#5.1 can't come soon enough

[genshin-silliness]

We're getting a sumeru event. We are so back.

[ac-liveblogs]

Natlan AQ - Acts I & II

I don't have much to say about Natlan's AQ this time - at this stage, I think it's more competent than most other AQs before it, but that seems to be because it's spinning a lot less plates than usual.

It was definitely "smaller scale" - Natlan's enemy is the Abyss, here is how they fight the Abyss, here are some characters whose arcs tie directly into fighting the Abyss, etc. The lore is pretty simple, and it felt like less time was spent talking than usual. It's pretty "low concept" - which is fine. I think Genshin fumbles the ball on it's "high concept" stuff.

The character arcs and themes present in the AQ are rather clear cut too. Spending less time focusing on NPCs and more time with Kachina and Maulani worked, and the focus given to NPCs tied directly into the themes present in Natlan re; it's fight with Abyss. The stakes are set up rather clearly. I also like that the Abyss, Fatui and Natlan storylines all seem to be connected rather neatly (at this point). Sometimes simple is best.

There's not much to say here. It didn't actively annoy me which is more than most other AQs can say, but I don't think it made good enough use of its cast to get me really invested in anyone either, though I don't dislike anyone at this stage... it's fine. It's probably the best AQ we've had since Mondstadt - most coherent, most straightforward.

One thing I will say is that Genshin's reluctance to incorporate boss fights cuts down on some of the punch in its scenes; Kachina not getting to fight Maulani outside of a cutscene felt very lopsided given we'd already fought two NPCs and it was the culmination to that mini-storyline, and it sucked there was no boss in the Night Kingdom. It seemed pretty simple to save Kachina all things considered - I thought it was good that saving her was our motivation to go there, but I really didn't expect it to resolve so soon.

Didn't really care for Mauvika's stream of memories at the end. That seemed unnecessary given the themes of Natlan had already been established. I think the AQ would've benefited from more character work and more dynamic personalities and such, but we can't ask for too much.

Also, I thought for a second that Maulani was going to be a major player throughout the AQ given the "unity" bit at the end - the line count leak for 5.1 indicates that is not the case, which, lol. Also, I'm mixed on some of the heroes already having been found, but I guess this is one region rather than the plot of an entire game, so. It is what it is. I'm surprised by my own "this is fine".

My stance on player pandering has been made, so I don't need to harp on that I think. I was very surprised when we weren't allowed to join the Pilgrimage, and the reason given wasn't that we were too powerful not fair wheh wheh like usual. Pleasantly, mind.

It's nice that Traveler's unique purification power has come back, it's been super irrelevant lately. But given that power is going to be plot relevant, why give them all those other super special powers. It really is just to apologise for not giving us Pyro, huh.

"Forging Ancient names" lmao, yeah fuck that. Doesn't that defeat the point.

Kinda wish Kinich and Ajaw got more? They really were Just Kinda There.

Given the tone of Natlan, I don't mind people having more mundane jobs this time around, but Iansan being a sports coach is Sending me.

I like the changes to reputation quests.

[truckreincarnation]

Tug On That Line You Can't See | Luz | 5.1 | RE: Yuliya, Perry, Vee

It was quite something, to be shifted from fighting to abruptly being shifted to where everyone else seemed to be. Watching their hosts leave, and being thrown headfirst into a trial to uncover what was hoped to be the final set of secrets that keep them all stuck in place. For the most part, it’s par for the course for Luz, who really doesn’t have a real grasp at what she’s looking for in order to help solve the mystery. She didn’t miss being in these trials, though she wouldn’t recommend avoiding them either. Due to the implications. (Dying. It sucks.)

  The identity of Ocelot. The fifth hero, the lynchpin, the one who brought them all here. Possibly the true killer of the king. She has minute reactions to all that is going on.

  That is, until Frank speaks up clearly with a concise accusation towards the Cowboy’s way.

Luz thinks she does well with keeping silent. She’ll only get in the way of the chatter, with having nothing to offer in any way that would move the conversation over. However, in this, she hisses audibly at Frank, eyebrows furrowing as her lips curl into a scowl. Harriet jumps to defend, and Manami redirects in all sorts of directions.

  Her narrowed gaze sets on Yuliya, though perhaps it was better to call her gaze a wild eyed stare than a full forced glare. She is only calmed by the recognition that these are simply theories.

  Nothing anyone’s saying is making sense. Yet, some of it doesn’t sound absolutely crazy. The logical part of Luz urges her into silence, listen to all the theories and and see if any of it sounds plausible. Enough to pinpoint who the real identity of Ocelot really is, even if it is them. Reminds her that she doesn’t know them enough from the time they woke up here to now, so she can’t be sure of anything. 

(Admonishes her, because she knew this from the start and decided to want to get to know them anyways.)

  There’s another part of her, though, that screams a little louder. Claws at her deeper. From a place she doesn’t recognize within herself. However, she recalls it soon enough, even if there’s a different intensity to what she remembered. Unyielding loyalty to someone she wants to care about. Stick with them, even if it hurts in the end. Even if she already knows the ending. 

(This time, however, she doesn’t know the ending quite yet- and that makes it all the more intimidating.)

She’s rattled back to reality after hearing Germain’s response.

“...The Cowboy’s got a deep respect for animals. If it meant insulting the creatures by comparing them to Calamity’s nobility, they wouldn’t do that.”

She nods along, backing up Germain’s statement. She is out of her element, and it sure isn’t the time to think about their lovely comment. Instead, she’s just concerned with how…unstable that defense really is.

  “...Common domains. Aren’t they already not common in the first place? I know some of these domains come back around. Like apparently Alvarie and Cowboy with the Beast domain, then there’s Bian and Fefe with their Fear domains. Or even Raven with having both the Shadow and Bond domain, which Vee and Shin have. I can’t imagine there wasn’t someone else who had my own domain either, there’d been books on this kinda stuff. Which was of no use trying to figure out all the domain bullshit early on…” 

  She grumbles a little.

  “...So there’s no real way to tell what’s ‘common’, I think. Dunno if Ocelot could be one of the ones still kicking it or one of us who’ve died, either. 200 years is a long time. It could be anyone, if you try to use change with time as a factor.”

  Speaking of that room, along with what Germain had said:

  “...Well, if we’re thinking of the same room, what about the mangled note? It mentioned that a domain awakened within them after some kind of battle. If this is Ocelot, then maybe that could have been their second domain? A part of them that wanted to fight. They were looking for freedom. I can’t say…I imagine Meili’s own domain giving him much leeway in leaving that room in the state it’s in now. Then again, desperation…can turn anyone into something unrecognizable.”

  …As much as Luz would love to jump on literally any other theory as soon as possible, she can’t quite make this one fit. It’s a puzzle, and there’s a missing piece, and all these others don’t fit quite right. She wants to jam one in, make it fit, but it doesn’t sit right with her.

  It doesn’t mean that her hackles aren’t immediately rising once more when Vee once again pushes the direction of focus onto Germain just because one theory didn’t feel right and Germain’s puzzle piece was scarily close to being a good fit. Terry had been moved to Harriet’s side, so there’s nothing holding back the glower she shoots their way. She doesn’t know the Revolver Ocelot reference, but she can’t imagine they’d lie. Logic and emotion war it out in her, sorry. She's tense at her desk, holding onto all her self control so that she can keep everyone from seeing the brewing storm inside. They're all looking for the truth, after all.

  ...What does it mean, if they’re right, though? What does that truth look like?

She looks at Germain imploringly, unsure if she's silently asking for them to have a more stable defense now that Vee's added to the pile- or to just put her out of her misery already. Either way, it's eerily becoming time to sink of swim. As much as she'd rather swim, it was out of her own hands now.

[tomasblog3152005]

Writing Process Reflection

The topic I picked to write about is movie genres. I want to talk about one of my absolute favorite movies, The Thing, a horror and suspense movie. This movie is important to me because it’s one of the only movies that has actually terrified me and had me thinking about it for days on end. I’ve learned a lot about my topic already since I’ve seen a lot of videos explaining the film. I still want to research how they build tension and suspense so well in a specific scene in the movie. What I found most interesting about my topic is the techniques the movie used to make the film so thrilling, things like lighting, the effects, and the implications of the scene all build up together to form a perfect horrible scenario. 

The most difficult part of the writing process from Chapter 5.1 for me is writing a draft. What comes easy to me is proofreading and editing because this is the step where I’m usually confident in what I’m writing and I’m in the zone. Things I’ve been doing differently now from high school is getting started early on assignments. I’ve been doing a lot of my assignments way before the deadline which allows me to fully understand the assignments and actually learn from them. What's different about college work is that it’s mostly only up to you to do it. The Instructor can't force you to do any of the work, the way a high school teacher did. For this next essay, I need to focus on getting started as soon as I can so that I have enough time to brainstorm. My actual plan for this essay is to start as soon as possible and really dive into this topic. I'll make outlines tonight, start writing through this week, and try to finish up a draft that I’m proud of well before the due date.

The phase of the writing process that is most difficult for me is starting to write the draft because I usually get help on my grammar, how my topic sentences sound, and if my first paragraph is going to line up with what I’m going into. A quote that caught my attention was “Do not get hung up with your language at this point; focus on the larger ideas and content.” This was a quote from the section on writing a draft, which is the part I struggle with the most, and the quote summarized my biggest issue which is focusing on grammar when I shouldn’t. From now on I’m going to try to stop getting held up on small issues and just get to writing my main points, whether they make sense or not yet.

[magocracy-for-the-maleficarum]

Man of a Thousand Faces by Regina Spektor is an Emet-Selch song and you can't convince me otherwise