you <3

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

Currently frustrated at people conflating DreamWorks leadership making decisions that affect the lives of their staff and the perceived quality of some of their post-PUSS IN BOOTS 2 offerings. (Including the ones they didn't even oversee, like MEGAMIND TV Pilot Thing.)

It's also kinda unusual that "animation fans" are certain that the future outsourced DreamWorks Animation movies that'll be made at Sony Imageworks... Ya know, the main vendor for most of Sony Animation's movies? The SPIDER-VERSE movies, especially?? Will somehow look terrible in comparison to what were already partially-outsourced, sub-$100m productions? I thought you were outraged for the animators there that allegedly got exploited during the making of ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE? Now you're saying they're going to deliver subpar work on future DreamWorks movies??

No-no-no-no, the real issue here is animators in Canada being exploited and underpaid, animators on the American West Coast being put out of a job, and the bean counters trying to make animation into this assembly line thing when *gasp* you have to have the teams and resources, and you HAVE TO BE PATIENT AND PAY THEM.

I'm very upset about what's happening to animators and artists at the main DreamWorks campus in Glendale. I think it's super fucky how they've been treated lately... I was also upset when they laid off animators every time a movie of theirs flopped, pre-Comcast acquisition. Even HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2, which went on to make a lot of money in 2014, lead to layoffs after its opening weekend gross turned out lower than expected... And I was especially upset when they shuttered Pacific Data Images, over a movie that didn't even lose money... DreamWorks has a sorry history of this kind of stuff, and yet... The artists there. The real deal... They're the ones who continue to make exemplary stuff.

Even if the movie in question isn't really to our liking, the hard work is always there.

But the YouTube Animation Opinion Industrial Complex and baby-brains online have to turn it into "This is why KUNG FU PANDA 4, TROLLS 3 and the high school sea monster girl movie suck! DreamWorks, why haven't you made PEAK In Boots again???"

Watch, when THE WILD ROBOT comes out... That'll be an "exception", somehow. No, you just liked that movie. That's what. Made under the same circumstances as the last two or so pictures, they were all in development around the same time.

For me, this whole ordeal stings because DreamWorks is turning 30 and they're one of the BIG American animation studios. The work was done in-house and at PDI for sooooo many years, and now that's just... Not going to be a thing anymore. I'm sure there will be future movies of theirs that I like/love, but it's sad that it's all down to outsourcing and an unwillingness to make these movies relatively fairly. It's capitalism, it's Hollywood, it's the biz... Eventually, it was gonna really clamp down hard on the animation industry again, like it usually does... And it always sucks to see.

Again, DreamWorks has been in similar jams. The post-RISE OF THE GUARDIANS, pre-COVID days were particularly rough with all the layoffs, all the movie cancellations (still not over the partially-finished LARRIKINS getting canned just like that), PDI being shut down after 35 years of work and pioneering... The craft of the storytellers will eventually shine on.

Disney Animation has done it plenty of times, all the way back to the 1941 Disney strike days and the animation unit being severely downsized following SLEEPING BEAUTY's 1959 release, Pixar sometimes cuts down, etc. Lots of companies tried to get in on the animation game in the '90s following the Disney Renaissance and Don Bluth's one-two punch of Spielberg-produced movies... Only to fail, and it resulted in studio shutdowns (such as Fox Animation after the disastrous showing of TITAN A.E.) and lots of layoffs. 2D being shown the door lead to layoffs and cutbacks, too. It just happens all too frequently in animation-land...

... But first and foremost, I hope the animators and crews are okay. And that they find work, security, etc.

As for the movies, which is secondary to me... Well, the writer's strike ended, so I'm sure the storytelling end of things could go more swimmingly. (I'd like to think a lot of KUNG FU PANDA 4's production was affected by that and the actors strike.) While still understanding that these things are all subjective. TROLLS 3 and RUBY GILLMAN were largely locked before the strikes began, but you still had internet weirdos calling them a comedown of sorts from THE LAST WISH. That's irrelevant.

The animators strike, I feel, is what we should want. How it changes things going forward, I do not know. I don't think DreamWorks in particular will re-staff the California campus, as the damage has been done and that Sony Imageworks making their movies is their future for now. Maybe I'm wrong. But this strike has been a long-time coming, especially with what's been going on post-COVID outbreak. Animation was one of the few things that could resume production during lockdowns and make Hollywood money while everything else was on hold, and yet this is how the industry treats the medium? Yeah, something's gotta give...

I'll take that conversation over "waaah KFP4 Trolls 3 Sea Monster Girl MID, what happened Dreamworks you used to be soooo awesome ?!??"

[maddy-k-reads-all-day]

The hospital scene in Play My Way.

Okay now for the whole "Things I noticed in the Play My Way music video" part 2 where I talk about the whole "I don't wanna go in there" scene.

First off, Wooly telling us that she "isn't in there just trust me" I find it interesting how he really does not want to go into this hospital. "Hide and Seek" in the Amanda timeline is the pilot and I'm pretty sure it happens before the events of the first game so why would Wooly be afraid of the hospital. I say hospital mainly because of the scenes that follow and the heart monitor beeps flowing across the screen.

Then again, in the second game they both seem afraid of the meatman who is tied to a surgeon so... that "fear of hospitals" trait might just be Hameln trauma. 👀 (But I don't know why Amanda wouldn't be afraid them. She's straight up playing surgeon.)

Is it just me or did the door just appear out of nowhere? :/ Also. "I don't wanna go. I just wanna play my way." Interesting...

"I just wanna go... anywhere." "I just wanna go... home..."

I'd say that these lines apply to Amanda because these lines clearly fit Amanda to a T. But why are they showing up during Wooly's verse. Maybe... this line applies to both of them? Amanda is just more... forward about it? IDK seeing "I just wanna go home" makes me so sad for them tho.

Okay so my theory that Amanda killed Mr. Fox is right... also the theory that Mr. Fox was a living character similar to the opossum seems to probably be true. But then... why did Mr. Fox never come back like Wooly? And why in both games is Amanda so glad he's gone? Was he a Hameln Employee? Or an annoying character like the opossum?

Now if you play this scene in 0.25... hold up... did Wooly kill Mr. Fox? At first I thought it was Amanda... but Wooly's the one covered in blood here. And there's a bit of a pause before he gets covered in blood and gasps. Also... why are there questions marks next to Amanda's name here? Is it really Amanda talking or the demon? Okay... honestly I think it was the demon talking here. And the look that Wooly gives the demon is just... weird. A little angry even.

Either way someone killed Mr. Fox... and Amanda seems pretty happy about it. Playing with his organs and stuff. That said, the idea of Wooly snapping and killing someone in the past would be so interesting and unexpected. Because when I first heard the song and it's lyrics I assumed Amanda had killed Mr. Fox. While that could still be the case... now I'm unsure. But it is an interesting idea specifically because it is so unlike Wooly. This is literally just an idea tho.

After Mr. Fox dies, Amanda says "Now we can PLAY ALL DAY and we will play MY way." which honestly makes me wonder what kind of role as an NPC Mr. Fox played. Maybe Mr. Fox was in some way in charge of keeping Amanda and Wooly on-script in some way? He seems like an elderly character... so maybe a caretaker to Amanda and Wooly? Like... maybe someone who told them when the adventure was over at the end of the day? IDK. If I sound like I have any clue what I'm talking about during these Play my Way theory posts I don't I'm honestly just posting ideas of what it could mean cuz I don't have a solid idea myself.

Amanda goes on to say that she made her own game. So maybe the way the first and second games go is how things are going under her control? Then the lyrics say they are "puppets with beating hearts and strings made out of magnetic tape." which... yeah makes sense. They are real people trapped in this fictional world. Magnetic tape seems oddly specific too... hmm... "we're cursed to play all day, but never play our way." Hmmm... interesting... this is all so very interesting.

[elkenbulwark]

hc // illithidisms

So, something to note (aka answers the question I had about if going half-illithid 'kills' your character and let's the spicy tadpole have control) is that you can suck down pretty much all the tadpoles in game, eat the spicy tadpole and refuse turning into a full mind flayer at the end, and during the epilogue - your character returns to normal.

Birvor had basically all but 3 illithid powers unlocked, and was half illithid in the final battle, and surprise fuckin' surprise- I see his face back to normal at the end of the game with no more illithid powers, and was not expecting to ever see him like that again (at least in his canon run through) so it's like...the game's ending wasn't even the biggest surprise for me.

It was seeing that this character who'd pretty much gone to an unfixable position (and theory wise possibly was dead and being controlled by a spicy tadpole since it was hinted at that once Balduran was infected that he - the actual Balduran was dead and the tadpole was just masquerading as him w his memories) come out of the battle ultimately unscathed and only once he learned to cooperate w/everyone in the end so they wouldn't end up on the same side of the spectrum as him. Part of him probably thought he was going to just die w the brain and was ultimately just helping so his brother and their companions got out the same fate, so having him back to how he started the journey (and yet w 3 acts worth of change behind him now) was so worth the closure. :') ...(don't @ me post bg3 verse, let me be happy for him for a minute.)

More importantly it helped me throw all these little monsters into a character that's race DND wise is usually always the monster, physically show (via the transformation) all the monstrous, cycle of abuse actions he takes throughout his arc and then when I think that's it, he's at the bottom and no one can help him out of this - all it takes is for him to decide he's locked into helping the folks he's been mostly fighting the whole way (fuck all that happens) and their working together helps get his head back up over the water. Even if he's still not friends with some companions (or still just plain antagonistic) he's always going to have that deep down sense of surviving the shit storm with them all.