#I just love this game its got such cool worldbuilding and in depth writing!!

[delusional-cryptid]

OH!

HELL YES. I’ve been waiting to talk about this thank you so much for giving me the opportunity!! <- said with the vibrant enthusiasm of a thousand suns

So, when I said this would be an essay I Meant it- here we go!!

 I’ll get into why I love the phrase so much in a minute, but for now imma explain where in the game it comes from and why it's significant (in my heart). The phrase “stars, stars, stars,” comes from Isabeau’s friendquest, unlocked in act 3, when he goes stargazing with Siffrin! The dialogue initially (in act 3) is “Stars, stars, stars, all around you. You inhale sharply.” and then, in act 4 it becomes “Stars, stars, stars, all around you. You want to crush them all.” The change being reflective of Siffrin’s ✨emotional/mental deterioration✨, as well as how he essentially feels… abandoned. By his faith, his home, and the life he knows but can’t remember. I’ll get into this more in a minute!

Part of the reason that I love the phrase itself is because of the repetition, I tend to really like sets of threes (as the human brain is inclined), and space is one of my special interests so I just find the word “stars” to be very aesthetically pleasing. One of the deeper reasons is that Isabeau’s friendquest was my first interaction with In Stars and Time, because the friend who recommended the game to me let me play it on her Switch! The scene as a whole has a special place in my heart just because it was my first impression of a game and characters that mean a lot to me as it is! (Isabeau specifically, I adore him!!)

Now that we've been over why I like the phrase, let's go over why I think it's textually significant! First we have to go over Siffrin and the Forgotten Country. So, we know a few important things about the Forgotten Country and its culture. I’m gonna bullet point these so it makes more sense:

-Wish Craft was popular/commonly used enough that the proper rituals were taught to children.

-Siffrin says, in the secret library, that an important part of the ritual is to repeat the wish three times, but it doesn’t have to be three, it should be however many times feels right. All this to say, repetition is important to Wish Craft rituals, and the faith as a whole.

-Another important aspect to the Forgotten Country’s faith is the Universe and the stars. 

For example, the orrery, the star charts, the fact that “stars” is a swear word (which indicates religious significance, such as how Odile says “Gems” or how people under Christianity will use “Jesus Christ” as a swear).

So while we don’t learn much about the Forgotten  Country, there is a lot that we can infer from Siffrin as a character. One of the things that stuck out to me most is their frequent use of repetition. They tend to do things in threes quite often, and I think they also sometimes use sets of five as well (because of their party/family having five members). I don’t have evidence for the latter, but the former is evident every time Siffrin interacts with Dormont's Change God Statue to get a blessing, and when they sharpen the keyknife (notably, Siffrin says “please be sharp” three times, and then Isabeau, Mirabelle, and Bonnie mimic him, making the phrase said 6x). Point being, Siffrin repeats things often, and most commonly does so in sets of three. Not just in happy moments, he also does the whole self deprecation thing and calls himself “stupid, stupid, stupid” in various points throughout the game. However, he never does this flippantly, only when there’s emotion behind his words, which indicates that there are definitely some strong emotions behind when he says it during Isa’s friend quest! Which- I mean of course there would be! He’s desperate to be seen, loved, wanted. And Isabeau does this in a way that ties in something that inherently means a lot to them! In this case it seems perfectly logical that, when looking up to the stars, Siffrin would repeat the name of what is essentially their saint.

In regards to the Act 4 addition of “you want to crush them all,” I just love that this simple line expresses so much. For example, Siffrin knows that their home faith is the Universe, the stars, but he can’t remember learning this. He can’t remember his home, but he can see the stars and the Universe and even the island. All around them is evidence that it existed, even if it’s just in the form of a splitting headache or a sore throat. Also, and I could be wrong here because the lines between acts sometimes blur together for me, Act 4 is where Siffrin begins to learn. Everything from Wish Craft, to his language, to details of rituals that they didn’t even know were foreign. All the while, Siffrin is forgetting parts of the new life he’s made, no doubt leading him to feel like he’s trading one for another. To Siffrin, it feels like they’re giving up important memories to the Universe, in order to regain something that was stolen from them. And it’s cruel, it is, for the Universe to do this to them. It’s plain as day that Siffrin deals with a lot, especially in act 4, because that’s… the whole idea of the game, isn’t it? So he has to deal with the secrets, the repetition, the ugly feelings of wanting but being unable to ask. All the while, the Universe looks on and laughs- at least that’s how Siffrin sees it. 

Overall it’s a beautiful representation of three things: Siffrin’s faith and rituals, his feelings toward Isa and... his whole situation, and their speech patterns as a whole. Isn’t it cool that so much can be inferred from so little?? 

also I have a tiny aside that I wanted to include but couldn't find a spot for: Humans naturally LOVE threes! They’re Everywhere!! Especially in fairytales, religion, and art. There’s something called a triptych, which is a set of three art pieces in conversation to one another that are displayed next to each other. All in all, threes are like crack to the human psyche <33

Anyways THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME RAMBLE ON ABOUT THIS!! I’ve been thinking about it for a while now and I hope it makes sense because I’m so excited to put the thoughts down that it very well could be incomprehensible :3

Has anyone prompted you yet

https://www.tumblr.com/delusional-cryptid/756805408476348416/more-collage-content-he-deserves-joy-methinks?source=share

- @siffwinning

:O!! Hi!! And No, not yet!! I’m not sure what you mean tho, could you elaborate mayhaps? (/genuine)

[haevchanie]

I love the Lily Simpson video because it's so well done and I also still love the Harry Potter series. Why? Because the books aren't that deep and don't need to be nitpicked, but if you do find yourself doing that, it's still valid. You could also accept the canon stuff and create your own, more positive explanations using your imagination, because at the end of the day Harry Potter is a fantasy series that started off as a children's story and blew up, so if things don't match up too much, not to worry! You can be creative and immerse yourself more into this wonderful world.

I still think it's very well-written because I am personally very appreciative of simple, whimsical prose communicating more complicated concepts. Others aren't. That's okay. I can accept some of the weirder things in the books, plot holes, and mishaps because I can use my imagination, fill in the gaps, and call it a day. Others can't. That's also okay.

What irks me however, is the fact that shitting on it so wholeheartedly is really just being pushed out as almost something that should be a very universal opinion. It's weird and overdone, and that's exactly why I appreciate the Lily Simpson video at some parts, because it actually addresses some of the other things (I really liked the Eugenics section) in a logical and thoughtful manner. I think it's a really cool dissection. I don't really correlate it with the series too much because I don't see the point in doing that; it's just not that deep.

I genuinely like the books, and not just out of nostalgia. I think they're very good, writing, characterization, and world-building wise. It's got problems as does any original series, cause any new creative thing is bound to be imperfect and I think jkr did a decent job (given that she's jkr). You can also argue that's it's not really original, it's just a regurgitation of other concepts mashed together, but I've personally yet to discover any other series that includes the elements shown in Harry Potter as beautifully as the series does. (There's Le Guin with AWOES, and it's also got really cool elements and some of them aren't fleshed out entirely either, but I also love her writing, so there's that). It's still quite unique with its charm. It lacks more than a little depth, given it's got so many elements, but it's still very very cool. But to each their own, I could say.

It's just weird that all of a sudden there is everything wrong with the series, and more often than not, I find more criticisms than appreciation. Some of it stems from jkr bring jkr and some stems from the fact that people put it on a 'literary genius' pedestal (and while I think it's a very impressive series, just like pjo, neither are paragons of literature).

I have nothing against the criticisms, per se, it's just that most of them stem from advocative mindsets that set these expectations that the books ultimately don't fulfill well. The reality is that the writer of anything doesn't particularly owe an audience anything; authors can choose what they want to focus on more, be it plot, characters, worldbuilding, etc. It's more well rounded nowadays because of, well, the way things are now. This doesn't mean that the author is entitled to degrading issues vehemently in their writing (words are very powerful), but it is ultimately theirs to do what they want with it. And jkr wanted to keep it digestible and charming enough for the younger audiences. It definitely could've been really cool if it was a more serious thing like Hunger Games, but it wasn't really launched with that intent from the very beginning. I do think there was decent transition in tone between boom 4 and 5.

Some people expect too much from a fantasy series that started off for kids and grew into something for teens, that's all. Not saying they're wrong for what they want, it's just weird when you're straight up bitching about stuff that isn't as deep as you think it is. If y'all don't like the series, that's your business, cool, but you don't have to drag it through the mud and belittle it. That's weird, guys.

Anyway if you've read the entire thing, kudos to you, have a wonderful day.

[lem-argentum]

hi hi here’z a post of me rambling about some of the things in shadow.bringers, because i predicted i would be abnormal about it and i was right. 💛💛 <)

1. FIRST OF ALL. character writing. early into the game i remember reading someone say that shb improves a lot in giving you a lot of character moments. and i remember not entirely believing it because this game is usually so plot-driven that characters’ feelings are not the spotlight? and you especially don’t talk to them one-on-one in depth about emotions or anything. BUT AS IT TURNS OUT. THEY *WERE* TELLING THE TRUTH

from very early in..!! when you reunite with ali.saie and you have that talk with her on the tower overlooking the flood. VERY GOOD moment. just the two of you, her expanding on feelings that were introduced to you post-stb and prior, further establishing the relationship you have with her in a meaningful way. it sets up the fact that.!!! moments like this continue happening through the whole story forward…!!! lots of them…!!!! and it was so unanticipated on my side that when th.ancred just started talking to us about his struggles & insecurities in nuvy’s leavings i was like HUH!!!!!!??? AMND IT KEEPS HAPPENING. HELPS YOU CARE PROPERLY FOR THE CHARACTERS AND LETS YOU FEEL CLOSE WITH THEM. EMOTIONS FEEL LIKE THEY’RE GIVEN THE ATTENTION THAT THEY NEED, ITS GOOD. <3

2. tge setting. awesome. the premise is compelling all in itself. “world plagued by eternal light + essentially a zombie apocalypse with angelical beings” is a strong base especially in juxtaposition to earlier plots where the main threats are nothing like it. and the story leads you through different areas in such a smooth way, each introducing to you the effects of the flood on the people and auaug it’s got cool worldbuilding in it. <3 it’s not at all without its flaws (kholusia is super interesting in idea i’m a huge fan of “location has something deeply wrong with it but its residents are unaware” concepts, but, ya know. vau.thry’s whole deal could have been much better, hm……..!) but i’m in love with lots of it….. leadinf into:

3. emet-s.elch. making him a section is kind of funny HEKFK I THOUGHT HE WAS A GOOD VILLAIN. have not thought about him enough to super elaborate but the themes around him + amaurot are so oouuuououg. good. amaurot was such a change in atmosphere from places we’ve seen before and the ENERGY. was SO. AUGH. (its theme, the ticking clock, the the the….!!.!) having its destruction be a dungeon was also a great idea. having us go through the calamity ourselves to experience what it was like & the loss he’s been dealing with for eons. it’s cool. OH AND TALKING SPECIFIC CHARACTERS:

4. ARDBERTTTTTTTTTTT. MY FRIEND. MY BESTIE. I HAVENT MENTIONED HIM BEFORE. BUT HE’S EVERYTHING. you could argue he has one of the best narratives out of any character here ever. the scenes you share with him are so so special i understand why people like him so much. warriors of darkness my beloved your writing gives me So Much Feeling.

5. The Themes. in general. okay SO. you could really write an essay on how shb feels like it was written for suicidal people. truly. at the very beginning you are introduced to the premise of “your friends have figured out that you are destined to die. and they have spent their past years trying to stop it.” and that’s not the entire deal, you all still have a world to save, the focus is on that, but that theme is still there, in the background, and whenever it shows itself it is so potent. to me.

this game has a core of hope and survival and it’s a central point constantly. but in shb…. it feels most directed at you. the exarch tells you to survive at all costs, that it’s the one request he must impose on you. to “burn bright again, and live.” ali.saie has you promise against self-sacrifice (several times, actually!). and with the way everything is worded, it’s hard not to feel like the message is from real people, urging you to stay.

when the warrior of light is, well. consumed by the light. when emet tells you, in front of everyone, how much of a danger you will be, how you will inevitably hurt and ruin everyone around you — the only thing on their minds is curing you. not getting rid of you, even with all the world’s corruption inside of you. you wake up in a soft bed and are told of how busy everyone has been, desperately searching for any other route for you. (and, of course, that’s the obvious course of action for people who care about you, but to players who struggle to see that as at all reasonable, it means something…!!)

you see the light in the sky above you and KNOW it’s because of you that it’s there. that if you were gone the first would be free. and then you are told that there is hope, that you and everyone else will find another ending to this, and if they can’t, they will forge one. and everyone insists on being by your side even when who you are could bring about their doom at any moment. and ITS GOOD………!!!!!!!!!!!!!

all this to say: i understand why this is most players’ favorite expansion. um. game good, meant a lot to me. :’) THE END <3.

(AND TAKING A MOMENT TO PUT MY FAVORITE SHB TRACKS HERE, OK? OK <3. special shoutouts to to fire and sword (HELL YES.), sands of blood and the quick way (the night themes being so intentionally calm & elegant compared to their daytime counterparts really makes you think doesn’t it.), mortal instants (yeaahhhhhhhg. <3), who brings shadow (THE CROWD ERUPTS IN CHEER). OKAY THE END <333)

[doomed-era]

so zelda as a series is generally not that interested in historical accuracy to the point if you call it strict medieval fantasy I'm going to assume you've never played any of them, or you weren't paying any attention. despite the whole swords and sorcery thing, zelda generally does not try to draw from a specific time period for more than maybe one or two things pre-botw, and includes wildly "out of place" technologies at various points that seem to contradict where they are in the "timeline."

for example, ye olde neon lighting:

ye olde steam-powered boat:

ye olde baseball:

ye olde remote controlled device:

pretty much no zelda game before botw has ever been concerned with being that grounded in its worldbuilding. hell a link to the past has dwarves for no reason and a wind waker npc implies they know what brain surgery is. it's got the general aesthetic of medieval fantasy, but it never pretends to take it that seriously or stick that closely to it.

then we get to botw and they're like "oh my god what is rubber"

which, sure, fine, nothing's inherently wrong with modern hyruleans not knowing what rubber is. a culture could have very sophisticated tech and not know what rubber is simply because it's not relevant to them. however I doubt that's the case here. there's a very strict divide in technology in botw: "ancient tech" and the technology that most of hyrule has, which is...actually kind of jarring when you compare it to other games, where technology is much more evenly distributed even where there are "advanced ancient civilizations." there's no weird minigames that involve big colorful mechanical spinning wheels, no automated bombs, no implied brain surgery. which, again! nothing wrong with this, but tonally it's very different from the games before it, and I can see why others would consider it an unwelcome addition.

I'm also not saying that botw is period-accurate, because it is also not adhering to anything more than a basic aesthetic--but from what I've observed, its "open-air" design and commitment to groundedness do cut out a lot of the more colorful and weird parts of zelda, and there are advantages and disadvantages to it. on one hand, I think it can lead to some fun speculation, because all the game will tell us about it is that some dipshit king banned the cool stuff. on the other hand, it's...kind of boring. idk i dont feel too strongly about this choice

OKAY ONTO THE FUN PART. so "we are going to stick harder to the whole medieval fantasy thing in botw" thing also permeates the story, tone, and infrastructure of hyrule, while still attempting to tell a story within the confines of the previous games' sense of groundedness.

let's take minish cap as an example.

minish cap's version of castle town is super fun and godd i love it so much. everything is cozy, princess zelda is free to walk around as she pleases and enjoy a festival with her friend. no one really treats her with, say, reverence-- she's basically just a girl to the townsfolk, though an important one. zelda is a princess, for sure, but the infrastructure of hyrule and how much political power she has is pretty debatable. minish cap is not interested in answering those questions, and its atmosphere makes it obvious that it doesn't intend to. sure, there's guards and a postman, but they really don't tie into anything; they might as well just be townsfolk. it is meant to be whimsical, lighthearted fantasy, and this suits it very well!

in my opinion, pretty much every version of hyrule is meant to have some sort of whimsical quality to it, no matter how dark the game gets. I don't know if the fandom always understands this though. it's one thing to be aware of the games' level of worldbuilding when you're writing fanfic and aus, and expand upon it with careful research and creative additions, and it's another to just insert more of the trappings of pop culture medieval aesthetic without putting in any actual depth or research. and...yeah that's what some of botw's worldbuilding feels like to me in its attempt to look more grounded. it wants so desperately to be taken seriously, for you to see zelda as a person with real struggles and for hyrule itself to feel like a real place while not doing enough to make zelda real and not enough to make hyrule feel lived in. there's implied to be a full standing army in pre-calamity hyrule, there are roads and towns and prisons and citadels and forts and zelda has servants and there's a royal guard and link is an actual soldier (he has never been one canonically before botw!!) there is a LOT of implication here about how hyrule used to be structured, but it's never elaborated on and instead we get repetitive information about one or two characters to the point that it's annoying! god it drives me crazy. zelda's field research outfit is meant to look like an english riding outfit and she has ladies in waiting in the dlc!!! but it still cannot bother to make any of these choices MEAN anything to the larger story; it's just meant to look good, so don't draw any conclusions about how power works and might be abused because the devs cannot commit to the groundedness they need, and are only concerned with making it look grounded.

idk does that make sense

i'm gonna rant about botw's obsession with appearing more serious and grounded worldbuilding-wise than other zelda games but it actually being rather shallow and how it annoys me hold on

[0hcicero]

Rules: Tag 9 people you want to know better.

I was tagged by @roamingbadger :D It's been so long since I've been tagged in anything! Thanks babes!

Three ships: I am woefully not in massive shipping mode right now, and it's weird to ship characters from a book you're writing, so here are the ships I love in the shows I've watched recently - Ted/Rebecca (Ted Lasso), Gregory/Janine (Abbott Elementary), Rosaline/Benvolio (Still Star-Crossed) -- also, honourary mention to Perc'ahlia from the Legend of Vox Machina (because I've just finished watching the series) First ever ship: I feel like I'm going to date myself very badly here, but it was two ships, Eowyn/Faramir (obvs), and then uhhh in Smallville, Clark/Chloe. I'm pretty sure the first two fanfics I ever wrote (under a terrible pseudonym bc being 13 yrs old will do that to you) on fanfiction.net were Lord of the Rings. *grizzled Sam Elliot voice* Ahhh, the old days of the fanfiction wild west, when you couldn't tag for shit and 12 year olds were hunting twee little plot bunnies and announcing they didn't own characters, but had definitely taken them hostage to force them to kiss, just like their older sister's barbies.

Last Song: Round & Round by Common Tiger, Sir Bishop, Nathan -- It's kinda downtempo indie hiphop and it's been in my headphones a lot lately - it's got a great vibe for working and doing stuff and it's just delightful! Fully recommend. Last Film: Scream 5!!! It was SO GOOD GUYS! Total redemption from Scream 4, Solid script, great story, super funny, and amazing acting. It was done by the same guys who did Ready or Not, with Williamson as a producer, so you know the quips were great and also there was clearly big love for the franchise and for horror as a genre. The kills are brutal but not over-the-top gore, the soundtrack works so well, and the storytelling choices were clutch. It was a truly fantastic fucking film and it was everything I hoped it would be!

Currently watching: Ahhh I'm gonna show my whole nerd ass here, but Campaign 3 of Critical Role (Bell's Hells). I'm not currently obsessed with any scripted TV shows at the moment, so livestream dnd shows are really my jam right now - tons of great character development, hilarity, and a weirdly enticing format, which creates this sort of metadialogue between the actors at the table and the characters in the game. Also the use of mechanics and chance as part of the tools of storytelling is such a wild thing, and its crazy to see the Dice decide the nature of the story FOR YOU. I just find it all really fascinating, the stories fresh and interesting, and because they tend to be reaaaaally long and stretch over multiple years, they're incredibly well-developed and full of depth. And because of that, I will also plug Critical Role's animated TV show about their first campaign, The Legend of Vox Machina, which is an adult animated fantasy series, and its hilarious, doesn't take itself too seriously, is full of gags, gore, and is fairly raunchy at parts. It's fun! The music is great!! The animation is incredible, the fight scenes are golden, and the story is *italian chef's kiss* Season 1 is out on Amazon Prime!

Currently consuming: I'm gonna take a note out of @roamingbadger's playbook and go with food/drink here - Coffee with milk and sugar, and a slice of banana coconut coffee cake with espresso coconut glaze. I made it last night, this is the first slice, and dang, it's tasty!

Currently craving: dnd and writing...I'm kinda burnt out at the moment with work being truly crazy right now, so my original fiction fantasy novel that I'm working on is not getting the kind of attention I hoped it would, having taken a week off work for recouperation. I'm also building a dnd game world based on the worldbuilding I'm doing for this novel, which I also love a lot, and mostly I just crave spending time in this world I created and enjoying all the cool things about it, either running a game in it, or writing a story in it. For a writer, I think when I found dnd I stumbled into my personal crack den - story telling? as a game? with friends? and booze? and like fun little miniatures? YES PLEASE. Tagging (Totes ignore if its not your vibe): @mrbadwitch, @criticalrolo, @typicalbrunette, @wildnoutinwildemount, @quietstorm-thundathighs, @randomfandomteacher @nerdlove4thewin, @jessiecrimefighter, @imeeshuu

[ja-khajay]

2020-2021 Animation Watch(ed)list

I haven’t posted about animation in a while that I remember, and I know a lot of my followers are into it as much as me so I decided to make a list of the animated movies and series I watched on the past year or so, coupled with my short, spoilerless take on them. Enjoy!

Organized by

Things I saw for the first time

Things I rewatched

Under a cut for the sake of your dashboards! PS: I have not added any images yet. If you are interested in knowing more about the visuals of these movies, I might make an old fashion ask-prompted imageset list.

Part One: Things I saw for the first time

The Bear’s Famous Invasion of Sicily

Movie, 2019, Italian/French

9/10, a delightful little movie with amazing visuals. It feels like an animated picture book.

One of those “plot is in the title” media! I had never heard of this before but was heavily recommended it by my family members, who all loved it! It’s a sweet story, nothing groundbreaking but the unique colorful visual style alone makes it worth it.

The Castle of Cagliostro

Movie, 1979, Japanese

10/10. Reminded me of all the books i loved reading as a child

I assume its because it’s so old and the art style and themes are so different that it gets little to no love compared to other Ghibli movies, which is a shame! It’s fun with an endearing cast and as always, great animation and music

Mushishi

Series, 2006, Japanese

10/10 three episodes in I knew it was going to be my favorite series ever

One of the few things I’ve seen I’ll describe as life-changing. It’s absolutely lovely but never toots its own horn about it. Humble, calming, emotional and surprisingly mature. It’s pretty impossible to binge due to how intense the experience is. I just want to walk in the forest now...

FMA: Brotherhood

Series, 2009, Japanese

6/10 Dissapointing adaptation of a classic story

I read the manga for this when I was in middle school and remembered loving it. The animated version does an ok job of presenting the characters and worldbuilding and has some nice action scenes but overall looks really damn cheap and just. Not very good. Seeing I already knew most of the plot I did not have the element of discovery that made me marvel so much reading the original. It’s still a nice series but I really recommend reading it instead.

Code Lyoko (s1+2)

Series, 2003, french

3/10. 1.5 being for the opening song alone

This show sucks ass if I hadn’t been watching this with my bestie I would have dropped it two episodes in. The art style is ugly the stories are always the same and the first season has a (later removed thank fucking god) LITERAL “erase any consequences” button as a plot device in every episode. If you watch it for one thing let it be the nostalgia factor of early 00s Vidya Game Plot

The Legend of Hei

Movie, 2019, Chinese

7/10. Impressive visuals and a poor story

I finally watched this, peer pressured by the load of gifsets on my dashboard! It’s a sweet movie with really impressive animation, sometimes a bit too flashy for my taste (the action sequences go so ham they become not very readable...) but the story was just ok? The setting is barely explained and you are instead bombarded with vague epicspeech about powers and stuff that made me fondly remember Kingdom Hearts lol but that asides it’s a really good time! I need to watch more Chinese movies the few I know are just delightfully off the shits in how they approach action and I love that

Hunter x Hunter

Series, 1999, Japanese

9/10. Superior to the recent one!

I first got introduced to the series via the 2011 one. Comparatively, the 99 series focuses way less on action and way more on the characters, which I love because that fits my personal preferences! Despite mediocre filler episodes and some weird slight pointless plot changes, what it changes from the original manga doesn’t have much of an impact on the characters. The animation quality isn’t always consistent including a huge art style change for an arc (???) but it’s overall pretty nice. The series really shines in the last arc it adapts.

Oban Star-racers

Series, 2006, Japanese/french

9/10 a lovely surprise

This series is completly obscure despite having been created by people famous for their other series (Cowboy Bebop, Code Lyoko that i can name) and it’s a crime! It’s a kids show but without being stupid about it who tells the story of an inter-planetary race. If you liked that one scene in the star wars prequels you know what I mean. It’s got surprisingly nice animation for a TV series, and some truly great character design. The art style is a bit unique in a not for everyone sense, but I didn’t mind it much. It’s also THE most offensively 2000s series i’ve seen in terms of visuals. y2k kids assemble

The Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon

Movie, 1963, japanese

8/10. Classic fairytale format with incredible visuals

Watched this for the art style because I know it inspired Samurai Jack, and it delievered! I dont’ have much to say about this one, it’s a very simply film but it’s sweet. For my pirates out there if you want to find it in good quality with english subtitles it’s VERY hard to find. If you just want to see the looks of it, it’s on Youtube with portugese subs.

We now enter the Gobelins Shorts Zone....!

My Friend Who Glows In The Dark

10/10 makes me cry each time

Pure delight...great animation writing everything. A little short about death and friendship but not in the way you imagine!

Colza

9/10

Visual treat...homely and nice :) not far from a 10 but a 9 because nothing about it is that groundbreaking

Sundown

9/10

If you’ve ever been ten minutes from failing a group project because of a single dude you will REALLY enjoy this. Loved the colors and personality

T’as vendu mes rollers?

10/10

It’s SUCH a sweet little short I loved that one so much

Dix-huit kilomètres trois

10/10

Surprisingly well written dialog. Visuals are great but the humanity of the characters carries this to another level

Un diable dans la poche

9/10

Amazing visuals and the most tense/creepy of Gobelin shorts i’ve ever seen. Chilling

La bestia

8/10

I had some issues with the pacing. Interesting story and visuals choices but I was not fond of the art style

Goodbye Robin

5/10

Confusing but predictable. Both at once??? Yes!

Le retour des vagues

6/10

Cool animation stuff but felt pretty pointless

                                                                ***

Part Two: Things I rewatched

Ruben Brandt: Collector

Movie, 2018, Hungarian

10/10. Underrated as hell

Watched this fully blind for the first time in an animated festival and rewatched it with friends. It’s a crime I never see anyone talking about it given the amount of whining I see about the lack of both adult animation and 2D movies? This film is a unique love letter to art in the form of a weird mix of charming crime story and psychological horror with amazing visuals. I recommend watching it blind and also buying it to show appreciation for how nice it is!!! WATCH THIS MOVIE...

Mononoke

Series, 2007, Japanese

10/10 Visual/storytelling masterpiece in the weird shit departement

If you can stomach intense stuff watch this. The visuals are incredibly unique and beautiful and under the jewel tones and art direction high takes it’s a really cool horror series. My only obstacle to enjoying it the first time I saw it was how dense it is - simply put, it’s so...culturally Japanese it’s not very accessible to me who doesn’t know anything about the culture? Watching it for the second time helped understanding the stories more! 

Corto Maltese in Siberia

Movie, 2002, french

9/10 but really close to ten. A great adaptation!

I’m a huge fan of the original comic so I entered this a biiiittttt suspicious it would suck but it was a really pleasant surprise! It has all the wonder and charm of the original and the animation was surprisingly good for the little budget. If you’re not familiar with the series, it’s a sort of geopolitical action/adventure movie but with it’s own really poetic vibe to it. It’s almost impossible to find online but happens to be fully on YouTube so go ham I guess?

Redline

Movie, 2009, Japanese

10/10 cinema was invented for this, actually

Every review of this movie i’ve seen gives it five stars and starts by talking about how immensly stupid it is. I’m no different. It’s a masterpiece of escalating energy with the depth of a puddle and it fucking rules. It’s free on YouTube too so there really is no excuse to not watch it. Watched it for the first time on a huge cinema screen and despite this my second rewatch on my small laptop was as/even more enjoyable. If you watch this stoned with friends you might travel to another dimension

Spirited Away

Movie, 2001, Japan

10/10 deserves the love it gets

I watched this a single time as a kid and had little memory of it! I mean it’s Ghibli you know it’s going to be good as hell but this one rly shines in how colorful and detailed it is and in it’s world! It made me remember I had a huge crush on the dragonboy as a kid. I’m gay now

Kung-fu Panda (1&2)

Movie, Usa

10/10. KFP fucking rules

Honestly my favorite franchise of the whole disney/dreamworks/pixar hydra. It’s fun as hell, doesn’t skip a single beat and has amazing animation and character designs. If something is a good time I will not care if it’s deep or not and boy I fucking love these movies

Sinbad, Legend of the Seven Seas

Movie, 2003, Usa

5/10 Some great some really bad and overall generic

I tend to hate american cinema and this includes that era of animation I have no nostalgia for. Sinbad is in a weird place because I love adventure stories and the visuals of the movie absolutely deliver but it’s very predictable and TANKED by the addition of the female character, pushed in your face as “look we have woman!!!” despite her writing being misogynistic as hell lol. The evil goddess rules tho. This movie would have been a solid 9 if instead of the girl the two dudes had kissed

[neriad13]

Favorite Media of 2020!

There was a large swathe of this year during which I was unable to concentrate on reading (as there probably was for a lot of other typically-frequent readers), so, as a result, I ended up listening to way more podcasts and watching way more TV shows. Not a bad thing, but boy did I read way less books than usual. 

However, for the first time in a while, the amount of fiction I read was about equal with the amount of nonfiction I read. Last year’s reading resolution was to read more fiction, so...success??

I did read a lot of phenomenal fiction when I had the energy to do so this year.

Books - Fiction

The Martian - Andy Weir

This book is the hardest of the hard sci fi I think I’ve ever read. Every single aspect of it is minutely researched and calculated. The author literally wrote equations to write this book. The science is insanely impressive and yet...it never loses its sense of humor or humanity in the mix. In fact, they’re the thing that drives the entire story.

Warlock Holmes - G. S. Denning

Way early in the year I was strolling down the fantasy aisle at the library, when this cover caught my eye. I took one look at it, went “oh, this looks silly” and...proceeded to devour the entire series in a matter of weeks. 

It is very silly. Especially when it’s pointing out something that was silly in the original. There’s something so satisfying about Watson immediately answering Holmes with the correct number of steps in their flat when he’s trying to make his point about how most people don’t pay attention to things like that.

World War Z - Max Brooks

Every single scenario in here could easily support an entire book. A park ranger whose job it is to contain the yearly zombie spring thaw? HECK YES. I’d read tens of thousands of words about that. A Chinese admiral who defaults, steals the government’s premier submarine, loads it up with the families of his underlings and takes to the sea for years to live in the maritime economy that has sprung up in a world where everyone is trying to escape the shore? That could be an entire movie on its own. 

Every chapter was more creative than the last and as a huge worldbuilding fan, this book was so, so fun.

An Unkindness of Ghosts - Rivers Solomon

In which a queer, neurodivergent protagonist solves a mystery on a spaceship which is a microcosm of antebellum era politics! This had a beautiful, mysterious, wonder-inducing writing style and it was a joy to peer into the wildly differing minds of every single character.

Books - Nonfiction

Underland - Robert MacFarlane

In every chapter, the author visits a different hole. Basically.

It’s an exploration of caves, catacombs, mines, nuclear waste facilities and the hidden underbelly of every forest. It was fascinating. And fundamentally changed how I look at time.

Rejected Princesses - Jason Porath

After years of having enjoyed the web entries, I finally got my hands on the first book and was not disappointed. 

There are the more entertaining entries, of course and the art is as charming as always, but what struck me the most were the more difficult stories. The deeper you go into this book, the more horrific it gets. The author does not hold back on the indignities suffered by the historical figures he writes about. It’s terrible...but also very, very illuminating.

The Gift of Fear - Gavin De Becker

This book - while maintaining all the essential information in it - could be pared down to one sentence in a sea of blank pages and that sentence would be: trust your instincts. End of story.

But in a world where instincts are either customarily suppressed or going haywire, it’s not quite that easy, which is why I’m glad there is more to the book.

I picked it up thinking “ha ha, betcha can’t help a person with anxiety who fears all the time already” and...what it actually ended up doing was giving me the tools to differentiate between real fear and unfounded fear. And did help with the anxiety quite a bit.

Fanfiction

Watch Over Me - cakeisatruth

A Bioshock fic from the point of view of a little sister who is learning how to trust and be an ordinary child again. Dark and sweet. An excellent combo.

All That is Visible - Ultima_Thule

An exploration of a minor character in a well researched historical context? That’s my jam! How did they know?? A Tron fic about what it’s like to be a female programmer in the 70s.

Graphic Novels

The Adventure Zone - McElroys + Carey Pietsch

Yesssssssss! It was a running-to-the-library type event whenever my library got a new volume in. The jokes are so good, the art is so lively and the ways in which they added the details that the podcast couldn’t necessarily get across is *mwah*

Trail of Blood - Shuuzou Oshimi

Hoooooooly shit, the art style of this one!! It’s beautifully detailed and expressive, sure, but the real draw for me was how it changes with the emotional state of the main character. There’s this sequence in which he’s consumed with anxiety at school and all of his classmates become blurry and unfocused, until they can’t be recognized as humans at all, that particularly sticks with me.

It’s a horror story about a kid who witnesses his loving mother push his cousin off a cliff for seemingly no reason and is then obligated by her to keep the secret, which is eating him from the inside out. It’s so good, guys, please read it.

Level Up - Gene Lien Yang/Thien Pham

A story about a kid who is haunted by his late father’s desire for him to become a gastroenterologist. It’s funny and touching and the ending gave me what I can only describe as a feeling of exhilaration. Y’know that feeling when something unexpected but not out of left field, perfectly in tune with the narrative arc and gut bustingly funny happens, all in the same panel? That one.

Film

Searching

This is a fairly standard thriller about a dad trying to find out what happened to his missing daughter. It’s also found footage...but not in the usual way, which was what made it so compelling to me. It’s told through the dad’s phone calls, google searches, social media interactions, news footage, security cameras and webcams. It was such a cool way to tell a story.

Train to Busan

There’s a lot that’s already been said about this movie and I don’t think there’s much more I can meaningfully add to that. Suffice to say that ya gotta take care of each other if you’re going to survive a zombie apocalypse!!

TV Series

My Brother’s Husband

As close to a perfect adaptation as a person can get (barring the entire conversation in English which was...oof). I was so happy when they took it a step further and showed Kana and Yaichi actually getting to meet Mike’s family.

Zumbo’s Just Desserts

I watched a lot of baking shows this year. Like...a lot. They were my much-needed comfort viewing for the year and this one was my favorite, even over The Great British Baking Show (which I LOVE). Why? Because the pastry chef for whom it’s named makes such bizarre and wonderful desserts and fosters an environment in which the competitors do the same. I’ve never seen anything like a lot of the desserts that make an appearance on this show. Every single episode was an awesome surprise and so help me, this show had better get a third season.

She-ra and the Princesses of Power

There’s also a lot that’s been said about this one, so I won’t say much more. Suffice to say: DAMN. That’s how you do an 80s toy tie-in cartoon remake.

Infinity Train

This show’s premise is probably the most unique I’ve seen in recent years. Its balance of comedy, horror and existential dread is also *mwah* I also love how much it trusts the viewer to figure things out on their own.

Primal

A late entry sliding in before the year ends! I finally got to watch the second half of the first season last weekend and it was EXCELLENT. The pacing, the brutal fight scenes, the adorable dinosaur antics, the animation, the quiet moments - *mwah-mwah-mwah-mwah-mwah*

The most emotional moment for me was the part in which the protagonists watch, with sorrow, as the rabid dinosaur who’s been trying to kill them all night dies an excruciating death.

Also it sets up a fascinating new plotline right before ending in a cliffhanger!! Another one for the ‘had better get a next season’ list.

Games

Night in the Woods

This is one that’s been on my to play list for a few years and I was so glad I finally got my hands on it. It’s like...The Millennial Experience (TM), the game. I felt so seen, playing it. The character writing was fantastic.

Prey

I don’t know why I put off finishing this for so long. I guess I wasn’t in the right alien killing headspace for a while?? Anyway, the setting is gorgeous, the alien biology is weird and cool, the ethics are delightfully murky and the interconnectedness of the station was really cool, especially in the OH SHIT moments at the end. 

Podcasts

The Adventure Zone

I tried to narrow this down to one favorite arc, but found that I couldn’t do it. I love Balance for its comedy and creative energy. I love Amnesty for its drama and acting. I am loving Graduation for the depth of its world and the way in which the real story behind everything that’s happened is slowly unfurling. It’s a good podcast all around.  

The Magnus Archives

Who obsessively listened to every single season while playing Minecraft in about a month? Surely not me, nooooo. Of course not.

There’s also been a lot said on this one, so I’ll keep it brief. I’ve seen things in here that I haven’t really seen elsewhere in horror. My particular favorites were the creepy psychiatric hospital in which the horror comes not from the patients, but from the denial of the doctor to believe them about their mental illnesses and every single thing related to the Anthropocene. The one with the Amazonian village made out of trash - CHILLS.

[thesteadydietofeverything]

Top 10 Games of 2019

This was an extremely good year for games. I don’t know if I played as many that will stick with me as I did last year, but the ones on the bottom half of this list in particular constitute some of my favorite games of the decade, and probably all-time. If I’ve got a gaming-related resolution for next year, it’s to put my playtime into supporting even smaller indie devs. My absolute favorite experiences in games this year came from seemingly out of nowhere games from teams I’ve previously never heard of before. That said, there are some big games coming up in spring I doubt I’ll be able to keep myself away from. Some quick notes/shoutouts before I get started:

-The game I put maybe the most time into this year was Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. I finally made the plunge into neverending FF MMO content, and I’m as happy as I am overwhelmed. This was a big year for the game, between the release of the Shadowbringers expansion and the Nier: Automata raid, and it very well may have made it onto my list if I had managed to actually get to any of it. At the time of this writing, though, I’ve only just finished 2015’s Heavensward, so I’ve got...a long way to go. 

-One quick shoutout to the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy that came out on Switch this year, a remaster of some DS classics I never played. An absolutely delightful visual novel series that I fell in love with throughout this year.

-I originally included a couple games currently in early access that I’ve enjoyed immensely. I removed them not because of arbitrary rules about what technically “came out” this year, but just to make room for some other games I liked, out of the assumption that I’ll still love these games in their 1.0 formats when they’re released next year to include them on my 2020 list. So shoutout to Hades, probably the best rogue-like/lite/whatever I’ve ever played, and Spin Rhythm XD, which reignited my love for rhythm games.

-Disco Elysium isn’t on this list, because I’ve played about an hour of it and haven’t yet been hooked by it. But I’ve heard enough about it to be convinced that it is 1000% a game for me and something I need to get to immediately. They shouted out Marx and Engels at the Game Awards! They look so cool! I want to be their friend! And hopefully, a few weeks from now, I’ll desperately want to redact this list to squeeze this game somewhere in here.

Alright, he’s the actual list:

10. Amid Evil

The 90’s FPS renaissance continues! As opposed to last year’s Dusk, a game I adored, this one takes its cues less from Quake and more from Heretic/Hexen, placing a greater emphasis on melee combat and magic-fuelled projectiles than more traditional weapons. Also, rather than that game’s intentionally ugly aesthetic, this one opts for graphics that at times feel lush, detailed, and pretty, while still probably mostly fitting the description of lo-fi. In fact, they just added RTX to the game, something I’m extremely curious to check out. This game continued to fuel my excitement about the possibilities of embracing out-of-style gameplay mechanics to discover new and fresh possibilities from a genre I’ve never been able to stop yearning for more of.

9. Ape Out

If this were a “coolest games” list, Ape Out would win it, easily. It’s a simple game whose mechanics don’t particularly evolve throughout the course of its handful of hours, but it leaves a hell of an impression with its minimalist cut-out graphics, stylish title cards, and percussive soundtrack. Smashing guards into each other and walls and causing them to shoot each other in a mad-dash for the exit is a fun as hell take on Hotline Miami-esque top down hyper violence, even if it’s a thin enough concept that it starts to feel a bit old before the end of the game.

8. Fire Emblem: Three Houses

I had a lot of problems with this game, probably most stemming from just how damn long it is - I still haven’t finished my first, and likely only, playthrough. This length seems to have motivated the developers to make battles more simple and easy, and to be fair, I would get frustrated if I were getting stuck on individual battles if I couldn’t stop thinking about how much longer I have to go, but as it is, I’ve just found them to be mostly boring. This is particularly problematic for a game that seems to require you to play through it at least...three times to really get the full picture? I couldn’t help but admire everything this game got right, though, and that mostly comes down to building a massive cast of extremely well realized and likable characters whose complex relationships with each other and with the structures they pledge loyalty to fuels harrowing drama once the plot really sets into motion. There’s a reason no other game inspired such a deluge of memes and fan fiction and art into my Twitter feed this year. It’s an impressive feat to convince every player they’ve unquestionably picked the right house and defend their problem children till the bitter end. After the success of this game, I’d love to see what this team can do next with a narrower focus and a bigger budget.

7. Resident Evil 2

It’s been a long time since I played the original Resident Evil 2, but I still consider it to be one of my favorite games of all time. I was highly skeptical of this remake at first, holding my stubborn ground that changing the fixed camera to a RE4-style behind the back perspective would turn this game more into an action game and less of a survival horror game where feeling a lack of control is part of the experience. I was pleasantly surprised to find how much they were able to modernize this game while maintaining its original feel and atmosphere. The fumbly, drifting aim-down sights effectively sell the feeling of being a rookie scared out of your wits. Being chased by Mr. X is wildly anxiety-inducing. But even more surprisingly, perhaps the greatest upgrade this game received was its map, which does you the generous service of actually marking down automatically where puzzles and items are, which rooms you’ve yet to enter, which ones you’ve searched entirely, and which ones still have more to discover. Arguably, this disrupts the feeling of being lost in a labyrinthine space that the original inspired, but in practice, it’s a remarkably satisfying and addicting video game system to engage with.

6. Judgment

No big surprise here - Ryu ga Gotoku put out another Yakuza-style game set in Kamurocho, and once again, it’s sitting somewhere on my top 10. This time, they finally put Kazuma Kiryu’s story to bed and focused on a new protagonist, down on his luck lawyer-turned-detective Takayuki Yagami. The new direction doesn’t always pay off - the added mechanics of following and chasing suspects gets a bit tedious. The game makes up for it, though, by absolutely nailing a fun, engrossing J-Drama of a plot entirely divorced from the Yakuza lore. The narrative takes several head-spinning turns through its several dozen hours, and they all feel earned, with a fresh sense of focus. The side stories in this one do even more to make you feel connected to the community of Kamurocho by befriending people from across the neighborhood. I’d love to see this team take even bigger swings in the future - and from what I’ve seen from Yakuza 7, that seems exactly like what they’re doing - but even if this game shares maybe a bit too much DNA with its predecessors, it’s hard to complain when the writing and acting are this enjoyable.

5. Control

Control feels like the kind of game that almost never gets made anymore. It’s a AAA game that isn’t connected to any larger franchises and doesn’t demand your attention for longer than a dozen hours. It doesn’t shoehorn needless RPG or MMO mechanics into its third-person action game formula to hold your attention. It introduces a wildly clever idea, tells a concise story with it, and then its over. And there’s something so refreshing about all of that. The setting of The Oldest House has a lot to do with it. I think it stands toe-to-toe with Rapture or Black Mesa as an instantly iconic game world. Its aesthetic blend of paranormal horror and banal government bureaucracy gripped my inner X-Files fan instantly, and kept him satisfied not only with its central characters and mystery but with a generous bounty of redacted documents full of worldbuilding both spine-tingling and hilarious. More will undoubtedly come from this game, in the form of DLC and possibly even more, with the way it ties itself into other Remedy universes, and as much as I expect I will love it, the refreshing experience this base game offered me likely can’t be beat.

4. Anodyne 2

I awaited Sean Han Tani and Marina Kittaka’s new game more anxiously than almost any game that came out this year, despite never having played the first one, exclusively on my love for last year’s singular All Our Asias and the promise that this game would greatly expand on that one’s Saturn/PS1-esque early 3D graphics and personal, heartfelt storytelling. Not only was I not disappointed, I was regularly pleasantly surprised by the depth of narrative and themes the game navigates. This game takes the ‘legendary hero’ tropes of a Zelda game and flips them to tell a story about the importance of community and taking care of loved ones over duty to governments or organizations. The dungeons that similarly reflect a Link to the Past-era Zelda game reduce the maps to bite-sized, funny, clever designs that ask you to internalize unique mechanics that result in affecting conclusions. Plus, it’s gorgeously idiosyncratic in its blend of 3D and 2D environments and its pretty but off-kilter score. It’s hard to believe something this full and well realized came from two people. 

3. Eliza

Eliza is a work of dystopian fiction so closely resembling the state of the world in 2019 it’s hard to even want to call it sci-fi. As a proxy for the Eliza app, you speak the words of an AI therapist that offers meager, generic suggestions as a catch-all for desperate people facing any number of the nightmares of our time. The first session you get is a man reckoning with the state the world is in - we’ve only got a few more years left to save ourselves from impending climate crisis, destructive development is rendering cities unlivable for anyone but the super-rich, and the people who hold all the power are just making it all worse. The only thing you offer to him is to use a meditation app and take some medication. It doesn’t take long for you to realize that this whole structure is much less about helping struggling people and more about mining personal data.

There’s much more to this story than the grim state of mental health under late capitalism, though. It’s revealed that Evelyn, the character you play as, has a much closer history with Eliza than initially evident. Throughout the game, she’ll reacquaint herself with old coworkers, including her two former bosses who have recently split and run different companies over their differing frightening visions for the future. The game offers a biting critique of the kind of tech company optimism that brings rich, eccentric men to believe they can solve the world’s problems within the hyper-capitalist structure they’ve thrived under, and how quickly this mindset gives way to techno-fascism. There’s also Evelyn’s former team member, Nora, who has quit the tech world in favor of being a DJ “activist,” and her current lead Rae, a compassionate person who genuinely believes in the power of Eliza to better people’s lives. The writing does an excellent job of justifying everyone’s points of view and highlighting the limits of their ideology without simplifying their sense of morality.

Why this game works so well isn’t just its willingness to stare in the face of uncomfortably relevant subject matter, but its ultimately empathetic message. It offers no simple solutions to the world’s problems, but also avoids falling into utter despair. Instead, it places measured but inspiring faith in the power of making small, meaningful impacts on the people around you, and simply trying to put some good into your world. It’s a game both terrifying and comforting in its frank conclusions.

2. Death Stranding

For a game as willfully dumb as this one often is - that, for example, insists on giving all of its characters with self-explanatory names long monologues about how they got that name - Death Stranding was one of the most thought provoking games I’ve played in a while. Outside of its indulgent, awkwardly paced narrative, the game offers plenty of reflection on the impact the internet has had on our lives. As Sam Porter Bridges, you’re hiking across a post-apocalyptic America, reconnecting isolated cities by delivering supplies, building infrastructure, and, probably most importantly, connecting them to the Chiral Network, an internet of sorts constructed of supernatural material of nebulous origin. Through this structure, the game offers surprisingly insightful commentary about the necessity for communication, cooperation, and genuine love and care within a community.

The lonely world you’re tasked to explore, and the way you’re given blips of encouragement within the solitude through the structures and “likes” you give and receive through the game’s asynchronous multiplayer system, offers some striking parallels for those of us particularly “online” people who feel simultaneous desperation for human contact and aversion to social pressures. I’ve heard the themes of this game described as “incoherent” due to the way it seems to view the internet both as a powerful tool to connect people and a means by which people become isolated and alienated, but are both of these statements not completely true to reality? The game simplifies some of its conclusions - Kojima seems particularly ignorant of America’s deep structural inequities and abuses that lead to a culture of isolation and alienation. And yet, the questions it asks are provocative enough that they compelled me to keep thinking about them far longer than the answers it offers.

Beyond the surprisingly rich thematic content, this game is mostly just a joy to play. Death Stranding builds kinetic drama out of the typically rote parts of games. Moving from point A to point B has become an increasingly tedious chore in the majority of AAA open world games, but this is a game built almost entirely out of moving from point A to point B, and it makes it thrilling. The simple act of walking down a hill while trying to balance a heavy load on your back and avoiding rocks and other obstacles fulfills the promise of the term ‘walking simulator’ in a far more interesting way than most games given that descriptor. The game consistently doles out new ways to navigate terrain, which peaked for me about two thirds of the way through the game when, after spending hours setting up a network of zip lines, a delivery offered me the opportunity to utilize the entire thing in a wildly satisfying journey from one end of the map to another. It was the gaming moment of the year.

1. Outer Wilds

The first time the sun exploded in my Outer Wilds playthrough, I was probably about to die anyway. I had fallen through a black hole, and had yet to figure out how to recover from that, so I was drifting listlessly through space with diminishing oxygen as the synths started to pick up and I watched the sun fall in on itself and then expand throughout the solar system as my vision went went. The moment gave me chills, not because I wasn’t already doomed anyway, but because I couldn’t help but think about my neighbors that I had left behind to explore space. I hadn’t known that mere minutes after I left the atmosphere the solar system would be obliterated, but I was at least able to watch as it happened. They probably had no idea what happened. Suddenly their lives and their planet and everything they had known were just...gone. And then I woke up, with the campfire burning in front of me, and everyone looking just as I had left it. And I became obsessed with figuring out how to stop that from happening again. 

What surprised me is that every time the sun exploded, it never failed to produce those chills I felt the first time. This game is masterful in its art, sound, and music design that manages to produce feelings so intense from an aesthetic so quaint. Tracking down fellow explorers by following the sound of their harmonica or acoustic guitar. Exploring space in a rickety vessel held together by wood and tape. Translating logs of conversations of an ancient alien race and finding the subject matter of discussion to be about small interpersonal drama as often as it is revelatory secrets of the universe. All of the potentially twee aspects of the game are balanced out by an innate sense of danger and terror that comes from exploring space and strange worlds alone. At times, the game dips into pure horror, making other aspects of the presentation all the more charming by comparison. And then there’s the clockwork machinations of the 22-minute loop you explore within, rewarding exploration and experimentation with reveals that make you feel like a genius for figuring out the puzzle at the same time that you’re stunned by the divulgence of a new piece of information.

The last few hours of the game contained a couple puzzles so obfuscated that I had to consult a guide, which admittedly lessened the impact of those reveals, but it all led to one of the most equally devastating and satisfying endings I’ve experienced in a video game recently. I really can’t say enough good things about this game. It’s not only my favorite game this year, but easily one of my favorite games of the decade, and really, of all-time, when it comes down to it.

[taliawells]

Flash Points

this got long, so grab a seahorse and saddle up

what are some of your favorite tropes? 

It is such a cliche, but I really enjoy the fake married trope. It’s so goofy, especially when they go to great lengths to prove how ~~in love!!~~ they are. Bonus points if they are very grudging about this, but end up becoming a little bit soft and closer together. I love a found family moment, and arguably they can be deeper and just as, if not more important as other familial connections. It was a choice, and that can make all the difference. Another that gets me every dang time is when a pair always call the other by their last name only. In an emotional moment when one is injured or in dire peril, when the other just cracks and uses their first name while pleading with them to hang on just OOFs right to my heart.

do you have a favorite character you’ve written, in or outside of shiver? if so, what makes them your fave? 

I really enjoy playing Talia, simply because she’s different from the types I’ve played most recently. Talia is dauntless and ruthless, but there’s a vague nervous energy deep down and she just shrouds herself in apathy and indifference. Internally there is so much more going on. She is strong and would happily throw down if the situation would call for it, but she clings to an icy poise that’s called from her for all of the different roles she has to play. She has never felt more vulnerable and yet, more like herself on land since she’s been able to take a step back and reevaluate. She’s strong and seems unwavering, but Talia is really figuring out who she is and what she wants currently, happily putting royal duties on the backburner for now... especially when a familiar face popped back up that doesn’t have her wanting to go back to the sea quite yet.

The character I played before Talia was Stella Rosenthal. She stuck with me through five iterations, and seems much more fragile than she is. She is an entirely soft human that aims to be a bright spot in a darkening world. Her strength is in her softness, and it’s almost unexpected with how gentle she is. Talia seems unbreakable, but she’s more vulnerable and guarded. Stella was a museum curator + conservator and really, really cared about inclusiveness and accessibility throughout all facets of her life. She aimed to be a walking safe space but really struggled with her own mental health at times. Stella tried to surround herself in layers and layers of light, but she struggled in immense darkness and some trauma until she started working through it. She’s deaf in one ear and her other isn’t the greatest, and I had 8 ear surgeries of my own growing up so she’s near to my heart. She was a ray of sunshine and Talia is a ball of fire. Stella is the type to Rick Roll her beloved in sign language on their wedding day, while Talia will flip the general public the bird and elope.

do you prefer writing with small casts of characters or large ones? what are some of the pros and cons?

I think I tend to like things somewhere in the middle! Of the two, I would say that I tend to gravitate towards things on the slightly smaller scale. I love a good small group where you really feel included and integral to the plot, where all of the characters and layers of the bigger story intertwine and intermingle. I tend to like that as a more casual environment with friends I’ve written with before or friends of friends. I truly love getting to know people and their characters, but I’ve been incredibly picky about truly small groups. I’ve had to miss out on one due to real life issues, and it was rough having everything move forward and then those connections carried over into future projects with the same people. If not done right, it can end up being very cliquey and that’s not a good time for anyone. I’ve been burned by that before. Some roleplays are truly massive, and that can be so great for a busy time of the year where you don’t feel like you’re holding everything up if you can’t get online for hours and hours. I was advanced literate elite on a different website back in the day (I am so freaking old) but it was just deluded pretentiousness disguised labeled good writing -- it wasn’t. Bigger ones tend to move more quickly which can be exciting, but it is so so easy to fall between the cracks and hard to feel heard. I really dig the size of Shiver and the different areas of play.

what’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever done in the name of outlining/worldbuilding (timelines, research, maps, spreadsheets, etc.)? 

There was a time where I really got stuck in a rut writing bios, and I was creating yet another dark academia/murder roleplay back in the day. I had a cast of 15 characters and ended up settling on a skeleton roleplay but I wanted to come up with a fun little twist. I wanted to leave things incredibly open and let the writers sink their teeth in and really breath life into the characters. The roles were all named after flowers/plants (big shocker, bless you Jess for putting up with weekly Plant Rants with Rian™) but there were strong hints of digging a little deeper than that. Be it the symbolism of the flower, some pulled from the Victorian language of flowers, the colors, the locations. Basically, there was a lot more to the label should the writer want to dig in, or it was just simply taken at face value. It was fun seeing how it was interpreted!

The skeletons themselves were about a thick paragraph, with the bulk of things being presented in Two Truths & a Lie and a playlist for each character. What was true and what was false was left up to the writer, with the option of swapping out two of the three for a different interpretation. Three songs were to be added to the five given, but more could be subbed out. Snippets of the lyrics for each could be pulled for that section, or a quick few sentences about what the songs (and even a few classical pieces chosen by the writers) either meant to the character (a memory, etc) or what they said about them.

It was just a different way of presenting starting points for characters and a lot of fun trying to figure out what were the truths and lies throughout the game.

share the last paragraph you wrote you’re most proud of. 

I can’t decide between these two so yikes

The ocean could be cold, so terribly frigid in the concealed, inky depths. How many placid surfaces disguised stormier waters that hid debris pulled to a final slumber upon a sea bed? There were wrecks, warnings. Something had happened here. Good, bad. Wrought upon nature by mercurial seas or upon souls by its inhabitants. There were distinct memories of explorations of such ruins, and the most vivid cast itself upon Talia’s eyelids when she closed them. Spires of shrapnel, warped wood of vengeance that had been wreaked. They were almost skeletal, and she had so curiously flit between the carved curves. The mast had toppled and bent at unnatural angles, and she figured her own rib cage looked as such currently. An irregular thud was beating so fervently against that cage in an internal collision that threatened to sink her very being. Would the bones break in the newly found fragility of a human body, or would the heart beat itself to a mangled pulp in a valiant ploy for release? Would the state it was in even matter, as Talia never intended to offer it up for the taking? One day she would love her kingdom and she would be loved in return. That would be enough.

--

Her heart had slumbered in darkness. A place as cool, calm, dark, as unyielding and eternal as the saltwater they were pulled from. It could be as serene or tumultuous as a rolling storm – ready to pull down and trap anyone that dove too deep into those depths. One person had learned the angles of a sole beam of light and learned how to reflect it just so. One person emanated light into her dark so thoroughly and Talia held it as close as she could without immolation. She was but a jealous moon. A detached, mysterious beauty that pulled beings to her like the tide before sending them ebbing away. The hand she held was warmer than hers, and Evikaia would always hold that sentiment. Before her was a radiant beauty, though dimmed by something she couldn’t place, but Talia would turn her face towards her own personal sun until she went blind. She wanted to observe and absorb every shred of warmth he had offered until her bones were drenched in his rays and sun-bleached; washed ashore and finally free of the seaside sepulchre.

describe your current muse’s physical appearance using only one, over the top sentence.

She’s got electric boots, a mohair suit, you know I read it in a magazine.

A crepuscular girl with a crescent smile, a moon’s pull to your demise under inky waves, waves & waves & waves of dark and auburn  — a red sky warning daring you to step closer.

if you had to write a novel about one of the characters in or outside of shiver, which character would you choose and why? 

I would have to go with the meyrs! I’m so excited that we have some more in these waters, but I’m so excited to see how everything plays out in the group. The group, and different writers and perspectives, would just add more nuance and ideas than I could ever do justice solely. I think it would be so exciting to explore the different kingdoms and how different people cope with courtly life. The plot of the Amethyst leaving and all of the regents pulled from the deep to unite on one task (with their own motivations or lack thereof [[Talia]]) just offer so much to explore. I think this is much better suited for a group dynamic and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.

Writing one for Talia would be rather interesting as well. She has a lot of conflicting emotions about her role as Regent and the royal court. She could have had an easy, glamorous life with Vik at her side as her betrothed, but she felt she had too much potential and the opportunity for power was far more enthralling than a vapid existence. The trials were such an extended period of heightened emotions as she laid claim to what she wanted, or thought she wanted. It’s so starkly juxtaposed to her own time on land in the 1970s, and she still has a bit of flair for that era. She had never, and has never felt as free and happy since but duty called and she was bound to answer. I’d probably have to choose writing Talia living her best life while exploring her dynamic with Vik.

[meggannn]

(based on your previous ask) do you mind if I ask how you feel about lok? is there a general consensus if it's good or bad? youre really insightful and just wanted to know if there were any major issues you had with it

yeah sure, i’ll do my best. if you want a quick answer to your question, here is a link to some of my other korra posts where i say pretty much the same thing as i do here, just in fewer words. cause this post will be mostly an unhappy summary of my experience watching the show. this post will contain spoilers, and disclaimer, i am a really biased, disappointed asshole, so i’ll just admit that now. 

short answer: i liked the concept of lok more than the product we got. a lot of that is because you had a physically buff brown wlw protagonist written mostly by cishet white men and, as you can imagine, it wasn’t handled great. when i think of lok now i tend to fluctuate between bittersweet nostalgia and quiet, simmering rage.

if you don’t care about the show summary, skip at the middle paragraph break down to my tldr.

so for those who don’t know, LOK was really my first “big” fandom on tumblr. when it was announced, a bunch of ATLA purists were already hating on it because 1) brown woman, 2) it was unrealistic to go from ATLA’s technology to streampunk in 70 years, and 3) it wasn’t ATLA, basically. it was my first big interest that i got to participate in as it was airing, and i was really excited about it. i defended it, i wrote meta, i liveblogged, i wrote tons of fic and spammed theories/wants before the damn show even had a release date. all that is to say, i was Invested, and i believed in it before i even saw it. people called me a bnf, i’m not sure if that’s true, but i did gain a lot my followers in my first few years on tumblr by posting korra stuff. a lot of them – hello – i think are still around today (i’m not certain how all the video games hasn’t scared them off yet)

i should say at this point that my opinion of LOK the show has been really wrapped up in the ugly stain left by the fanbase. korra the character has been the subject of tons of racist, misogynistic criticism since the moment we saw her back; when she showed up on screen as a proud young woman who fought with authority and stood up for herself, that was the nail in the coffin for her reputation. i agreed that she had a bit of growing up to do, because ATLA/LOK have always been stories about coming of age and maturing, but i disagreed strongly with this notion that she deserved to be “humbled,” which is what a lot of fans were looking for.

the overall consensus on if it’s “good” depends on who you ask. most people agree that ATLA is better overall: it was better plotted because it benefited from more writers in the room and more episodes to flesh out the world. opinions on LOK specifically range based a lot on their opinions of the K/orra/sami pairing, if they were involved in or what side they were on in any of the fandom wank, and also just complete random chance.

i’ll go more in depth into my ‘history’ with the show below, but i just wanted to mention that all the while the show was airing, korra was being hit with waves of criticism by so-called fans for basically being a confident brown woman who were calling for her to learn her place, respect her elders, etc. another common theme was fandom’s brilliant fucking idea that asami, a light-skinned feminine non-bending woman who was more polite and reserved than korra, would’ve made a better avatar. because you know why. (korra was often described as brutal, rough, unsophisticated, next to pretty, perfect asami. and asami is a fine character, to be clear, but that’s what she was – fine. nothing really stands out about her, which is a fault of the writing, because she had a lot of potential too.) so anyway all of this did sour my mood toward engaging with other fans outside my friend circle.

–

it was around maybe the middle of book 1 that i realized the writing for the show was simpler than what i was expecting – not that it was childish, which it was (because it was written for children, i understood that), but i felt like the plot meandered and the twists came out of nowhere. it felt like they were making it up as they were going, and it opened threads it didn’t answer. one of the biggest threads was the equalist revolution, which was a very sensitive topic that got jettisoned when the leader was revealed to be a fraud, and that devalued the entire movement in an instant. really disappointing, because i was looking forward to seeing that addressed. for a lot of people, this was a dealbreaker, and they started walking. i stuck with it, but loosely.

book 2 aired, focusing on the spiritual world and some really cool history. it still suffered a lot from awkward b-plots and loose threads it didn’t know how to tackle. korra lost her memory and then regained it 2 episodes later with no consequences, mako flip-flopped between korra and asami because bryke don’t know how to write teenage romances without making it a love triangle, and at some point bolin kissed a girl against her will and they didnt acknowledge that at all? i honestly don’t remember. anyway at the end of book 2, even though korra saves the day and prevents the world from descending into darkness for ten thousand years, due to events beyond her control, korra loses the spiritual connection that ties her to all of the previous avatars – aang, roku, kyoshi, wan, everyone. and people hit the fucking ceiling. “korra’s not a real avatar if she lost her connection to the old ones! that’s the entire point of the cycle! this show is bullshit, it’s not canon anymore!” (the entire point that finale demonstrated that korra’s power alone was enough to save the world and she didn’t need anyone else. but people found that ~unrealistic~ i guess). as you can imagine, being a fan of LOK is starting to get a little tiring by now.

books 3-4 is where the korra haters got to love the show again, because they were both straight-up torture porn. after everything she did saving the world, this is the arc where korra got beat down, tortured, dragged into the dirt, swallowed and spat back out. book 3 is a lot of people’s favorites because it was the first book that felt fully plotted out before it was put on air, which is why i enjoyed it too. but for me it was difficult to see a girl, whose identity revolved around being the avatar after being raised and sheltered to think it was all she was good for, effectively abandon her life and even her name by the beginning of book 4 because the events of book 3 were that traumatizing for her. somehow this was character development. we were encouraged to stick with it because we hoped korra would find herself again. and she did, sorta.

but it makes me furious that people who had quit in books 1-2 came back during 3 because they heard these books were better – aka book 3, the book that featured korra the least, and books 3-4 in which korra got her ass handed to her in some of the hardest fights vs some of the cruelest villains of the series. (nevermind that the book 3 villains suffer from the anime villain curse: they quickly went from “cool character design” to “wait, how does this rando group of villains show up with powers literally no one in the universe has ever heard before?” – questions no one ever answers)

anyway book 4 is a mish-mash of… i’m not sure. i’ve rewatched all the books but i don’t know if i’ll ever touch this one again. the culturally appropriating airbender wannabe, zaheer (a complete rando who somehow masters airbending enough to fly, which was a huge middle finger to airbending masters aang and tenzin for no reason) a guy who literally tortured korra one season before and put her in a wheelchair, is the one who the writers send korra to for her spiritual awakening that lets her save the day. not tenzin or jinora, her spiritual teachers with whom she has positive, healthy relationships – they send her back to her abuser who terrifies and degrades her a bit more before deciding to help. this was a pattern: the writers made both korra and asami face their abusers (in asami’s case, her father) for catharsis instead of gaining peace over their trauma another, healthier way because…. i’m not sure why. there is no reason why. and then there’s the guilt tripping nonsense of asami feeling as if she had to forgive her father, who tried to kill her, because he said he was sorry and sacrificed himself for her in the finale. it’s angst galore, if you like that kind of thing, which i normally do, except this is less angst and more just the writers trying to hammer in torture porn, grimdark, and poor attempts at morally gray nonsense into their finale season.

anyway at the end of her journey, korra, our buff brown woc, learns that she had to suffer to learn how to be compassionate and relate to her enemy. i’m not exaggerating, she literally says that. which is lovely.

–

tldr: i wasted a lot of emotional time and energy into this show and was extremely disappointed when some of the ending’s notes were “you had to suffer to become a better person” and “forgive your abusers/villains because aren’t we all the same in the end?”

but also on a strictly narrative level, LOK also bit off way more than it could chew both emotionally and thematically. it had an amazing premise, but it was not committed to

utilizing the steampunk genre to its best potential in the bending world (after the creativity in the rest of the worldbuilding, the LOK series finale was literally fighting a giant robot – seriously?)

giving its hero the respect and character arc she deserved. and i don’t say that because i think korra had no growing up to do in b1, she did, but she didn’t deserve for it to happen like that.

so basically i realized that a lot of the writers that made ATLA great weren’t brought back for LOK, and it showed. i realized that the LOK writers, when they listened to fans, were listening to the fans that whined the loudest, or (more likely, since they plan seasons years before we see them) they thought from the beginning that it was a good idea for korra to go through years’ worth of pain just to be spat out a humbler, “better” person

the reason i told you all that about me defending LOK in the beginning is because i need you to understand that i believed in LOK longer than i probably should’ve. i wanted it to be everything i was expecting in a diverse children’s show with an unorthodox female protaganist. but just because they had a brown wlw heroine doesn’t mean that they deserved to be praised for it when they treated her like garbage.

and korra and asami walk into a beam of light together in the last second of the show and i’m supposed to applaud the writers for their bravery or something

[sodrippy]

What are your all time favorite books? Can you make some recs too? Any genre will be gr8 m8t.

hmmm, i havent read a tonne of books tbh, but some of my faves are-

the a song of ice and fire books, i think the character depth and development is really great in those books, plus the world building is really intricate and cool imo

six of crows and its sequel crooked kingdom are absolutely in the top books range for me, the characters are fantastically developed and nuanced, the writing is fast-paced and fun, and the plot is basically a fantasy heist which is a combo of my two all time fave genres lmao. plus! features a prominent mlm couple in the main protag group! 

(also related i suppose would be the grisha trilogy, which are 3 books written before the six of crows duology, and which take place in the same universe. i found the narrative of these books a bit sleepy but the worldbuilding is at its peak here and it sets up the dynamics etc. for the six of crows world too)

i absolutely loved a series of unfortunate events as well, but to be fair i read them when i was much younger, and i dont know if theyd translate well for whatever age you are rn, if that makes sense? i still think the plot and characters were super great though, and like, if youve seen the netflix version or the film and liked them, id 1000% recommend the books bc theyre infinitely better (even though i love the netflix series as well)

and speaking of my younger days’ faves, the chronicles of narnia are still bomb ass ok!! the third book in the series, the horse and his boy was def my fave of the lot, its unrelated to the stories of the pevensie kids, and focuses on the world of narnia outside of their scope of things, so its a really cool look into what else there is in that world!

wait also ill give two shoutouts- to ready player one which is a scifi book based around gaming and the 80s, the worldbuilding was pretty neat and it was a cool concept, but warning ya now its heavily geek boy trope based and i found the protag quite annoying at timesand to house of leaves which has again, a cool concept, and an interesting form, but gets convoluted and the narrator talks way too much about fucking women he just met for no apparent reason, so i ended up abandoning the book bc it got too tiring, but i reckon if you can push past that, its worth a look!

ok so now you all know im a fake book hoe who has only ever read like 5 books in her life.. please forgive me

[unnursvanablog]

The books I read in the first half of the year.

The Gentleman’s Guide to Getting Lucky – Mackenzi Lee: ☆☆☆☆ Short, funny, and sweet is the best way to describe this novella. Just some good times with some characters you like and their awkward romance adventure. Really enjoyable read.

Pendragon – James Wilde: ☆☆☆ I liked the Arthurian legend bits; I just wish it had not been as vague or so few and far between. I understand why the author decided to not go full force on the Arthurian legends, but I just didn’t find the plot gripping enough on its own. Everything else was just sort of okay-ish to me. I did feel a bit like the guy was trying to make this Game of Thrones-esque to me without much of the depth of Martins writing, none of the characters really stood out to me and the plot became really repetitive after a while and I really had to push through to finish it in the end. Chasing Merlin – Sarah White: ☆☆ This was not the story I was expecting out of this book for some reason. I thought I was going to get some cool, modern retelling of Merlin, but instead I just got some romance book where most of the characters were just annoying (including Merlin, how dare you!) and the romance just wasn’t doing it for me. I liked some of the references to the myth, but I was not super into the execution of it. The main character was just so dense, even if she LOVED the myth.

The Witcher 2 & 3 – Andrzej Sapkowski: ☆☆☆, ☆☆☆ I am not as into this book series as I thought I would be, or I hoped I would be. I like the dark fairytale elements; I like some of the characters even if I do not find them as deep or far from fantasy-clichés as I had been told a lot of them were. But I just have not been super into where the plot is going for the most part.

The Poppy War 1 & 2 – R.F. Kuang: ☆☆☆☆, ☆☆☆ Fantasy like I have never read it before! Really interesting mix of historical and fantasy and the worldbuilding is neat. I find each character interesting in their own way and I like how I never truly know where they will take me or what they will do. I sometimes find it a bit too gritty and violent, but I can understand why the author chose to write it like that as we explore the devastation of war. I completely fell for the first book, while the second one had a bit of of a second-book syndrome for me as it was trying to bridge the gap between the first and the third one, while also trying to tell it’s own story. But quite a fascinating read and I can’t wait to get my hands on the third one!

The Starless Sea – Erin Morgenstern: ☆☆ Absolutely NOTHING happened in this book. At first, I was quite enjoying myself and the beautiful writing and the slow pacing. I had read the Night Circus; I thought the plot would just slowly reveal itself. But there was barely a plot to be found there. Just the character aimlessly wondering around some rooms, talking about keys and books, and saying some pretty quotes. So little happened and I got so frustrated by it towards the end. I would have traded at least a half of those beautifully written sentences for some actually plot that hooks you in and takes you on a journey, because this was a beautiful bore. And the characters were not even that well fleshed out. Emma – Jane Austen: ☆☆☆ I like the stories Jane Austen writes, but I am not that into reading them. Her style just kinda doesn’t hook me in, so I don’t often pick up her books. The Witches of New York – Ami McKay:☆☆☆☆ I loved the atmosphere, the ambiance, and the aesthetic that this book had and how everything was painted by the author of these witches in New York who operate a tea shop. I mean… I am just a simple girl who lies tea and witches. That and the characters hook me more than the story itself, which was rather slow. The actually story on the back of the book took over 200 pages to arrive and was resolved quite quickly, but I didn’t find myself too bothered by that because I enjoyed the atmosphere, the buildup to those events and the character quite a bit.

Villueyjar – Ragnhildur Hólmgeirsdóttir: ☆☆☆ I liked this more than Koparborgin by the same author. The characters, the world and the story hook me more from the beginning. But it’s the ending that just sort of misses the mark for me, just like her other book. This one just felt too abrupt after all that buildup.

Daisy Jones & The Six – Taylor Jenkins Reid: ☆☆ I hated pretty much every character in this story. A lot of them may have suppose to be unlikable but still fascinating, but I just found myself annoyed by most of the things they were talking about. I just kind of did not really care. It only gets two stars because the very last part of the story made me cry. When everyone was just talking about their lives after the band ended and got all sentimental. That somehow got to me. The rest I hated. The Voyage of the Basilisk – Marie Brennan: ☆☆☆ An incredibly good blend of fantasy and the historical, even if it’s not really historical at all. But you can sense the work and the thought that went into this world, so it feels like I am reading a historical fiction. I feel like I am in a very well-crafted historical drama while reading it. I love the adventure side of this story and the characters. When the story goes to deep into the anatomy of dragons and the naturalist aspect of the journey it does loose me a bit for some reason. And I tend to like the beginning of these books more than the end for some reason. But it’s a fun adventure.

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing – Hank Green: ☆☆ Sci-fi such as this one is supposed to suspend your disbelief as you read about all these impossible events. And I had no trouble with the sci-fi elements in that regard, but I did however find the more humane aspect of the story quite unbelievable; like how all of these characters acted and the social media and internet fame aspect. It just all felt bit too unrealistic at times, or even just pretentious. And I hated how we are left with a cliff-hanger, just like the had decided to just cut the story in two for the sake of it (or more money). Seven Surrenders – Ada Palmer: ☆☆☆☆ I had a much easier time with this one than the first one. I understood the world and the characters a lot better, I had an easier time getting settled into the story and understand what was going on, which character was which and so on. So, it was just a much more enjoyable time and I really enjoyed the story and all its twists and turns that it threw at me.

The Priory of the Orange Tree – Samantha Shannon: ☆☆☆ Well-crafted and written female-centric fantasy story, but I sometimes felt like the over descriptive nature of the story pulled me out of the story a bit. It took me some time to get used to it. The story does drag a bit towards the middle and I had expected a bit of a stronger ending after all of this set-up and world-building. But I liked the world and the characters and all of that. I was expecting it to wow me, which it did not, but I enjoyed myself for the most part reading it.   Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 – Cho Nam Joo: ☆☆☆☆ This story did all it set out to do and it did it in a very short amount of time. The text does feel very dry to read and it maybe it does a bit too much of tell but now show. But I found myself really hooked and interested in what it had to say, and it did that beautifully and in a impactful way. It really touches you, and it made me cry at least and get teary-eyed a few times, as we explore everyday sexism in Korea (but you can also see glimpses of it in your society) and how it’s just seeps in and out of everything. The Library Book - Susan Orlean: ☆☆☆ There were some interesting, moving parts within this book. I love this ode to libraries, but it certainly did not need to tell me that libraries are essential to the society and our culture, because I already knew that. The book is a fun read, but sometimes it does meander a bit and goes on side-quest almost that have nothing to do with the fire that burned down the library or anything, which I wasn’t always as invested in.

The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock – Imogen Hermes Gowar: ☆☆ It felt pretty to read. The writing was pretty, but I did have some trouble connecting to it and the character in it as they didn’t seem to matter all that much to the main story, and for a while the story isn’t really about anything as the plot had very little focus, and I had some trouble remembering who was who for a while. I felt like the romance of Mrs. Hancock sort of came out of nowhere and I did not feel much chemistry between them. I was also just really disappointed by the lack of actual mermaid within the story. I wanted more of that. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes – Suzanne Collins: ☆☆☆ I personally wanted to see more how power and ambition made Snow as the character we know from the original trilogy, and I understand why some people find the ending a bit abrupt as they wanted more from that aspect of the story. But I also understand why Collins did what she did with this this one and why Snows ambitious clime from the poor situation of the Snow family to where is ended up a bit more quieter than I thought it would be. He is just so complicit in this all. He understands the system, he even criticizes it, but he does not do much do put an end to it since he knows what he can gain from it and after all that is what trumps everything. I found that to be really well done and it made Snow a really interesting, yet unlikeable character. And feel a bit more realistic.

There is a bit of a pacing problem at times, and I did feel like we could have gotten more out of those last few chapters than we did and I don’t think it capture the highest highs of the Hunger Games trilogy. But overall, I quite enjoyed this.

The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams: ☆☆☆ I have not read a lot of books like this one. It truly feels one of a kind. It’s a really fun and easy read, but after a while it does feel quite repetitive, both the humor and the plot - and I truly expected it to be funnier from all the talk I had heard about this book for years and years. I found it sometimes go a bit too slow, sometimes a bit too fast and yeah, just a bit too repetitive. I got a bit bored of it after a while and switched to audiobook to try to get through it a bit faster.

Washington Black – Esi Edugyan: ☆☆☆☆ This was such an interesting story, quite easy to read and fast-paced at the beginning which really hooks you in. I did sometimes feel like how it was written (or maybe how it was translated) take me out of the story or the style not always meshing with me and it did have some pacing problems towards the end or certain parts of the story didn’t capture my attention quite as much. But the characters were really interesting and deep.

[reckingstacks]

I finished OPUS: Rocket of Whispers and I liked the premise. good. excellent. unique. mixing almost Nordic-inspired fantasy with scifi? fucking dope as hell. neoreligions based around science and technology? also dope as hell. sign me the hell up. but boy was the execution bad and it’s kinda tainted my view of TDWFE in retrospect as well

I really REALLY loved the premise: post-apocalyptic sci-fi scavenger hunt centred around the remains of a neoreligious society who practice the tradition of “space burials”, ie building rockets, having a witch perform the necessary rites to allow the ghosts of the dead to fly off with it, and then just fucking launching it into space. cool as hell. I LOVE things that involve mashing religion and superstition and the supernatural/metaphysical with science and technology so that’s what really grabbed me when I came across the game in the first place and tbh as far as worldbuilding goes I think they did that really well

The setup for both the characters was really good and their backstories make sense and are #valid but they’re just... written so badly. They’re supposed to have known each other for two years but they talk like they’ve only known each other for 2 days and essentially spend 85% of the game regurgitating the same 3 sentiments to one another with various different phrasings. The arguing is based around their hash tag valid personalities and backgrounds and worldviews but it’s like reading something from a children’s book aside from when the dude cusses that one time. the lack of depth and bad writing is why I’m now looking back on TDWFE and being like oh so that’s a running theme in this series huh

Mechanics wise it was. fine. It’s mostly a top-down bird’s-eye-view thing where you have to walk around and collect resources and all that kinda shit, pretty standard. my one complaint is that the walking speed is way too goddamn slow it’s like walking through mud

And then the ending. Oh my god the ending. Spoilers ahoy. So you get to the last part of the game and it fiiIIiiiIIInally feels like there’s some character development going on and their relationship is actually changing (and strengthening. for the first time in two years. wow) and it looks so promising. the tension starts ramping up when they have to try and find each other out in a blizzard after Fei goes to try and find coolant for the rocket but doesn’t return after a week. I’m actually not gonna type the whole thing out here but you both manage to reunite but have to make it back to the church to survive the storm and you get this incredible scene where things start ramping up and getting emotional. The game pulls this incredible twist which is definitely A Trope but I did NOT see it coming and it really got me

And then it just totally falls flat on its ass

You make it to the church and there’s this fun banter scene which maybe veers a little too close to their relationship being right back to square one and what you expect is for them to go back down, you make the rocket, you launch it, etc etc ending cutscene roll credits

but it just fucking rolls credits? right there? you don’t even get a cutscene for the rocket launch even though you get cutscenes for the other three rockets you directly help build during the course of the game. you get a black screen and them reeling off some prep stuff and Fei says “launch” and then a still image of them watching the rocket fly off. the end.

So my final Hot Take is that the worldbuilding is GREAT and the premise is GREAT but all the investment seems to have gone there and it feels like there was more focus on the setting than on the characters that are supposed to be our window into said setting. like they planned out this awesome world and then didn’t really know how to build a player character for it. between the choppy mechanics and the bad writing i’d give this one a miss y’all