#Rats voiceovers

[musicblocks]

murder drones voice over templates! #1

I’m too much of a wimp to post my voice online nevermind-

not even because it’s me putting myself online but it’s just I hate hearing my own voice in recordings and I kind of have to so I could edit properly.

so I decided to let you beautiful people have fun with this as i want to see how you guys would do with it, but I do want too see it so if you plan on using this template you can either reblog it with you’re own recording and let others join in or you post youre video and tag #rats voice overs so I can see it!

If you do plan to post it somewhere else however please at least give credit when posting it please this took forever to make-

[ganglemanva]

hello with whom am i squeaking

(mouse noises)

[allpromarlo]

german hsr translations are really the gift that keeps on giving. i just called argenti “my dear” :3

[finalzephyr]

My new go-to

[dearheartdont]

A snippet of Charles Rowland's life prior to meeting Edwin.

(Note: contains canon-typical mentions of parental abuse and racism)

The letter came to Charles’ house, and every other house in England, when he was fourteen.

His dad opened it at the table, over tea and toast, and set the leaflet contained within down on the tablecloth. The front said AIDS: DON’T DIE OF IGNORANCE against a dark background that looked like a marble slab. Or a gravestone.

The kitchen was quiet as it always was in the mornings; his dad hated the sound of the radio. Charles’ mum had disappeared back upstairs after passing out plates and cups.

With a disdainful flourish, Charles’ dad flicked open the leaflet, scanned his eyes over it and then ripped it into pieces.

“Sending this to every household, like the whole of England is full of perverts. Disgusting.” His voice had the same dangerous tone as when Charles’ school report came home with ‘could try harder’ written in the teacher’s comment section. Charles held his breath like always and stared at his cereal, like the crackle of his Rice Krispies was the most fascinating thing in the world.

With a huff, his father got up, his plate and cup left on the table for someone else to clean up.

At the sound of the front door slamming shut, Charles unhunched his shoulders. He pulled the leaflet fragments across to him, pieced them back together like a ragged-edged jigsaw and read.

men who have anal sex with men ... drug misusers ... many sexual partners …

Charles shoved the fragments back together into a pile and pushed them to the bottom of the bin, where his mum wouldn’t see them. Then he rinsed all the cups and plates and grabbed his bag to leave for school.

***

It was Saturday night, a few weeks later when he saw the TV advert, sandwiched between the end of The Generation Game and the Nine ‘O’ Clock News, Charles and his mum sat next to each other on the sofa. A mug of chai tea in his hands made the proper way, in a pan, and creamy with full-fat milk.

With Charles’ dad out at the pub, the living room was safe until at least 11.30, when his father would return in one of two moods – angry or joyful - depending on how the football had gone. He’d be rat-arsed either way, so Charles would be out early doors tomorrow to avoid his dad’s hangover. He’d wait at the park until some lads from the estate turned up for a kickabout. They weren’t friends, not really: they patted him on the back when he was on their team, but muttered about immigrants when he wasn’t. But they included him. His dribbling skills were too good not to.

The advert showed a volcano erupting, rocks falling, and a sledgehammer drilling, whilst atonal bells and a synthesized choir competed with a sombre voiceover talking about “a deadly disease with no known cure”. Charles couldn’t look away. The advert’s final image was a bouquet of lilies thrown down on a gravestone that bore the epitaph ‘AIDS’. Charles clenched his fingers tight around his mug and gulped his tea.

He felt his mother’s hand touch his knee, lightly. “Nothing for you to worry about, you’re a good boy. Confined to small groups it says,�� Charles’ mum said.

Charles gave a sharp nod, and then they waited together in silence for the football scores to come up on the news.

[humbledragon669]

S2E1 - The Arrival Write Up P2 - the Present Day up to the introduction of Maggie and Nina

Right, first thing I want to address straight off the bat (sort of – straight off the bat for a point where I have something I can use for comparison). I’ve always felt the colours in the second season are so much more vibrant than in the first. I’ve never been sure that it wasn’t just a case that the image quality was better – the placards are a great example of this, they’re so much crisper and finely detailed. But now I’m in full examination mode, I can look at the colour issue a little bit more.

I’ve tried, as best I could, to get two shots that are of the same location from each season – first on the left, second on the right. They’re not perfect comparisons, but without spending hours on this one little point, that’s all you’re getting. Maybe it’s the lighting, maybe it was the weather; whatever the reason the colours in the second season shots are definitely brighter, more vivid. I’d be interested to hear if other people felt the same way. Part of me wonders whether the use of brighter tones is directly related to the general mindset of our hero couple, seeing as they’re both very comfortable in their authority-free lives at the start of the second season.

Alright, next up – that one-shot that starts immediately after the end of the credits (which I absolutely love), going from a birds-eye view of London (from a long way up!), down into Whickber Street and then, oh so smoothly, through the letterbox to land us up in the bookshop. I’ve heard mention (thanks to @curiouspupsicle) that those aerial shots are potentially a sub-textual hint that God is watching over everything. That would be an interesting concept for this season, seeing as God as a narrator is missing, and that both Crowley and Aziraphale are supposed to be being left alone – I’ve always thought the lack of those omnipresent voiceovers in this season signifies that God has in fact turned a blind eye to whatever it is that the angel and demon are up to on Earth, but that aerial shot might suggest otherwise.

As with the nebula numbering in the opening scene, I was hoping for a little Easter egg somewhere on the invoice form that Maggie has written her note on, but alas, I couldn't find anything glaringly obvious in Strong’s concordance.

There are two things I want to talk about in this shot. The first is more of a wondering – do we think there’s some level of grim foreshadowing with the clear view of only one half of the coffee shop name directly behind Aziraphale’s shoulder? As with everything in this series, I think coincidence and chance are things that don’t really happen, and that everything is done with a purpose in mind, so I’m of a mind that this is deliberate. I’m just struggling to put the pieces together on that one, seeing as Aziraphale doesn’t choose death at the end of this season (or not in an obvious way at least). The other thing I want to bring up is much lighter – it’s the incredible job that the set dressers and prop creators have done for this shop. All those records! And the ones that are on obvious display have all been adorned with made up artist names. I don’t think I could possibly identify them all if I ever want to finish this set of write ups, but “Rat Keith” appears to have been a favourite, along with “C.T. Bazz” and “Gomez, y Gomez, y Ramirez”. There is a short article covering an interview with the production designer Michael Ralph that talks specifically about the creation of this part of the set that has a couple of nice insights. Bravo everybody involved with this one – it’s a bloody masterpiece.

A note on Aziraphale’s reaction to Maggie saying she’s going to leave the shop – isn’t it kind of adorable that, despite the fact that he’s been living amongst humans and immersing himself in their ways for 6 millennia, the only reason he can think of for a business owner having to vacate their business premises is because they don’t like the location? It says so much about the goodness of his character that his worst nightmare here is that Maggie no longer likes the space he provides for her. You have to give some credit to Maggie here though, because hers is one of the most realistic reactions we get to see with regards to the batshit craziness that is so often taken for granted in this show.

Oh. Ah. Wait I see. Goodness of character I said? What was I thinking? This guy just wants his records. And if that that lecherous glance at his soon-to-be property doesn’t tell you that, his next line will:

AZIRAPHALE: Maggie if you were out of here, where would I get my records?

Now, before I go upsetting any of you, I want you all to know that I love Aziraphale. And (spoiler alert) I don’t hate him for the Final 15. With that said… SELFISH MUCH? He’s such a funny little conundrum (and I do know that’s kind of the point of the vast majority of this show) – being of Heaven, and therefore being good and kind and charitable, yet being so blatantly selfish at the same time. It’s something we do see in his character at several points in this show, but this is perhaps the most overtly that it’s stated.

Alright, I have to talk about this. It was always something that I had written down in my notes, but as I was writing this, something else occurred to me that actually gave me a chill. Let’s start with the first part of this line:

AZIRAPHALE: I’m very good at forgiveness…

Now this is an interesting claim to make. We’ve seen him specifically apply a type of forgiveness twice up to this point – once during the argument in Soho, the other where he asks for Crowley to be forgiven during the band stand scene. Have we ever seen any evidence that he actually is good at forgiving somebody for their sins? He’s certainly not good at it when Crowley comes back to the bookshop later in this episode. Or with Michael, Uriel and Sandalphon for their attack on him in the street – in fact we see him bear an undeniable grudge in relation to their actions. Perhaps his claim is made under the same premise that he assumes he inherently possesses so many other “good” qualities – he is of Heaven, therefore he must have them. Let’s mull all of that over whilst we think about the next bit of the line:

AZIRAPHALE: …it’s one of my favourite things.

On the surface, this would seem to be a simple way of backing up his claim. And here’s where my blood ran a little bit cold. Is this… a Sound of Music reference? We’ve actually even seen this very reference used once before in season 1:

SANDALPHON: These are a few of our favourite things.

Now, let’s side aside my original (very pathetic) epiphany that any time we have a Sound if Music we should interpret that as a BAD OMEN for a moment. Let’s instead remind ourselves of Aziraphale’s reaction to being told that there’s someone in his immediate circle of connections that really loves Sound of Music:

Hmm. Seems he’s not a fan. So why would he be referencing it here, in season 2? On the other hand, we do know that his “boss” is a pretty die-hard fan. What we don’t have confirmed is who, exactly, this refers to. To my mind, it’s one of two people – Gabriel (who we regularly see Aziraphale reporting to) or God herself. Huh. Now things are getting interesting. Because didn’t Aziraphale say he was good at forgiveness? But isn’t it Christian lore that it’s only God that can actually forgive the sins of humanity? I can’t tell you how quick my brain offered me the next thought that flew across my consciousness.

That’s not Aziraphale.

I mean. That thought is ridiculous, isn’t it? Isn’t it? That opens up so many questions I don’t even know where to start. And seeing as this is an episode write up, and not a meta exploration, I’m going to pretend I didn’t say anything at all about this and continue my way through this episode; perhaps I’ll revisit this possibility at a later date so, for now, we’ll move swiftly onwards…

Let’s have a bit of a deeper dive into the headlines on the newspaper Crowley is reading:

So aside from the fact that Crowley is in the park by himself (raising questions about whether he was there to meet Aziraphale as usual, if he does in fact use this location to “fraternise” with others, or if he’s actually just there because he likes it there), these headlines (and the newspaper itself) make some interesting suggestions. First off, let’s examine the presence of the newspaper itself. Why is Crowley reading a local rag for Tadfield at all? And given that it’s a free publication (see top right corner of the front page), it’s highly likely he would have to drive out to Tadfield to get this copy in the first place (demonic miracles aside). Seems to me like he’s going to an awful lot of trouble to get hold of a newspaper that doesn’t actually have any relevance to him. And what’s with some of those headlines? The perfect weather, the “Best Village in England” poll results, a new species of spider, and the local school gaining popularity; all of those things sound as if somebody might be meddling, and given that we saw Adam had retained at least some of his powers at the end of season one, I can’t help but wonder if he still has those powers at this point, and whether Crowley is now keeping an eye on him, both with the newspaper and the visits to the village to get that newspaper.

Crowley doesn’t seem particularly surprised to see Shax when she appears, which recalls the question I raised earlier that might suggest he really is using the park as a meeting place for someone other than Aziraphale. He does question her about whether Hell knows she’s “checking in” with him after all (it seems they don’t). And what’s this in her response?

SHAX: I am now Hell’s representative in London.

Does that mean there are other Hellish representatives in other cities/countries? I don’t know what that piece of information would give to strengthen the storyline at this point, but I suppose it might come into play later down the line; imagine if there were angel and demon representatives in each capital city of the world, all of them susceptible to becoming more humanity-inclined throughout the millennia. There’d be a veritable army of empowered beings fighting on the side of humanity if that was the case. Food for thought.

Other than finding out that Crowley’s apartment was actually a job perk (forcing him to live in his car), that he’s graduated from wanting to be on his own side all the way up to identifying any conflict as outright pointless, a confirmation of his nonchalance for being unwelcome in Hell, and a reminder that humanity itself is capable of so much worse acts of cruelty without Hell’s influence, there’s a lovely Clue here about Beelzebub’s involvement with Gabriel at this early point in the season:

SHAX: Beelzebub put some of the lower demons on half rations.

This punishment (which on the surface seems pretty minor and could in fact be completely meaningless if we take her later refusal to drink as a sign that demons don’t eat or drink just like angels don’t) would seem to have been done at the same time of Gabriel’s disappearance. Fortunately for us, we’re not told that he has disappeared until after we’re told Beelzebub has implemented this inconvenience (which is delivered in a rather throw-away fashion), otherwise we might have started to put the pieces together…

We also have confirmation in this conversation that the association between Aziraphale and Crowley is now open knowledge, and not interfered with, when Shax refers to Aziraphale as Crowley’s “contact”, which he doesn’t refute or offer any pretence about – he simply responds, impassively, that Heaven doesn’t talk to his “contact” anymore.

What I find interesting about this statement is that it’s made so confidently. OK, that sounds a bit confusing so let me explain. Do we ever hear Crowley telling Aziraphale that he has open contact with Shax about Hellish matters? Don’t think so. And jumping ahead a bit, do we hear him telling Aziraphale that he was summoned down to Hell by Beelzebub herself to answer questions about Gabriel’s whereabouts? Don’t think so (unless you count that desperate plea in the Final 15 – I don’t). So it would seem that he is keeping the fact that he is still in contact with some beings from his ex-employer from Aziraphale. Why doesn’t he consider that the angel could be doing the same thing? I actually think the answer to this might be a fairly simple one, and it’s that he is open and honest (and probably quite upset) that Heaven actively don’t talk to him anymore. Says a lot for their old agencies though, that Hell’s agents would still talk to Crowley but Heaven’s try their hardest to not even acknowledge Aziraphale’s presence, particularly seeing as the agency bearing a grudge the hardest is also the one that supposed to be “very good at forgiveness”. Whatever the sub-text here, I think it’s important to note that Crowley doesn’t agree to Shax’s attempted deal, despite the fact that she’s openly offering a mutual information exchange, which might actually be of benefit to Crowley’s situation. Ultimately I think that just goes to show – all this demon wants is to be left alone.

I think this is as good a place as any to stop, seeing as we’re about to get introduced to two new characters, and that an old character is about to make an unexpected (and already much discussed) appearance, so for now I’ll say the usual: questions, comments, discussion, always welcome 😊

[celticcrossanon]

This pisses me off, Celta. Harry reportedly (with photographic proof on social media) was "presented with a commemorative plaque from the Columbian Ministry of National Defense Veterans." StolenValorHarry doesn't give a rats ass about veterans, only how they can make himself look good. Just look at how quick he was to ditch going to a memorial event for Royal Marines as their Captain-General because Harry thought going to a Disney movie to get a voiceover job for his wife was more important.

19th Aug Ask

Hi Nonny,

StolenValor Harry is a good name for him. Thank you for the name.

I agree that Harry sees the veterans as things to prop up his image and pay his expenses via IG, and not as people to be respected and helped etc.

If the rumours of IG paying for part of this tour is true, then this award may be the justification for those expenses.

I agree that Harry does not deserve the award, but then I don't think he deserves any of the awards he has bought for himself. I wonder what this one cost him? (promises to do things, quid pro quo etc).

[fearsmagazine]

SAW THE MUSICAL: THE UNAUTHORIZED PARODY OF SAW Extends Off-Broadway and Announces National Tour.

After an astonishing New York run this Fall, SAW The Musical The Unauthorized Parody of Saw has extended its run Off-Broadway at AMT Theatre (345 West 45th Street) through Jun 23, 2024. It will also kick off a national tour in LA with a six-week run beginning Feb 29 at the Hudson Theatres Mainstage (6539 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90038 in Hollywood) SAW The Musical: The Unauthorized Parody began performances Off-Broadway on Sept 16, 2023, with its New York Opening Night on Sunday, Oct 1, 2023, and was called "Hilariously Absurd" by NPR. The run is extended through Jun 23, 2024, in Midtown's Theater District.

Danny Durr as Gordon and Jill Owen

The National Tour stops include Los Angeles, CA (Hudson Theatre Mainstage, Feb 29- Apr 7, 2024 ); San Diego, CA (Tenth Ave Arts Center, April 10 – 28, 2024), Las Vegas, NV (May 1 – 5, 2024), Portland, OR (Alberta Abbey, May 15 – Jun 9, 2024), Greely, CO (Union Colony Civic Center, June 2024), Chicago, IL (Jul 26 – Aug 18, 2024). Exact dates, locations, and tickets can be purchased by visiting www.sawthemusical.com/national-tour.

One of the most thought-provoking horror films of all time now is…a musical. SAW The Musical hilariously captures the events of the first movie, parodying the Saw that started it all, following from where Lawrence Gordon and Adam Stanheight find each other for the first time in the bathroom trap. Will they follow "the rules" as they discover each other's secrets? Will they escape the game in time and saw right through? A love story with fluidity (and lots more fluids), SAW The Musical: The Unauthorized Parody of Saw is Little Shop of Horrors meets Avenue Q, pushing the boundary on sexuality and how to love. [Parental Advisory: Explicit Content]

"SAW The Musical: The Unauthorized Parody of Saw brings the iconic horror film to life on stage with a wickedly funny twist. Now is the perfect time to laugh at the macabre as we blend horror and hair-raising laughter, creating a unique musical experience that's both hilarious and thrilling. Get ready for a love story entangled in traps, secrets, and unexpected humor, pushing the boundaries of entertainment with a dash of explicit fun." Cooper Jordan, Creator, and Producer

Created by Cooper Jordan (DEX! A Killer Musical, The Rat Pack Undead), SAW The Musical has a book by Award -Winning Writer Zoe Ann Jordan (Virtuoso - NYCHFF) and music & lyrics by Patrick Spencer & Anthony De Angelis (An Axemas Story), and directed & choreographed by Tony Award Winner Stephanie Rosenberg (Easter Bunny HOP! LIVE; Co-Producer: Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Anastasia) with music direction by Leigh Pomeranz (DEX! A Killer Musical) and fight direction by Dan Renkin (All My Sons, DEX! A Killer Musical). The Musical is produced by Cooper Jordan, Saw The Musical Parody LLC, Stephanie Rosenberg, Merciful Delusions Productions, Panit Chantranuluck, June Rachelson-Ospa, and more to be announced. Cooper Jordan is the Lead Producer.

SAW The Musical: The Unauthorized Parody of Saw (New York) stars Danny Durr (National Tour: A Christmas Carol, Tony-nominated War Paint) as Gordon, Adam Parbhoo (NY: Home's Kitchen) as Adam, Gabrielle Goodman (NY: Open, Stay) as Amanda/Alli/Jigsaw and Voiceover for Detective Tapp is by the late Donnell Johnson, with Swings & Understudies; Andrew Caira (New York: The Importance of Being Earnestly LGBTQ+, Regional/Tour: Atlantic City Blues Brothers), Patrick Voss Davis (Film: Lucky Louie. Regional: Newsies), James Lynch (New York: Baby Powder), Thomas Skea (Film: Out of Water), Morgan Traud (Regional: Mame), Jessica Morilak ("A Sketch of New York") and Keaton Barry. SAW The Musical's National Tour Casts will be announced in 2024.

For an updated schedule, National Tour tickets or to purchase tickets, please visit SawtheMusical.com.

[zephyr-rat]

Green Giant Saga: Twitch Character Insights

"My subjects will be like the books of the humans and the sumps, but the tale of Twitch would be even greater. No humans of course, and even in those heroic tales, there were always twists and turns. There were always traitors. Twitch knows better. The sumps taught me so. This bronze brace of mine always reminds. Everyone’s out for themselves down here. But there’s a way for better subjects than those! Creation. Sentience. Life!"

-- Twitch from The Sentient Potion

(You can also read this as "what I do if I have control of Twitch's LoL lore”) (Based off of how I write the characters for The Green Giant Saga)

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It’s hard to find a place to start with Twitch because, currently, Twitch has no lore. Unfortunately, Riot did not give the poor rat an updated bio when the big Piltover-Zaun update came at the beginning of 2017, and ever since then, he’s been sitting with a pathetic two sentence placeholder  bio that says essentially nothing about the character. That being said, to advertise for Twitch’s release in Wild Rift on April 20th, 2023, Riot did release a series of shorts called Twitch Chat: Sewer Tour in which Twitch gives a poor human victim a tour of his collection before presumably shooting him to death. The shorts characterize him as arrogant via his self-proclaimed superiority in taste and cruel as he goes off to test his poisons on an unsuspecting scuttle crab. He comes off as a Looney Toons punching bag. A stupid villain with very easy flaws to exploit for a clever Bugs Bunny type character (probably Ekko or Zeri) to outsmart and make a fool out of. 

While this is a valid direction to go with Twitch (more valid than what the new lore did with Zac), I think it flattens him into this two-dimensional obstacle for better characters to overcome. It also throws away a lot of the motivations, depth, and predefined relationships hinted at the old lore. In the old lore, he joined the League of Legends with the goal of recreating his sentience, making more mutated plague rats like himself, but by joining the League and collaborating with Zaun, he’s now under the possible exploitation and control of the Zaunite government. You could say that he’s one of Zaun’s weapons in the old lore. However, the League of Legends is gone and, with Twitch’s updated voiceover for his visual update, paranoia becomes a huge part of his character, to the point where I just don’t buy Twitch working with filthy topsiding humans anymore. Where does this leave us?

Well, I wanted to explore one particular line found in the old lore: the idea that one of the biggest challenges for him recreating his sentience is “his own insanity”. Where did such insanity come from as someone mutated from the sewers of Piltover-Zaun and how does one overcome such a great challenge? I wanted to lean towards the paranoia of the character and explore how such a mentality formed without contradicting his funny pompous arrogance. In fact, I found a way in which both aspects reinforce each other.

(Art by Martina Matteucci)

Green Giant Saga Twitch:

In my series, Twitch shares the same character base as his VU version in the League of Legends game: a maniacal mutated rat who believes everything in the world should be his, murdering anyone that would get in his way. He’s paranoid of everyone, thinking that they’re aiming to exterminate him and take his stash away from him, and, by all accounts, he’s not entirely wrong.

Twitch is, both figuratively and literally, a product of his environment. He was mutated in the Sumps, the lowest level of Piltover-Zaun, a level that’s so polluted that Zaunites have considered it utterly inhabitable without proper equipment. Down in the Sumps, resources like food and water are extremely limited, forcing the mutated animals to become territorial and aggressive as they fight to find resources just to sustain themselves. Twitch is no exception.

(Art by Cryspan)

One of the most recurring symbols of the entire series is Twitch’s homemade rusty arm brace. In Twitch’s character design, it’s the main component contributing to Twitch’s asymmetry. Usually with a character like Twitch, asymmetry can represent how a character can be off-kilter and uneven. In the context of the story, Twitch sustained this injury after fighting a monster after he asked for food. It was a violent battle, leading to a broken shoulder, but out of that, he gained not only the food he wanted but a corpse to feed on and make poisons with. His stash got way bigger than if he just shared parts of the monster’s food like he asked, and, therefore, he can live longer from the new resources gained than if he did the other option.

The brace is a reminder of what the sumps taught him and he took it to heart. He became one of the fiercest monsters in the Sumps, obtaining a stash that could, in Twitch’s words, rival that of kings. He’s proud of this arm brace as a warrior is proud of their scar after a war. He was the one that killed the monster that day. He was the one that created the cast himself when no one would help him. He earned that monster’s corpse and his food, just like how he earned everyone else’s goods and belongings when he killed them. 

However, the brace wasn’t made well. It might as well be made with shoestring and duct-tape. If he ever made the wrong move, it can be easily ripped off and the arm can be undone. When he gets nervous, he turns the bolts on his brace, tightening it ever so slightly in the hopes that it will stay on, but it will never be enough. No amount of resources can make Twitch feel truly safe.

As time went on, he started to get more interesting loot. Books of fantasy and romance enraptured him. He envied the kings of those pages. Sure he might have everything the sumps could offer with his gigantic collection, but those kings had something he never had: loyal subjects and friends that would follow their leaders anywhere, but this fantasy is contrasted with the cruel reality Twitch lives in. What do we do when the stories we hope for are so different from the life we really live? You make them happen. With hope, you try to make them fit. If he can’t recruit existing subjects down here, he, like in the old lore, would have to make them himself.

(Art by OrlandoFox)

And he successfully did with Zac! (kinda, not really. Read The Sentient Potion for the story) However, he’s not the devoted subject he wanted, and he can’t replace him. After so many failed attempts and dead rats, Twitch has to make this worth it. As the story goes on, the tension between what he was “promised” by the fantasy books he reads and the reality of what he has grows more and more. It reinforces the themes of fantasy versus the reality we have to work with that’s present with Zac’s story. His relationship with Zac challenges his ideas of loyalty, kinship, and what makes a great king. Does he want true friendship with Zac or does he want complete ownership and control of him like the Chem-Barons of Zaun? 

In the Zac character insights, I mention a lot about the idea of individualistic beliefs in the face of systemic problems. In his mind, Twitch thoroughly believes he earned his lot as the sump king of Zaun. He fought through all the monsters and earned his stash fair and square, yet that learned cruelty, greed, and bravado won’t get him what he really wants with Zac. Zac can try to help Twitch be “better” through actions and kindness, but that won’t change the fact that he’s always surrounded by evidence that he has to be the way that he is to not only survive, but thrive. Twitch is ultimately a product of his setting, one that was unintentionally made by the Chem-Barons and Pilties through utter neglect and careless profiteering. To him, this is the only option in the Sumps. He can say that he’s a special king all he wants, but he’s really just another mutated sump creature. 

Twitch’s story is ultimately about how an environment creates us and whether or not we can break away from that environment to grow and change. It’s a story of the ways friendship can enrich lives, but only if one allows it to, and it can be hard to allow it to. After all, who can say no to being the sewer king.

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If any of this is of interest to you, you can read the story here

[brittababbles]

House of the Dragon S2e1: blow by blow reaction on second watch

Spoilers beyond this point

1. I love the tapestry opening. Very reminiscent of GoT’s maps.

1a. Matt Smith gets top billing, huh? Interesting choice.

2. Ah Winterfell, and the Wall. And a nice thick northern accent doing voiceover. Is it weird that I can smell Winterfell? I’ve missed this place.

3. :( sweet Jace seems to be having a nice time in the North. Enjoy while you can, sweet boy. Though he’s got to be freezing at the Wall.

4. What does it keep out? Don’t worry about it, Jace. It doesn’t matter right now. That’s a different series entirely.

5. Jace looks hauntingly like Jon Snow when he’s standing on the wall and I Don’t Like It

6. Rhaenys not taking Daemon’s shit makes my soul less unhappy. She’s all “hey daemon remember how you let my daughter die? This is like that.”

7. In fairness, Daemon isn’t wrong.

8. “Would that you were the king” gods be good, Rhaenys. We’d all be dead

9. I have nothing to add about Rhaenyra in the Stormlands. The entirety of it is just beautiful and sorrowful.

9. Why are we still talking about the Stepstones? That was soooo last season, Corlys.

10. Who is this burly handsome fellow chatting with Corlys? He’s delightful. Dragging bodies out of the sea! Wowweee 😍

11. Dude if you can see her from that far out, that dragon is Vhagar. Chill.

12. Aegon seems to at least like his children. And Helaena, at least on some level.

13. “The rats” oh my sweet girl.

14. So. How long have you and Cole been doing this, Alicient? More than once? Is he your whore, perhaps?

15. But also why do you have to stop? You’re a widow. You can do what you want.

16. CHEESE?!

16a. And Cheese’s dog, whom I adore.

17. Aegon is… so bad at this being king thing. Just so bad at it and it’s weirdly endearing. Also little Jaehaerys? So sweet. Poor thing.

18. I love how nobody likes Tyland Lannister. I don’t like Tyland Lannister.

19. Aemond!

19a. Does Aemond straighten his hair or is it just like that?

20. I forgot about Otto Hightower. And Larys Strong. I am happier having forgotten them and shall continue to do so.

21. Larys knows you been fucking the lord commander, Alicent. And he’s spying on you. And he’s still the creepiest guy in a series that casually accepts incest as the norm.

22. Syrax is my second, maybe third favorite of the dragons and I have missed her.

23. Rhaenyra my Queen. My gods this was tragic. Daemon is right: she shouldn’t have done this alone. I’m glad at least Syrax is with her

24. “Aegon the Magnanimous” wh wh what 😂

25. You’re so bad at this Aegon. But I guess at least you’re earnest about it. Aegon the Frat Boy is too on point, I suppose.

26. You know, I don’t like Otto, but honestly. Bless his heart for herding his grandson through King-hood is painful to watch.

27. In retrospect, the odd shots of the castle make sense. This whole episode foreshadows the end of it with these weird, creeping shots of the Red Keep, particularly in the halls and through the railways.

28. I see that nobody in Aemond’s family understands him at all. Except maybe Daemon.

29. Oh that’s not someone knocking on the door. That’s the drums of the soundtrack. Heh.

30. Baby goats!

31. Mysyria is… not my favorite. But she does have a thorough understanding of Daemon that Rhaenyra seems to sometimes lack.

32. Whoa. Damn, Daemon. Easy now. Don’t break the table.

33. Syrax is back! Hi Syrax!

34. Aw, that Targaryen forehead touch.

35. “I want Aemond Targaryen” I feel like that’s a common feeling toward him, for better or worse, Rhaenyra. Just based on fanfic results alone.

36. Daemon I know where this plan ends and I don’t like it.

37. Jace! Mama Rhaenyra! Oh Jace is trying so hard to be brave for his Queen.

38. I’ve seen a lot of people raving against this sequence in the Sept but I really liked it. Alicent did not mean for Luke to die and I do think she still cares for Rhaenyra. Her childhood friend lost a son, and to pray for peace for a dead child is not something that should be shamed. Also on a cinematography level, the candlelight vs the pyre flames was gorgeous.

39. Little Joffrey is breaking my heart.

40. I spent a solid ten seconds trying to work out why Aemond was screwing around in Blackwater Bay because I assumed he had taken over the Cloak of Crime. But no! It’s Daemon! Again!

41. Ehhhh Blood and Cheese and I just don’t like it. Cheese is just gross.

42. Interesting departure. Daemon orders Aemond’s death.

43. Speaking of whom. Aemond is… odd. He isn’t wrong, but he overestimates himself. But then he’s not entirely wrong. His mother’s fondness for Rhaenyra could be seen as a weakness. Though he certainly is playing his own hand here.

44. Ah the “cunning spider” line from Cole that is just a hilarious projection.

45. Does Aemond not have to get up when Otto walks in the room?

46. No Otto. Vhagar is the greatest single power in the realm. Aemond is but a fly on her back.

47. Cheese’s dog looks so much like my dog and I am so upset about it.

48. So… y’all are just going to waltz across the throne room and nobody will notice? That’s… fine?

49. Loyal as a hound, eh?

50. I hold with Aegon the Frat Boy as his title.

51 Uh, you go up the stairs to get upstairs, Blood. That’s how upstairs usually works.

52. DON’T KICK THE DOG!!! 😫😫😫

53. So… Daemon told them that if they can’t find Aemond they should just… improvise? Any male’s head will do? That’s not what Rhaenyra said at all.

54. Why are they just wandering around the castle unchecked? This just doesn’t make sense

55. I really wanted to see a bit more from Helaena here. Some pleading, some begging, some bargaining, maybe. I know she’s probably shutting down emotionally, and Phia’s face shows terror - and guilt - very well. But this whole scene is just so odd. But, I do think there is something genuine about this performance

56. “They killed the boy” she’s in shock. This part didn’t feel at all out of place for the Helaena we’ve seen on screen.

57. And that’s it. What a strange episode.

[aristocratic-otter]

Finally, the exciting conclusion...(hear that in a nineties style cartoon voiceover):

Chapter 4: The Heart in the Boy

Summary:

The boys find out why they're stuck in a well. Now they just have to figure out how to get out before they drown.

Baz

The first thing I notice is the water.

I’m on my back, laying on something hard, and I’m soaking wet. Not only that, I can feel water lapping against my edges. It’s at least two inches deep.

Did I fall asleep in the bath?

The second thing I notice is the taste of blood in my mouth. But not rat blood. Not even the (far tastier) deer blood I treat myself to in the Wavering Wood every fortnight or so. No, this blood is fatty and sweet and delicious. I’ve never tasted anything like it. I swallow, and swallow as a steady stream of this ambrosia flows into my mouth. It doesn’t occur to me to question it.

Until it does.

read on AO3

[kaiko55]

Hot take: Angela Anaconda has ADHD (coming from someone who's medically diagnosed with it)

Straight to the point. Here's why.

⥤ Hyperactivity: In the episode "Diving Miss Angela", Angela develops a fixation with marine life and rambles continuously in the bus to her friends—repeating the phrase: "and you know what else?". Eventually starting to annoy them with the yapping.

⥤ Distraction: Mrs. Brinks constantly has to remind Angela to pay attention(saying "eyes front" or coming up to her desk). This usually occurs in the middle/end of the voiceovers when she's thinking to herself for the audience to hear.

⥤ Stimming: In the episode "Dirty Work", in the VERY BEGINNING Angela is already shown bouncing up and down in her chair, briefly moving her legs, tapping her desk in excitment about being potentially picked to work at the student store. The rest of the class is pretty nonchalant about it in contrast.

⥤ Absent-mindedness: Angela has frequent daydreams and, of course, her unrealistic revenge fantasies that play an essential part in every episode. As for the daydreams, as seen in the episode "Rat Heroes", she goes to the antigravity chamber and starts daydreaming as she floats around peacefully. These more euphoric sequences may occasionally replace the vengeful ones, as seen in "The Girl with All the Answers".

⥤ Distraction #2: This is part of the previous point but I don't wanna write a wall—Angela is shown to get distracted easily by her thoughts. In the previously mentioned episode, she gets carried away with all her confidence in the class game they're playing, is distracted by it all, and then the daydream scene cues.

⥤ Irritability: (side note - Amazzonkane loves this show because of its normalization of expressing anger) Angela's irritability is the foundation for her revenge fantasies regarding the people she feels resentment towards in each episode. She gets easily wound up by factors such as sardonic remarks from Nanette and such.

Thanks for listening.

[lunashy21]

Rats enjoy driving cars!

Scientist found out rats like to drive Little cars around and to get food, so animated rat racing show.

Rat Racers

(Screen lights up, we see a empty stadium with one person standing on the track a sexy rat lady in NASCAR type outfit

Choir- Rat Races!

Voiceover - In a world of rat furries, only one can be NAS-STAR champion! Follow the story of scrappy underdog racer from a small town with big dreams of winning the Cheese Cup but ends up apart of world savings team driving super turbo cars.

Brie Cheddar is the Rat Racer!

[aemiron-main]

I Don’t Know What Those Stains Are: Eddie Munson, Edward Creel, and Genital Mutilation

So, after Henward gets Soteria removed & runs down the hall with El, the next scene is the scene with Eddie’s stained mattress

And as @heroesbyler pointed out, Soteria is very similar to chemical castration. Which connects the stained mattress scene to the concept of castration, as Soteria is so castration coded.

So, I’m staring directly at Eddie “Edward” Munson, who often delivers Edward Creel subtext. I’m staring at Eddie’s stained mattress, and the idea of genital mutilation regarding Edward Creel and a bloody lab bed as a result of that.

We’ve also got This line of dialogue from Robin before she climbs through the gate to land on the mattress:

Sound familiar? A guinea pig? One of the other animals most commonly experimented on besides lab rats??

And even further, I’m staring at the concept of bloody bedsheets being used to prove the virginity of a bride.

I’m staring at Brenner, treating Edward like some sort of creepy wife/all of the sexual assault imagery regarding Brenner and Henward, and Brenner trying to recreate Henward and the whole “bloody sheets/virginity” thing after Henward/Edward being forcibly operated on.

Speaking of wives, I briefly mentioned Eddie Gluskin on this reblog of @henrysglock ’s post, and the idea of Outlast being inspo for ST (especially with it being similar to Silent Hill, which is confirmed ST inspo, Outlast is basically Silent Hill with more added Hawkins Lab vibes), and Eddie Gluskin’s whole thing is performing very crude, forced sex change operations on men in order to make himself a wife, and he’s obsessed with the virginity of his “wives” and wants them to carry his children. He’s giving both Edward Creel and Brenner vibes, which makes sense considering that Vecna is likely somehow a mixture of Edward and either Richard Brenner or Martin Brenner.

We also have the wedding dress in the Creel attic- and when Victor looks at the dress, his voiceover talks about a “demon,” which is something very much associated with Henward- plus the fact that the shot goes from Victor turning on the light (which, the place where the lightbulb is, being RIGHT where vecna hangs in the US attic/right above where Henward sat in the attic with his spiders):

So yeah. Brenner is creepy as fuck and the Henward genital mutilation imagery just keeps showing up.

[givemethepage]

Layers of Fear 2023 Initial Playthrough Impressions, Part 1.

[SUPER LONG POST AHEAD, LIKELY FULL OF SPOILY BITS] (All my posts in this blog probably will be.)

Obviously I love it and my obsession with this world has been reignited, burning twice as hot as it did the first time around. So far I've played through Painter's Story 3 times, Daughter's Story twice, and I'm about to start the Musician's Story. Meanwhile in story mode, the Writer is about to sit down and begin writing the Actor's Story after a harrowing return to the lighthouse during which she's made an attempt to reject her earlier pact with the Rat Queen. I know. I tend to do things in weird sequences. I just want to see everything there is to see before I finish.

I love love love the additions and changes to the first game and its DLC, insofar far as I can remember the details of the original. The completionist in me is sad I can't find the Dust Mice sketch or whatever is meant to be behind the pipe on the secretary near the front door, and there may perhaps could possibly might be another whisper object that goes on the upstairs table.

But THAT'S not important. What's important is the story and the creation of the story! This new ending seems like it's missing a cutscene, but I really like that before you walk out the door, you're still surrounded by messages of failure. The intrusive thoughts don't disappear just because you've opened a path to healing. I'm not sure if I liked seeing what was beyond the front door, or maybe I just wasn't pleased with what they chose to put there, especially given what I did after I turned the game off.

For the first time in however many playthroughs since the original game came out, I stopped to examine the origins of the house's design. I came across Steep Park House/Potter's Manor. So many urban explorers have documented and photographed this mansion. Must remind myself to make a full post about it! This place seems to be just one of the inspirations for the couple's house, but an important one, given not just how close the architecture of the house's common areas are mirrored (literally) by the Painter's mansion, but also how many of the basic narrative details of LoF are shared with the former owners of Steep Park House, i.e. the painter who abandoned his home after the death of his wife, leaving behind many portraits of her, himself, unknown subjects, still life, etc., along with countless notebooks, letters, publications, and other possessions that provide clues to the lives they led. Seriously that's all actual circumstance from the real life house. I really want to ask the designers about it since all I can find right now is Reddit speculation about whether it's even the right house. But even green tinge of the wife's diary pages and the font on some of the mail can be found in the photographs of Steep Park. It HAS to have been instrumental in dreaming up the very concept of Layers of Fear. At least I choose to believe it is.

Gonna save the full spread for a Steep Park/Potter's Manor post.

Back to the game, though, the growth of the Rat Queen's role for the 2023 version doesn't sully the universality of the game's allegory like I was worried it might based on some Steam reviews. She remains a symbol of the despair that accompanies memories of trauma, and explicitly making a pact with her seems to me to be a commitment to using that despair as a wellspring for creativity, at the expense of any ability to see truth. The despair will only further twist your memories and warp your perspective. We see all 3 members of the family fall prey to the subjectivity of their memory, even moreso in this version with the addition of voiceovers and I think a few more notes(?). And choice still carries just as much weight in the new game, even with a supernatural force pulling strings from behind the curtain. One heartbreaking thing the Rat Queen has said this time around was that the Daughter was "mine from the moment of her birth." Wow. I went straight for the True Ending, so that statement did turn out to be true for me, but what of the Forgiveness and Resentment endings? Do those also necessarily reflect a Daughter trapped in the Rat Queen's grasp? Are these messages from the Rat Queen, (which I presume are spoken to the Writer,) set in stone? Are they reliable? Are they true? So many implications. One of which is:

What will happen to the Writer??

Will she have multiple endings like the others? Will she be able to break her pact with the Rat Queen? And will that depend upon the outcomes of the other stories along with which collectibles I found during her scenes in the lighthouse? That might be a problem because I am just scooping up everything and devouring every bit of lore my cursor passes across.

Other questions:

Have any works of art been added to/subtracted from the family's portion of the game? I want to do a symbolic analysis of all the real works within the context of the timing of each painting's appearance during gameplay. I know that's a huge task with what, 38 works? But that's a future post and it's why I made a whole separate blog for this in the first place. To be honest I'm shocked that I haven't found anything like this online in the 7 years since the original Layers of Fear when there are a million channels dedicated just to deconstructing the lore of one Zelda game, (which I also love.)

Are there any easter eggs in the family's stories? It's been fun to read real critiques of the first game planted all over the lighthouse, but I wonder if anything like the lemons or the ouija board event are going to pop up in this.

Is the Musician more culpable than I thought? I also went back and did the Dad ending in Inheritance and I don't remember Mom being quite as paranoid or short tempered. It made me see her writings in a new light, and it makes me excited to go through her new story a few times. I must see everythinnnnnnnnngggggggggg.

What does the writer mean by "bring him back" in Chapter 3? Did her son die? Did they have a falling out? Does she believe the Rat Queen or her agency has the power to fix this? Do they?

And then ultimately, is the Rat Queen an invention of the writer? Is her fascination with these stories and the mysteries behind them only leading to flawed adaptations tainted with themes of insanity because she has projected the insecurities of her own fragile mind into the events she's depicting in her books? (Nah)

I dunno I dunno I dunno I dunno I dunno

[doggendoodle]

more Minecraft movie thoughts because i'm worried they're going to half-ass the theme of creation i feel they might try going for.

it appears a couple times - the voiceover from Steve, the guy slamming a hammer on a crafting table to create... whatever that was. and that's really it but it's the most the teaser has given us for an emotional throughline.

like OK here's an optimistic version of what the movie might be like. they start out being like "this is cringe" but then they start getting into it. learning how to craft, how to build, how this new world works. the boy reaching for the log is followed by him placing it and actually appreciating it. slowly the things they mocked before start to look beautiful. they appreciate the dyed wool of the pink sheep instead of mocking it.

and then the pillagers piglins come, when they've become invested. and they start to tear everything down. something they built gets destroyed and that's when they realise, oh shit, they care about this world now.

it's not the most original story in the world, but it's a story suited especially well for Minecraft. a story about the beauty of the world, the ability to shape it and create, and the desire to protect it from destruction. have them be entranced more like they are in the opening, have them explore the world and find weird things, if we must isekai these bitches, go all in and have them fall in love with the world. to bring it up again, for all its faults Minecraft Story Mode proved definitively that you can make a story that is quintessentially Minecraft, all about its themes of creation and exploration, and tell engaging stories with it.

of course, this is only one of many many stories you could tell. the Fallen Kingdom series proves you can make a simple Minecraft invasion story compelling. series like Minecraft Diaries, Stampy's Lovely World, and DanTDM's mod showcases show off the fun you can have in a world like Minecraft's. the plethora of SMPs broadcast a range of stories - serious ones like the Dream SMP, or silly slice-of-life ones like Hermitcraft. you could tell a comedic story about a particularly eventful time in a Minecraft city, or a serious one about the more mysterious parts of Minecraft.

like, looking back at the teaser for the Mario movie. obviously there was a lot of discourse about Crisp Rat, but it showed actual love for the Super Mario franchise, and gave a clear tone for the movie. Bowser is a menacing villain, Mario is an everyman on a huge adventure. and then the trailers were goofy, it was a comedic adventure, but the comedy came from things happening (like Mario sucking at platforming or getting his ass beat) and not the characters going "well THAT just happened" to undercut the emotion.

maybe we'll get another trailer closer to release and we'll see the characters actually experiencing the world. but i'm. not hopeful!