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chouhatsumimi · 3 years ago

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Hi! I am trying to become a japanese to English (& vice versa) translator. I can't find any sources to check the English to Japanese translation. It is difficult to get which grammar must be used since I am not a japanese native and don't know any natives to ask either. I have studied till N2 level but have no experience and must start freelancing to get experience so I need to figure out how to translate on my own. I can only use free translation software but I am not sure about it's reliability. I have seen questionable translations when it's for Japanese to English. Do think you can give any suggestions or anything that might be helpful?

Hi! I did put in a little time searching for the kind of tools you might have had in mind.

It seems that there are many that function in the exact same way but have different interfaces. Here are two of them. Many others can be found by searching "日本語文章校正ツール" or similar keywords. https://dw230.jp/kousei/

https://so-zou.jp/web-app/text/proofreading/

While they can point out some things to look out for, from the testing I did with them, they overlooked some pretty obvious errors, while also catching some things that I couldn't figure out why it thought it was wrong/sounded bad, or how to fix it.

There was one more I found that I didn't try, because it involves downloading software. This page explains the software, and another page on the site offers the download. The webpage is sponsored by a university, so I think it's safe to assume its trustworthy, but it might be a hassle and I can't say for sure if it works.

https://www.pawel.jp/outline_of_tools/tomarigi/

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That said, it's most common for translators to work from one language INTO their native language. While interpreters often have to go both directions (J <--> E), translators typically work either (J -> E) [English native speakers] OR (E -> J) [Japanese native speakers]. If you grew up bilingual, maybe you can translate both ways. But if English is your native language and you learned Japanese as a second language (which is true of my situation), it's pretty much not going to be worth bothering to do E->J translation, unless there are extenuating circumstances. The reasons for this are 1) You can't be sure that the translation you produce reads smoothly or is error-free 2) While you might think, but yes, if I do a really thorough check and compare it against native Japanese examples, I can be pretty darn sure it's perfect, the amount of time it takes you to do that is not going to be cost-effective. Like anything else, people purchasing translation as a service usually want the end result to be done well, in a timely manner, and as cheaply as possible, so it doesn't make sense to hire you for E -> J when they could hire a native Japanese speaking translator, or send their work to an agency to find that translator for them.

If you ARE translating into Japanese and are not a native speaker of Japanese, it is a good idea to have a fellow translator who has the opposite native language you do (in this case Japanese & English), and ask them to check it over for you (which, considering that's part of their job, you'd probably pay a small fee for). They could do the same to have you proofread their translations into English. Some translators consult friends/spouses, etc., but I think this can get old for them sometimes, so it's advisable not to rely on them for your job. You mentioned not having any native speakers to ask right now, but this is still an idea you can file away for in the future when you meet more people and get to know other translators.

In short, if you're aiming to become a translator working with Japanese but are not a native Japanese speaker, don't worry about translating into Japanese. Just focus on translating from Japanese into your native language.

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Translation software: let me make a distinction here between "machine translation" and "CAT [computer aided translation] tools".

Machine translation is Google Translate, DeepL, anything like that. There are times when they work well, but particularly with a language like Japanese that likes to imply a lot of information instead of stating it directly (such as who is doing the action described in the sentence), they're pretty much always going to miss something. In any situation that someone is looking to pay a translator to do work, it's because they already know machine translation won't cut it. One thing that's becoming more common is MTPE (machine translation post editing), where a translator "fixes" what's wrong with a machine translation (or more often than not, just re-translates it from scratch because what the machine came up with is mostly useless).

CAT tools, on the other hand, are widely used by translators. Paid CAT tools such as Trados, MemoQ, Memsource, etc. can be very expensive, and are often provided by a translation agency to their translators. (Also, most of them require a PC operating system.) There's more I could say, but since I haven't been in any situations that require them, I don't have any personal experience. I do have experience using OmegaT (free, works on Mac) and Felix (free, I use it on Windows). They both take a little tinkering to figure out how to use effectively, but basically what they do is, once you've translated a segment of text, they store the original segment and the translated segment, and for each new segment you go to translate, the CAT tool compares it to segments that you've previously translated to see if you can re-use any of what you came up with before. They can also have a built-in dictionary function, but that's basically just having your typical web-based dictionary but more automatically and in a more convenient location.

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For going into freelancing, I have a few recommendations.

Apart from CAT tools, some resources that I refer to frequently are http://nihongo.monash.edu/cgi-bin/wwwjdic?9T (basically looks up all the words in a sentence at once), http://thejadednetwork.com/sfx/ (if you're doing anything with sound effects, like manga), https://tsukubawebcorpus.jp//search/ (this is a corpus, I have another post on how to use it -here-, it's probably going to be your best bet when it comes to checking grammar), https://books.google.com/ngrams (for when it comes to figuring out what turns of phrase are commonly used in English), and https://yomikatawa.com/ (for figuring out the readings of names in Japanese, though there are other sites that work similarly).

When it comes to practicing, contests are a good place to start. The two I know of now are run by JAT in October (https://jat.org/events/contests) and JLPP deadline of 7/31 (and they're long, so it's probably too late for this year unless you're free between now and then: https://www.jlpp.go.jp/en/competition6/competition6en.html ) You can also practicing doing translations for fun. Any kind of media you enjoy (manga, video games, variety shows, newspaper articles) is a good target for doing a practice translation. Just be wary that it's not a good idea to post your translation in a public location on the internet, because it could be infringing copyright/licensing agreements, etc. Finally, there are websites like Gengo, Conyac, Fiverr and others where you can do gig translation work. They can be useful for practice, but also have the pitfall of paying, like, 5% of the rate you should be getting. This is an ongoing debate because on one hand, you can get practice while still getting a little money for it, but on the other hand, if customers can get people to do that work for 5% of a livable wage, that makes it harder for aspiring and working translators to find enough work that pays well enough to support themselves doing only translation for a living. Entertainment (primarily manga) scanlation groups also a significant enough force to merit a mention here- many aspiring entertainment translators find themselves a part of such a group. Practice is practice and developing your skills is important, but they also have many many of the same problems associated with them as I mentioned above, namely infringing on copyright and contributing to the inability of anyone to turn entertainment translation into a livable full-time job.

Another recommendation I have is to join some J/E translation-focused groups. This page lists a number of them: https://shinpaideshou.com/translation/ I can personally vouch for JAT as I am a member and I got my current job by being part of their directory. They run an online training program (eJuku) once a year around April, and applications only stay open for a few days, so if you're interested make sure you keep your eye out. Another one not listed on that page is https://swet.jp/ which is not entirely about translation, but it is heavily related and they host some good events. Twitter is also a very good place to be if you're getting into J/E translation. I prefer to keep my tumblr and twitter separate but if you DM me, I can give you my handle so you can see who I follow and who among that seems worth following to you.

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In closing, I see you say "I have studied till N2 level but have no experience and must start freelancing to get experience so I need to figure out how to translate on my own." I'd say, give yourself some time. Even at N1 there's still going to be a lot you don't understand (or at least there was for me, that's why I started this langblr). I'm sure there are differences in our situations, but it was about five years ago for me that I started diving into translation- I think I was between N2 and N1 then. I've done a lot of translating and gotten a lot of experience since then, but I also have and am experiencing a lot of burnout. (In fact, I'm procrastinating right now by answering this....) Many translators have a job and translate on the side, and it's also common to gain experience with a company or agency before diving into supporting yourself on freelance work. I'd encourage you to take a breath, get experience when and where you can, and remember that if you keep at it long enough, you're sure to get there- just don't wear yourself out or worry to death in the meantime!

OH and definitely keep track of what projects you do, how long they are, and how long it takes you to do them! Knowing your speed is important when it comes to setting your working rates. I am always doubting these, and they differ from person to person, but my current estimates are that I can do 600 moji (Japanese characters) per hour, ~10 min. of audio per hour, and I try to aim for $45~$60 per hour. Generally the lowest acceptable standard rates are $0.05-$0.06 per moji and ~$5 per page of manga. You'll definitely get requests lower than that, so remember your sanity and don't be afraid to say no, there are plenty of opportunities out there!

#translation #Japanese translation #nanikanamae #JE translation #a day in the life of translation #day in the life of translation #if you or anyone has questions feel free to ask #I am absolutely swamped with things to do right now and this probably took over an hour to write so it might not be soon but I will see it

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inventors-fair · 2 years ago

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Counter Your Blessings: Full Commentary

Hey everyone! This was a fun contest to judge. I always enjoy counterspells, and there were a lot of cool submissions for this contest. I’m especially a big fan of cards that let you copy/steal from your opponent, which there was a lot of this time around. All in all, pretty cool stuff!!! Let’s get into it!

Spell Snatch by @piccadilly-blue

I love these “punisher” style effects that give your opponent a choice, and this is a cool choice to give. What you have to remember though is that they’re a downside. Your opponent always gets to pick the better of two options. Which basically means this is a worse cancel for one more mana, which really isn’t a great deal. I also think it could use a less generic name. “Spell snatch” could be a lot of different spells. But a great name for this card (based on the flavor text I’m assuming this is prismari) would be something like “Share with the Class”.

Luminous Runebreaker by @tyrannosaurusrekt

I think the counterspell ability should line up with the ward more. “When ~ enters the battlefield, for each spell and ability you don’t control that targets a permanent you control, counter that spell unless its controller pays 2.” Or something. Other than that though, this seems good! Board protection is a good spot for a green white card, and ward does a good job of protecting without being too obnoxious.

Gale of Qal Sisma by @yd12k

I think this has good potential as a solid card. A weak counterspell/removal, that upgrades itself with a set mechanic? Sounds great. The current version of it just feels a bit clunky though. I think it would feel a lot smoother if the normal version could hit any nonland permanent OR spell, and the upgrade lets it hit one of each.

Desperate Alliance by @targnarthegnoll

I’m skeptical of a colorless counterspell in general. Counterspells are, generally, kept in blue cause they’re a necessary function for the game but not especially fun for many players, so limiting them to one color limits the impact. So a colorless counterspell is playing in dangerous territory. I also think the counterspell effect is doing little for the flavor. It helps by pointing out what they’re allying against, but I think for the most part just the creation of the tokens gets the flavor across well enough.

Venser, Reality Shaper by @hiygamer

This is a very cool card, and definitely a Venser. The one thing I don’t love is how prescriptive it is. Part of the fun of planeswalker cards comes from the choices they present to you, but this really doesn’t present a choice. It’s basically always gonna play out the same- it enters and counters some spell, probably something expensive. You +1 it the first time it gets around to your turn, and then you -4 it next turn. This changes a little bit if he gets attacked by adding more +s, but it’s still quite samey, which just feels off for a planeswalker. I think this really wants a third loyalty ability of some kind to switch things up, but the way it’s currently set up it might be difficult to find one that would actually be used. Maybe a second, different plus ability? Or maybe change the +1 to a +2? That way, Venser will survive -4ing if he’s not attacked and that gives you more room to play around with things, and give this a third ability. That or turning the -4 into a -X where X is cmc? This is a very cool card but it feels like it’s missing something at the moment.

Spirited Rebuke by @bread-into-toast

I realize the distinction is pretty thin, but this feels more like a kicker card than a cleave card. Generally speaking, kicker is used to add an upside, while cleave is used to remove a restriction/downside. Nitpicking aside, I think this is quite a neat design that just needs a few tweaks. Three mana for three 1/1 fliers (even at sorcery speed, let alone instant speed) is probably too strong, and this has the added functionality of being a counterspell. I also think the mana they have to pay is way too much, it’s probably never getting paid once let alone once for each creature and enchantment. I’d tone it down to 1 per. And finally, I feel like this is kinda backwards? To me, it would make more sense if it was always a counterspell, and could be upgraded with more mana to give you tokens to make it a more efficient counterspell. But that’s pretty subjective, and would make it not qualify for the contest, so I don’t think it’s a huge deal or anything that you didn’t. It’s mainly the power level that has me worried here.

Coup in the Dungeon City by @i-am-the-one-who-wololoes

This seems like a card that would have a very difficult time existing, cause initiative and monarch fill very similar roles in a set so it seems unlikely there would be a set with both. If there was a set where both of those mechanics were used, I could see something like this exist I think. I doubt it needs the extra blue in its mana cost though, I’d just make it a flat 3UBR. Counterspells do usually have double blue, but a card that already requires three colors doesn’t really need it.

Spell Plagiarism by @squeezyboi.

P-L-A-G-I-A-R-I-S-M. How’d I do? Cheating cards into play directly from the library is always playing in somewhat risky territory. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it, it just means you gotta think carefully about the ramifications of doing so. Randomness like this card is often used as a limiting tool for these effects, which makes sense. One of the biggest potential problems is making games play out the same too often. But when you’re playing with randomness in a design, you gotta ask yourself “what’s the best way to work around the randomness to make sure it does what I want?” And often, that’s eliminating the randomness by only having one viable target. You did something here that I’m a big fan of. By limiting it based on what your opponent casts, it’s quite hard to actually do that. I suppose you could have one big Blightsteel Colossusesque card and assume they’re probably going to cast a creature at some point (or in blightsteel’s case, a creature or artifact), but I think it’s janky enough that it’s not too much of a problem. I’m a big fan of counterspells like this, where you care about some element of the card you countered to do your own thing. In this case though, I think mana value would work better. While even caring about card type probably isn’t gonna cause problems, this card has enough limitations, I think mana value would really perfect it. It’s really difficult to line things up in a way where you only have one card for a given mana value but can count on an opponent casting that mv. So it turns this into more of a toolboxy card which I think is good space for this to be in.

Unesh’s Riddle by @curiooftheheart

Sure! I’m a fan of this. It’s absolutely a design I could see existing. In fact, it basically does exist, with Draining Whelk. But I even with that card existing, I could see this card existing. For one thing, Draining Whelk is just kinda weird flavorfully. Who even knows what a whelk is? So I could see something like this existing if the effect is needed but you can’t reprint whelk for whatever reason. Plus, the the fact that it makes a token could be useful, if you have some populateesque effect and want blue to have a big token to populate. Overall, this is a card I absolutely could see existing and that’s fun to play with, and really what more could you want?

Explosive Showcase by @azathoth-the-bored

I can see why you chose to make this only trigger off artifacts, since blue/red isn’t great at blowing up most types of permanents, but it seems a little too specific. Assuming you want to keep this in blue/red, I think I’d prefer it if you cut the removal entirely, and just focused on the damage. “If an ability of a permanent is countered this way, ~ deals damage to that ability’s controller equal to that permanent’s mana value”. In fact if you like, you could bump this up to five mana and have it also damage based on a countered spell’s mana value, but I think that might be too wordy.. The flavor would have to change slightly, from an explosion to more of a recoil type deal. But I think making this card less specific is really where it wants to be.

Mistmeadow Spelljar by @demimonde-semigoddess

I’m not sure this needs to be 4 mana, to be honest. This seems like the kind of thing that could easily cost only three mana, since we get cancel with upside all the time. Of course, that would make it not qualify for the contest, but an important part of the contest is finding an upside worth paying a premium on your counterspells for. Other than that though, this seems like it would play absolutely wonderfully. It’s not groundbreaking by any means, but it’s a solid card for flicker decks. I’m a big fan of finding “generic” effects like counterspells, or removal, or card draw that play more into your deck theme. I’m not sure this needs to be white, but it doesn’t need to not be white either, so eh. I think it’s fine.

Spell Silencer by @gollumni

Like many other submissions, this seems like a solid card I could see being printed. 3 mana seems about right for a 1/1 flash deathtouch, with enough room for the kicker upside. And 5 mana is definitely a lot for a counterspell, but this has flexibility and giving you a 1/1 with deathtouch isn’t bad at all. I do wish the timing of this worked out better- it’s difficult to take advantage of the fact that this is a flashy deathtoucher as well as a counterspell. Cause normally, you’d flash it in in response to blockers but many combat tricks are best played before blockers, so it’s gonna be difficult to take maximum advantage of all parts of this card.

Spell Refraction by @snugz

Oh. Oh wow. This is a very cool card that I’d love to play with. I love stealing stuff I love copying and frankly I love the converge mechanic. The issue is, I think it’s wayyyyyy too strong. Even if it only copied the spell once, the minimum this could do, it would still be a pretty reasonable card. That’s just Aethersnatch. And this can copy up to five times. I definitely feel this needs some additional limitations. And/or it needs to cost like, nine.

Sun-Cloaked Savior by @grornt

White doesn’t get tons of counterspells, but this seems like a reasonable one for it to get. It’s really more of a protection peace than a true counterspell. And even with a counterspell as limited as this, a 3/3 flier is more than enough upside to be worth playing. In fact sometimes, you’ll even play this with nothing to counter. All in all, I think this is costed well and fills a solid function. I’m a big fan.

Bolt from the Blue by @railway-covidae

This feels like two separate cards stapled together. I like the idea of a wheel that can change the amount you draw based on your instants and sorceries, but I’m not sure why it’s attached to a counterspell. And the flavor isn’t really helping me out here, the name feels kinda nondescript.

Aether Conductor by @simsarwel

Aether Drain!!!!! It’s mana drain for energy!! This is an effect I’m honestly shocked we didn’t see first time around in kaladesh block. I also like the effect you chose as an outlet for the energy. It’s weak enough that you’re likely to use your energy for some outlet on another card, but strong enough that it works on its own. It’s a nice balance. As a bit of a nitpick, I think the flavor text could afford to be a little less descriptive. It feels a bit too much like an excerpt of a history textbook. Maybe something like “Mages who emerged after the fall of the Consulate suddenly find themselves hunted once again by Baralist extremists” or something.

Stormqueller Mage by @pocketvikings

Sure! That’s honestly most of what I can say here. This seems like a fine utility card that’s good at what it does. Maybe even a little too good, to be honest. Since this is best in a situation where it’s dealing with lots of spells and abilities, I’d bump the cost they have to pay down to 2 or even 1, to make it more likely they can save something. And I think that would still be reasonable, coming on a decent-sized body like it does here.

Aethershrike by @nine-effing-hells

None of the other mutate cards trigger on ETB, so I don’t think this one should either. You generally want a pretty good reason to break the mold like that, and I’m not sure this does it. It also seems odd to have an effect like this that can trigger multiple times, but probably won’t have any effect beyond the first time. So what if this had something like “You may cast spells that target ~ as though those spells have flash” or however that should be worded. That lets you mutate onto this repeatedly to counterspells. And normally, repeatable on-board counters are problematic but since this one relies on hidden information (usually), I think it could actually add a fun little bluffing dynamic. It might be too strong even then though, if you just fill your deck with a bunch of mutate cards. I’m not sure.

Fuam’s Replication by @minopug

Oh wow, this is quite cool. There’s a few minor templating notes I’d adjust. 3 should be three. Instead of “copy it”, say “copy that card”, since the antecedent of it could be Fuam’s Replication. And it should be “Exile target spell and put three replication counters on that card”. “Exile target spell with…” could sound like the spell has to have counters on it. Other than these small things though, I don’t really have much I think should change. There’s a lot of cool stuff going on here.

Divisive Subversion by @izzet-always-r-versus-u

There were several submissions with the general idea of “counter their spell, then copy it some number of times”. And it’s a space I think is quite fun, so I can see why. There’s a lot of appeal to literally one-upping your opponent. I think the cost of copying here is just too low though. I like that you added a nonmana cost, but I think even with that it should cost two to three mana per copy.

Abjurer’s Recanting by @thaneofstuff

I think I generally prefer counterspells that scale up with mana value rather than scale down. Here, the counterspell effect is secondary, and you’re probably playing this more for the card draw. You don’t care as much about what you counter as long as it’s cheap, you aren’t using this to stop a threat. It just all feels kinda backwards.

Snatchcaster Mage by @deg99

Once again, this seems like a solid design that has its place. It seems a little on the strong side, so if you want to tone it down one way to do that would be to have it so it can only counter instant/sorcery spells. But I’m not sure if this needs that. Really depends on the environment- for a standard set, I’d probably recommend it, but for a commander deck or something it might be fine. And speaking of environment, I also don’t think this really needs the red but I could see this being a blue red card in the right environment. So basically, there’s a few things here that are worth thinking about changing, but without knowing more about the context this card might exist in I can’t really say whether they should. It seems like a pretty clean design though! All in all, I’m a fan.

Insidious Infusion by @starch255

I like this as a control card, it seems to have an effect you’d want without being too annoying to play against, which is a good spot for a card like this. And it does seem worth the 4 mana you’re paying. I worry that the UUBB cost is a bit much, but I don’t know if 2UB would be too little.

Enact Silence by @reaperfromtheabyss

I like the idea, but I think this is quite overcosted honestly. Even if it only made your opponents’ stuff lose their abilities, I don’t think this should be more than 4 or maybe 5 mana. I’m also unsure if this should hit lands? You can just float your mana, so adding “nonland” wouldn’t really be much of a functional change, but floating mana isn’t gonna be obvious to all players.

Shadowmage’s Epiphany by @fractured-infinity

Six mana is a lot for a counterspell but hoodoggy, this packs more than enough punch to make up for it. In addition to being a counterspell, it’s a double removal spell, and discard. And then you get nearly a whole hand’s worth of cards to cast. I think this is honestly a bit too strong. I think it might be better if it was only 4 mana or so, but had escalate to scale up more. I think this could really use the extra knobs. And I also think this could use the “You may spend mana as though it were mana of any color to cast” thing, like most cards that do this kind of thing these days.

Thank you all for your submissions!!! Good luck with this week’s contest! Maybe we’ll have another week with only three nonblue submissions, who knows?

- @loreholdlesbian

#mtg #magic the gathering #custom magic card #inventors' fair #expensive counterspell contest #commentary #original post

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blushing-starker · 3 years ago

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Insanity brings me truth and you

can you guess what Peter's doing to not be understood by the guards?

It's not easy, being crazy. There are expectations to run away from, a bar to limbo under, a specific number of people one has to betray and scar. The unknowable becomes knowable, so you have to skirt the edge of that Venn diagram very carefully. Or very recklessly. Either way, it's a complex thing except for when it's not. Jesus, how infuriating to think about. The point is, the paradox that crazies carry on their shoulders? It's a fucking hassle, a tricky one and Peter is tired of it.

He sighs, lets gravity bend him backward, legs slipping dangerously off the blanket he's hung as a hammock inside his cell. Act like a psycho and you're predictable, don't act like an ax wielding murderer and whoops! Predictable. It's the downside of being insane; you leave the weary capitalist consumer mask out in the world, probably set that shit on fire and make yourself sick with the fumes. But you just replace it with the one labelled 'danger to society' and get forced to play along with that. He did what he did to avoid the world and its predetermined fate, its standards.

Peter closes his eyes, thinks of the nauseating smell on his left. Rupert, the guard that dared graze him while he came back from the shower naked, has a broken nose thanks to Ned and his loyalty to him. The idiot barely cleans the open wound and the whole cell reeks of pus because of it. He does the math of how long it's been going on for and shudders in disgust. His bare calves slip a little more.

An inhale near the front of his cage. Slow, but controlled. Not the usual. Thank God for a circus family and heightened senses.

The doctor is paying attention to him.

"Doctor Stark. Gnittor gnihtemos llems ouy nac?" Rupert grumbles from his perch on the second floor, curses a hare brained psycho that's incomprehensible. Peter hums, pleased to know that after ten months, nine days, twelve hours, and...

Breathe in. Breathe out. Focus on sinking deeper into nothing, into a yawning void. The blanket shakes and his thighs are starting to tremble. Blood is rushing to his head, veins most likely beginning to protrude. Irrelevant.

His favorite guard Stan wears a Swiss watch his wife got for him on their fortieth anniversary. It sings to him now, smooth and cool like a river. A skipping stone is thrown, tic, a fish heads towards the sound, toc. Above all the other stimuli in the room, the watch announces itself. Ten fifteen.

Ten months, nine days, twelve hours and twenty minutes into a game, his tiny gnat still hasn't caught on. Not like the charming doctor. He sees him then, behind closed eyelids, as clearly as a sweet nightmare. Tall, taller than Peter, but less strong. Wide shoulders that morph into a slim waist and a delectable ass he aches to sink his teeth into. Shapely calves from running, curiously delicate looking ankles.

Down and back again. A full head of dark hair with a dusting of silver. Dangerously clever mouth, what his aunt would call a noble nose. Agreeable cheekbones. Piercing eyes that tear his walls down, rip apart the bricks and mortar until he's scrambling on the other side, desperately, clumsily attempting to reinforce them for the millionth time. Those eyes saw the trick, the mirror reflection on his second day here, Peter offhandedly talking in reverse with Ned when they passed the new doctor. A dark gaze had pinned him in place, a spider fixed in place with its own silk against the cold dissection table.

Ned had rambled on, Peter had met a worthy playmate and the doctor had seen all he needed in that eternally prolonged glance. That very afternoon, a psychiatrist signed on as his very own voyeur.

Doctor Stark seems to be as interested in cutting him open to peek inside as Peter is in taking a dagger and comparing their hearts. He does this a lot; wonders how fate and the absence of lucky fate led them here. On opposite sides of a prison when perhaps it should be the other way around. Or perhaps there should only be Peter and Doctor Stark.

He feels himself falling, plummeting ever downward into fantasies and hazy dreams. It's not until the good doctor sharply calls out his name that he realizes he's also plummeting towards the floor. Now, MJ had warned him; had specifically said that the hammock being ten feet off the concrete ground was a bad idea. Ned had said he'd be fine and Peter loves the guy, ok? He has to do everything he can so that his best friend wins a bet over his other best friend.

Peter slightly regrets that when he's forced to arch his body backward, flip right side up in order to hit the floor on his feet instead of his face. The impact chokes the air right out of him, shakes his bones, but he doesn't react. Cracks his neck and that's all. Most of the guards were kind, some shade of understanding. They weren't harmless, though. He knows what he looks like, knows how many hours these men are cooped up with the scum of the earth.

"To answer your question," Peter leaps onto the bars of his cell, slithers higher than any sane person would and somersaults off the vertical slits, sinks into his trustworthy hammock with its trustworthy knots (MJ and Ned had tied them, one each), "yes, I do. It's less potent this time."

He stills, frowns. "How? There haven't been any changes. External or internal." No need to act like the Mad Hatter when the conversation could be had normally. Quicker and more reliable with meanings. But the doctor pauses, enunciates his next words slowly.

"Ti koot uoy erom emit yadot." God, he loved hearing Doctor Stark talk that carefully and smoothly. It was as comforting as it was uncomfortable. (He and sex don't particularly get along. It's like a headache that comes and goes; with the right medicine it can dissipate and evolve into something soothing, pleasant. With the majority of medicine, it blossoms into pain and soreness, a dry throat clogged by a thick syrup that won't leave him be no matter how much water MJ and Ned encourage him to drink. Peter isn't yet completely certain which side of his scale the doctor falls on, but he's guessing it's likely the first.)

(The man seemed to live in the grey areas; fitting that with this, too, he'd reside in the in between.)

The reverse effect is in play and he grins, genuine and wide, when he catches it. "Monsters are visiting more frequently, taking up space in the light." His nightmares had intensified recently, and they're starting to accompany him even in moments Peter knows are real; shapes drifting by the corner of his eye. As a coping tactic, he rips parts of his nails off. Not entirely, just the corners. His mind could concoct lots of things, but in his dreams his hands are always pristine.

(He hasn't caught up with it, hasn't noticed that although his nightmares have a clearness to them, a bright intensity, Peter can't shift enough focus to realize his hands aren't his own. They never are. But he usually has more pressing bodies to deal with than the good doctor's.)

Another pause, this one being done by Tony Stark, doctor and healer of men, instead of Doctor Stark, curious keeper of deranged souls. "I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe this will help." Peter peers over the edge of the grey hammock, watches with interest as the doctor approaches his cell with a glass bottle of clear liquid sloshing inside. The other man stops an inch away from the bars, looks up at Peter.

There's a slow tension simmering between them, something as thick and addictive as honey. There's scientific curiosity, a desire to seek out and maybe comprehend the unknown lurking inside their mirror image, as other and as alike as oneself. But there is also a gleam of something he's afraid of acknowledging in Doctor Stark's eyes. A madness once tucked away steadily unraveling itself with each glance they share.

Peter returns the look, unblinking and thinking. " 'If you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.' " A lesson Nietzsche offered to those wise enough, sane enough to live blind.

The doctor raises an eyebrow, is otherwise still. Sometimes, if Peter considers their current predicament for too long, his grasp on his masks loosens, and the Spider begins to spin its deadly thread round and round its very own body. He sees a guard exchange money with a partner; the crazy quota has, he guesses, been filled for the week. And they had such a nice streak going on, too. Oh, well. This web is unavoidable anyways.

He pitches himself forward, is the one who controls the descent instead of gravity this time. Letting the air rush up to meet him, he inhales, tastes a distinct sharpness around him. Crouching, Peter takes it all in, every last detail. Looks, really looks, at the doctor and suspects.

As if he were none the wiser, he calmly heads to the front of the cell. Meets the doctor at the divide and wonders what it'll be. Wonders if he'll rise higher than ash and flame, an acrobat testing the fates by flying just seconds ahead of death. Doctor Stark hands him the bottle and he can see now, tiny pieces of lavender. A distraction for the guards. "That should keep the monsters in the dark. Use it before you got to sleep and tuck away your hair."

Like a schoolgirl with a crush, he self consciously brings a hand to his curls. They're getting a bit long, but the warden only allows haircuts once a month or two. "I don't have anything to use." Digging into his lab coat, the other man retrieves a single black stick.

Well, to everyone else it's a hair pin. Peter knows the truth though, can see it and smell it and very nearly touch it. As it is, he gently plucks the items out of elegant hands and refuses to look at them. Looking draws attention. Doctor Stark gazes at his face, eyes flickering in a rehearsed way around his own, but not into them. That's alright, he understands.

"The lack of movement around your face should also help." The question of why is out before he can reel it in and act as a sane, normal person. Christ, he could handle crazy, not rude. He would have to practice being in control so as not to slip up when the doctor is around. Said doctor cocks his head, doesn't have to do anything more for Peter to get the message: go on, ask the devil why he made the deal.

Peter B Parker does not back down when intrigued. "Why are you helping me sleep better?"

Why help me escape?

"It's my duty." Three words. Not the explicit declaration of affection typical, normal, dull people receive from an admirer or partner. Not a grand proclamation of wanting what the heart wants, or a sonnet regarding the connection between star crossed paramours. Simple, short, concise; enough to turn to religion, to sanctity and salvation if it means hearing it again. He'd do anything, including putting on a discarded mask from his past if it gets him what he desires. Peter would suffer through sanity for this man. He would if it means hearing what sounds silent to those around them.

You're my duty. Whatever happens tonight, Doctor Stark believes it's his duty to see it through. To see him through, in a way.

"Why would you accept?" Ah, silly doc thinking any of his principles have changed since the first time they met, since the first time he brought fire to life and gave death in return. Peter smiles, brings forth the prisoner that had not seen the light of day in almost a decade.

(His uncle often said Peter's greatest gift to the world was his smile, his true smile. His aunt said it was the final move needed to capture a king and make him his pawn.)

"Why, doc, you know I hate to be bored." Call him a psycho, a freak, a sick, pitiful creature. Call him anything and everything and maybe those words would ring true. But Peter will never allow himself to be bored, not when there's so much fun to be had. Especially with a doctor as crazy as he is. "This looks...promising."

" 'He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster.' " The first part of Nietzsche's warning.

"Nietzsche didn't understand; those who fought monsters were already fated to become what they struggled to defeat. They believed salvation could be found by killing the monsters outside, but all they did was feed the ones inside."

Anthony Stark, the truest version, grins at him, all glinting eyes, sharp teeth and a crooked smile. Peter Parker, armed with a match, gasoline and soon to be glass shards, grins right back. In this instant, being crazy isn't such a hassle. After all, he has someone to share the crazy with now.

#starker #dark!starker #insane!peter #insane!tony #patient!peter #doctor!tony #peter parker x tony stark #i mean sorta dark #arsonist!peter #demisexual!peter #legit a harley/joker version where theres no manipulation #theyre insane and in love yall #sophie writes

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blujaydoodles · 3 years ago

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OC ask meme: 15 for juniper, 2 3 & 4 for melliwik, & 6 for everybody it applies to!

15. Has their personality changed at all since they were a child? Why?

Juniper was definitely much more plucky and adventury as a kid. Even when she was really young, she had a lot of responsibilities at home, but she spent most of her free time running around in the woods and daydreaming about getting kidnapped to the feywild (although, still prudent enough to avoid actually doing that). When the cartographers who would become her masters were surveying around her hometown she invited herself along to help and observe whenever she had free time, and ultimately ended up running away from home when her guardians declined to allow her to apprentice with them. Honestly I think the only reason this changed was that growing up is Like That sometimes; drawing from my own life, I think she's a person who has always been inclined to anxiety, and the older she got the more assertive that side of her became. I think also the abrupt shift in her life from 'completely comfortable in the place where I've been all my life and where I know literally everyone' to 'completely out of my element in a big city I've never been to before' at age 13 also had a significant impact in terms of when and how quickly that shift happened. I imagine she misses being a relatively bold and fearless child now that she's a young adult who's just nervous about everything all the time, haha

2. Is there a meaning behind their name, or a particular reason why they have it? (either in the story, or why you as the author decided to give them their name)

*rubs hands together* SO!! Mel's current official full name is Melliwyk (Generally) Truthseeker Pinsky Louise Arlinetta Darinia Berenockt. Darinia and Berenockt are surnames, one from each parent; Truthseeker is the nickname she's currently identifying with enough to count is as a part of her 'proper' full name; Generally happened because she introduced herself to a warforged captain of the guard as 'Melliwyk, generally' which he noted down and repeated back as 'Melliwyk Generally' ("thank you for the additional information.") which was funny enough to keep, at least for now. All the rest are given names from various sources (although admittedly the line between a given name and a nickname can be unclear for gnomes), Melliwyk being a name given by her parents at birth. OUT of game, I assembled Melliwyk by drawing tiles at random from bananagrams, and Pinsky is lifted directly from this mbmbam bit :D

3. What does their voice sound like, in a couple of words? (ie soft, scratchy, seductive, high-pitched, etc)

Although by now she's definitely developed her own distinct cadence, Mel's voice was originally pulled directly from Emily Litella, which was partly because I needed a specific focal point to make sure her voice was distinct from Idri, my other squeaky gnome. I've actually kicked around the idea of recording a little bit of Mel talking so people can get the full effect of, like, what yelling at her gazer would actually sound like, but I go back and forth between 'that'd be kinda fun' and 'I'd be so embarrassed I might actually die from it' lmao

4. Do they have any underlying motivations? (ie they seem hard-working but secretly just don’t want to fall back into poverty, etc)

You know, I wish I had a really juicy answer to this because it's such a juicy question, but Mel is by and large very 'what you see is what you get', haha. She's researching obscure and lost histories because she just sincerely really loves figuring stuff out for its own sake; she builds and invents stuff because she likes making things. ALTHOUGH.... I WILL say, the in-character reason behind her multiclassing to artificer when she did (a spellcasting technique that, in this setting, she functionally invented for herself) and the spells she chose for it was watching an NPC die at her feet after she was the one who drew the AOE attack that had knocked him unconscious. Wizards don't get any healing magic, and necromancy that stalls or undoes death is barred from them, but you know, maybe fuck that, I'm gonna invent an arcane defibrillator so this doesn't happen again. OH you know what, she also was a hermit for like 10 years, having left the city and working on research teams to experiment on her own away from civilization, and part of the reason was to get out from under other people's scrutiny and expectations and be able to do weirder and riskier experiments, but some of the motivation behind that is, secretly, that she has a history of her experiments becoming dangerous for other people, so she opted to remove herself from other people. So I guess her secret, underlying motivations are 'believe it or not, caring about other people'

6. Do they have any tattoos? What are they, and why did they get them?

I think Idri is my only OC with tattoos...?? Like the rest of her party members, she has a tattoo of their adventuring guild's insignia, a dragon's claw, which is black but can change colors on command (we unlock colors as we undergo certain trials, so you can make the tattoo flash your colors to show which trials you've completed and your overall rank in the guild). Hers is on the back of her right hand, so she can easily show it off. She ALSO has a tattoo of a feather on a stylized sun over her heart, which represents a side quest we did that ended with us being blessed by a mythical phoenix emissary of the sun-- it is also black and can change colors on command, rippling through colors of fire, because she thought that was fuckin dope and went to a guild tattooist specifically to get it done. She's briefly alarmed a couple of people by announcing 'HEY CHECK THIS OUT' and yanking down the top of her shirt without explaining first that she was just showing off a tattoo and not, you know, randomly flashing them, lmao

Ask about my OCs? :D

#GREAT QUESTIONS THANK YOU!!!#ask thing #not art #my OCs #Juniper #Melliwyk #Idri #long post

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fbfh · 4 years ago

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hello, bluebell (leo x fairy!reader)

genre/vibe: soft fantasy/the gentle etherial vibes of the princess bride and pixie hollow (books and game)

word count: 1.6k

pronouns: they/them - gn reader - probs some fem vibes cause i was imagining my fairy daydream self while writing this lmao

au: you’re a fairy but no others

pairing: Leo x fairy!reader

requested: nope, just obsessed w fairies bc who isn’t

warnings: brief mentions of memory gaps, a few mentions of caterpillars and other bugs, you wake up in the woods somewhere, mentions of changlings

summary: leo trips over a stranger sleeping in the woods, and know they’re something else because of their etherial aura. And the fairy wings. That was a pretty clear sign too.

reccomended songs: aventurine - paul baker, fairy garden asmr ambiance

a/n: baby stepping back into the writing game babeeeeyyy aLsO if you played the online pixie hollow game or read mary engelbreit magazines or watched the princess bride growing up i wanna give you a double high five also jfc how many more times can I say fairy in a description lmao

requests r open xo

When Leo left Bunker 9 to take a (long overdue) break from his current projects, he didn’t expect to almost trip over someone lying under a tree. He had begun walking to the dining pavilion as usual, when the smell of wild violets engulfed him in a passing breeze. He slowed down a little, taking in the beautiful August morning, and felt his mental to do lists melting away. Time seemed to slow down as he looked up at the sunlight glinting through the trees, his eyes falling on a cloud he decided looked like a giraffe in a suit. The sight made him laugh softly. Gods, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d gone cloud watching. Sun broke through the trees, and he looked down at a bush with little red berries as warm tingles danced over his skin. Light bells rang in the distance, and he looked around for the source. He stopped, eyes falling on a small inchworm.

“Hey little guy,” he said softly, waving to the insect. He smiled to himself again, noticing the large patch of clovers he was passing through, a strong sense of peace settling through him. His eyes instantly began scanning the patch, debating being a little more late to breakfast to see if he could find a four leaf clover, when he tripped over a foot, and narrowly avoided stepping on a few innocent mushrooms growing in the ground. He felt himself get snapped out of the relaxed cloud that had engulfed him moments before. He caught himself, and looked down. Gods, who would nap this deep in the forest? He was about to nudge you awake, when he saw you. He staggered back a step, breath catching in his throat.

You were laying on your side, eyes closed, soft lips parted gently. Mid morning sunlight glinted off your hair and skin, giving off a surreal glowy effect. Your white flowy pajamas had dirt smudged on the hem, one of the straps beginning to slip down your shoulder. The light weight material fell around your legs and spilled onto the ground like sea foam reaching for the shore. A butterfly sat on your head, tranquilly opening and closing its wings. He took a few more steps, careful not to step on the mushrooms that seemed to surround you, but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw your back. Caterpillars had spun silk all over your upper back, connecting to the tree. He felt like he should do something, but before he could begin to think of what, three crows started cawing from the branches of the tree. He walked back over to see if the harsh noise had woken you, but you didn’t seem to move. He let out a sigh of relief a little too soon, as he watched your eyes flutter open.

You took in a deep breath of forest air, and your eyes opened, trying to take in your surroundings. Your head spun with violins and harps and flutes, and your body felt heavy. Sense crept in and you tried to piece together how you’d gotten here. What had happened last night? You struggled with gaps in your memory for a moment, before trying to get up. Your palm slipped on a patch of moss, and you caught yourself on your elbow. In an instant, someone was right beside you, helping you off the ground. He was beautiful; like a beam of light, he seemed to fill you with warmth and life instantly. He smelled like woodsmoke, and his touch was gentle on your arm. You became aware of a very dull, almost soft burn on your upper back, but your attention turned back to the boy as he started talking.

“Are you okay?” his voice was like the crackle of a bonfire.

“Uh,” disorientation was still fogging your mind, “yeah, I think so.” He helped you into a standing position, a hand in yours, the other still on your arm. You felt stiff and sore enough to wonder what you had been doing.

“How did you get out here?” he asked, his tone a distinct blend of amusement and confusion.

“I don’t know… I probably just-” memories flooded back; moonlight caressing your skin, beautiful music you couldn’t quite remember, fireflies guiding your arms and legs as you danced and danced and danced, drunk on the movement. You shook your head, snapping out of the sudden train of thought.

“Um, probably just wandered here by mistake.” you finished the half truth with a laugh, “My apologies,” you continued, “is this your property? I can leave, I didn’t mean to intrude,” He looked at you for another moment before speaking again.

“Oh, no, nothing like that. We usually don’t get a lot of… visitors. I’m-” You felt some kind of rush building up inside, like what a venus flytrap feels as a beetle is about to land.

“I'm y/n," you cut him off suddenly, pulling away, and the feeling immediately began to subside. You waited in near silence for a moment, then chose your words carefully.

"What do you like to be called?"

"Leo…"

You turned a little on your heels, wondering what had come over you as his voice trailed off. He stared behind you for some time, let out a soft oh, then tore his eyes away and back to you.

“There’s someone you should meet,” you agreed, slightly confused, and he began to guide you through the forest. After a few minutes he brought you out to an open field. He left your side for a minute to tell a passerby something about sending someone over, you couldn't be sure, then continued leading you over the grassy expanse. You went past a very old looking building, over a small footbridge, and onto the porch of a house.

“So…” you started, unsure where the sentence was going, “who is it that I’m supposed to meet?” The burning on your back had subsided to a pleasant tingle right by your shoulder blades. A breeze brushed your cheeks, and you could smell strawberries - lots and lots of strawberries. The idea excited you.

“The director of this camp. He should be able to explain -” his eyes hovered just behind you again, “everything.” You wished he would talk more, you loved the lilt of his voice. You wondered what this director would need to clear up, your eyes falling on a scatter of rainbows cast on the floorboards of the porch. You tried to turn to see what was making them, maybe a hummingbird feeder or a light catcher - you’ve always loved stained glass - but when you began to spin on the balls of your feet like you’d done a thousand times before, there was a strange resistance. You spun slower on the wood, and lost momentum. In an effort to catch yourself, your foot caught on the leg of a patio chair, and you knew you wouldn’t be able to stop the fall. The spike of adrenaline made your back burn more, and you braced yourself for impact. An impact that didn’t come.

This didn’t make sense. You should have been falling; you were barely touching the ground. Instead, you were suspended midair. You opened your eyes to your outstretched arms, and glanced down curiously. You were pitched forward, one foot barely making contact with the wooden floor, the other tucked behind it, frozen mid fall. Shifting rainbows and prisms seemed to light up the whole floor now. You became aware of the strange wind rushing around your face and hair, and saw Leo staring behind you again, with that odd, fascinated look on his face. You looked behind you and let out a startled gasp.

Wings.

Big, beautiful, iridescent wings that looked sort of like you had stolen them from a dragonfly fluttered behind you keeping you in place. Your arms fell and you straightened up, feet gently making contact with the ground as your wings slowed to a stop.

“Ah, hello,” came a man's voice from behind you, “I haven’t met someone as special as you in a long time. Please, come inside if you’d like.” He ascended the stairs. You felt like you should have been more surprised to see he had the bottom half of a horse, but it didn’t seem to phase you. Then again, you weren’t one to judge.

“Just one moment,” Chiron said, pulling Leo aside, and once out of earshot, explained the significance of you and your appearance at camp. He took a moment to process this.

“A fairy,” he breathed, mind reeling.

“A changeling from the looks of it. A fairy raised in the human world. They’ll need help navigating this new world, finding out about themself.” Leo nodded, remembering how confusing things were when he was first thrown into a whole other side of his life. He looked through the crack in the door, watching you nibble on a snack cake drizzled in honey. Chiron looked at him watching you, infatuation on his face. He put a hand on Leo’s shoulder.

“They deserve an explanation. Would you like to help with this, er, complicated conversation?” Leo thought back to when you had taken his hand, the way your laugh sounded like bells, the way the corners of your mouth never seemed to drop. The idea of going to the dining pavilion, continuing on with his life as if he’d never met you seemed impossible. He knew in that moment leaving you wasn’t an option.

“Of course.” He answered, more sure in that moment than he had been of anything.

#leo valdez x reader #hoo x reader #heroes of olympus x reader #Heroes of Olympus #leo valdez #leo x fairy!reader #high key obsessed w this vibe lemme know what you think

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grigori77 · 3 years ago

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Summer 2021′s Movies - My Top Ten Favourite Films (Part 2)

The Top Ten:

10. WEREWOLVES WITHIN – definitely one of the year’s biggest cinematic surprises so far, this darkly comic supernatural murder mystery from indie horror director Josh Ruben (Scare Me) is based on a video game, but you’d never know it – this bears so little resemblance to the original Ubisoft title that it’s a wonder anyone even bothered to make the connection, but even so, this is now notable for officially being the highest rated video game adaptation in Rotten Tomatoes history, with a Certified Fresh rating of 86%. Certainly it deserves that distinction, but there’s so much more to the film – this is an absolute blood-splattered joy, the title telling you everything you need to know about the story but belying the film’s pure, quirky genius. Veep’s Sam Richardson is forest ranger Finn Wheeler, a gentle and socially awkward soul who arrives at his new post in the remote small town of Beaverton to discover the few, uniformly weird residents are divided over the oil pipeline proposition of forceful and abrasive businessman Sam Parker (The Hunt’s Wayne Duvall). As he tries to fit in and find his feet, investigating the disappearance of a local dog while bonding with local mail carrier Cecily Moore (Other Space and This Is Us’ Milana Vayntrub), the discovery of a horribly mutilated human body leads to a standoff between the townsfolk and an enforced lockdown in the town’s ramshackle hotel as they try to work out who amongst them is the “werewolf” they suspect is responsible. This is frequently hilarious, the offbeat script from appropriately named Mishna Wolff (I’m Down) dropping some absolutely zingers and crafting some enjoyably weird encounters and unexpected twists, while the uniformly excellent cast do much of the heavy-lifting to bring their rich, thoroughly oddball characters to vivid life – Richardson is thoroughly cuddly throughout, while Duvall is pleasingly loathsome, Casual’s Michaela Watkins is pleasingly grating as Trisha, flaky housewife to unrepentant local horn-dog Pete Anderton (Orange is the New Black’s Michael Chernus), and Cheyenne Jackson (American Horror Story) and Harry Guillen (best known, OF COURSE, as Guillermo in the TV version of What We Do In the Shadows) make an enjoyably spiky double-act as liberal gay couple Devon and Joaquim Wolfson; in the end, though, the film is roundly stolen by Vayntrub, who invests Cecily with a bubbly sweetness and snarky sass that makes it absolutely impossible to not fall completely in love with her (gods know I did). This is a deeply funny film, packed with proper belly-laughs from start to finish, but like all the best horror comedies it takes its horror elements seriously, delivering some enjoyably effective scares and juicy gore, while the werewolf itself, when finally revealed, is realised through some top-notch prosthetics. Altogether this was a most welcome under-the-radar surprise for the summer, and SO MUCH MORE than just an unusually great video game adaptation …

9. THE TOMORROW WAR – although cinemas finally reopened in the UK in early summer, the bite of the COVID lockdown backlog was still very much in effect this blockbuster season, with several studios preferring to hedge their bets and wait for later release dates. Others turned to streaming services, including Paramount, who happily lined up a few heavyweight titles to open on major platforms in lieu of the big screen. One of the biggest was this intended sci-fi action horror tentpole, meant to give Chris Pratt another potential franchise on top of Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World, which instead dropped in early July on Amazon Prime. So, was it worth staying in on a Saturday night instead of heading out for something on the BIG screen? Mostly yes, although it’s mainly a trashy, guilty pleasure big budget B-picture charm that makes this such a worthwhile experience – the film’s biggest influences are clearly Independence Day and Starship Troopers, two admirably clunky blockbusters that DEFINED prioritising big spectacle and overblown theatrics over intelligent writing and realistic storytelling. It doesn’t help that the premise is pure bunk – in 2022, a wormhole opens from thirty years in the future, and a plea for help is sent back with a bunch of very young future soldiers. Seems Earth will become overrun by an unstoppable swarm of nasty alien critters called Whitespikes in 25 years, and the desperate human counteroffensive have no choice but to bring soldiers from our present into the future to help them fight back and save the humanity from imminent extinction. Less than a year later, the world’s standing armies have been decimated and a worldwide draft has been implemented, with normal everyday adults being sent through for a seven day tour from which very few return. Pratt plays biology teacher and former Green Beret Dan Forrester, one of the latest batch of draftees to be sent into the future along with a selection of chefs, soccer moms and other average joes – his own training and experience serves him better than most when the shit hits the fan, but it soon becomes clear that he’s just as out of his depth as everyone else as the sheer enormity of the threat is revealed. But when he becomes entangled with a desperate research outfit led by Muri (Chuck’s Yvonne Strahovski) who seem to be on the verge of a potential world-changing scientific breakthrough, Dan realises there just might be a slender hope for humanity after all … this is every bit as over-the-top gung-ho bonkers as it sounds, and just as much fun. Director Chris McKay may still be pretty fresh (with only The Lego Batman Movie under his belt to date), but he shows a lot of talent and potential for big budget blockbuster filmmaking here, delivering with guts and bravado on some major action sequences (a fraught ticking-clock SAR operation through a war-torn Miami is the film’s undeniable highlight, but a desperate battle to escape a blazing oil rig also really impresses), as well as handling some impressively complex visual effects work and wrangling some quality performances from his cast (altogether it bodes well for his future, which includes Nightwing and Johnny Quest as future projects). Chris Pratt can do this kind of stuff in his sleep – Dan is his classic fallible and self-deprecating but ultimately solid and kind-hearted action hero fare, effortlessly likeable and easy to root for – and his supporting cast are equally solid, Strahovsky going toe-to-toe with him in the action sequences while also creating a rewardingly complex smart-woman/badass combo in Muri, while the other real standouts include Sam Richardson (Veep, Werewolves Within) and Edwin Hodge (The Purge movies) as fellow draftees Charlie and Dorian, the former a scared-out-of-his-mind tech geek while the latter is a seriously hardcore veteran serving his THIRD TOUR, and the ever brilliant J.K. Simmonds as Dan’s emotionally scarred estranged Vietnam-vet father, Jim. Sure, it’s derivative as hell and thoroughly predictable (with more than one big twist you can see coming a mile away), but the pace is brisk, the atmosphere pregnant with a palpable doomed urgency, and the creatures themselves are a genuinely convincing world-ending threat, the design team and visual effects wizards creating genuine nightmare fuel in the feral and unrelenting Whitespikes. Altogether this WAS an ideal way to spend a comfy Saturday night in, but I think it could have been JUST AS GOOD for a Saturday night OUT at the Pictures …

8. ARMY OF THE DEAD – another high profile release that went straight to streaming was this genuine monster hit for Netflix from one of this century’s undeniable heavyweight action cinema masters, the indomitable Zack Snyder, who kicked off his career with an audience-dividing (but, as far as I’m concerned, ultimately MASSIVELY successful) remake of George Romero’s immortal Dawn of the Dead, and has finally returned to zombie horror after close to two decades away. The end result is, undeniably, the biggest cinematic guilty pleasure of the entire summer, a bona fide outbreak horror EPIC in spite of its tightly focused story – Dave Bautista plays mercenary Scott Ward, leader a badass squad of soldiers of fortune who were among the few to escape a deadly outbreak of a zombie virus in the city of Las Vegas, enlisted to break into the vault of one of the Strip’s casinos by owner Bly Tanaka (a fantastically game turn from Hiroyuki Sanada) and rescue $200 million still locked away inside. So what’s the catch? Vegas remains ground zero for the outbreak, walled off from the outside world but still heavily infested within, and in less than three days the US military intends to sterilise the site with a tactical nuke. Simple premise, down and dirty, trashy flick, right? Wrong – Snyder has never believed in doing things small, having brought us unapologetically BIG cinema with the likes of 300, Watchmen, Man of Steel and, most notably, his version of Justice League, so this is another MASSIVE undertaking, every scene shot for maximum thrills or emotional impact, each set-piece executed with his characteristic militaristic precision and explosive predilection (a harrowing fight for survival against a freshly-awakened zombie horde in tightly packed casino corridors is the film’s undeniable highlight), and the gauzy, dreamlike cinematography gives even simple scenes an intriguing and evocative edge that really does make you feel like you’re watching something BIG. The characters all feel larger-than-life too – Bautista can seem somewhat cartoonish at times, and this role definitely plays that as a strength, making Scott a rock-hard alpha male in the classic Hollywood mould, but he’s such a great actor that of course he’s able to invest the character with real rewarding complexity beneath the surface; Ana de la Reguera (Eastbound & Down) and Nora Arnezeder (Zoo, Mozart in the Jungle), meanwhile, both bring a healthy dose of oestrogen-fuelled badassery to proceedings as, respectively, Scott’s regular second-in-command, Maria Cruz, and Lilly the Coyote, Power’s Omari Hardwick and Matthias Schweighofer (You Are Wanted) make for a fun odd-couple double act as circular-saw-wielding merc Vanderohe and Dieter, the nervous, nerdy German safecracker brought in to crack the vault, and Fear the Walking Dead’s Garrett Dillahunt channels spectacular scumbag energy as Tanaka’s sleazy former casino boss Martin, while latecomer Tig Notaro (Star Trek Discovery) effortlessly rises above her last-minute-casting controversy to deliver brilliantly as sassy and acerbic chopper pilot Peters. I think it goes without saying that Snyder can do this in his sleep, but he definitely wasn’t napping here – he pulled out all the stops on this one, delivering a thrilling, darkly comic and endearingly CRACKERS zombie flick that not only compares favourably to his own Dawn but is, undeniably, his best film for AGES. Netflix certainly seem to be pleased with the results – a spinoff prequel, Army of Thieves, starring Dieter in another heist thriller, is set to drop in October, with an animated series following in the Spring, and there’s already rumours of a sequel in development. I’m certainly up for more …

7. BLACK WIDOW – no major blockbuster property was hit harder by COVID than the MCU, which saw its ENTIRE SLATE for 2020 delayed for over a year in the face of Marvel Studios bowing to the inevitability of the Pandemic and unwilling to sacrifice those all-important box-office receipts by just sending their films straight to streaming. The most frustrating part for hardcore fans of the series was the delay of a standalone film that was already criminally overdue – the solo headlining vehicle of founding Avenger and bona fide female superhero ICON Natasha Romanoff, aka the Black Widow. Equally frustratingly, then, this film seems set to be overshadowed by real life controversy as star and producer Scarlett Johansson goes head-to-head with Disney in civil court over their breach-of-contract after they hedged their bets by releasing the film simultaneously in cinemas and on their own streaming platform, which has led to poor box office as many of the film’s potential audience chose to watch it at home instead of risk movie theatres with the virus still very much remaining a threat (and Disney have clearly reacted AGAIN, now backtracking on their release policy by instigating a new 45-day cinematic exclusivity window on all their big releases for the immediate future). But what of the film itself? Well Black Widow is an interesting piece of work, director Cate Shortland (Berlin Syndrome) and screenwriter Eric Pearson (Thor: Ragnarok) delivering a decidedly stripped-back, lean and intellectual beast that bears greater resemblance to the more cerebral work of the Russo Brothers on their Captain America films than the more classically bombastic likes of Iron Man, Thor or the Avengers flicks, concentrating on story and characters over action and spectacle as we wind back the clock to before the events of Infinity War and Endgame, when Romanoff was on the run after Civil War, hunted by the government-appointed forces of US Secretary of State “Thunderbolt” Ross (William Hurt) after violating the Sokovia Accords. Then a mysterious delivery throws her back into the fray as she finds herself targeted by a mysterious assassin, forcing her to team up with her estranged “sister” Yelena Belova (Midsommar’s Florence Pugh), another Black Widow who’s just gone rogue from the same Red Room Natasha escaped years ago, armed with a McGuffin capable of foiling a dastardly plot for world domination. The reluctant duo need help in this endeavour though, enlisting the aid of their former “parents”, veteran Widow and scientist Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz) and Alexie Shostakov (Stranger Things’ David Harbour), aka the Red Guardian, a Russian super-soldier intended to be their counterpart to Captain America, who’s been languishing in a Siberian gulag for the last twenty years. After the Earth-shaking, universe-changing events of recent MCU events, this film certainly feels like a much more self-contained, modest affair, playing for much smaller stakes, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less worthy of our attention – this is as precision-crafted as anything we’ve seen from Marvel so far, but it also feels like a refreshing change of pace after all those enormous cosmic shenanigans, while the script is as tight as a drum, propelling a taut, suspense-filled thriller that certainly doesn’t scrimp on the action front. Sure, the set-pieces are very much in service of the story here, but they’re still the pre-requisite MCU rollercoaster rides, a selection of breathless chases and bone-crunching fights that really do play to the strengths of one of our favourite Avengers, but this is definitely one of those films where the real fireworks come when the film focuses on the characters – Johansson is so comfortable with her character she’s basically BECOME Natasha Romanoff, kickass and ruthless and complex and sassy and still just desperate for a family (though she hides it well throughout the film), while Weisz delivers one of her best performances in years as a peerless professional who keeps her emotions tightly reigned in but slowly comes to realise that she was never more happy than when she was pretending to be a simple mother, and Ray Winstone does a genuinely fantastic job of taking a character who could have been one of the MCU’s most disappointingly bland villains, General Dreykov, master of the Red Room, and investing him with enough oily charisma and intense presence to craft something truly memorable (frustratingly, the same cannot be said for the film’s supposed main physical threat, Taskmaster, who performs well in their frustratingly brief appearances but ultimately gets Darth Maul levels of short service). The true scene-stealers in the film, however, are Alexie and Yelena – Harbour’s clearly having the time of his life hamming it up as a self-important, puffed-up peacock of a superhero who never got his shot and is clearly (rightly) decidedly bitter about it, preferring to relive the life he SHOULD have had instead of remembering the good in the one he got; Pugh, meanwhile, is THE BEST THING IN THE WHOLE MOVIE, easily matching Johanssen scene-for-scene in the action stakes but frequently out-performing her when it comes to acting, investing Yelena with a sweet naivety and innocence and a certain amount of quirky geekiness that makes for one of the year’s most endearing female protagonists (certainly one who, if the character goes the way I think she will, is thoroughly capable of carrying the torch for the foreseeable future). In the end this is definitely one of the LEAST typical, by-the-numbers MCU films to date, and by delivering something a little different I think they’ve given us just the kind of leftfield swerve the series needs right now. It’s certainly one of their most fascinating and rewarding films so far, and since it seems to be Johansson’s final tour of duty as the Black Widow, it’s also a most fitting farewell indeed.

6. WRATH OF MAN – Guy Ritchie’s latest (regarded by many as a triumphant return to form, which I consider unfair since I don’t think he ever went away, especially after 2020’s spectacular The Gentlemen) is BY FAR his darkest film – let’s get this clear from the start. Anyone who knows his work knows that Ritchie consistently maintains a near flawless balance and humour and seriousness in his films that gives them a welcome quirkiness that is one of his most distinctive trademarks, so for him to suddenly deliver a film which takes itself SO SERIOUSLY is one hell of a departure. This is a film which almost REVELS in its darkness – Ritchie’s always loved bathing in man’s baser instincts, but Wrath of Man almost makes a kind of twisted VIRTUE out of wallowing in the genuine evils that men are capable of inflicting on each other. The film certainly kicks off as it means to go on – In a tour-de-force single-shot opening, we watch a daring armoured car robbery on the streets of Los Angeles that goes horrifically wrong, an event which will have devastating consequences in the future. Five months later, Fortico Security hires taciturn Brit Patrick Hill (Jason Statham) to work as a guard in one of their trucks, and on his first run he single-handedly foils another attempted robbery with genuinely uncanny combat skills. The company is thrilled, amazed by the sheer ability of their new hire, but Hill’s new colleagues are more concerned, wondering exactly what they’ve let themselves in for. After a second foiled robbery, it becomes clear that Hill’s reputation has grown, but fellow guard Haiden (Holt McCallany), aka “Bullet”, begins to suspect there might be something darker going on … Ritchie is firing on all cylinders here, delivering a PERFECT slow-burn suspense thriller which plays its cards close to its chest and cranks up its piano wire tension with artful skill as it builds to a devastating, knuckle-whitening explosive heist that acts as a cathartic release for everything that’s built up over the past hour and a half. In typical Ritchie style the narrative is non-linear, the story unfolding in four distinct parts told from clearly differentiated points of view, allowing the clues to be revealed at a trickle that effortlessly draws the viewer in as they fall deeper down the rabbit hole, leading to a harrowing but strangely poignant denouement which is perfectly in tune with everything that’s come before. It’s an immense pleasure finally getting to see Statham working with Ritchie again, and I don’t think he’s ever been better than he is here – he's always been a brilliantly understated actor, but there’s SO MUCH going on under Hill’s supposedly impenetrable calm that every little peek beneath the armour is a REVELATION; McCallany, meanwhile, has landed his best role since his short but VERY sweet supporting turn in Fight Club, seemingly likeable and fallible as the kind of easy-going co-worker anyone in the service industry would be THRILLED to have, but giving Bullet far more going on under the surface, while there are uniformly excellent performances from a top-shelf ensemble supporting cast which includes Josh Hartnett, Jeffrey Donovan (Burn Notice, Sicario), Andy Garcia, Laz Alonso (The Boys), Eddie Marsan, Niamh Algar (Raised By Wolves) and Darrell D’Silva (Informer, Domina), and a particularly edgy and intense turn from Scott Eastwood. This is one of THE BEST thrillers of the year, by far, a masterpiece of mood, pace and plot that ensnares the viewer from its gripping opening and hooks them right up to the close, a triumph of the genre and EASILY Guy Ritchie’s best film since Snatch. Regardless of whether or not it’s a RETURN to form, we can only hope he continues to deliver fare THIS GOOD in the future …

5. FEAR STREET (PARTS 1-3) – Netflix have gotten increasingly ambitious with their original filmmaking over the years, and some of this years’ offerings have reached new heights of epic intention. Their most exciting release of the summer was this adaptation of popular children’s horror author R.L. Stine’s popular book series, a truly gargantuan undertaking as the filmmakers set out to create an entire TRILOGY of films which were then released over three consecutive weekends. Interestingly, these films are most definitely NOT for kids – this is proper, no-holds-barred supernatural slasher horror, delivering highly calibrated shocks and precision jump scares, a pervading atmosphere of insidious dread and a series of inventively gruesome kills. The story revolves around two neighbouring small towns which have had vastly different fortunes over more than three centuries of existence – while the residents of Sunnyvale are unusually successful, living idyllic lives in peace and prosperity, luck has always been against the people of Shadyside, who languish in impoverishment, crime and misfortune, while the town has become known as the Murder Capital of the USA due to frequent spree killings. Some attribute this to the supposed curse of a local urban legend, Sarah Fier, who became known as the Fier Witch after her execution for witchcraft in 1668, but others dismiss this as simple superstition. Part 1 is set in 1994, as the latest outbreak of serial mayhem begins in Shadyside, dragging a small group of local teens – Deena Johnson (She Never Died’s Kiana Madeira) and Samantha Fraser (Olivia Scott Welch), a young lesbian couple going through a difficult breakup, Deena’s little brother Josh (The Haunted Hathaways’ Benjamin Flores Jr.), a nerdy history geek who spends most of his time playing video games or frequenting violent crime-buff online chatrooms, and their delinquent friends Simon (Eight Grade’s Fred Hechinger) and Kate (Julia Rehwald) – into the age-old ghostly conspiracy as they find themselves besieged by indestructible undead serial killers from the town’s past, reasoning that the only way they can escape with their lives is to solve the mystery and bring the Fier Witch some much needed closure. Part 2, meanwhile, flashes back to a previous outbreak in 1977, in which local sisters Ziggy (Stranger Things’ Sadie Sink) and Cindy Berman (Emily Rudd), together with future Sunnyvale sheriff Nick Goode (Ted Sutherland) were among the kids hunted by said killers during a summer camp “colour war”. As for Part 3, that goes all the way back to 1668 to tell the story of what REALLY happened to Sarah Fier, before wrapping up events in 1994, culminating in a terrifying, adrenaline-fuelled showdown in the Shadyside Mall. Throughout, the youthful cast are EXCEPTIONAL, Madeira, Welch, Flores Jr., Sink and Rudd particularly impressing, while there are equally strong turns from Ashley Zuckerman (The Code, Designated Survivor) and Community’s Gillian Jacobs as the grown-up versions of two key ’77 kids, and a fun cameo from Maya Hawke in Part 1. This is most definitely retro horror in the Stranger Things mould, perfectly executed period detail bringing fun nostalgic flavour to all three of the timelines while the peerless direction from Leigh Janiak (Honeymoon) and wire-tight, sharp-witted screenplays from Janiak, Kyle Killen (Lone Star, The Beaver), Phil Graziadel, Zak Olkewicz and Kate Trefry strike a perfect balance between knowing dark humour and knife-edged terror, as well as weaving an intriguingly complex narrative web that pulls the viewer in but never loses them to overcomplication. The design, meanwhile, is evocative, the cinematography (from Stanger Things’ Caleb Heymann) is daring and magnificently moody, and the killers and other supernatural elements of the film are handled with skill through largely physical effects. This is definitely not a standard, by-the-numbers slasher property, paying strong homage to the sub-genre’s rules but frequently subverting them with expert skill, and it’s as much fun as it is frightening. Give us some more like this please, Netflix!

4. THE SPARKS BROTHERS – those who’ve been following my reviews for a while will known that while I do sometimes shout about documentary films, they tend to show up in my runners-up lists – it’s a great rarity for one to land in one of my top tens. This lovingly crafted deep-dive homage to cult band Sparks, from self-confessed rabid fanboy Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim), is something VERY SPECIAL INDEED, then … there’s a vague possibility some of you may have heard the name before, and many of you will know at least one or two of their biggest hits without knowing it was them (their greatest hit of all time, This Town Ain’t Big Enough for the Both of Us, immediately springs to mind), but unless you’re REALLY serious about music it’s quite likely you have no idea who they are, namely two brothers from California, Russell and Ronald Mael, who formed a very sophisticated pop-rock band in the late 60s and then never really went away, having moments of fame but mostly working away in the background and influencing some of the greatest bands and musical artists that followed them, even if many never even knew where that influence originally came from. Wright’s film is an engrossing joy from start to finish (despite clocking in at two hours and twenty minutes), following their eclectic career from obscure inception as Halfnelson, through their first real big break with third album Kimono My Place, subsequent success and then fall from popularity in the mid-70s, through several subsequent revitalisations, all the way up to the present day with their long-awaited cinematic breakthrough, revolutionary musical feature Annette – throughout Wright keeps the tone light and the pace breezy, allowing a strong and endearing sense of irreverence to rule the day as fans, friends and the brothers themselves offer up fun anecdotes and wax lyrical about what is frequently a larger-than-life tragicomic soap opera, utilising fun, crappy animation and idiosyncratic stock footage inserts alongside talking-head interviews that were made with a decidedly tongue-in-cheek style – Mike Myers good-naturedly rants about how we can see his “damned mole” while 80s New Romantic icons Nick Rhodes and John Taylor, while shot together, are each individually labelled as “Duran”. Ron and Russ themselves, meanwhile, are clearly having huge fun, gently ribbing each other and dropping some fun deadpan zingers throughout proceedings, easily playing to the band’s strong, idiosyncratic sense of hyper-intelligent humour, while the aforementioned celebrity talking-heads are just three amongst a whole wealth of famous faces that may surprise you – there’s even an appearance by Neil Gaiman, guys! Altogether this is 2+ hours of bright and breezy fun chock full of great music and fascinating information, and even hardcore Sparks fans are likely to learn more than a little over the course of the film, while for those who have never heard of Sparks before it’s a FANTASTIC introduction to one of the greatest ever bands that you’ve never heard of. With luck there might even be more than a few new fans before the year is out …

3. GUNPOWDER MILKSHAKE – Netflix’ BEST offering of the summer was this surprise hit from Israeli writer-director Navot Papushado (Rabies, Big Bad Wolves), a heavily stylised black comedy action thriller that passes the Bechdel Test with FLYING COLOURS. Playing like a female-centric John Wick, it follows ice-cold, on-top-of-her-game assassin Sam (Karen Gillan) as her latest assignment has some unfortunate side effects, leading her to take on a reparation job to retrieve some missing cash for the local branch of the Irish Mob. The only catch is that a group of thugs have kidnapped the original thief’s little girl, 12 year-old Emily (My Spy’s Chloe Coleman), and Sam, in an uncharacteristic moment of sympathy, decides to intervene, only for the money to be accidentally destroyed in the process. Now she’s got the Mob and her own employers coming after her, and she not only has to save her own skin but also Emily’s, leading her to seek help from the one person she thought she might never see again – her mother, Scarlet (Lena Headey), a master assassin in her own right who’s been hiding from the Mob herself for years. The plot may be simple but at times also a little over-the-top, but the film is never anything less than a pure, unadulterated pleasure, populated with fascinating, living and breathing characters of real complexity and nuance, while the script (co-written by relative newcomer Ehud Lavski) is tightly-reined and bursting with zingers. Most importantly, though, Papushado really delivers on the action front – these are some of the best set-pieces I’ve seen this year, Gillan, her co-stars and the various stunt-performers acquitting themselves admirably in a series of spectacular fights, gun battles and a particularly imaginative car chase that would be the envy of many larger, more expensive productions. Gillan and Coleman have a sweet, awkward chemistry, the MCU star particularly impressing in a subtly nuanced performance that also plays beautifully against Headey’s own tightly controlled turn, while there is awesome support from Angela Bassett, Michelle Yeoh and Carla Gugino as Sam’s adoptive aunts Anna May, Florence and Madeleine, a trio of “librarians” who run a fine side-line in illicit weaponry and are capable of unleashing some spectacular violence of their own; the film’s antagonists, on the other hand, are exclusively masculine – the mighty Ralph Inneson is quietly ruthless as Irish boss Jim McAlester, while The Terror’s Adam Nagaitis is considerably more mercurial as his mad dog nephew Virgil, and Paul Giamatti is the stately calm at the centre of the storm as Sam’s employer Nathan, the closest thing she has to a father. There’s so much to enjoy in this movie, not just the wonderful characters and amazing action but also the singularly engrossing and idiosyncratic style, deeply affecting themes of the bonds of found family and the healing power of forgiveness, and a rewarding through-line of strong women triumphing against the brutalities of toxic masculinity. I love this film, and I invite you to try it out, cuz I’m sure you will too.

2. THE SUICIDE SQUAD – the most fun I’ve had at the cinema so far this year is the long-awaited (thanks a bunch, COVID) redress of another frustrating imbalance from the decidedly hit and miss DCEU superhero franchise, in which Guardians of the Galaxy writer-director James Gunn has finally delivered a PROPER Suicide Squad movie after David Ayer’s painfully compromised first stab at the property back in 2016. That movie was enjoyable enough and had some great moments, but ultimately it was a clunky mess, and while some of the characters were done (quite) well, others were painfully botched, even ruined entirely. Thankfully Warner Bros. clearly learned their lesson, giving Gunn free reign to do whatever he wanted, and the end result is about as close to perfect as the DCEU has come to date. Once again the peerless Viola Davis plays US government official Amanda Waller, head of ARGUS and the undisputable most evil bitch in all the DC Universe, who presides over the metahuman prisoners of the notorious supermax Belle Reve Prison, cherry-picking inmates for her pet project Taskforce X, the titular Suicide Squad sent out to handle the kind of jobs nobody else wants, in exchange for years off their sentences but controlled by explosive implants injected into the base of their skulls. Their latest mission sees another motley crew of D-bags dispatched to the fictional South African island nation of Corto Maltese to infiltrate Jotunheim, a former Nazi facility in which a dangerous extra-terrestrial entity that’s being developed into a fearful bioweapon, with orders to destroy the project in order to keep it out of the hands of a hostile anti-American regime which has taken control of the island through a violent coup. Where the first Squad felt like a clumsily-arranged selection of stereotypes with a few genuinely promising characters unsuccessfully moulded into a decidedly forced found family, this new batch are convincingly organic – they may be dysfunctional and they’re all almost universally definitely BAD GUYS, but they WORK, the relationship dynamics that form between them feeling genuinely earned. Gunn has already proven himself a master of putting a bunch of A-holes together and forging them into band of “heroes”, and he’s certainly pulled the job off again here, dredging the bottom of the DC Rogues Gallery for its most ridiculous Z-listers and somehow managing to make them compelling. Sure, returning Squad-member Harley Quinn (the incomparable Margot Robbie, magnificent as ever) has already become a fully-realised character thanks to Birds of Prey, so there wasn’t much heavy-lifting to be done here, but Gunn genuinely seems to GET the character, so our favourite pixie-esque Agent of Chaos is an unbridled and thoroughly unpredictable joy here, while fellow veteran Colonel Rick Flagg (a particularly muscular and thoroughly game Joel Kinnaman) has this time received a much needed makeover, Gunn promoting him from being the first film’s sketchily-drawn “Captain Exposition” and turning him into a fully-ledged, well-thought-out human being with all the requisite baggage, including a newfound sense of humour; the newcomers, meanwhile, are a thoroughly fascinating bunch – reluctant “leader” Bloodsport/Robert DuBois (a typically robust and playful Idris Elba), unapologetic douchebag Peacemaker/Christopher Smith (probably the best performance I’ve EVER seen John Cena deliver), and socially awkward and seriously hard-done-by nerd (and by far the most idiotic DC villain of all time) the Polka-Dot Man/Abner Krill (a genuinely heart-breaking hangdog performance from Ant-Man’s David Dastmalchian); meanwhile there’s a fine trio of villainous turns from the film’s resident Big Bads, with Juan Diego Botta (Good Behaviour) and Joaquin Cosio (Quantum of Solace, Narcos: Mexico) making strong impressions as newly-installed dictator Silvio Luna and his corrupt right hand-man General Suarez, although both are EASILY eclipsed by the typically brilliant Peter Capaldi as louche and quietly deranged supervillain The Thinker/Gaius Greives (although the film’s ULTIMATE threat turns out to be something a whole lot bigger and more exotic). The film is ROUNDLY STOLEN, however, by a truly adorable double act (or TRIPLE act, if you want to get technical) – Daniella Melchior makes her breakthrough here in fine style as sweet, principled and kind-hearted narcoleptic second-generation supervillain Ratcatcher II/Cleo Cazo, who has the weird ability to control rats (and who has a pet rat named Sebastian who frequently steals scenes all on his own), while a particular fan-favourite B-lister makes his big screen debut here in the form of King Shark/Nanaue, a barely sentient anthropomorphic Great White “shark god” with an insatiable appetite for flesh and a naturally quizzical nature who was brilliantly mo-capped by Steve Agee (The Sarah Silverman Project, who also plays Waller’s hyperactive assistant John Economos) but then artfully completed with an ingenious vocal turn from Sylvester Stallone. James Gunn has crafted an absolute MASTERPIECE here, EASILY the best film he’s made to date, a riotous cavalcade of exquisitely observed and perfectly delivered dark humour and expertly wrangled narrative chaos that has great fun playing with the narrative flow, injects countless spot-on in-jokes and irreverent but utterly essential throwaway sight-gags, and totally endears us to this glorious gang of utter morons right from the start (in which Gunn delivers what has to be one of the most skilful deep-fakes in cinematic history). Sure, there’s also plenty of action, and it’s executed with the kind of consummate skill we’ve now come to expect from Gunn (the absolute highlight is a wonderfully bonkers sequence in which Harley expertly rescues herself from captivity), but like everything else it’s predominantly played for laughs, and there’s no getting away from the fact that this film is an absolute RIOT. By far the funniest thing I’ve seen so far this year, and if I’m honest this is the best of the DCEU offerings to date, too (for me, only the exceptional Birds of Prey can compare) – if Warner Bros. have any sense they’ll give Gunn more to do VERY SOON …

1. A QUIET PLACE, PART II – while UK cinemas finally reopened in early May, I was determined that my first trip back to the Big Screen for 2021 was gonna be something SPECIAL, and indeed I already knew what that was going to be. Thankfully I was not disappointed by my choice – 2018’s A Quiet Place was MY VERY FAVOURITE horror movie of the 2010s, an undeniable masterclass in suspense and sustained screen terror wrapped around a refreshingly original killer concept, and I was among the many fans hoping we’d see more in the future, especially after the film’s teasingly open ending. Against the odds (or perhaps not), writer-director/co-star John Krasinski has pulled off the seemingly impossible task of not only following up that high-wire act, but genuinely EQUALLING it in levels of quality – picking up RIGHT where the first film left off (at least after an AMAZING scene-setting opening in which we’re treated to the events of Day 1 of the downfall of humanity), rejoining the remnants of the Abbott family as they’re forced by circumstances to up-sticks from their idyllic farmhouse home and strike out into the outside world once more, painfully aware at all times that they must maintain perfect silence to avoid the ravenous attentions of the lethal blind alien beasties that now sit at the top of the food chain. Circumstances quickly become dire, however, and embattled mother Evelyn (Emily Blunt) is forced to ally herself with estranged family friend Emmett (Cillian Murphy), now a haunted, desperate vagrant eking out a perilous existence in an abandoned factory, in order to safeguard the future of her children Regan (Millicent Simmonds), Marcus (Noah Jupe) and their newborn baby brother. Regan, however, discovers evidence of more survivors, and with her newfound weapon against the aliens she recklessly decides to set off on her own in the hopes of aiding them before it’s too late … it may only be his second major blockbuster as a director, but Krasinski has once again proven he’s a true heavyweight talent, effortlessly carving out fresh ground in this already magnificently well-realised dystopian universe while also playing magnificently to the established strengths of what came before, delivering another peerless thrill-ride of unbearable tension and knuckle-whitening terror. The central principle of utilising sound at a very strict premium is once again strictly adhered to here, available sources of dialogue once again exploited with consummate skill while sound design and score (another moody triumph from Marco Beltrami) again become THE MOST IMPORTANT aspects of the whole production. The ruined world is once again realised beautifully throughout, most notably in the nightmarish environment of a wrecked commuter train, and Krasinski cranks up the tension before unleashing it in merciless explosions in a selection of harrowing encounters which guaranteed to leave viewers in a puddle of sweat. The director mostly stays behind the camera this time round, but he does (obviously) put in an appearance in the opening flashback as the late Lee Abbott, making a potent impression which leaves a haunting absence that’s keenly felt throughout the remainder of the film, while Blunt continues to display mother lion ferocity as she fights to keep her children safe and Jupe plays crippling fear magnificently but is now starting to show a hidden spine of steel as Marcus finally starts to find his courage; the film once again belongs, however, to Simmonds, the young deaf actress once and for all proving she’s a genuine star in the making as she invests Regan with fierce wilfulness and stubborn determination that remains unshakeable even in the face of unspeakable horrors, and the relationship she develops with Emmett, reluctant as it may be, provides a strong new emotional focus for the story, Murphy bringing an attractive wounded humanity to his role as a man who’s lost anything and is being forced to learn to care for something again. This is another triumph of the genre AND the artform in general, a masterpiece of atmosphere, performance and storytelling which builds magnificently on the skilful foundations laid by the first film, as well as setting things up perfectly for a third instalment which is all but certain to follow. I definitely can’t wait.

#movies 2021 #werewolves within #werewolves within movie #the tomorrow war #army of the dead #Black Widow #black widow movie #black widow mcu #wrath of man #fear street #fear street trilogy #fear street movies #The Sparks Brothers #gunpowder milkshake #the suicide squad #a quiet place part ii #a quiet place part 2 #awesome sauce

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hiriajuu-suffering · 3 years ago

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Reasons I believe in Polyamory

I’ll preface this by saying I’m not attractive enough to be able to have more than a single partner at once, but there is a reason for that, and really, the thesis of this wall of text below: heteronormative relationship standards in every culture have always been, and will continue to always be, more about possession than love in a post-imperialistic world.

Personally, I’m a huge proponent of engendered sexuality variance to the tone of males have a constant slow drip of libido and a female’s sex drive hits them like a freight train once a month (in mammalian bioepigenetics, this makes sense). I’m inclined to infer, because I’m not idyllically normatively attractive, only a fraction of a percentage of women will be attracted to me 24-27 days of any given month. As a cisgendered man who is regrettably straight, having the least attractive genoethnic identity intersection (South Asian Muslim) in Western culture, I’m never actually presented with the choices to act on a poly mindset (in fact, I would be ridiculed for it because people think it aligns with some other gross tribal stereotype when it couldn’t be further from the truth). In retrospect, I have everything to gain from interpreting the main benefit of an intimate relationship as ownership like heteronormative culture generally does yet I still think disavowing poly as a legitimate personal choice is immoral.

I know saying monogamous relationships are more about possession than love will offend lots of people, so before you throw hate at me for your emotionally defensive skepticism, hear me out. An unflinching, unyielding love is seen as the highest parameter in any type of romance. So why is it cheating is so much of a bigger problem than a dry spell specifically? Is it because it’s legitimately a breach of trust, or is it more about “if I can’t have you, no one can”? More importantly, does it go a step further and say “if I don’t want you, no one should”? To me, any sort of dry spell (whether physically, emotionally, mentally) signifies a much larger breach of trust than simply having been shared because it shows said commitment in the relationship was not unflinching, not unyielding. The monogamous lens looks at others like: I want to have the best partner, not just so that I’m happy, but no one else can receive the specific happiness I get. Doesn’t that whole mindset come off as brutish? Just me? Well, maybe your pitchforks will start coming down when you realize monogamy is a function of toxic patriarchy on both feminine and masculine ends.

There are bioevolutionary reasons for toxic femininity to value the possession aspect of a relationship over its substantive “quality of life” components, the birth-giving gender in any animalistic specie always had to be beheld to a provider they reproduce with. Does it not then represent a sense of feminine fragility when a single mother immediately demands a long-term relationship and nothing else? If I’m to believe said woman is capable of genuine lust in her system, having a child shouldn’t evaporate all carnal desires completely and, therefore, should leave room for compromise. Said stance also indicates she made some sort of error in judgment of her chosen reproductive mate and feels entitled another man ought remedy her strife even though, evolutionarily speaking, he has nothing to gain from helping to rear offspring not of his kin. Harsh, to be sure, but it does show in the obnoxiousness of the connotation of becoming a stepdad being a positive one and becoming a stepmom assumes the motivation of some gain in status (wealth, fame, power, etc.) which I would argue is negative. Where does toxic masculinity come into play? Desire for possession on the part of a male promotes the viability and exclusivity of his own children with his most desirable partner. While that’s damn near nowhere as compelling, it has to be stated because there are always two benefactors to patriarchy. Patriarchy is not a zero sum game, patriarchy seeks to concentrate all familial social benefits in the monogamously-driven, heteronormative genus, away from those who deviate from the ideal picture of stereotypical gender roles. The ill effects of patriarchal standards exist in every human civilization, but the ontological root to the specific brand of patriarchy that oppresses all genders today was spread by a culture that uniquely preached monogamy.

Polygamy, in a historical sense, was a testament to the more status a person of the provider gender could achieve, the more their genetics would proliferate. Many cultures globally practiced this, the issue is, the ones that didn’t were the ones who, often violently, “conquered” the ones that did. Christian fundamentalism is in every fiber of international morality, whether the nation in question believes in Christianity or not is often irrelevant. Monogamy is enforced, anything outside of that is deemed as necessarily being deviant (whether choosing to be alone or choosing more connections than a monocule). Fetishization of the step relation is eluding to this deviance in a not-so-subtle way because it’s something where its allure is derived from its forbiddenness moreso than its convenience, every one of these scenarios has a subtext of implicit gain, not loss, in engagement. Meaning, the idea is planted because a hot person is there not because a person in general is there and can satiate an urge. Tl;dr - we believe polyamory is a morally negative act because the Holy Roman Empire did and every nation that spawned from it spread, imparted, and coerced that ideal on every culture it came into contact with. Before the Holy Roman Empire, no historical documents made distinctions to behest multiple lovers as desanctifying of life itself, not even the coalescing of nations that made up the Holy Roman Empire before its inception.

We are now in an era when women have access to full reproductive control, yet we still see men lust more than women, e.g. archetypal lesbian tendencies versus archetypal gay male tendencies. Do we not question why this is the case? All lifeforms are hardwired with a desire to survive and reproduce, so why does that drive not reach equity when risk does? There are two answers, and it could even be both: women are only socially conditioned to have sex via patriarchal pressures and don’t have as much inherent desire to reproduce OR sex is a means-to-an-end to exclusively possess a desired provider, whatever said person provides. If said person has a trait valuable enough to want to possess, is it not self-contrived to keep that quality to oneself, not share it with the world where it can provide more utility? Heteronormative relationships, in a sense, are anti-altruistic at their very core. As facetious as this sounds, either of these trains of thought are validated by men being more willing to engage in polyamory than women, not because men are somehow any less loyal than women. On its own, I feel this line of reasoning is enough to justify a vehement disgust of polyamory as immoral, but I want to conclude on the most pivotal facet to this conversation and not just heavily imply monogamy encroachment on moral turpitude is problematic at best.

As I mentioned a few times, I am likely to be a spoke on a polycule, not a member with multiple connections. Exclusive possession is something I probably stand more to gain from than any woman, logically and realistically, given the current social climate and general global beauty standards. My advocacy of polyamory stems from me accepting I may not be enough to be the full extent of happiness my romantic interest desires. That doesn’t even come from a place of insecurity, it comes from a place knowing I could never be perfect even if its pursuit is a righteous cause. I see real insecurity as a fear of loss when the rules of engagement you put into place were exclusivity: you don’t want your partner looking at anyone else because it’s disadvantageous to you, meaning you’re not fixated on their best interest and looking at relationships in said manner is deliberately selfish. To me, the best frame of reference to morality in interpersonal social connections is altruism. Yeah, self-love is important and knowing your own boundaries is beneficial but everyone else’s boundaries don’t have to match yours. I’m not anti-monogamist, really. I’m more anti-polyamorist discontent.

Not having thought this deeply isn’t an excuse, either.

#personal #polyamory #polyamourous #polyandry #polycule #polyam life #polyam relationship #polyamourus pride #polyam tag #polyamorous #polyamoury #polyamorus

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vg-sanctuary · 3 years ago

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Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling

Moonsprout Games - Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC - 2019

I don't like the core gameplay of 99% of all RPGs, but the ones I do like have been some of my favorite games I've ever played. case in point, Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling, a modern interpretation of the classic Paper Mario formula and an ideal example of indie developers adding to the legacy of a cult classic. its main feature is turn-based combat with action commands, like old Paper Mario or the Mario & Luigi series, and strategy in its intentional design and small health and damage numbers that goes way beyond "spam damage and heal every third turn, use mana items as needed". (in case you want to be 100% blind for your playthrough, past the Keep Reading link are some very minor spoilers: an item a specific cook can make after a side quest, some basic enemies, environments that are about halfway through the game, and the names of some medals.)

“wow, vg-sanctuary posting about a game that's not even two years old at time of writing? and it's an RPG? are you not a retro/legacy blog anymore? who are you and what have you done with the writer?” I still am a retro/legacy blog, mostly, just this time I thought I'd share something that its developers still get money from, and whose developers aren't mega corporations. and I just beat it, enjoyed it, and really felt like writing about it because it still doesn't have the popularity it deserves even after that puppet guy on YouTube talked about it. not that this post is going to reach any significant number of people, but still. I'll write about some more indie games sometime in the future. (and indeed I am writing about another RPG and you better believe it has a lot to talk about.)

anyway, Bug Fables starts with a brash little bee called Vi and a polite and honorable beetle named Kabbu wandering into an explorer's guild and not having a partner to join the guild with. they reluctantly decide they're going to fight together because companionship is a requirement for this guild, foiling off each other and sometimes off their third friend Leif, a blue moth they find in a cave, for the whole game. every character has a distinct personality and all the party members get some valuable character development through a side quest, which I really liked, but I'm no connoisseur of RPG stories. while I'm on story, people that come here looking for a well-made world will get what they want from the many optional lore books hidden around the world.

the plot becomes more complex and compelling as the game continues, though it generally lets gameplay take the spotlight. which is great, because the gameplay is also mostly great. about a third of it is doing puzzles on the overworld using the abilities of each character to move forward a la the Mario & Luigi series. they generally make use of whatever your newest overworld ability is, and some areas early on have inaccessible things you have to come back to, sort of like a Metroidvania except it isn't required to do this for progression. some puzzles take longer they could because they involve using Kabbu's horn to repeatedly fling an ice block many times over a distance. it's never egregious, but it could have been faster if the guy would use his arms. this is a minor caveat and not a majority of the game.

a lot of people probably don't know how the combat for this or Paper Mario works, and it's really important to Bug Fables, so I'll explain that here. it's turn based, which is typical, but basic attacks and skills need you to time a button press to do as much damage as possible. you can also time a button press when an enemy attacks to take less damage. Paper Mario and Bug Fables also both have medals instead of other equipment that give characters higher max HP or a new skill, for example. you have limited medal points and stronger medals require more points.

this is going to sound like a lot, but any RPG's combat will sound like a lot if you try to detail it in a single paragraph. the game introduces these things slower than I am here. in Bug Fables specifically, the character standing in the front of the group does one extra damage but is more likely to be attacked, and you can pass turns from one character to another in exchange for that character dealing one less damage (which is a lot because basic attacks only deal two damage by default). certain enemies can only be hit by certain attacks; some enemies fly, so Kabbu can't hit them until Vi knocks them down with her beemerang. not a typo, beemerang. and many of Bug Fables' status effects have upsides -- being paralyzed reduces damage taken everything by one, poison has many medals that make it a good thing, and being asleep heals the sleeping character every turn. there are others that are straight up bad things, though, and usually don't come until later. all of this adds up to even small encounters having strategic depth, which is great, and if you don't feel like small encounters you can just avoid them. skills that would typically be relegated to one character, like healing and support skills all going to one, are instead split between party members to make decisions more difficult in a good way. there's also a lovely medal that instantly kills any enemy the game deems too easy for you, sort of like in Earthbound.

I figure I spent more time doing housekeeping like cooking (simple A+B=C or A-becomes-B crafting), buying items, and arranging medals in Bug Fables than in any other RPG, which is because it was designed that way. by the way, cooking recipes start hidden, but a foodie at each restaurant will share some strong ones for free, which is a big help early on. anyone who's played The World Ends with You (i.e. me) will be spoiled by its excellent quality of life: no consumable items and you instantly heal to full after every encounter. it makes items seem like a ridiculous formality that RPGs only still have because they've had them for years, but in Bug Fables any item that isn't simple healing -- a lot of them aren't simple healing -- has great strategic use, and the exact way you spend your medal points can determine whether you win or lose any fight, especially bosses. for example, one character having one extra damage for two turns when they typically only do two is pretty important, especially when they use an attack that does multiple hits, and having it in item form saves valuable medal points and skill points. part of that time was kind of a waste, though, because I generally had one set of medals I use for multiple enemies and one I use for single enemies like bosses. being able to save loadouts would have helped a lot. I would like to compliment Bug Fables on allowing you to restart any boss with different medals without having to repeat cutscenes, and commend it for letting you do-over your level up bonuses late in the game when it starts to matter.

it's not like spending a lot of time on strategizing before fights is strictly mandatory. I was mostly playing on hard mode where enemies have more health and more difficult attacks, and mostly with a medal called Hard Hits that makes all enemies deal one extra damage in exchange for extra money after each fight. it can be less difficult if you'd like, but it's never mindless; even if you're doing a strategy that manages 20 or 30 damage (again, a lot in this game) in a single turn, it takes effort to choose your medals to do so much damage and actually play the strategy out in combat. the combat strategy is the best part of Bug Fables, and it makes each fight almost like a puzzle. I've typed some form of "strategy" six times so far, which is fair because it's the best part of Bug Fables. don't let it put you off, though, it's RPG combat strategy, not chess-like or RTS or something, so if you've enjoyed any other turn-based RPG it should be easy to get used to.

it's also worth mentioning the ample side content. each chapter of the game unlocks a handful of side quests, some about trading, some about combat, and almost as many bonus bosses as main bosses. you're allowed to fight them fairly early on, and a few become available after the final boss that are actually a bit harder than it in classic Paper Mario fashion. basically, if you like Bug Fables, there's a lot of it to play. there's even a trading card minigame because of course there is. it's fairly fleshed out, too, and unlike the one in Chocobo Tales the animations between turns don't take six years. the reward for the whole card side quest isn't something that's important for combat, so you can skip it if you don't like it; I didn't especially like it so I think that was a great decision on the developers' part.

rewards for some of the other side content, though, are so good it's kind of a wonder they can be completely skipped. it doesn't make the game harder to not have those skills or medals, but they are some of the best in the game and undeniably really useful. they make great side quest rewards in that sense, but it's important to know for the people that usually wouldn't do side content. I don't know if that's a common kind of player, but just in case. (this game's 100% achievement has been earned by a sky-high 5.9% of players on Steam. usually it's more like 2% or less. the point is none of the extra content is overly obtuse.)

I will complain about the forced stealth sections though. and be astounded that they fixed the main issue with them in the last stealth section. these are minor caveats and take well under an hour total unless you're really, really, really bad at sneaking, but they bothered me when I got to them. I mean, I understand why they're in the game, I understand why Zelda has them, but I didn't really like them. the main issue for all but the last stealth section is that there's no vision cone or other indication that "if you stand here they will see you" or even an opportunity to recover from mistakes which are incredibly important for playable stealth. the last stealth section does have a vision cone and does have an opportunity to recover from mistakes, which is a great step up. I would like to use even more italics to remind you that these sections total less than an hour of gameplay. Zelda: Breath of the Wild's forced-ish stealth was much worse than this.

I don't know where else to put it, so I'll add here that the soundtrack is great and the graphics are perfectly Gamecube-y and the sprites capture the cuteness of Paper Mario really well, even though they're, you know, bugs. each environment is distinct and themed well, and each one’s music matches well. I really wish I knew how to talk about music because there are a lot of different songs in this game that work well for what they go with. boss music sounds intense and boss-y and appropriate for each boss you're fighting, the not-music hits just right, and everything else feels good. some songs use Nintendo 64 MIDI instruments, which I loved. and the bee boss music has a synth that sounds like bees buzzing.

anyone that likes RPGs -- and even some people that don't -- will probably enjoy the story and strategy that make up the excellent Bug Fables. it goes beyond being a homage to Paper Mario and becomes its own thing entirely, though its roots are obvious from the art style. not that this takes away from it -- Paper Mario is a great legacy, and this manages to be even better. for all its little bad things there are a dozen great ones. I admit I haven't played the classic Paper Mario games, but this made me want more -- I guess I'll have to go back while I hope for Moonsprout Games to continue forward.

#bug fables #bug fables the everlasting sapling #my writing #this was also on amazon luna but i didnt figure anyone would care if i omitted it #also screenshots i took myself wow

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hatboyproject · 4 years ago

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I’m Glad You Asked!

@crescentbunny asked a question in the tags...

Well! I’m glad you asked!

So, I have a near-encyclopaedic knowledge of (most of) the dialogue across the Mass Effect games, which gives me a good starting point for trying to remember when people say things tangentially related to other things. However, you don’t have to have that to do what I am doing! For gaps in my knowledge or just general “thing-finding” exercises, I have three enormous spreadsheets which are text dumps of every single spoken line by every single character across all three games. I can set up a filter to isolate a specific character and then CTRL+F words to see if there’s anything worth using. This isn’t foolproof because of technical reasons, but it provides an excellent starting point.

I seem to recall this “Oh yeah?” being a kind of teasing, possibly even passing for sort of sultry response. It could work in a number of different interactions with Joker, so it’s worth saving. The spreadsheet lists what main file I need to access, then what conversation file. From there it’s a pretty simple matter of finding the right node in the Dialogue Editor and extracting the audio file. Then, I give it a name and add it to my database of lines I have saved for her. If there is something distinct or interesting about the line, for example if it contains a laugh or a breath or is read in a particular tone, I mark that down. Over time I’ve ended up with a pretty big database.

So, I try to think of the general gist of what I want her to say. I find a few lines that I think might work... I try slicing and splicing them together in different ways in Audacity. The “Hehe, I already figured that out. It’s not a big deal. I’ll look forward to our next talk.” Line is a splice together of five different lines across all three games, including laugh, words, and different breaths that give the impression of the kind of pauses she’s meant to be injecting. Sometimes, I need to mess with the volume levels of the samples to keep them sounding consistent. ME1′s lines in particular are very inconsistent with the volume so I often have to mess with them to get them to fit together. For Jeff, the process is very similar. I look through my database of lines from the game, and I see if anything works. If it doesn’t work, or if it’s a vanilla line that needs adjusting, I use an AI synth to replicate his voice. The AI was trained on 422 lines of Joker’s dialogue and has a custom made speech pattern synthesizer. It provides a good basis for working on, however, I nearly always need to heavily and extensively edit the lines to make them sound human. I can control the speed, duration, and pitch of each individual letter in a sentence I tell “him” to read out. By moving letters and words up or down I can drastically alter the reading of the line. But, the synth has its limitations, and the process is very time consuming. When the line sounds about as good as I think I can make it, I import it into Audacity and edit it further, cutting sentences apart for better and more natural pauses between words, and adding in breaths, laughs, or other vocal tics sourced from vanilla audio or other samples of the actor’s speech. I probably spend an average of an hour or more on each one of his synth-produced lines. When I started this project, it was Joker’s lack of contextually relevant lines that was the real limiter, here, and now I’m finding it’s the opposite. Jennifer Hale’s Shepard has a massive bank of lines to select from, literally hundreds of romantic or flirtatious reads, teasing jibes, simple inquiries, almost anything I want and that still creates limitations. Not every set of words I want will fit together well. She doesn’t have everything in the tone I want, or the emphasis. She doesn’t say his name very much. At this point, I actually have much more power to make Jeff direct the romance than I do Shepard. I mean... I’ll be real here, I’d love to just hire Seth Green and Jennifer Hale for this, but I sorta... don’t think they’d exactly leap at the chance to help out with this, hahaha! They’re very busy people, and I am just a simple artist with not a lot of power in terms of financial compensation. I certainly could not pay them industry rates. If only I could get a few key phrases directly from them, though... Ah, the dream.

#hatboyproject #inner workings #technical details #how i put this together

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desperateground · 4 years ago

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since we're doing anti discourse i guess: the antis ive seen on their own blogs (as opposed to other blogs askboxes) seem more concerned with media that portrays pedophilia in a positive light, as that very much can influence people into thinking it isn't THAT bad. If portrayed as the bad thing it is, they dont mind. Personally, do you see a difference in something that goes "heres an adult in love with a child, how sweet" as opposed to "heres an adult in love with a child, isnt that fucked up?"

under a cut cause this got long

I would love to be on the internet where you are, because it sounds a lot more reasonable than the one I live on, where stuff like this just makes me go ???

the thing is that fiction actually does influence people’s perceptions of reality, and we ought to care about that! if a person grows up watching movies where cops break the rules but it’s OK because they’re the good guys; or where stalkerish and manipulative behavior counts as “grand romantic gestures” that obligate a woman to date a man; or where Black people are depicted as uneducated and violent, of course that is going to color their opinions of the world.

and there are a lot of really good conversations being had about issues like that, and we absolutely need to have those conversations about responsible media creation and consumption. this power can be used for good as well as for evil. many people cite shows like Will & Grace as helping turn the tide of public opinion against seeing “homosexuality” as deviant and instead seeing gay people as “normal” and “lovable” and “relatable.” superman was a beloved enough All-American Hero that a storyline where he fights the KKK is credited with helping turn the KKK from a mainstream fraternity into something seen as a fringe hate group.

so i would agree that a giant wave of media with positive depictions of pedophilia would be concerning.

however, we do not currently live in a world where “here’s an adult in love with a child, how sweet” is a major issue in media narratives such that people are absorbing the attitude that pedophilia is fine, cool, and good.

in fact, pedophilia is such a hated subject that we have a whole political movement in my country based on people calling anyone they dislike a “pedophile” and accusing them of all sorts of depraved shit involving children. most people who have sexual inclinations toward children are fully aware that these desires are at odds with society and that they will become pariahs if these desires were known to others.

(In fact, this level of ostracization can put people at a higher risk of offending, because they feel hopeless, have nowhere to turn for support, and figure if they’re going to be a pariah anyway, they may as well do the one thing they can think of that feels good. Forcing conversations about this to go completely underground means that you end up with awful groups like nambla dominating the conversation and convincing lost, lonely, frightened people to hop on board with their dangerous attitudes. if the only people safe to talk to about this stuff are people who will excuse, justify, encourage, and promote offenses against children, it makes sense that people would end up in their grip. You can read more here and here.)

much of the “media” that these “antis” are up in arms about is fan created content intended for a small population. the people creating content that riles up antis generally recognize that this is not mainstream content and use things like tags and content warnings to set it aside from other content. the notion that certain tropes in fanworks are going to bring about a massive cultural shift is a bizarre slippery-slope argument, and i think people's energy would be better focused on problems that are actually currently existing rather than a potential future where a few tags on ao3 have become dominant themes in network television and blockbuster movies.

another issue here is that when an “anti” uses the term “pedophilia,” it’s completely unclear what they are actually referring to. a reasonable person would assume that they mean “a sexual relationship between an adult and a child,” but the definitions of “adult,” “child,” and “sexual relationship” have gotten so blurry within this discourse that it’s impossible to determine what’s being discussed. i’ve seen people claim that any relationship is inherently “pedophilic” if the characters have any sort of age gap, if there is any sort of power imbalance, if they both belong to the same “found family,” or even if one looks younger in appearance.

so when someone says “fictional narratives that depict pedophilia in a positive light,” they may actually be referring to “fictional narratives that depict any relationship I don’t like,” which is such a vague and meaningless statement that it becomes completely useless.

finally, your actual question is whether I personally see a difference between stories where the narrative perspective seems to critique the relationship vs stories where the narrative perspective romanticizes the relationship. i think your question is...hard to answer, because there is just too much there.

first off, it’s not always easy to tell whether a story is “vilifying” vs “glamorizing” something. people watch movies like fight club and take away very different thematic messages about whether the protagonist is someone to admire and emulate. if we say that depictions of abuse are only “good” or “allowed” if the narrative clearly portrays the abuse as “fucked up,” then we’re going to have to establish a High Court of AP English Teachers to determine exactly what narrative devices are employed and how, and that’s just...not...workable.

also, some people like the “fucked up”-ness of these stories; if you’re trying to say that something is bad if people “enjoy it” or “get off” on it or “indulge” in the darkness of the content, then it doesn’t matter if the story itself is wagging its finger at the naughty, naughty reader. the taboo, the erotic, and the deviant are, and have always been, wrapped up in each other. you can depict something as “bad” and yet still “fun;” it becomes a useless distinction when talking about sexual content.

do i personally see a difference, when it comes to my own enjoyment? yeah, absolutely. i stopped watching game of thrones not because it included rape, but because the way the cinematography, musical score, etc. made it clear that the show was expecting me to feel a certain way about those images, and i didn’t appreciate that. i also didn’t appreciate the directorial decision to give more dignity to a dog’s death by cutting to black than to violence against women. i would probably not enjoy a book or movie that’s just about how awesome and fun it is to hurt people; though i did like clockwork orange - i found the narrator abhorrent, but interesting.

but i think trying to split hairs about what does and doesn’t count as Problematic or Allowable Content, or trying to tell people that what they create and/or consume is Bad and they are Bad for doing it, because its inclusion of dark themes is Doing It Wrong - it’s not helpful. it’s impossible to develop a standard for what is “doing it wrong vs doing it right” that makes any sense, and even if you did, enforcing it through campaigns of hatred and social vilification is not going to be effective.

#fandom #discourse #antis #anti anti #fandom discourse

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skywillsometimeswrite · 4 years ago

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Why?

So I got really inspired by @target-block ‘s Evil!Impulse and Evil!Stress AU and so I decided let’s throw a hastily written fic at them

(I have barely watched Impulse, and I haven’t seen much of Stress, so literally it’s all spitballing but they’re evil so its fiiiiine)

Read it on AO3

“Why, Impulse? Why are you doing this?”

Impulse glanced over his shoulder at his old friends, Bdubs physically holding Tango back. If Bdubs even loosened his grip Tango would most definitely charge right at Impulse. He wonders if his old friend would hit him. He was never the particularly violent type, so maybe he would try and talk him out of the high that he was currently riding from his carnage spree. Would he hug him and try and use some heartfelt words to sway him back over to being his old self? The thought amused Impulse, making his smile grow to show his teeth off.

He laughed, loud and hearty, just like he used to at Zedaph’s more ridiculous ideas, or when Bdubs would get himself blown up. He caught a glimpse of Tango’s confused expression shifting into one of betrayal before he looked out on the damage that he had caused.

He breathed in the tell tale smell of wither roses, relishing in his handiwork as ghasts, blazes, and even a few withers flew around the shopping district. The roses had a distinct smell, one that mingled quite well with smoke, nether wart, and spider eyes as he had learned when concocting this most magnificent scheme with his two partners in crime. That beautiful symphony of smells now hung over the shopping district, the once green grass Scar placed now brown and dead or black with the wither effect seeping into its roots. Impulse thought it was quite the improvement. The place had gotten to be a bit too colorful for his liking.

“Why?” He echoes back to Tango, spinning on his heel. He held a wither rose in his calloused hand that had become immune to the wither effect the plant held. His fingertips were stained black and faded as they went down. He had lost full feeling in them ages ago, but that never hindered him. If anything, it helped since he didn’t have to worry as much about his own weapons and traps hurting him when he set them up. Not to mention facing down wither skeletons in the nether had become nothing but a simple chore. “You want to know why?”

“Yes! Why would you betray us like this? What have we ever done to you?” Bdubs’ voice grated against Impulse’s ear drums and he couldn’t help how he nearly crushed the precious flower in his fist.

Impulse walked towards his previous coworkers, circling them on top of Scar’s magnificent Scara Junior. Impulse picked the black petals off of the rose, letting them flutter down onto the organic material of the stem, and lazily watched as they formed a circle of decay around his enemies. Ordinarily, just the petals wouldn’t do much, but the stem soaked up all of the withering effect that it could. It quickly spread to the point underneath Tango and Bdubs, and despite how the two tried, they were never particularly strong: in will or in body. Their coughs and groans as their beings filled with unwavering pain was music to Impulse’s ears, even more so as he felt the familiar feeling creep up his own legs and reinvigorate him.

“What have you ever done to me?” Impulse’s voice raised, incredulous, before it fell again, black particles falling from his mouth as the withering effect spread within his body. “Are you serious? The better question is what haven’t you done to me?

All you guys have ever done is use me. I finish one job, and you guys want something bigger. And every time I’m lucky if I get even a little bit of gratitude. I help you with your games, I help you with your projects, I help you with your farms, I give you resources, I design new machines and what do I get in return? A ‘thanks’ and a guarantee that you’ll come back to me when you need something else.”

He kneeled in front of the two hermits, both of them holding their chests as the incredible, beautifully hideous wither spread through them, slowly draining away their life. That was probably one of Impulse’s favorite parts of using the petals over full flowers: it was a lot slower of a death.

He gently put one of his wither tainted fingers underneath Tango’s chin, lifting his head up so he could look into his pain filled red eyes. “Even you, Tango. The only reason I’m here is because you needed someone to do your work for you. I’m surprised you didn’t see this coming.”

Tango opened his mouth, a strangled sound escaping in what almost sounded like a word before it devolved into horrendous coughs that brought a smile to Impulse’s face. He dropped the other’s head, standing proudly over the men.

This was by far the best payment he could have asked for.

-----

“Stress, I don’t understand, why are you doing all this?”

Iskall was precariously balancing on the Logz blimp, his arms out as he tried to steady himself. This sight caused Stress to giggle, and Iskall’s disturbed expression at the almost normal sound was clear on his face. She knew, if it had been anyone else standing in front of him, he wouldn’t have hesitated to charge forward and impale them. But this was Stress in front of him, his best friend. He adored her, and she knew that very well. So of course she was going to use that to her advantage.

“You’re a smart guy, Iskall, I’m sure you can figure it out.” She said, catching how his eyes drifted out over the shopping district and to the roof of the Colored Complete shop. Now that she didn’t appreciate. She wasn’t harmless, perhaps she had to remind him of this.

She twirled a lingering potion in her hand, spinning it on her fingertip before gingerly tossing it at Iskall’s feet. It shattered, the sickly green liquid exploding all over the wood. The fumes quickly wafted up, causing Iskall to cover his mouth, but it was all too late. The poison spread through his body, making his vision sway and his stomach retch, Stress knew. She had tested it enough times to know the exact effects on a person, and she didn’t need a watch to know exactly when it would end.

“You should keep your eyes on me if you know what’s good for you, luv. I’m not some cute dainty flower, you know -- well, I am adorable, but that's not the point, now is it?”

Iskall was definitely one of the tougher hermits, she had to give him that. Most anyone else would be rendered incapacitated from her enhanced poison potions, but he managed to glare at her between wet coughs. He took a few steps towards her, out of the fading cloud of poisonous fumes, and took a deep breath of air. Not that it would help him much, considering the amount of smoke that lingered around them.

“Seriously, Stress, what is all this about? We’re friends aren’t we? What’s gotten into you?”

She rolled her eyes, groaning at such a typical Iskall response. Really, he couldn’t be more predictable could he? She pulled out a splash potion, watching the ink black liquid swirl around inside the fragile glass.

“You really think I’m so simple, do ya?” She took a step forward, watching Iskall take a step backwards from the corner of her eye. “Sure, we were friends, Iskall. But that got old real quick, it did. Y’see I got real tired of being this little do gooder that could do no wrong. The one everyone underestimated. I wanted to prove to all of you how easily you were to fool. How easily I could fool you.”

She grinned at Iskall’s wide eye and shaking legs as she took another step forward. “You’re all really stupid, you know that? None of you even thought to suspect us! And we weren’t barely subtle at all. Luckily for us, you lot were so happy to cling on to the idea of poor Falsie being behind all of our messes that you didn’t look any farther into it!”

She sighed, squishing her cheek with the palm of her hand as she thought about it. “I do feel a lil’ bad, you know. About Falsie. I honestly didn’t think you’d straight up ban her. Must’ve been pretty scary for her.”

“We thought-”

“Yeah, yeah, I know what you lot thought. That sweet ol’ Impy and I wouldn’t hurt a fly, right?” She tossed the potion at him, knowing that he was enshrouded in darkness. Even his mechanical eye couldn’t see past a blindness potion that she had made. She walked towards him, sliding her hand up his arm and getting right up close to him. She wished she could frame his look of terror when she whispered:

“Do you still think that?”

-----

“Grian, mate, really you gotta explain this to me. All of this. I-I don’t get why you’re doing all this.”

Ariana rolled her eyes at Mumbo. “How many times do I have to tell all of you? I’m not Grian, I’m Ariana Griande. I swear, you all are terrible with names.” She tutted.

“Yeah, right, whatever your name is, you need to stop this. Please. Or- Or at least tell me why you’re doing this. We can figure this out, I’m sure.”

Araina’s heels clicked on the noteblocks she stood on, walking over them as she examined Mumbo carefully. She hummed every note that played with every footstep she took. Sure, maybe Etho’s work was more refined and practiced, but Ariana was known for her voice not her instrumental talent. And of course for her explosive and fiery personality. Why else would Stress and Impulse recruit her?

“I think the better question is why wouldn’t I be doing this?” She asked Mumbo as she hopped off the noteblocks and onto the white concrete that made up the roof of Colored Complete. It was more grey now from all the smoke, but she thought that it looked far prettier that way. Fire always gave things that extra spice they needed.

“What?”

“Oh, come on Mumbo. Are you telling me you’ve never wanted to create a little chaos before?”

He spluttered, looking at her as if she was crazy before gesturing to the currently crisping shopping district. “This- this isn’t just ‘a little chaos!’ Grian, if you think this is all some harmless prank you gotta snap out of it, man. This is way, way, way worse than anything else you’ve ever done.”

“Ariana.” She corrected him again before walking to stand next to him and survey her fine handiwork. She had to compliment Impulse, the nether mods definitely helped a lot with the fire bit. And the ghasts certainly helped in the blowy-uppy part. Of course, most of the larger destruction was her own direct doing and she was quite proud of it all, even if it had made her skirt flutter up a little bit. She could sacrifice a little modesty for the sake of her art.

“And Mumbo, my dear Mumbo, I don’t think this is some harmless prank or whatever. No, I think,” she threw her arm over his shoulder, the heels making the reach less awkward. She still had to pull the man down to her height, though. “I think this is art. Beautiful art.”

She let him go, happily skipping back over to her noteblocks and sitting down on one, crossing her legs as she smiled out over the marvelously demolished shopping district. Her smile grew as a blaze lit a lone piece of TNT, the explosion adding to the brilliant cacophony of sounds that were already in the air. The crackling of fire, the screeches of ghasts, the breathy roars of withers, and of course her favorite sound: the panicked screaming of the hermits as they scrambled to salvage as much as they could.

Really, did she even need to explain why she did all of this? Why they did all of this? It seemed pretty obvious to her.

“You see, Mumbo, it’s all about making a statement.”

#sky writes #target-block #evil impulse and stress au #work: why?#hermitcraft #hermitcraft au #impulsesv #stressmonster #stressmonster101 #grian #ariana griande #i should be writing literally anything else #and yet here i am #because this is such a fun au #i know hels and ex are also in this au somewhere #but i wanted to focus on these three mainly #also ariana griande has only been referred to as she/her so

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sou-ver-2-0 · 4 years ago

Note

You haven't talked much about the floor masters (except Midori). What are your thoughts on them? Any theories?

This is a great question!! Thanks for asking me. I am a villain stan, after all.

I think YTTD's Floor Masters are worthy villains! They're deliciously evil and they contribute a lot to the setting. I love how their absurd designs make the Death Game look like a bizarre, even magical place. They help me feel like I've been transported to another dimension where our normal rules don't matter.

What I appreciate most about the writing for the Floor Masters is how Nankidai gives them distinct personalities. Each Floor Master we meet sets a different tone for a new level. That's a satisfying feeling since the variety gives the story depth. The Floor Masters in Chapter 2 had especially compelling arcs. And I expect that we'll get more development for the surviving villains in Chapter 3.

As for theories? I'm on board with the theory that Sue Miley, Tia Safalin, and Gashu Satou are likely humans instead of dolls, since they all bleed. However, I don't understand why they would need to pretend to be dolls. Is it just to unsettle the participants? What meaning could there be to having a mix of human and doll Floor Masters? I really don't know. Metaphorically, maybe the significance of showing the Floor Masters bleed is to remind the player that we're in the real world after all, in spite of the Death Game's otherworldly appearance? I can't even fathom what the literal reason could be.

I'll share some brief thoughts about each non-Midori villain beneath the cut!

Sue Miley: She's the most simplistic villain, and I respect that. Sue Miley has no pretenses about being a bad guy. She's simply sadistic. That works perfectly for Chapter 1, when we're just learning about what our heroes are up against. Sue Miley immediately sets the stakes high with her powerful presence.

I vaguely recall that she was up to mysterious work behind the scenes in Chapter 2, but I honestly don't remember that part well. (Sorry!) I just started playing the game with my sister over the weekend, so hopefully I'll get a better grasp on the details when we reach that part! I do think it's really interesting how Sue Miley has a conflict with Gashu Satou in Chapter 2, though I'm unclear on why she didn't trust him. Perhaps Sue Miley didn't realize that Gashu would be willing to die for his beliefs? And she was worried that he would let the participants escape? Is that all there is to it? That sounds like the simplest answer, but I'd like to see Sue Miley's reaction for confirmation.

In any case, I'm sure that we'll see more of Sue Miley in Chapter 3! She might get a layer to her personality, or she might continue to be her good old sadistic self.

Rio Ranger: Aahh, I admit that Rio Ranger is the villain who disturbs me the most. Probably because he's more sympathetic than Sue Miley, so it's easier to understand where his sadism comes from. And that gets under my skin! To see a doll so jealous of humans that he would torture them so cruelly. The way he treats the dead also horrifies me. He seems so childish--it's clear that he just needed to be treated better and he wouldn't have turned out so bad.

My impression is that Rio Ranger is a popular character, which kinda surprised me haha, but you must understand I'm sensitive! Lol. Maybe I'll enjoy him more for "fun" reasons the second time around? To be clear, I think the writing for him is great. I think the writing for all the villains in Chapter 2 is fantastic. He just...makes me upset haha.

I do have a wild theory related to Rio Ranger, which is that his father-son relationship with Gashu could be foreshadowing for Midori's relationship with Meister. But that's a topic for a Midori-centric post!

Tia Safalin: Ohoho, she's definitely my favorite!! I love this sad wicked woman.

What's ironic about my arbitrary feelings is that she's also very disturbing, much like Rio Ranger. She's more sympathetic than Sue Miley because she seems to have a conscience of sorts. We feel as though she ought to know better. At times, she is more sympathetic than Rio Ranger, because we don't want to believe that she would be capable of being as cruel as him. And this makes Safalin's cruelty the worst of them all, because it's tinged with betrayal.

Safalin is evil in a realistic way. There are plenty of people, especially women, who use their tears to shield them from culpability. She also has a delightful motivation; she's in this for science! If I were a Floor Master--with my timid personality and curious nature--I'd probably be most like Safalin. She's like a dark mirror. I love that about her.

Gashu Satou: Fascinating man, wow. That plot twist broke me. What I like most about Gashu is that he seems to give us the clearest hint of what the meaning behind Asu-Naro is. As Kai wrote, "This Death Game is not for pleasure nor revenge. To the organization, it is an inevitable mission. ...That is what my father believed. The organization drove my father mad."

What is the true mission of Asu-Naro? We don't know, but Gashu certainly embodies the feelings in Kai's words. Gashu is not here for "sadistic pleasure" like Sue Miley, or "revenge against humans" like Rio Ranger. To Gashu, the Death Game is like religion. He is willing to die for its mysterious goal.

There are real people like Gashu too--folks who are brainwashed to support horrible causes. He's absolutely the villain who hurt my heart the most by shutting out the last thread of hope for our heroes. Gashu's spiteful suicide has the opposite effect of his son's Kai inspiring suicide. While Gashu gave his life in support of a death cult, Kai gave his life to resist a death cult. I think that the writing for Gashu is incredible.

Maple: I realize that she's not technically a Floor Master--she's an Obstructer--but I thought I'd still mention her. I like that Nankidai came up with another unique personality for her. She's very affable. Midori is also friendly, but his cruel streak is more obvious. Maple doesn't look sadistic or scientific... Why is she here? Is she simply the most robotic of these villains? I'm curious how Nankidai will develop Maple as a villain, but since we don't have much to go on, I don't feel that strongly about her yet.

...

Getting the chance to write about these characters made me appreciate them more! Thanks again for asking!

#suicide mention #yttd #your turn to die #kimi ga shine #your turn to die spoilers #sue miley #rio ranger #tia safalin #gashu satou #maple #asks #mine #meta #floor masters #I'm not expecting this to get much notes but it was honestly really fun to write! so thank you again

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tsukumosanaappreciationblog · 4 years ago

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Why SDR2 is the best Danganronpa Game

If you’re a Danganronpa fan you probably have personal favorites whether it be characters, class trails or the topic of this essay favorite games. Despite all of the games having the same formula they still have a distinct identity from each other which is commendable but alas that’s not what we will discuss. In this essay I will explain why Danganronpa 2:Goodbye Despair is the best Danganronpa game.

Let me discuss the setting of the game Jabberwock Island. Immediately the tropical island serves as a stark contrast to the two schools of the trilogy. This isn’t just for show either while the schools are claustrophobic Jabberwock Island feels like an open space which makes the world more fun to move around in. Speaking of contrast in Danganronpa 2 each island does a good job of feeling distinct from one and another. When you get more floors to the school in the other game you do find interesting things. I especially like V3’s Talent Development Labs compared to the islands of SDR2 it’s no contest. The other games take place in a school and thus are limited to things that would logically be in a school were as you’re allowed much more freedom with the islands. From the bright and colorful amusement park of island four to the futuristic setting of island five there is no doubt that SDR2 has the most creative and diverse setting of any of the Danganronpa games.

Another thing that SDR2 executes well is feeling like a true expansion of the themes of DR1.Unlike V3 SDR2 plot is directly affected by the plot of DR1 without feeling like a rehash which can be difficult to pull off. I think the virtual world is an interesting concept that is executed quite well. Let’s use Chiaki as an example: the twist of her being an AI is foreshadowed with her direct similarities with Chihiro and Alter Ego. While not being overly obvious if you take a look at their designs they do share a lot in common. There designs both include a white button up shirt,similar bowties, an overcoat, a skirt with black stockings, along with similar shoes and haircuts. Once you spell it all out the design parallels become pretty obvious but they also share similar personality traits Chihiro they both share a love of gaming even though Chihiro isn’t as explicit about it. They also have a very sweet and well meaning personality along with a certain degree of intelligence which in Chiaki’s case is very analytical in nature which reflects her nature as an AI. There’s also some information in her free time events that foreshadows her nature as an AI which furthers her alter ego parallels. During one of her free time events she didn’t know that cows made milk which is basic human information and in a later free time event the only genre of games she’s bad at is dating sims which directly involves human connection as it’s primary gameplay mechanic.

That’s enough about Chiaki for now let’s discuss another character that uses parallels to another character that uses character parallels to great effect Nagito Komeda. The Makoto parallels are pretty obvious but let's still go over them starting with his design and also the fact that Nagito Komeada is an anagram of Makoto Naegi. Both characters wear a hoodie,have a similar haircut including the patented anime protagonist ahoge and his generally unremarkable design makes the Makoto comparisons clear. Were the parallel really shine however is in personality. During the early game the Makoto parallels are effective are used to create a false sense of security. During the early game he spends a lot of time helping you out and general doesn't come off as a bad person even if he does come across as a bit odd. This makes him an effective wolf in sheep's clothing. Even after revealing his true nature the Makoto parallels only grow stronger. Let’s take a look at both of their talents and how they operate in the narrative. Despite having the same title of The Ultimate Lucky Student there talents operate very differently. Makoto’s luck while powerful in it’s own way primary is used to keep him alive with conscience that make sense due to his talent. On the flip side Komeada’s luck is truly supernatural and he relise on it for his plans to work like when he used the random raffle to get himself on cleaning duty. Even though his luck is powerful it does come at a price. During his free time events he is revealed to have a cycle of luck where bad luck is preceded by good luck and vice versa As an example Komeda has said that he was kidnapped and then immediately found a lottery ticket that was worth ten million dollars Komeda’s luck serves as a powerful force of nature that is even beyond his control which is a real interesting subversion of Makoto’s luck. Another parallel is Makoto’s humility versus Komeada’s self deprecation. They both stem from the fact that they don’t see themselves as having worthwhile talents. Makoto sees himself as mundane compared to the exceptional people at Hope’s Peak Academy but he learns to overcome that insecurity and recognize his own value. Komeada on the hand sees himself as inherently worthless because of his lackluster talent and is willing to sacrifice his own life for the sake of the other ultimates Despite him seeing himself as worthless that couldn’t be further from the truth in fact he’s one of the most intelligent characters in the series but he refuses to acknowledge himself because of the way he see himself as worthless. Another thing the two characters have in common is the desire for hope but there methods are very different. Komeada like the founders of Hope's Peak sees ultimates as the embodiments of hope and he wishes to sacrifice himself for them and is willing to become the adversity they overcome and is willing to kill just so that he can become an obstacle that hope overthrows. Makoto is comparatively simpler in this regard and only becomes a symbol of hope because of his undying optimism and becomes known as the Ultimate Hope because of the adversity he faced and his ability to inspire Komeda also tried to become the Ultimate Hope by killing all remnants of despair including himself. This is a somewhat sound motivation however it ignores to hope of recovery and the ability to create their future. Speaking of hope for the future, let's talk about SDR2’s ending because it does a good job of thematically tying into Trigger Happy Havoc. It’s revealed that the world is a virtual world created by a The Future Foundation which was created by the survivors of DR1. The purpose of this world was to reform the sixteen students from the game which were revealed to be remnants of despair. This explains the nature of Monomi and the seeming peaceful beginning of the game however this turns into a killing game because of AI Junko. Let’s address the most common complaint about this finale which is that Junko was overused and this game should have had a new mastermind which is a fair complaint however if you consider the fact that SDR2 was created as a direct continuation of DR1 it works thematically for Junko to be the mastermind and it was a satisfying conclusion to finally kill Junko excluding the anime because the anime doesn't deserve rights. The Future Foundation also helps continue the story of DR1 due to the fact that we get to see these characters again in a way that furthers the plot. The new finales use’s characters from the previous game however it adds a different theme that feels natural with the theme of being able to change the future regardless of the past. This isn’t something that the survivors of the first game had to deal with because of the SDR2 survivors' unique situation of being remnants of despair. This while different is still a fundamentally optimistic theme so it feels thematically consistent with the themes of hope and despair from the first game

As I hope I’ve made clear that due to the thematic parallels of DR1,SDR2 is a true sequel that expands on the thematic elements of the first and becomes something greater than its predecessors.

#sdr2 #danganronpa #dr1 #danganronpa v3 #Nagito Komaeda #chiaki namani #makoto naegi #chihiro fujisaki #junko enoshima #long post #jabberwock island

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set-phasers-to-whump · 4 years ago

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“who are you?”

prompt: “who are you?”

whumpee: nick burkhardt

fandom: grimm

hi im back on my grimm bullshit this time with some torture! sorry for posting this so late in the day i was out and didn’t have enough time before to post. i edited beforehand but there is a chance some stuff might be weird idk and i am too tired to bother looking it over again.

His hands are tied up behind him, so tightly that they’re starting to go numb. His legs are tied up, too, but separately, each to the one of the legs of a chair. There is a thick blindfold covering his eyes, again tied far too tightly for him to have any hope of getting it off (he’d tried. Several times. But nothing had happened).

Nobody’s here. He supposes they must be coming, though. People don’t generally get tied to chairs and blindfolded for no reason.

He wishes he knew where he was. Who had taken him. He’d been exploring an old house, off the record, for reasons barely tangential to the actual case he was working. As far as he’d known, it didn’t belong to anyone, and no one in particular was using it, so he’d thought it’d be safe.

He supposes it could still be. Just because being in that house is the last thing he remembers doesn’t exactly mean that it’s the last place he’d been. Whoever has him could have grabbed him from anywhere. Which is decidedly not a comforting thought.

Finally, he hears a door open and close. He figures whoever it is isn’t going to be anyone pleasant, but at the very least they’re a sign that something is happening. Maybe they’ll tell him what’s going on.

He hears the person approach, heavy, even footfalls and steady breathing. Someone well acquainted with people tied to chairs, presumably. They say nothing. Just stand in front of him. Nick pictures eyes scrutinizing him, calculating. He wonders whether it isn’t better that he can’t see.

“Who are you?” he asks, after he becomes sure that several minutes have passed. The person still has said nothing, hasn’t moved. It’s a little creepy and entirely too suspenseful. If they’re going to do something to him (which they have to, he figures), the least they can do is get on with it.

In answer to his question, he hears something slosh, and scarcely has time to wonder what it is before freezing-cold water is poured onto his head. He coughs, sure for a second that they’re going to waterboard him, but nothing else touches his face. He shivers.

“What the hell was that for?”

No answer.

He sits there, dripping, trying to figure out what the game is here. He has to admit, pouring water on someone doesn’t sound like the most effective torture technique out there. He’s cold, sure, but that’s it. There must be something worse coming, he thinks.

And there is.

At first, it doesn’t seem so bad. He feels metal prongs poke into his neck, and then a jolt of electricity that moves his whole body. This happens a few times. It’s fairly exhausting, but not extremely painful, though being wet definitely isn’t doing him any favors.

Eventually, the shocks stop coming, leaving him shaking, whether from the electricity or from the water, he doesn’t know. Presumably both.

“Wh-who are you?” he asks again, through chattering teeth. If he just knows who they are, maybe he can reason with them, tell them what they want to hear…

No answer. “What do you want?” he tries. Still, nothing.

Someone punches him in the stomach, which is...unexpected. They hit him a few more times before stopping abruptly, like they’ve changed their mind.

Which he supposes they have. He’s hit again, across the chest, but definitely not with a fist. It feels...like some kind of pipe, maybe? Definitely metal. It makes a sort of hollow clanging sound every time it hits him. He tries to think of other things about the pipe. Maybe it was from a plumbing system, or maybe left over at a build site...anything to distract himself from how it feels slamming into his torso, over and over, each time causing him to lose his breath, barely able to catch it before the next hit is coming. It’s a dull kind of pain, but it hurts more than the shocks had, and he can’t stop himself from making occasional noises of pain. He’d ask them to stop, too, if he had the breath to do it.

Like they’ve read his thoughts, the beating stops. It takes a moment for that to sink in, as his body feels so raw with the pain that for all he can tell they may very well still be hitting him. But it must stop, because he hears the pipe clatter to the floor.

Everything just aches. He tries to take a deep breath, feeling it catch in his throat with a kind of choking sound. It hurts. His whole torso throbs in time with his heartbeat.

“What…” he tries to ask, but the person slaps him across the face, sharp in contrast to the pain in his torso, and he feels tears well unbidden in his eyes. Shutting up, he thinks. I got it.

The water comes back, for a split second welcome against the burning in his face and the aching in his torso. Then it’s just cold. He shivers, feeling the movement interact unpleasantly with his injuries.

Then they stab him. He doesn’t even feel it at first. Not until the warmth of his blood becomes noticeable against his cold skin. Then he feels it. Shallow and thin, but definitely a stab, into his right shoulder. It burns.

Evidently, the knife is not done being used with just the one stab. Nick feels it trace a slow pattern across his face, and then cut a thin line from the corner of his right eye down to the middle of his cheek. It’s actually not that painful.

And then the knife is back, tearing cuts through his shirt until he’s sure the fabric must have turned red. Each cut on its own doesn’t hurt too much, but all together they do. Several of them are right across the area on his torso where they’d beaten him with the pipe. These ones present an especially intense pain that makes him wish that they’d knock him over the head just a little bit too hard. Unconsciousness is sounding really good about now…

Another round of water is dumped over his head, stinging unpleasantly on his new cuts. Then they punch him in the jaw, and then again on either side of his face, sending his head from one direction to the other entirely too quickly. They finish off the punches with a powerful one to his already battered and cut torso, which makes him scream for the first and only time. He takes a shuddering breath that turns into something like a sob, and can’t stop himself from muttering, “please...stop.”

They...listen? He feels his legs get untied, though he’s in too much pain to use them to kick out at his captor. Then he’s being lifted, his arms never getting untied, just moved upwards until they clear the back of the chair. He feels his body get thrown over someone’s shoulder with a jolting pain that makes all of his injuries hurt at once, and then something is held over his mouth and nose and he doesn’t try to fight it at all, just breathes in as deeply as he can and willingly falls into unconsciousness.

He wakes up confused, shivering, cold, aching, still tied up, still blindfolded, lying on something that feels like dirt. He focuses his ears above the blood pounding in his head and hears a bird caw, hears distant cars. He’s outside. He’s free.

The ropes around his wrists are looser now, and he manages to wriggle his hands free, feeling his wrists grow slick with blood.

As soon as he gets a hand free, he’s reaching up to tear off the blindfold, noting with discomfort the pulling feeling on every single injury on his torso. It comes away, and...he still can’t see. Because it’s night, he reminds himself, blinking hard. A few stars twinkle in the sky, and faint moonlight comes through a cloud. He turns his gaze to his surroundings as he unties his ankles.

He’s on a dirt path, surrounded by trees. They grow denser to his right and seem to disappear to his left. He hopes that means there’s a road, rather than some kind of cliff.

He slowly gets to his feet, legs shaking underneath his weight. His body aches, and it feels like the hardest task in the world to just take a step, but once he starts walking it gets a little easier. He curls an arm protectively around his torso and starts off at a slow limp for the edge of the trees.

A road. He’s never felt luckier in his entire life. It’s a fairly small road, with no cars on it and no lights on in any of its buildings, but it’s a road, and that means people, somewhere. People that can hopefully help him.

He looks around, squinting in the darkness, shivering in the cool nighttime air. There are no visible landmarks, just vague shapes that might be buildings or might be nothing at all. He wishes that the clouds would uncover the moon.

Which they do, after a time. The moonlight reveals nothing but an empty stretch of road and a solitary billboard. Great, he thinks, and then he looks at the billboard again and realizes that he knows it - he’d driven past it earlier, on his way to the house he’d been exploring. It can’t be far, then. He doesn’t know whether he should really go back there, but it’s the only familiar thing he can think of, and familiarity sounds pretty damn good, so he sets off.

At some point, he passes the billboard. The moon disappears back behind the clouds, and when he turns around he can’t see the billboard at all. He wonders for a horrible second whether or not he’s delirious and imagining things, and then he sees lights up ahead. He goes towards them instinctively, not particularly caring who they might belong to. He’s nearly gotten close enough to make out distinct figures when he hears footsteps behind him, and the sound of a gun clicking.

He raises trembling hands into the air, hoping he’s not about to get killed after all of this.

“Who are you? Turn around slowly,” says a voice, and Nick knows that voice. He’s safe.

Any adrenaline that might’ve been in his body leaves it all at once, and he collapses to the ground, which hurts quite a lot, but the relief of lying down more than makes up for it.

Until he feels a gun press into his back.

“Stop, stop,” he mutters, hoping he’ll be heard. “‘S me. ‘S Nick.”

“Nick?”

He nods jerkily, face scraping against the asphalt. The gun leaves his back, and he feels himself get turned over, then finds himself looking directly into the face of his boss. He doesn’t think he’s ever been more grateful to see the man in his life.

Renard is still for a moment, kneeling in front of him on the ground, looking him up and down.

Nick waits for him to finish doing...whatever the hell it is he’s doing and ask him what had happened. But the question never comes. Instead, Renard very gently helps him up into a sitting position. Then he pulls off his jacket, and Nick wonders what he’s doing, because it’s really cold out here, and if he had a jacket on right now, he wouldn’t take it off for the world.

And then there is a jacket on him, Renard’s jacket, too big but incredibly warm and dry, and he burrows himself into it as much as he can, grabbing its edges and pulling it tighter around his body.

“What’s happening?” he hears someone say from above him. He resolutely does not look up at them, in fact scrunching his eyes shut. He really doesn’t want to share anything with anyone at the moment.

“I found him,” Renard says, and Nick experiences a shocking array of emotions in a few seconds as he realizes that there’s people out here who were looking for him. “Or, he found me.”

There’s a bit of chatter that he doesn’t really focus on, and then Renard’s hand is on his shoulder, and he’s asking whether Nick wants to tell them about it.

He really doesn’t. He shakes his head, feeling slightly overwhelmed as everything that had happened to him starts to sink in.

“Okay, that’s fine,” Renard says, which is definitely not what Nick is expecting him to say.

His next statement is not addressed at Nick. “Clear up,” he says, and Nick hears feet moving away. “Thank you all for your help, but Detective Griffin and I have it handled from here.”

Hank.

Nick hears another pair of feet approach and opens his eyes, relieved when the only people he sees are his Captain and his best friend.

“Hey,” Hank says, sounding concerned but not pitying. “How are you doing?”

Nick shrugs. “Cold,” he says. “Wet...achy. Pain.” Not the most coherent sentence he’s ever uttered, though he figures it gets his point across well enough.

“I bet,” Renard says, rather gently. “We’ll get you to the hospital, and they’ll fix all that for you.”

He nods. The hospital...actually sounds pretty good, for once. He feels someone pick him up, very gently, though it hurts like hell anyway.

He finds himself in the backseat of Renard’s car, lying down with his head across Hank’s lap. He’s pretty good for a makeshift pillow, Nick decides, as Renards starts the car.

A short drive later, he’s being picked up again, and he watches with unfocused eyes as various doctors hurry up to their little group. Someone comes up with a gurney, and then he’s being set down onto it, and then he’s moving and Renard and Hank aren’t there, which is a scarier feeling than he’d like to admit, but then something pokes into his arm and everything fades away.

He wakes up hurting less, feeling rather warm and very much dry. He feels a bandage on his face, another on his shoulder, something wrapped around his torso…

“You awake?”

He blinks his eyes open and looks around for a second, until he sees Hank. He gives him a tired smile, which Hank returns.

“Feeling better?”

Nick nods. “Much,” he says. “Thanks.”

“No thanks for me?” comes a voice from his other side.

Nick turns around carefully, eyes landing on Renard, standing next to the bed with what looks like two steaming hot cups of coffee in his hands.

Renard must catch Nick’s eye, because he steps around the bed and hands one of the cups to Hank, pulling the other close to himself. “Sorry, no coffee for hospital patients,” he says, almost smiling. Nick gives him the same tired smile he’d given Hank.

“How long until I’m not a hospital patient?”

Renard sighs. “A day at most. Nothing required stitches, but they’d like to keep you for observation for a while.”

Nick nods. “Thanks,” he says, figuring Renard will understand he doesn’t just mean thanks for the information.

Renard nods. There’s silence for a second.

“Nick…”

He knows what’s coming.

“I’ll file a report,” he assures his boss. “Just...not until I’m out of here.”

“Okay.”

He’s immensely grateful that neither of them presses him to talk about it any further. He will talk about it, he knows, and it’ll be fine, but for the moment, everything’s a little too raw and he’s a little too tired to be able to do it.

His eyes slip closed, and he hears Renard leave. Hank doesn’t move, staying right where he is, and Nick knows this means he’s safe, so he gives in to sleep.

thanks so much for reading!! love u <3

#febuwhump2021 #febuwhumpday12 #who are you?#grimm #nick burkhardt #tortured #my writing #i say things

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