#Stage directions are fun as are parts where the dialogue changed

[julie-finlay]

Finlay Friday

12x15: "Stealing Home", script extracts

[omaano]

SW Hades AU May Status Update

I wanted to make a dedicated post about what I’m currently working on for the Star Wars meets Hades AU that looks more consistent than just sharing bits and pieces whenever I’m tagged in a Last Line Challenge. Because what else do I have but the poly sketch requests and this AU for my weekends? (If nothing else I know that the Hades AU has got me XD)

Other updates: June - July - August

For now Obi-Wan and Maul are stuck at the same stage: they are both lined, have their base colours down as well as the two adjustment layers of coloured lighting.

I suspect if I were ever to get through the agonozing few hours of shading Obi-wan’s face it would be mostly smooth sailing from there. The problem is that there are at least 2 - if not 3 - separate stages where the shaded face looks like I have no idea what I’m doing, and you need to get through the whole thing before it really comes together 😅 on the other hand Hades 2 has a lot of the directional shading I might need for his character art so that might help to get me there.

It also needs to be said that Obi-Wan comes with the extra disadvantage that is the entire background behind him. I’m really hyped to line it finally, it is quite a challenge, but at the same time I’m slowly coming to the realization that I have no idea how I will colour it. Hades backgrounds are so so pretty and full of details and gorgeous colours, and while I’m not delusional enough to think I could match that on first try… I still wish I could, you know? At the same time I will have to erase or recolour a lot of my lines, which will hurt quite a bit, I imagine. I’m so bad at killing my darlings 😅 also I hate laying down flat colours. I just find it very difficult to immerse myself in that process, while lining and shading can have their flow.

I had covered up so many lines and details in Maul’s spider parts it’s a miracle I didn’t cry XD However, tips on grouping my shadows and allowing the shape to speak for itself and the details in them are very helpful and on point.

Worrying over writing dialogue for them is also not as far down my to-do list as I wish it were. I have a good enough idea for a quip for Obi-wan, but Maul? He’d need a whole melodramatic rant of his own XD

Aphra has gotten some new lines and I had fixed the satchel I had forgotten the last time I shared the rough sketch for her, thanks to the new character art for Hades 2! Seeing Odysseus and Hermès’s updated looks were great helps here, so I might as well move on to lining her, and finally adding another female character to the roster on top of Ahsoka!

And then there is the biggest update on these little guys below! I will need to clean up the ones I had drawn for Cobb and Boba (and Din) well over a year ago, but with these my version of chtonic companions are done, and thanks to @lesquatrechevrons I have a full list of keepsakes for each character as well. I’m not very good at drawing these little tchotchkes (I say with Rex’s blaster right there LOL) but I hadn’t been very good at lineart or cell shading when I started this project either, so through forced practice I’m determined to change that :D

(It’s not a screwdriver under Boga, it’s one of Cody’s antennas. “It will grow back, don’t worry,” he says as he snaps it off his pauldron and hands it over to Din. Rex backs him up on that one without question. They can't lie for shit but trolling the shiny is their thing.)

Additional fun fact: the reason why I’d picked up the chtonic companions concepts was because I’d been poking at minor details in the background behind Maul (aside from the Chaos doors), and I started adding credits and recoloured nectar to the corner (before I realized that they wouldn’t be visible once the character interaction comes up oops), and I tried to figure out to whose keepsakes Maul would react favorably. I also mixed up companion dolls and keepsakes, so that’s why the Ahsoka doll came to being (I also forgot that that one belongs to Rex, and not Ahsoka herself but uh… they are close enough that they should count by proxy anyway. It’s not Obi-wan’s cup of tea and that should be enough!). Also bless @mapleowl18 for suggesting Lil Soka as companion for Rex ❤️

So this is the current state of this AU project right now. I have my lists and notes, a few scribbled pose ideas in my sketchbook for Sabine (she might be next, unless Bo and her Nite Owls make a comeback), Satine and Omega (with Batcher), as well as some angry scribbles and question marks for Quinlan (who has apparently made his way back into this AU even though he didn’t get a little icon of his own originally orz), and Obi-wan The Second that would stand with Cody post reunion, but I cannot make that one work for now 😅

[sinimake]

Some writing tips i use that makes writing less hard

Hope some people might find it helpful idk. Read below.

I always start with dialogues. Arguably, it is the easiest part that advances the plot the most. I write down dialogues with the barest of tags just to indicate who's saying what.

Now, add the tones, movement, and expression into the dialogues tags. Characters gotta deliver the lines somehow and you fill the space between the conversation.

When conversation is happening, internalization must occur. If you're writing from A's pov, and A and B are having a conversation, A gotta listen then reflect on B's words. You don't need to do this after every sentence but it is one of ways you set the pacing of the story. For example, B tells a shocking news to A, A take a moment to absorb the info and think. The internal thought can be from a line to paragraphs and the lenght of it sets the pacing.

Furthermore on the pacing, i personally like to equate the amount of time reader spends on reading to amount of how much they need to linger on the scene. Imagine in a fight scene, you keep the sentences short, to the point, and not complicated to deliver the fast speed of combat. When you lengthen the scene and sentences, you are putting them in a slow motion in midst. So control the pacing with your words.

Now, let's tackle settings and expositions. You can apply the tactics i use in my dialogues, but one golden rule i keep is that i write things readers can't experience first hand. If your characters are playing uno, you don't need to explain the rules in detail. What you need to do is be in the head of your primary character. Don't say winter was cold and snow was falling. You describe how character is feeling the cold on their back, snow is featherlight on their cheeks, etc.

Since we are talking about character pov, let me mention head hopping. Head hopping is where the general pov of chapter changes/hops characters in the midst of the writing. Example: we are reading from A's perspective, and then suddenly, we get a passage on B's inner thoughts, which A should not be aware of. Personally, i find head hopping distasteful. Some people can do it artfully and purposedly, like Stephen King. But if you don't have experience in that style, avoid head hopping like a plague. If the pov is in A, you only show outward emotions and actions of B.

Now you have general direction of the writing, let's add ✨️Character flare✨️. I like to think this is where you, as a writer, really shine and obtain your style. Your character is the essential core of the story, so when you write, the narrative must have their flavor. Percy Jackson series is widely liked because it is so fun to read from his perspective, his humor, and his outlook. If your character is a cop walking down a street, you show the world through their eyes. Are they double-checking dark corners? Or eyeing suspicious looking people? If your character has weird sense of humor, they will probably describe things in obscure details. Go wild with it. If your character is gen z, you can write in their cringy slangs (/j)

Now we have the skeletal of writing done. Till now, don't bother with editing. Only write even if the sentences sound shit. When you're done with base draft, you go back with a critical eye. If you're stuck on a scene, immediately skip. You can come back later with a fresh head space. Perfection is something you should worry about only in the final stage of editing.

Strange tip, but put your font to Comic Sans if you can, you will thank me later. I know it looks so jarring and ugly, but something about it makes the brain go lose on the creativity cork. I was skeptical first too, but it worked on me, and now i have 73k words in 3 months under my belt. *shrug*

And voilà, the very simplified breakdown of writing. Hope you found it somewhat helpful and happy writing everybody 😊 💪✍️

[howlsofbloodhounds]

Oh, thanks for answering so quickly! (I didn't expect it, really)

I'd really like to share my headcanons about Something new!Killer and player!Killer

But first of all, I AM VERY SORRY that in the last post some parts were simply translated into Russian when sending?? For some reason??? It shouldn't be this way, so I'll put the English version below, I hope it's not too confusing [The higher the Stage, the more player!Killer is a Player than a Character, and the less he cares about others as equals - Players can care about Characters, of course, but this will not be real love, but LOVE, what makes hurting those you love because you love them or because you don't care about them

And Killer has a lot of LOVE

ST0 - The Character, Killer before killing Chara, is not able to return to this stage without removing the Demon and changing the code

ST1 - identifies most strongly with other Characters, considers others to be living individuals, has all the emotional burden on his shoulders and is capable of emotions and feelings of pain. If memories of other Stages are not blocked, then he remembers what they did, but from his own point of view - and is not happy about it. At this stage has a solid LV 20

ST2 - emotions and affections are suppressed, comparable to soulless creatures like Flowey. For him, others are, as Flowey would put it, lines of dialogue that become difficult to care about after they've run their course. The fake emotions are fake, and Killer himself is apathetic, except when something interesting is happening. LV 99

ST3 - a borderline stage between ST2 and ST4, where the Killer cannot be described by any word other than a Monster in the most direct human sense of the word. There is no restraint or control like Stage 2 or 4, just boundless Fun and pleasure in causing pain and suffering to others. LV 999999...

ST4 - Killer, but if only he had the full Player mentality. Or Demon. All connections and “friends” are just paths to passages, new dialogues, and games that can be arranged. At this Stage, Killer fully understands why Players and Creators do what they do. LV :)

ST5 - Demon Vessel. Player. All pretense of the Character is stopped. Not considered a real Stage

The Characters are, well, the characters, from Color to the Killer himself, while We are the Players, and the Stages are a kind of stages in the approach of the Character to the Player with all that it entails It's interesting to see how the mentality of a broken person gradually changes closer to being inhuman At least for other Characters

Just as described above, the Demon follows the Killer after Chara's death again, replacing the hallucinations with his presence

And instead of the usual hallucinations of everyone he once loved, player! Killer hears Us and sees what We do to the world around him, when We change the world to suit our idea of ​​reality. Imagine remaking history while the Character is still inside and seeing the world change around them, along with the rest of the Characters and their memories of how the world should be

Therefore, player!Killer is also unsure of the reality of what he sees, not because of the hallucinations of those he loved, but because he can never be sure that his memories correspond to the current iteration of reality (as How would you feel when you know that at any moment your memories and behavior can become invalid for the world around you, but at the same time people believe that everything has always been like this because their memories have been changed in accordance with the new state of the world?) . Because of this, some people may believe that Killer has memory problems. Or hallucinations. This is all about what player!Killer remembers when the Creators changed the world

And since I mentioned this earlier, it's worth mentioning that player!Killer has a lot of gameplay mechanics at its disposal. Starting from the menu and inventory and ending with something more interesting

For example, Killer, starting from Stage 2, has too much Determination, which prevents him from seeing and makes him almost completely blind (even worse at higher ST), so he sees “from a different point of view,” that is, with a third-person camera or The Eye of the Demon, as I like to call it, which replaces his vision and allows him to look at himself and others from the outside]

Now, about my player!Killer headcanons (which I actually sometimes apply to Something new!Killer because the line between the two is really fine and interchangeable)

I really like the idea of ​​a third person camera replacing Killer's vision when he can no longer see with his own eyes This will not only make him distance himself even more from his own body, but also from the events in his life - because it really looks like you are just observing someone else's life, and not living your own It's like you're watching a TV series, or playing a very interactive game. And this kind of vision must have been very confusing the first time - looking at yourself from a different point of view, easily moving your vision to the sides without moving your body, and moving your body without moving your gaze But he will never need a mirror again! It’s also very useful for spying and eavesdropping.

I also like the idea of ​​some kind of mini-map where you can mark living creatures and follow them. This is an excellent material for finding your prey, no matter where it hides and no matter how far it runs - perhaps Killer will even have a pointer in the direction of his prey

Something new!Killer in canon has two projections of himself that seem to be able to talk to each other and push Killer to do different things Personally, I replaced one of the voices with the Demon because it's just aesthetically appropriate to have a Demon on Killer's shoulder pushing him to do terrible things (or not so terrible, after all, this is still a Player with Our mood swings and curiosity) And the second, of course, is the Character, or the remnant of Sans in this terrible mixture of Human, Monster and something else Perhaps it is the struggle between these two "voices" that is the reason for the existence of the Stages. If you can call it a struggle, having a Demon control every part of your life and allow you to function as a separate being for reasons known only to the Demon.

And that part about the hallucinations in the last post, which was perhaps too confusing without context. I'm talking about how a character is able to realize that he is inside the story, and at the same time without the ability to influence anything, and realizing that something has changed only after the fact For example, how are stories created? Usually the Creator creates a setting and adds characters to the resulting world who already have all the necessary knowledge and context clues in order to think that everything around them is real, and their life really was and existed before the beginning of the story. The characters have no point of view from their own history, so they cannot understand that the Creator has changed anything in their world, because from their point of view “everything has always been like this.” They cannot understand that their life may not have even existed up to a certain point, and their personality and emotions were fabricated But what if one of them could? In this case, player!Killer was not aware of such changes in his existence until he received his first Stage, like any other Character, and, of course, unless you really want Killer to remember something, then he there won't be. But it's just fun to imagine Killer tripping over himself when talking about events that never happened from the other characters' perspectives. Or about other characters. About other events from other people's lives. How terrible is it to exist in a world where you REALLY can't be sure something is real? The usual tactile sensation is not enough to understand what is real and what is not. xdd

I also thought about making player!Killer more... physical. Like Flowey. If Monsters are made of magic and dust, Humans are made of flesh and water, then Killer is made of magic, matter and Determination, holding everything together like really strong glue. I want you to be able to shatter every bone in Killer's body. I want black determination to flow out of him instead of blood. I want you to be able to burst his head like a ripe watermelon, filled with a black, viscous substance instead of juice. I want you to be able to smear him across the wall, leaving only his Soul intact. And I want you to be able to tear and tear his Soul like a dog squeaking toy, and it will Refuse to die again and again, restoring Killer's body and shattered mind from the remains so that he can try again or you can break him once more for a snack

I love the idea of ​​Killer being able to interact with the world through a game interface and have it actually affect the world around him I've seen some people use Check outside of Fight in their pieces as a way to identify the person in front of them or check their LOVE. Sometimes Check will also show a short description of the character, which looks pretty interesting to me! But what if instead of a simple Check there are other ACTs? And MERCY? What about SAVE? I like to imagine how in Fight you could use ACT to manipulate people enough to spare them even if you killed everyone else. ACT itself even provides actions that can be used to make a monster lose its will to fight! If a regular fight doesn't work, use words as your most skillful weapon and use your opponent's weaknesses against him, and considering how observant Killer is, this will not be difficult for him MERCY can be used as a feint, like classic Sans does, to stab his enemies in the back, and ITEM could very well be an inventory item And about creating pocket spaces for Fight. This mechanic can be used as a trap - the victim will not escape and will not win, and you can break it in any way possible - the victim is at your disposal. The Killer could use a similar technique to carefully remove Souls, blood and dust for his experiments. Or even living people.

Somewhere on this blog it was mentioned that between Killer and Horror the cannibal is probably Killer and I fell in love with that idea! After all, Killer is already crazy in every possible sense of the word, and cannibalism looks like a nice pinch of sweetness on top! Will he eat dust and flesh to try different flavors? Maybe people with different LOVE have different taste? All for the sake of curiosity, of course. I wouldn't be surprised if he tried some of his own. Maybe he will eat Souls? Not that it would give him anything other than a strong boost of energy, and perhaps residual memories of the Soul owners, but it should be an interesting experience!

I've been toying with the idea of ​​what Killer would sound like in different Stages, and I think it would be fun if his lyrics changed from Stage to Stage as well. For example: 0st *Sans blocks the way. 1-2st *Killer blocks the way. 3st *A Monster is blocking the way. 4st *You are blocking the way. 5st *I am blocking the way. And I like to imagine that Killer's voice in ST4 is incredibly relaxed and even friendly, as if he doesn't take everything around him seriously (because he does), and it's just a game between friends, where he kills his friends, like you can kill a character your friend in the game for fun ST3 probably wouldn't talk because he's always choking due to Determination, and when he tries to talk, Determination would leak out of his skull (ST4 is also choking from the amount of Determination, but that doesn't stop him from talking, which is weird)

And I've been thinking about another game mechanic for some time - Tasks. Just like in games you have a list of tasks, why shouldn't Killer have one? This actually solves a lot of problems! A Killer can be given tasks by a higher up in the hierarchy, be it a Demon, a Nightmare or even a Color (think of what that alone can add to their relationship), and no matter what Stage or state of mind he is in, he will never forget his current task (except ST3, he doesn't care). This way you can also write down what you need to complete the task, without actually listening to the briefing, and always updating the information in the Killer's head. There's also no need to worry about not completing a task - Tasks has an internal punishment/reward system that will make sure that Killer actually does what he's told to the best of his ability! (until, of course, the tasks start to conflict with themselves - the Demon and any other authority figures may have different opinions on different things, so I assume that the Demon's tasks will automatically take precedence over external authority figures)

The same goes for the Demon. Maybe other "ghosts" like X!Chara, Dust's Phantom (a variant with a real ghost), Passive Nightmare (I think that's what they call it?) and the like could see the Demon? A little party of extra soul passengers xd

Also, maybe player!Killer will have some kind of code manipulation abilities at high stages? The only thing I can think of right now is that Killer will be able to inject his victims' code with a "poison" or some kind of small virus that will destroy the code from the inside until the victims stop working in any way

And in the end I was thinking about some kind of body horror, most likely on ST3, associated with changing the body, like the same Flowey does (did you see the hands/vines with which he held the characters at the end of the pacific path? I'm sure it's an ordinary flower not capable of this), but I think it will be left for the viewer's interpretation

I think that's all I have for now and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it!!! Thanks for running this wonderful blog and allowing others to express their thoughts. <3

CW: forced cannibalism mention, torture/abuse, suicide/driving someone to it/murder, murder, brutal violence but that’s expected with a killer variant

I think i remember seeing a similar concept of like, the world changing around in accordance to the creators’ whims with ink before in fanfic but itd be interesting asf to explore this type of thing from killers pov. Who does not know too much about creators yet, just players, and hasnt yet encountered those who seem to see and know and experience anything he does. I’m sure he feels like he’s losing his mind (but what else is new for a killer variant.)

As for the “third eye”—i love that idea. could definitely explain why tf killer knows things he shouldnt, and only serves to make his dissociation so much worse if he doesnt understand what hes seeing yet. and like..the idea that you can absolutely just tear killers body to shreds and it wouldn’t mean a damn thing because killers DT just Refuses to die and will pull that vessel back together bit by bit from sheer determination alone..could definitely lead to body horror all around.

and also the idea of st4 choking on DT and yet..somehow still talking is actually kinda disturbing too. and also with all the Act stuff and manipulation I just had the image of killer just..psychologically tormenting someone until they just kill themself for him or someone else kills the victim for him. and luring them with hugs and mercy, or doing what he did to swap and pretending to cry to provoke pity and convince someone into letting their guard down, just enough that he can kill or brutally hurt them.

And when I brought up the possibility of killer and cannibalism it was actually not because hes “crazy” (I don’t really like using that word, as a mutual of mine said something along the lines of before, “no one’s ever just crazy,”), but was moreso because..well, it was a favorite “suggestion” and game of chara’s.

sometimes theyd playfully suggest eating up all the dirty dust if hes really that hungry and if he’s really earned enough food, and sometimes they’d give him food on to later suggest or imply they put a little something in it but killer never knows if its true or not. sometimes theyd offer two or more different food options (when he isnt around to see where they came from or how they were made) and imply hed better be smart and “choose the safe one.”

sometimes killer would die from poisoned foods, sometimes its safe (either some or all are), sometimes its just rotten and spoiled. sometimes Chara changes their mind and decides he’s not actually hungry. sometimes he gets nothing at all unless he wants the dust. (Which he doesn’t think hes ever went that low or gotten that desperate..he thinks..)

ultimately killer never really knows for sure if he has done something like that, but itd be interesting to explore what itd be like if he did know. maybe he did get that desperate one day..or maybe he just finally caved when chara kept hammering on the threat..

And also! I love the tasks idea, the idea that killers mind runs in series of tasks and there’s internal reward and punishment systems to ensure he does them exactly as hes supposed to; usually the internal tasks would take precedence over any external ones, and external ones that come from higher up in “hierarchy” favor out over tasks given from like, teammates or those asking for favors. those at the bottom like that tend to be easily forgotten and discarded in the more important tasks that must be done.

{ @vizellian }.

[inbarfink]

Okay, so I just found out that I can watch the whole 2015 stage production of ‘Shock Treatment’ on YouTube and, like, I have… so many thoughts and feelings. It really does demonstrate how Shock Treatment’s biggest flaws is just how unfocused and messy and… just needing one or two more rewrites to reach it's full potential. 

Like there are a few tweaks to the dialogue that makes the whole narrative a bit simpler and easier to comprehend, the satire is a bit more focused on the core themes, I thought most of the jokes were pretty solid (and the more sexual ones offer somewhat of a stronger thematic link to ‘Rocky Horror’) and now there’s actually Shock Treatment in the plot of Shock Treatment!

I do really like how they tweaked the lyrics of some of the song to smooth over some of the remnant ‘these were written for a very different RHPS sequel and re-fitted into this plot’ weirdness. I especially like ‘I they need some young blood’ and the change to the title line in ‘Looking for Trade Fame’ and ‘Look what I you/he did to my Id” (meaning Farley). Sometimes ya just need to change just one lil' pronoun and the whole-ass song makes a lot more sense. 

But the biggest positive change this Stage Version brought is the cast. Because ‘Shock Treatment’ the movie just has way too many characters. Like, look at this compared to RHPS’ cast list.

While this is maybe a natural result of the setting shift from an isolated castle to a whole town, it also leaves a lot of the secondary cast feeling flat and with no real space to develop. Comparing both of Little Nell’s roles is probably the best example. Nurse Ansalong is fun and Nell's performance is great as usual, but she’s just kinda around to be a RHPS nod and so Little Nell has Something to Do in this movie and an excuse to run around in a sexy nurse’s outfit. And these are all noble goals but… well, Columbia was an actual character, as campy as RHPS is, she was a character with emotions and pathos and tragedy and an important narrative and thematic role. Ansalong just never had the time to develop into someone with even a tenth of that depth.

(It also makes ‘Shock Treatment’ waaaay harder to Shadow Cast.)

So the stage version just cutting her out and… basically cutting everyone out except for Brad, Janet, Farley, the two Dr. McKinleys, Betty and Ralph just gives a much better chance for all of these characters to feel like actual people. Campy, exaggerated cartoony people - but definitely people. 

Like, we get to spend a little more time on making the manipulation of Janet into a superstar feel more gradual and convincing. Which both help her work better as… basically the Emotional cornerstone of the whole story and make the villains feel more despicable and more competent. Which of course really helps the two Dr. McKinleys since all of Farley’s other minions have been cut. In general they get more opportunity to say funny stuff and can really see how they use their faux psychology and therapyspeak to control people. 

....There's some level where I maybe think this script went a little too far in the other direction. That it's kinda disappointing that this Janet didn't never quite go off the deep end like her movie counterpart did. In general this version's slightly more.... grounded vibe - compared to the Movie's kinda Surrealist Nightmare Vibe - is one of the things I feel most conflicted about.

Like on one hand, this kinda campy nonsense world where gameshow hosts committing husbands to mental asylums and living your whole life on a sound-stage are normal is one of the most compelling parts of 'Shock Treatments' satire and it's kind of a shame to lose it... but also this more grounded tone creates a story that it's easier to follow an, more importantly, emotional stakes it's easier to get invested in. I think the Ideal Perfect Version of Shock Treatment’ that Exists Only in My Brain would be, tone-wise, in the middle between the movie and the stage show, but also maybe lean more towards the stage version?

The added details that Brad and Janet’s marriage has been hitting a rough patch because Brad has been fired from his job just as Janet has gotten a promotion (which I think is a detail from "The Brad and Janet Show" draft that was dropped from the 'Shock Treatment' movie?) adds some thematic resonance about the characters dealing with the Changing Times, the idea that Brad might feel emasculated with Janet’s success while has been (temporarily) regulated to the role of a househusband is maybe understandable but it is also understandable why it would frustrate Janet and thus lives her open to the McKinley's manipulations. Again, the characters are still kinda campy, still kinda silly - but having a bit of grounding for Brad and Janet’s relationship does help when this is basically… all the emotional stakes in the story.

Now, in the Ideal Perfect Version of Shock Treatment’ that Exists Only in My Brain, the rift in Brad and Janet relationship would’ve been created by the lingering effects of the events in the Frankenstein's Place. Janet would rather pretend they never happened but Brad is still visibly reeling from that time he got forced-femmed by aliens. And although the events of ‘Rocky Horror' did definitely happen in this version, it’s mentioned as just a throwaway joke (“We’ve been through so much together! Infidelity, homicide, aliens, fishnet stockings… and that’s just the engagement party”). Still, it was a funny throwaway joke - and the promotion-and-firing idea they went with makes thematic sense in this version of ‘Shock Treatment’. 

Farley Flavors also get a bit of a ‘boost’ from the trimmed cast but… honestly the changes to his character are the ones I am most split about. Because this version of Farley Flavors is generally better because there’s a bit more… flavor to him. A more visibly wacky personality, a few more gimmicks to him. And when I first saw him I was actually… pretty hyped about him as the main villain.

Because, okay, the main problem with Farley as a villain is that, despite Cliff De Young’s excellent performance, he really is just another Evil 80’s Businessman and that feels a bit bland in the wacky world of Rocky Horror. Like, the whole ‘long-lost twin brother’ twist is supposed to feel like the counterpart to the Alien Twist in RHPS and a parody of stupid soap opera twists in general. But… the thing is that even before we found out he was an alien, Frank was already an incredibly distinctive and unique character. Being revealed as an alien in the last act of the story doesn’t define him.

But since Farley doesn’t have as much going for his character, the stupid parody long-lost brother twist does end up being his defining trait and it makes his whole character feel lackluster because… it’s a stupid parody twist! 

But since Twenty-Fifteen Farley is Fairly Far-Fetched right from the get-go this means the twist has more of a chance to feel more like the original Aliens Twist. Plus, there’s bits of dialogue here and there that feel like Foreshadowing. Farley constantly reiterates that Denton is his hometown, and that he’s a self-made man (which connects to the briefly-alluded-to implication that he was adopted into a poorer family than Brad’s and that's the source of his resentment), him saying some very Ominous Things to Bard at the end of ‘Lullaby’

And then…. It turns out this version decided to cut the long-lost twin thing!

Which… honestly I probably should’ve seen coming from the casting choices. 

And like, I see the logic here. Obviously the double-casting gimmick does not work on stage, that was supposed to be a parody of soap-opera twists and that element is a lot more downplayed in this version of ‘Shock Treatment’ and like… since this plot point has been already been heavily criticized in the film version I can see why they would want to cut it. 

But… it’s not just that I feel like this twist would’ve worked better in this version it’s also that… cutting this plot point and replacing it with nothing just makes Brad - who is already kinda relegated into glorified McGuffin for most of this story - feel like he had even less to do with the plot and makes Farley’s apparent animosity for Brad even more inexplicable and shoddy.

Like, Farley still says he chose Janet ‘because of [Brad]’ so I guess we’re supposed to believe that he just finds Brad to be such a massive lameo that it makes him seethe with a burning hatred of a thousand suns. Which is an even flimsier motivation than that Twin Stuff in the movie. 

‘Duel Duet’ always has that problem that it was originally written for two characters with a very powerful well-established rivalry and emotional stakes (Dr. Frank N’ Furter and Riff-Raff) and then had to be transplanted into being about these two schmucks who barely even know each other. And removing the Twin Twist just kinda removes whatever emotional stakes they did have and exacerbates the problem. 

.....Honestly, I think the main way to really ‘fix’ Duel Duet is… instead of that one kinda ‘Girl Power’ moment they tried to give Janet that I feel is a bit too heavy-handed and obvious…

Just make ‘Duel Duet’ a Farley versus Janet song!

Like, Janet is unquestionably THE Main Character of the story with the most important emotional journey of all of the characters, she was the core target of Farley’s manipulation and the focus of his schemes, she’s the one who actually got to interact with him and developed any sort of relationship with him, the focus of this scene is on how Janet realizing she has been used by him, she already spends all of Duel Duet physically kicking his ass…

Janet should also be the one to musically face-off against Farley, especially if you remove the only reason why Farley has to hate Brad so much. Like, yeah, she does get to beat him physically... but because this is a musical - the Songs are the thing that gets the biggest emotional and narrative priority. The person who gets to Duel Duet with the Farley is the person who really beats him. And this is really moment that should belong to Janet in this version of the story.

And maybe removing one of the few Things Brad actually gets to do in this plot which is also his Big Musical Number would kinda suck for him, but… well, this version also gives Brad a nice lil’ Triumphant Reprise of ‘In My Own Way’ where he reaffirms his love for Janet and maybe you can expand that into his Big Musical Number and… y’know, if the rift in their marriage was at least kinda about Brad’s insecurities about Janet becoming the Main Breadwinner of the household… Maybe it’ll be a good resolution to his story to embrace being Janet’s little Damsel in Distress?

(I mean, I think this is an element in this musical as it is but.... but you could've leaned into it more!)

And with both Oliver Wright and Macy Struthers cut, that gives more material to make Betty’s character more interesting. Without Oliver, Betty generally gets to talk about her ongoing investigation with Janet - and that means the two of them get to have more interactions and a more visible friendship. And on the other hand, She starts out as Ralph Hapshatt’s cohost, putting on a very Macy-esque false smile and pretending they’re still happily married. It’s a fun, character-specific spin on the whole ‘falsehood of television’ motif of ‘Shock Treatment’. 

(Also since Oliver is cut, it means Betty, Janet and Brad sing “Anyhow, Anyhow” as a trio. Which… I think that means they’re gonna have a threesome. And you know what? I support Janet Majors and her two girlfriends!)

And Ralph… really got the biggest boost in personality from the trimming of the cast - especially as most of the singing roles of these cut characters for assigned to him. Like, okay, I think something that’s kind of a problem with the ending of the original ‘Shock Treatment’ is how… unambiguous it is when compared to ‘Rocky Horror’. 

Because ‘Rocky Horror’ has a very morally ambiguous cast - pretty much every character has some element that makes them at least a little bit sympathetic and also… well, if not morally wrong than at least an (Audience Participation Voice) ASSHOLE (but also yeah, a lot of them are morally reprehensible even when working against other morally reprehensible characters). And the ending leaves it ambiguous whatever Frank got what he deserves or whatever his death is a tragedy, or some combinations of the two. Not to mention the ambiguity of what happened to Brad and Janet; whatever they’ve been liberated or exploited or corrupted and whatever or not they’re better off being left behind on earth or remaining in Frank’s clutches.

And meanwhile ‘Shock Treatment’  has a VERY clear-cut ending. There is a unambiguous differentiation between the characters who are the Good Guys, and those who are Bad Guys and those who are the Bad Guys’ Gullible Victims. And, like, yeah, all the Bad Guys succeeded in their evil scheme and and are now basically literally rolling in cash

…but literally any character who has any redeeming qualities gets to happily escape this Nightmare Studio while singing a cheery song about sex. 

Even Oscar Drill and the Bits, who are quite literally Bit Characters and have very little characterization or connection to our Main Foursome, get to escape. Basically just because what little we got from them made them seem like a nice group of young gays and they never did anything bad. 

And all of the people who stayed behind were portrayed as such exaggerated cartoonish bigoted caricatures literally rushing in excitement to get themselves exploited. Nor do we get any moment for our protagonists to show any sort of concern or regret or sadness about these people who they've known all of their lives. So it’s really hard to care about them as, like, Real People who've been duped into being ground down by this awful machine of capitalism and conformism. 

I understand the idea that having a wider cast makes Denton feel more like a Town compared to the isolated feeling of the Frankenstein’s Place, and that seeing all of these people fall for Farley’s bullshit in their own slightly-different ways help drives home how prevalent and influential and powerful this capitalist proudly-selfish image-obsessed philosophy really is. But… none of these characters get enough time to develop into anything but shallow parodies of Society. There’s just not enough humanity in them to sell even an ounce of the tragedy of Columbia and Rocky's deaths. 

So condensing all of these slightly-different characters into Ralph Hapshatt… that really made him the most complicated and morally-ambiguous character in this whole musical. Because, yeah, he is a self-obsessed sexist asshole driven primarily by a desire for fame and fortune but…

We spend enough time with him to humanize him. To see how he’s struggling with internalized homophobia and how he does have his doubts about what Farley and Co. are doing to his best friends even if his thirst for fame keep winning the moral battle and that said thirst for fame is pretty obviously born from a desperate need for love and validation that this homophobic corporate world just can’t give him.

So when the show ends with him being happily strapped unto to the Shock Treatment device he illegally modified with his own two hands because he just can’t allow himself to refuse a chance to star on TV - on some level this is karma, but it’s also a grim reminder that even if our threesome of heroes are happy and free, this exploitative entertainment machine also 'just got to keep going', just got to keep grinding down other people in the name of mental health, the American family and quality entertainment. 

And although we’ve technically scaled down from a whole town to just one guy, this feels so much more tragic because as selfish as Ralph is, and as silly and intentionally-ridiculous as the writing is sometimes, he still feels so much like a person. 

[i-am-not-emotionally-stable]

The holdovers is so so good! I’m so glad to see someone else like it on here, what things about it did you like

I know!! I loved it and I’m surprised it hasn’t received more attention, I could talk about it for days!!

Anyway, apologies in advance for the impending essay Anon

SPOILERS: The Holdovers (2023)

A huge part of it is the directing/cinematography. I feel like for me this can make or break a movie and honestly I’m obsessed with the way this was filmed. I love how some scenes are just aesthetic shots of the school; I like that some are more long, dramatic shots of a single character. I think a lot of the shots of the school really add to that feeling of loneliness and isolation that the characters are meant to be feeling, how you see this huge school almost entirely empty save for this small handful of people. It’s especially noticeable in the scene where the kids are working in that huge (nearly empty) room or when Angus is playing the piano in the empty auditorium. I feel like the scene where Angus gets his family photo back is also a great example of this, early in the movie we saw how busy and full of people that hallway was and now it’s just him there alone (which also works really well with the emotion of that scene). Honestly I love just about every creative choice they made with the filming. And I really adore how loneliness is presented - through the dialogue, the staging, and the way the dynamics between characters work and change throughout the movie. I think it’s really well presented in Mary holding Angus’ hand at the end while he’s waiting to be called into the principal’s office. Or how when we get that visibly lonely shot of Angus after visiting his father we can still see Paul in the background behind him, visualizing that he isn’t alone in that moment.

And I love the overall themes of human connection and how even though the characters are vastly different people with very different stories, they still find ways in which they can connect just on a human level. Mary, Angus, and Paul are all very isolated people at the beginning of the movie and by the end they seem to find a sense of belonging with each other. While they’re all isolated for different reasons and struggling with very different things, they still find points of connection because that’s how humans are! By allowing themselves to connect with others they gain perspective and, in the case of Paul more than anyone else, a stronger sense of empathy. It really comes down to the subtle shows of humanity, even in characters that are characterized as being standoffish or outright rude (ie. Angus comforting that other kid after he’d had a nightmare and helping him hide the sheets so the other boys wouldn’t make fun of him). Or how much the dynamic between Paul and Angus begins to noticeably shift after the “Rubicon” incident and the ensuing hospital visit. Moments and subtle shifts in dynamic like that really show that these characters are multi-dimensional and not just the assumptions we make of them in the beginning of the movie

They all develop so much as characters throughout the film, which I think is a great thing to see in any move, but the almost completely character change that Paul has really got me. He went from a hardass teacher with no empathy towards his students to sacrificing not only his career, but really the only stable thing he has in his life, just to keep Angus from being pulled out of school by his mom/stepdad. And that made the ending feel very bittersweet to me. Barton is genuinely the only consistent aspect of Paul’s life, he even says in the movie that he doesn’t know what he’d do without Barton. Of course I think the decision to have him be fired and given the freedom to travel was a great great choice and worked well for his character (especially because it really showcases the dramatic character change of a man who is very stuck in his ways then being forced to change his lifestyle and leave his comfort zone), it ended up being the kick in the ass he needed to live his life the way he’d dreamed of living it. But it does still feel a little sad. I also absolutely adored seeing Mary with her sister and her seeming genuinely happy with her family instead of isolated in her grief at Barton. The symbolism of her giving Curtis’ baby clothes to her sister and her commitment to begging saving a college fund for her sister’s child so that they will never be in the same situation as her son of being unable to afford higher education and feeling that the military was the only option. Honestly Mary’s entire character arc was really beautiful and made me very emotional.

I also love the aesthetic of the movie. I like how they really committed to time period they were going for and how it does feel like a movie that was filmed in the early ‘70s. The clothes, the hair, the dialogue. It just feels very authentic all around, both in terms of setting/time period and in the way that the characters interact with each other. And speaking of character interactions - All of the actors in the movie played their characters so well, but I think Paul Giamatti and Dominic Sessa really killed it, especially for this being Sessa’s first role in a screen production. All of the performances just felt so authentic, so real, throughout the entire movie. It’s easy to feel sympathetic towards the characters because they don’t come across as really one-dimensional characters, there’s so much emotion and growth seen in all of the main protagonists throughout the course of the movie and that really makes them and their motivations feel more understandable.

Also super obsessed with every single line of dialogue. I love how sarcastic a lot of the conversation between Paul and Angus is, I love how many subtle nods there are to certain dynamics or themes, even ones that aren’t fully explored in the movie (ie. Angus making sporadic comments about his family that allude to the fact that his home life is dysfunctional, Mary starting to get more touchy about the music at the Christmas party before she breaks down). So many of the major themes of the movie are displayed in more of the offhand subtle dialogue and through subtext and I felt that it really added to the storytelling and the development of the plot and the characters. The things that each of the characters struggle with privately are a huge part of why they are so socially isolated and so to touch on those things in a more covert way really adds dimension to the characters in a more subtle way until they begin to really open up to each other later in the movie.

And finally I love how they used a mix of songs that were released in the same time period the movie takes place and new songs, as well as the choice to have music written specifically for the movie. I really like the use of music in the movie generally and the way it’s used in the staging of different scenes. I found it a really interesting choice to show Mary having a breakdown in the kitchen as we can hear that “the most wonderful time of the year” is playing in the background. It adds a sense of irony and I thought it a really interesting creative choice. The soundtrack generally was great and I loved it. And the fact that the last song is called See Ya/Into The Unknown also feels like a really lovely choice.

Overall 10/10 a wonderful movie and I am planning to go see it again before it leaves theatres :)

[senditcolton]

hi bestie happy almost birthday !! so glad to see sunny's going to make a comeback soon, i love that man so much 💙

3, 23, 36, 65 for the writer asks!

- @comphy-and-cozy

hi bestie @comphy-and-cozy !!! oh my gosh it's so weird to think that it is only about a month until my birthday. wild. and yes!! I'm so excited to see Sunny-D back on the ice, I've been missing him!! glad to hear that almost everybody loves Sunny because he deserves it - he is sunshine.

but now, the asks (answered below)!!

3. Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic. I will say, I don't have a solid step-by-step process. But, it usually starts with writing the general concept in a notes app, or word document, or even a journal. Then that concept gets upgraded to what I call the "stage directions" which is basically "this happens, then this, then that, etc". And then I take that and write the whole thing with the characterizations and figurative language and descriptions and all that. Then edit and done!

23. Best writing advice for other writers? The Comic Sans trick is wildly helpful, which is change fonts is you are feeling stuck (it doesn't have to be Comic Sans but it's more fun that way). Another good tip if you're hitting a block is go back 10 sentences because that is usually where the problem is (characterization, detail that just doesn't work, dialogue in the wrong place, whatever it is) And then my final general tip - which I'm trying to take to heart as well - is that even thinking about a fic/story is working on your story, even if you don't write a single word! All stories start as ideas so that's actually the most important step in the writing process; thinking!!

36. How do you write kissing scenes? That is an excellent question because I feel like I write most of my scenes the exact same. I feel like there's only so many ways you can describe kissing a person. So, I like to focus on the emotions and the build-up to the kiss, rather than the kiss itself.

65. Tell us about what you're most looking forward to writing - in your current project, or a future project. I'm really looking forward to start posting "So Tragic and Rare", my rockstar OC x Andrei Svechnikov multi-part fic for you all because the formatting is different than any fic I've done before so I hope it all works and you guys enjoy my little experimentation (that will hopefully start posting in November)

send me writer asks?

[ssruis]

Why the change of “now, I am able to understand and connect with someone without relying on shows, and I’ve come to value the beauty of laughing alongside others (TL tsukasa’s #3 fan)” -> “now, I don’t need shows or anything to get to know someone. On top of that, I want to share smiles and laughter with them” bugs me so much - beyond the fact that the official TL just straight up does not sound like rui - is that like. The fan translation (which, while I’m not a Japanese speaker, I feel comfortable assuming is closer to the intended message than the official one just based on the precedence of ensekai fucking things up) says a lot about rui’s character and the official TL… does Not.

The word choice of “relying on shows” emphasizes the fact that rui has viewed shows as the only way he could connect to people for a very long time. His friendship with wxs is founded in the group’s love for shows. His friendship with Nene as a kid began out of their mutual love for shows. His friendship with Mizuki is an outlier in that it was founded in mutual loneliness, but that’s not something Rui wants to be his primary way of connecting with others. Rui’s dream of creating a show that can reach everyone and bring everyone together regardless of who they are speaks to the fact that he has always seen shows as a way to connect to others when he’s been unable to do so outside of shows. The plot of the RMD show points to that as well (& RMD in general, with him attempting to connect to his classmates through that show).

Rui being a genius has always been something that set him apart from others & his more intellectual interests (engineering, inventing, science) were all things that the average child is not going to be interested in because they’re more interested in like. Playing tag outside. Shows were probably the first thing he had interest in that other people his age would also share an interest in. Now that he’s older, his passions are more understandable for his peers (npc thinking his robots are cool, for example) but he’s still using shows as a way of connecting to others (talking abt directing, story ideas, etc). It’s just not the *only* way he’s able to connect to others. He can just talk to them.

The “I’ve come to value the beauty of laughing alongside others” also says a lot wrt the fact that Rui is a director/producer of shows - he primarily operates from behind the scenes. He makes *others* laugh, but he’s not a part of the audience. Experiencing something together is a way to connect to others, and while Rui creates experiences that allow for that, he’s notably not a part of the actual connections being made. Pandemonium is an event where he’s finally a part of the audience as opposed to being the director (aside from the part where he’s directing shizuku), and he’s experiencing things with other people - not just the parade, but things like card games with his classmates or souvenir shopping/sight seeing with new friends. Rui is valuing experiencing things with others (something that’s new for him) as opposed to creating experiences for others and being divided by the stage.

“now, I am able to understand and connect with someone without relying on shows, and I’ve come to value the beauty of laughing alongside others”: “I’ve realized I’m capable of forming relationships outside of having a shared dream/passion, and I’ve realized that experiencing things with others is one way of connecting with other people that I hadn’t considered before.” There’s a lot to read into here. A piece of dialogue that excellently sums up rui’s character growth.

“now, I don’t need shows or anything to get to know someone. On top of that, I want to share smiles and laughter with them”: “I can get to know someone outside of shows (what is the anything?). I want to have fun with others (implication being that he didn’t want to do that previously??).” Nothing burger statement. Boring. Kind of just spoon feeds you the messaging in pandemonium and doesn’t really speak to rui’s overall character growth.

As a side note even though I care less about the whole “Tsukasa-kun truly knows how to bring endless smiles to my face” -> “Tsukasa’s given me so many reasons to smile” thing, it was really stupid to remove the implication that Tsukasa himself is what is making rui smile/happier given that 1) there’s this line from mizuki in rui’s first birthday card 2) literally IN THIS EVENT one of the npcs is like “we didn’t think you really cared abt other people until you started hanging out with tsukasa”

[the-sinking-ship]

Hey! Hi! Can I just say that I started reading Dwelling on Dreams, and already from the get-go I knew I would love it — your writing, characterization, dialogue, all of it. You have some beautifully quotable sentences that I wonder how you even come up with — like does this just seamlessly flow from your creative mind? ANYWAYS, Idk if you get asked this often but if you have any tips or lessons for writing in general, I'd be grateful for the wisdom. Thank you, master!

HEY! THIS IS REALLY FKN NICE!!! Thank you so much!!!!!

God, I wish I could say YES, it all pours straight from my mind onto the page exactly as you read it, but that would be a total lie.

The truth is, I’m an embarrassingly chaotic writer. I draft out of order, change direction 40k words in, leave names, dates, and transitions incomplete until I absolutely cannot go one more step without making a decision. This clashes with my need for everything to be perfect all the goddamn time, so the only way I will ever finish anything (and particularly those long fics I love to write), is by following a method that works for me. It isn’t fast. It isn’t organized. It can be tedious.

Everything starts with free writing. For me, that means turning off the brain-to-page filter and just spewing it all out there, no matter how bad it looks. We’re talking pure stream of consciousness, 1000 words in 30 minutes with no consideration for grammar or spelling. And I swear to you, those little nuggets of “oh shit that’s good” that have me rubbing my dirty little beetle hands together in glee, they come out of this stage. I use free writing to warm up, to wind down, to work through plot holes, smut, character development, or even how I’m feeling about things. Sometimes it’s just 500 words of “oh my god why is this so hard I hate this why do I sign up for this who decided this was fun maybe I’m just hungry—oh look! A squirrel!”

Of course, making the mess is the fun part, cleaning up the mess, less so. Next, I take those free writes and illegible outlines, and put them in some semblance of order. Then I rewrite. And rewrite again. And again. I will usually draft a scene between 2 and 6 times before I even attempt to consider spelling or grammar. If I bog myself down in the pretty details too soon, I lose the thread of the story or the natural flow of dialogue. If I’m thinking about where a comma goes, I’m not following my intuition and my story will suffer.

Does this result in a ton of unusable material that goes straight into the trash? YOU BETCHA. Take Dwelling on Dreams, for example. My scrivener binder for that fic clocked in at 420k words. That’s how many words it took to get 130k of them right. Or as right as they can be before I lose my damn mind and start wondering if I even really speak English at all.

Hell, in the interest of full disclosure, I used that process to answer this ask. I word vomited my thoughts (which mostly started with, wtf lakdfjafij I have no idea what I’m doing how could I possibly convince anyone that I do???!?!?!), figured out what the hell I wanted to say, still managed to say too much, and here we are.

Did I answer your question? PROBABLY NOT! But I’m still so grateful you asked.

[kwockwoc]

Of the original characters you’ve created in better this way, which one was…

…your favorite?

…the most fun to write?

…the one who had a mind of their own? And what was the unexpected thing they did?

…the first character you knew you wanted to include? (either as an explicit character or a vague idea)

…the one you weren’t sure you would include but ended up falling in love with anyway?

Oh anon, this wasn’t easy to answer.

Rambling response below the cut 👇

Favourite

Which one’s my favourite? That’s almost impossible to answer! … almost. I have a soft spot for Jessica Chen, who sprung fully-formed from my mind as a counterpart/counterpoint for Nicholas at Bridgeport High. Writing her dialogue was very enjoyable, and amongst the easiest to write because her character came together so seamlessly – even though a few of the Jessica & Nicholas interactions are complicated, and advance the story significantly, I didn’t find them difficult to write. I think having a character I enjoyed as much as Jessica involved at those points helped to make certain hard parts of the story so much easier to think through and explore.

Vera Tseng is a direct transfer of an OC I wrote for an abandoned original work. I didn’t make any changes to her (other than the name), just transposed her directly into better this way, where she seemed to work OK for what the character needs to do. But the fact that I brought her in probably means I liked her a bit too 😅

Most fun to write

Aaron Kowalski. I know some readers don’t appreciate the part he plays and some of the choices he makes, but he was a joy to create and write, and there are two significant scenes that I dropped from the end of btw which flesh him out far more, and indicate his role in the continuing story more strongly. If I ever find time to write the second part of btw I hope to include both those scenes.

Mind of their own, and the most unexpected thing they did

Not an OC, but Seiji’s role in the story as both Nicholas’s love interest and champion flourished as the writing continued. A lot of the things he did and said particularly in later chapters were surprising. I was surprised early on when he insisted on going to the Westport competition. And then the role he played when Nicholas rocked up at Kings Row in the aftermath of the incident – well, that wasn’t planned.

In the realm of OCs I generally find that they just do whatever they’re going to do, and I end up writing the story as it plays out, oftentimes to the detriment of the neat little outline I’ve got 🤷 So I could defensibly say they all have their own minds…

First character I knew I wanted to include

May Cox. ’Nuff said.

Character I wasn’t sure about including but fell in love with anyway

Lottie Sullivan. In some ways Lottie is a deus ex machina but at the same time, Nicholas desperately deserves nice things by the time she sweeps in from stage left. I wasn’t sure whether to keep Frankie more firmly in the frame, but at the same time I knew that’d be a complicating factor for Nicholas and for her, so Lottie appeared as a problem-solver, and I really enjoyed creating her, her home, and her general vibe.

[miyakuli]

Valiant Hearts: The Great War

Paroles de Poilus

Valiant Hearts is a game about the First World War, in the form of an animated cartoon, in which you follow the journey of four characters as they try to help each other survive and return to their families. While the game is rather varied in terms of gameplay, I found it very indecisive in its approach to this historical period.

❤ The artistic direction, supported by Paul Tumélaire's drawings, is truly superb. The animations are fluid, the scenes are full of detail and the depth of field in the battle scenes is really well done. ❤ The auditory experience is just as good. The music is powerful, and the wartime sound effects are just as loud and effective at giving you an idea of what the soldiers were going through. In terms of dubbing (French), having Marc Cassot as the narrator is already perfection. But we also have dialogue in the form of gibberish mixed with words according to the language of the characters, which adds a touch of humour but often allows each regiment to be clearly differentiated, which is a good idea. ❤ The last part of the game is, in my opinion, what the whole game should have been; the staging is macabre, the pressure is constant and the emotion is very present without going into pathos. ❤ The main characters, including our adorable doggie, are endearing and their intertwined stories work very well to develop the chemistry between them.

+/- I find that the game doesn't quite know where it stands. We can have a non-Manichean story where the war is really depicted on a human scale, with all its horrors and showing how it can change a person. But on the other hand, there's this caricatured side that comes in very abruptly from time to time, with a much more comic-book feel and situations that are no longer at all rooted in realism (particularly through the German baron who appears to be the boss to beat and who makes us lose this aspect of neutrality). +/- The gameplay is very varied, but doesn't go far enough for my liking. The puzzles aren't very hard, even if some are a little more brain-teasing than others, but above all they all work in pretty much the same way. However, interacting with the little dog to solve some puzzles was really fun. The rhythm games in the car or when healing brought a bit of change, but were a bit long-winded. And the "platforming" phases during battles are really cool, but a lot of them are "die & retry", so it gets pretty repetitive over time. +/- I really appreciated the educational aspect of the narration, as well as the history sheets that you can unlock throughout the game, particularly with the collectibles. In this way, you can learn about changes over the years, such as the choice of weapons and changes in uniforms, as you play. On the downside, I'm sorry to say that the file interface is very ugly and not well organised for finding information.

✖ Several times I had interaction glitches with objects, which forced me to restart my game because otherwise I'd get stuck. ✖ I found some of the actions very imprecise (especially digging and throwing). ✖ On PC, Ubisoft requires us to install Ubisoft Connect in order to launch the game and synchronise our saves. As a result, no achievements are available on Steam. That's a big negative point for me.

So here we have a game that takes us back to the Great War, making sure that we really feel its atrocities, but also the moments of hope, marked by mutual aid and the friendships formed. But in my opinion, the narrative is too changeable and I would have appreciated a more consistent tone. Even so, it's a good way of revisiting this part of history in an entertaining manner, which is a fine tribute to our Poilus.

➡ My Steam page

[clara-oswald-and-the-whos]

Rant incoming

I do not understand the love for the first paper Mario game love. I got to the dry dry desert I think about ten hours in and what interest I had in it died. I loved origami king, the combat system wasn’t the best and could be boring but it was easy to avoid most fights or just throw money at it get through it really quick. And the over world and boss battles were really fun. Despite the generally mediocre combat, exploring the world and finding the secrets and the dynamic changing of the world was all so fantastic. Each era had a fun feel and had fun NPC dialogue. This elements are what made up most of my play time, not combat. I had a great time playing it. The vibe of the game was so good. There were really funny moments and sad ones too. It was a cute little story.

Warning what follows is like a big old rant with allll my feelings and thoughts.

Obviously I have some issues with the original paper Mario though. Enough that I stopped playing. I had issues with origami king but the good stuff was so good that I could just get past it and it wasn’t a huge part of my experience playing the game.

So what were my issues? First, the exploration in the original is broken up constantly (I do understand it was likely a limitation of the era) which makes it slow. Every few feet there is practically a mini loading screen. With a stupid little outward jut as the scene exit, that really lets you know this isn’t a whole world you’re exploring. This break up of areas in such obvious ways breaks immersion, which they try to lamp shade by making the battle screen a stage. But it doesn’t change the issues. And it makes back tracking so annoying. I just love having to go though a million tiny loading screens and refight the same enemies constantly especially since they are literally the ones I just fought.

Also, now instead of just learning where things are in relation to each other (which I can do in huge games like xenoblade) I now have to learn arbitrary direction combinations to return to areas. Is it the first turn on the left side of this screen or the second? Then it is a left or right in this area of yet more trees. It is super annoying to run around trying to figure this out because of load times and combat. So hang tight let me pull up that tab that has maps for the whole ass game. Exactly my idea of fun. Exploration that is just learning a maze. Great. Wonderful. That or constantly looking at my browser while I play

Honestly guys that is just a nostalgic thing if you think it’s good design. It isn’t. (Why the modern game I mention later uses it is besides trying to be as much like this game as possible is beyond me). This is an example of a feature that needed to be there at the time due to likely hard wear issues. But why exactly no one acts like it isn’t annoying as fuck in a modern game context boogles my mind.

Second, I know some people like the combat, but I thought it was as underwhelming as the combat in origami. But unlike in origami it’s harder to avoid and there was no easy way to skip though unless you run. But then you would never get exp and you might fail anyway. So it’s stupid not to fight them. I learned as a young teen about the dangers of being under leveled in jrpgs. Anyway at least in origami king I actually like the bosses and over world enemies like the paper mache guys. And later you can kill enemies in the over world like in a normal Mario game. But in paper Mario all the battles are the same.

So what are my issues with the combat? There are several. One is that guarding doesn’t work completely so I can end up leaving any random fight with half my health gone. Which is more likely to happen as you have to use a whole turn to switch companions. Man I just wanted to have the goomba companion out to hear his commentary in the over world and in battle but I’m punished for it because he is pretty useless in most fights. Sorry that I want to actually engage with the world and flavor text game. Another thing, the timing elements which seem to not be the moment you hit but like a second before (wtf?) so I never get them right. Didn’t have that probably with origami king. Just here. And if you messed any part of it up the fight just drags on and on because you don’t do much damage even with slightly lower level enemies if you miss the timing elements. Then you have people that say the badge system is what makes the strategy but it doesn’t actually change how you fight much at all. Which is my problem. I don’t actually like stat management that much. I’ve never played any game RPGs or otherwise that made that the only part of game strategy. I’ve gone whole ass 100+ hour games were my only stat management style is make big number go up and I still enjoyed and completed the game.

So combat to me feels like this for example. So here I am fighting one spiky flying enemy and one in a shell. I have like only two or three options to begin. Which you know I can’t even use right now because I don’t have the right thing or ran out of FP or MP or whatever from the four other mostly unavoidable fights. And now I’m waiting to switch out a companion who I had out because I wanted some flavor text in a game that is mostly surviving off charming vibes alone. And I can’t even use guard because even if I get the timing right which I suck at in all versions because its always before the enemy hits and my brain isn’t wired that way, it doesn’t block all the damage. So fighting some generic mooks takes two to three times longer than necessary while I take damage. I could recharge everything but you know I’ll have to back track to a save block or a store. Which brings me to…

Combining the two issues together. Combat and exploration. So on top of just going anywhere feeling super slow you add in that is hard to avoid the boring, frustrating combat. This actively made me not want to explore. Which is one of the main things I like doing in games. And if you want to back track have fun fighting the same enemies again literally, in the scene you just left because the world is 2D enough that you can’t easily run around them. You can try jumping over but you end up starting combat if you jump poorly. Because if you jump on instead of over them you might cause damage to yourself if they have spikes. So now you start the fight already injured. Yeahhh. Definitely makes me want to find all the secrets. And see all the things.

All this just built up over ten plus hours. So when I got to the desert and there was like twenty of these areas/scenes in every direction it made me want to die. Normally I’m the kind of person that wants to explore every corner of a game. I spent 4 hours filling in the ocean on the map of xenoblade 3. And those areas in that ocean mostly have nothing in them. I adore exploring areas to find secrets and extra story and world building content. I live for it. As long as you don’t make it actively annoying as fuck. Regular random encounters make it annoying but adding constant loading new screens, even if they only last a second and I want out. I didn’t have this problem with origami king. I spent ages running around trying to find all the secrets and didn’t mind back tracking at all. Where by the second or third time I needed to go back to an area in paper Mario, it felt like a whole damn ordeal that I had to talk myself into. The fortieth time I’m fighting more of the same freaking goombas or slight goomba variations so I can find something I missed or figure out if I went the wrong direction the game stops being fun.

The thought of dealing with all those things while exploring the desert just killed what mild enjoyment I was getting from the game. Guys I wanted to explore that desert. I would hate knowing there was stuff I missed there. But my options were just give up exploring and focus on the story even though the main reason I wanted to play the game was exploring and world building or keep getting more and more frustrated. Because gods know I wasn’t enjoying the combat. So at that point I decided to just stop playing.

To be fair to the game though straight 90s jrgps are not usually my favorite. Random encounters suck, exploration isn;t great in those games and I’d rather just watch some else play to get the story. But it doesn’t take much to make me enjoy more traditional JRPG mechanics. 1. Show the enemies so I can avoid or fight as I want. If I can see them but can hardly ever avoid them it doesn’t help. 2. Give me something in the battle itself (not pre battle) that I can use as strategy. Child of light with its timer meter. FFX with the ability to change play order and instantly swap out characters. Or transistor with its use of traveling over space in a set amount of time. 3. If it is completely traditional turn based make it a smaller part of the game play like persona 5. (Which at least has some strategy if you are trying to get a hold up.) So I not pulling my hair out from boredom of doing the same thing over and over.

That said its not that I hate the model paper Mario uses for it combat completely or that it’s obviously just a bad fit for me and that’s why I don’t like it. It seems to be a variation an a classic turn based system so it should work for me. And it does. When it’s well done.

Because guess what guys a better version of this games exists and it’s called: bug fables!

Bug fables uses this game as inspiration and it manages it better.

The combat is better as you have three party members. You don’t have to waste turns summoning people and you can change their turn order at will. You can heal during fights easily and use items with effects if you can’t use the appropriate skill or character for some reason. This lets me actually have some real options during combat. And the badges add strategy for those that enjoy stat manipulation while the fighting is still varied enough to make it enjoyable on it’s own. Also the areas have greater depth making each section have more to them to see and explore, while also making it possible to avoid enemies. In an expanded feature each character has a skill that lets you better explore the outside world and you can switch to them on the fly, no menu hoping needed. And the things you discover as you explore reveal more about the world and it’s history. Honestly game play wise it superior in every way. That said it does break up the areas and I hate it but at least they are bigger so it happens less often.

On the mario side, I do like the aesthetics and world of Mario better. The bug world almost put me off getting the game. But that is entirely subjective.

Now I haven’t finished bug fables yet. However, unlike paper Mario, which I stopped because I was frustrated with the game play, I stopped bug fables because I got distracted by other things. I also got a LOT farther in the game. Also I will probably go back and finish it eventually unlike paper Mario.

I’ll admit that this set up of game clearly isn’t my favorite. But the nostalgia googles people have about paper Mario, as if it totally holds up to modern games, is mind blowing. I feel like they are remembering paper Mario as if it was like bug fables. But it isn’t. There are a lot of awkward spots and elements that haven’t aged well. I’m not mad that people like it. I’m just annoyed that people hype it up so much while putting down origami king. Because they made me expect it was going to be just so awesome and I would have so much fun. At most I got a mild, oh cute a bomb with a bow.

I get that some people are frustrated the paper mario series went in a different direction. And at this point if you want a modern paper mario style game play Bug fables. That said it doesn’t mean that origami king is terrible because it isn’t an RPG. It definite has its flaws but to a modern player with no nostalgia for the series, it was hands down way more accessible. And it has the cute vibes that drew me towards the series still!

Now I haven’t played a thousand year door and maybe it does all those things and I would love it. But this is about the original paper Mario.

Anyway this has just been bubbling for a couple of months. If you like the paper Mario set up (why you would every like the broken up over world is beyond me but I digress) play bug fables. It is superior in every way. If you want to see the cute stuff in paper Mario just watch chuggaconroy on YouTube play it in the back ground and do something else.

[bigredaltoids]

Why do you to Write?

Last time, I asked y'all what media you carry with you as you write, giving my own personal examples and experiences. Today, I want to pose a different question. Why do you write in the first place?

In the aforementioned post, I gave a few examples of why someone may write, but I think the reasons most people write are deeply personal. You might write in order to share those wild and crazy thoughts in your head, but there's really no reason you couldn't do that through any other medium. Maybe you just write because it's fun, but is it fun in the "recreational weekend activity" way or in the "I could do this for hours on end without stopping and not lose interest" way? See where I'm coming from?

For me, I started writing in the third grade, but I don't think I was a writer until "Happy Halloween, States" in 2019, which was well after third grade.

I never intended to write, at least not novels, children's books, or screen/stage plays. Instead, I started with comics. Specifically, my state comics. One day, I wanted to translate what I wrote on paper onto a computer using text, and thus, what I affectionately call the puesdo-drama was born. That is, a story that uses some conventions of a stage play while forgoing elements like stage directions in favor of having a narrator who tends to describe that kind of thing. Here's an example:

Ever since starting my state story obsession (I've started over 60), I've been a writing fanatic. I mainly write stories about states (of course) and animals. I love writing for children and I love writing comedy. I gravitate towards writing contemporary or western stories and my favorite part of the writing process is creating interesting characters and writing comedic dialogue.

But none of that answers why I write, really. Well, I guess the reason I write is because I love communicating with people, and writing is simply the easiest means by which to get a story or message out to a large group of people.

In the real world, unless I'm giving a speech, I'm not the best communicator. Beyond the fact that I can't seem to control my voice level, I'm pretty awkward in face to face conversation. I tend to either speak too quickly or too slowly, I tend to rely too much on filler words, and I laugh inexplicably at inappropriate times. I'm able to get my point across, but I feel like other people look at me like I'm either a second grader or I never made it past second grade. It's pretty disheartening.

But when I write, I feel like my words carry real power. I can format them, arrange them, edit them, change them, delete them, all at my digression.

Not just that, but these worlds and characters are all in my hands. I get to decide what's going to happen to them. There's no surprises. And when there are, they're good surprises.

I love my characters, I love my worlds. I love putting my vision on something real that I can read back to myself when I'm bored or blue.

But most of all, when someone reads my work and they laugh or give good feedback, my whole world lights up and I hear fireworks. I love it when other people read my hard work, and one day, maybe more than just a poem will be in the public's hands.

So that's why I write. What about you? I want to hear everything. Maybe we have some common ground. Whatever your reason, I'm sure it's perfect for you.

[bunnhop]

The Professor, A Poring Mount, and Ragnarok Origin Lore

Published: August 25, 2021 Last Updated on October 9, 2021

(Reposted from bunnhop.com)

The second episode of our Let’s Explore Ragnarok Origin! Tutorial series begins as we enter the main hall of the Adventurers’ Academy. As with the original Ragnarok Online PC game, the tutorial area is set in a castle on an island off of the continent of Midgard. Here, we are greeted by our guide, Sprakki, who has been waiting for us all this time, while we were out exploring the landing area and the mini-garden in the previous episode. She greets us with some bad news–the professor isn’t ready to see us since an old friend of his has arrived to meet with him.

Note that we’ve decided to use the name “Sprakki” for the guide from this point on, since it’s the closest to the Japanese server’s “Splatch”/”Spratch.”

Sprakki is actually the first female guide you meet at the Novice Training Grounds in Ragnarok Online. She is also present at the current Criatura Academy tutorial area in Izlude, as well as the Eden Group Headquarters, in iRO!

Of Adventures and Adventurers

While waiting, Sprakki tells us about the Academy and shows all sorts of adventures we’ll get into when we finally leave and change Jobs. The Photo Wall displays pictures sent by the academy’s alumni. It is here where the game gives us a hint that Ragnarok Origin encourages players to capture their precious moments as they play the game.

While many of the pictures show characters in groups engaging in a variety of activities, there are some that portray only a single character. I think they’d like us to know that ROO can also be enjoyed alone–that a single player can still have as much fun with costumes, quests, and exploration without having to be part of a Party or Guild.

While looking around and speaking with other Novices, we meet a concierge who looks exactly like Sprakki only without the Bunny Band. It turns out she’s her sister, Stephanie. We can ask her to tell us about some interesting areas in the academy and she names a few.

I’ve noticed a bug in her dialogue, though. Even when you’re tapping the “About the Professor” option, she still replies to you with directions to different parts of the academy instead of actually answering your question. I tried it with a different character and the correct dialogue gets triggered but you have to keep choosing the “About the Professor” option multiple times.

The Professor and His Gift

When we’re ready, we enter a room to the right of the lobby and meet Professor Anderson for the first time. He is impressed with our background and abilities and recognizes our potential to become a great adventurer. After officially admitting us into the Adventurers’ Academy, he gives us a gift–the Camera function–and hands us over to Sprakki to learn how to use it. Like Ragnarok M, Ragnarok Origin promotes its beautiful graphics by prompting us to use the Camera and take pictures for us to keep as souvenirs of our journey and to share on social media.

I personally like the wide variety of options available through the Camera function which has three modes: Normal, Free, and Selfie. Aside from the classic RO emotes, we can also add facial expressions, character animations, stickers, and frames. If you’re playing on mobile, try the Free Mode. It’s pretty cool!

If you decide to look around, watch out for the band of Rockers performing on stage–they’re hilarious (and cute)! Another thing that might catch your attention while at the restaurant (“cafeteria” is not classy enough) area of the academy is the Jukebox. It allows you to listen to a couple of classic RO BGMs for that much-needed nostalgia boost! For me, this seems to be a preview of what we can expect in terms of maps and music.

One thing of note is that the background music playing in the tutorial area is called “One Step Closer.” If you love RO BGMs like us, you’ll most likely remember that this is also the title of the BGM for RO’s Novice Training Grounds. Ragnarok Origin‘s version of this song doesn’t sound very similar to the original. It took me a week of playing the game and editing videos to realize that it has, in fact, a very minute similarity with Ragnarok Online‘s “One Step Closer.” The beat and the melody are unlike each other’s, but you can hear just a little resemblance between the two–possibly in the feeling they both elicit. Aside from this, it seems that “Theme of Prontera” has been modified to evoke a feeling of majesty and grandeur, compared to the original’s more romantic pop tune.

The World of Ragnarok Origin

We’ve only met the professor minutes ago and honestly, we haven’t really learned much from him aside from the fact that we remind him of his younger self. But Sprakki says it’s time to bid him farewell. Before we go and meet with the Training Grounds instructor, Professor Anderson gives us our first lore information.

According to the cinematic video, the game is set years after Ragnarok (the event) occurred. Loki had cast a curse of destruction before his death, and in the years that passed, monsters awakened to bring chaos to Midgard. The Adventurers’ Academy was formed by the Kingdom of Rune-Midgarts to train new adventurers to ward off the invasion of evil monsters. If Ragnarok occurs after the events of Ragnarok Online, is this game set after RO much like Ragnarok Online 2?

Anyway, before we head out to the Training Grounds, the professor gives us a cute–but unfortunately–time-restricted Poring Mount. This is where the game introduces us to mounts as part of character customization. I actually saw this promotional material that shows two of the many mounts we can get from–I assume–Gacha, the Store, and some in-game events.

The last thing we look at in this episode is the Party Window. Much like in any game in the franchise, you can choose to create or join a Party. I will probably be playing alone most of the time, but might check what being in a Party is like for more challenging activities like Trials and boss fights.

What do you think of Ragnarok Origin so far? I think the ambient NPCs add flavor to the game, while the main ones are a joy to interact with! I’m definitely eager to learn more about ROO’s world and the game’s different features.

[ayizan]

How to think about editing

Ok, so you've written this really cool story, fanfic, and poem and you are feeling really jazzed about it, getting those post-writing highs and you decide to go back to reread. But oh no! How could you think this was ever good? You can't spell for shit, sentences make no grammatical sense and worst of all the paaaaaacing. What felt like a long page of dialogue reads super short, and why oh why did you spend half a page describing that man's ass????

You slump on your desk, feeling that looming threat towering over you, the process that so many dread: EDITING

It's scary, I know. But it really doesn't have to be.

Editing, like writing, painting, or dancing, is an art that can be broken down into smaller pieces. You don't have to be good at all of it immediately.

I like to think of it as levels, and when someone asks me to give feedback on their story, I usually try to asses which level of feedback they want.

Level 1: Big broad notes - usually the writer at this point is still fishing for ideas. There's one idea that has really inspired them and they are trying to figure out how to form a story around it. What they are looking for are suggestions and open-ended questions, things that can really get their brain churning. If you are the writer and editor of your own piece, then you want to highlight the parts of your story that you really like and try to figure out some questions that you want to answer. It's ok if none of those do get answered, things are bound to change as you go. You just want to find your direction, and as an editor, your role is to scout for all possible paths.

Level 2: Ok the story has a framework, all the stuff is coming together and it's starting to feel like a story, though a shaky one at best. As an editor, this is when you start digging into the text, but it's important to think about what needs to be done at this stage. A common mistake for a lot of new editors is to spend time on grammar and spelling when the story is still shaky. It's a waste of the editor's and writer's time to focus on all the tiny details when there is still a lot of big stuff that could change. If you have or receive a level 2 story, here are the things you should be analyzing:

Pacing - is the dialogue reading too fast? Is the ending getting squashed because the beginning starts to slow? Do you really need a whole paragraph about a man's ass?

Order - (this is my favorite) How is the information being delivered to the reader? Should something be introduced earlier? Should the twist be moved later? Should 5 paragraphs on this man's ass all be in the same spot or can we spread it out?

Expansion/Removal - (these basically function the same) What details are we lacking? What can we do without? When it comes to dialogue, it's important to also incorporate non-verbal communication. As humans, the way we say things, our expressions, and our body language speaks to us as much as what we say. Cutting dialogue with visual description also helps build pause and suspense. It's important to remember that words = time, so the longer we describe things, the longer time is passing between two strings of dialogue.

Plot/Character - you want your characters and plot to make sense. All the stuff I listed above are tools to serve the world and characters you are creating. It's important to know why your characters are doing the things they do and show the readers, in various ways, their reasoning and emotions.

phew, that's a lot for level 2. But trust me, once you get into it it's a lot of fun. Think of a collage, where you have all these pieces and you got to mix and match things to make a bigger image.

Level 3: Ok, the story is close to ready. You got all the parts in place, the pacing is pretty good, the characters are fleshed out, and you got a clear arc and conclusion. NOW you can think about spelling and grammar. This is the nitty gritty part, where you go through and make all those final tweaks. Dot your "i's". Cross your "t's". This is a good time to send out your story to your trusted beta readers, or honest friends and see what they think. It's important to remember that story writing is not linear. You might reach this stage and then realize that there is that big important THING you left out and that the story won't work without it. So you slide back into level 2 and work on adding/revising until it works. Don't worry, level 3 ain't going anywhere.

Level 4: This is the post-done phase, what I leave for the true editors, the monsters, the gods of the field: COPYEDITORS. Their role is to go through your story and make sure everything is perfect. Most publishers have a book of house rules when it comes to grammar and punctuation and the copyeditor's job is to conform your story to those rules. They will also do research on any real-life facts you have in there, to make sure that everything is as correct as it can be. God bless these men and women, they do not get paid enough. I can't really speak much more about the copyeditor experience but if you are interested in becoming one, the Copyeditors Handbook is a great place to start.

And that's it! Hopefully, this helps to demystify the editing process a little bit and get you excited about not only writing your next Great American Novel but also editing it too. :)

[introvertguide]

Basic Filming Rules Part 2: The 180 Degree Rule and Spatial Orientation

A large part of many movies is dialogue between two characters. It can be very intense, it can be playful, it can be romantic...it can be many things that help the plot progress forward. One thing that cinematographers (and even playwrights) have discovered is that the audience prefers to be on one side of the interaction space wise. It feels like you are standing or sitting in front of the conversation while the scene plays out. It helps the viewer to feel secure in how each character is oriented. If you were sitting at a table, then focusing only on the character on the left means they should be looking towards the right of the camera, while looking at the person on the right means they should be looking to at the left side of camera. It makes logical sense to the eye spatially. To keep this phenomenon of visual orientation in balance, there is a basic rule that filming should be done from one side of a straight line made up by the eyeline of the characters who are interacting. Below is a very basic example from a google image search:

The arrows represent different camera angles and exemplify that the camera can be almost behind the subject and the orientation won't change as long as the shot is taken over the correct shoulder. Changing to the other side of the subjects will suddenly flip the orientation and it seems very weird. It would be like sitting at a play and watching a dinner scene, when suddenly the stage is rotated 180 degrees and you are now seeing the actors from the other direction. It would be very strange. This comforting orientation concept can be seen in films as simple as Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989), where Bill is almost always on the left and Ted is on the right.

Orientation consistency is pleasing to the eye and the 180 Degree Rule retains this during a scene, so the audience knows (quite literally) where each character stands.

Using Positional Orientation to Help Tell the Story

One of my favorite movies is The Princess Bride (1987), and part of the fun is that battles to the death are treated like very intense conversations. The hero is involved in fencing duals, games of wits, and even wrestling with a giant. These are very extended fight scenes, and the conversation goes on throughout. For this reason, orientation is used along with the 180 Degree Rule. The hero is the Dread Pirate Roberts, who is trying to steal back a princess that has been kidnapped (there is more to it, but I don't want to spoil anything). Roberts takes on a Spanish swordsman named Indigo Montoya and the two switch sides throughout. The continuity works, however, because the fighter with the upper hand tends to be on the left. There is a reveal that each fighter has been using their non-dominant hand to extend the battle, and each time the handicap is made known, then the two switch sides. At the very end, the victor is on the right and he purposeful walks around to the other side before delivering the final blow.

Breaking the 180 Degree Rule to Tell a Story

Another one of my very favorite films is a black and white comedy drama called Paper Moon (1973), and it stars real-life father and daughter Ryan and Tatum O'Neil. The film is about a man (a grifter) who promises to take a little girl to her aunt's house. There is some question about her being the grifter's actual daughter, but he seems to want to use the girl to swindle some people out of guilt money. The grifter convinces a man to give him $200 to take the girl and the little girl believes it should be hers. The movie is set in the late 1930's, so that amount of money would be around $4000 today. She wants that money, she just lost her mother, and this no-good drifter is taking her across country and will likely swindle her if she doesn't do something. They stop at a restaurant and get some food. The grifter is acting like a father figure and telling the girl what to do. The camera angle originates from inside the restaurant and has the two actors at the table as the focus of the shot.

The man grabs some ketchup for the little girl, and she suddenly starts to complain loudly about her $200. The camera is turned 180 degrees and smashes the line to show the actors had switched positions and we are now more aware of all the other people in the scene. The depth of field extends back so the audience can tell that, despite the man wishing for privacy, the whole restaurant is listening to the conversation.

This is a power play by the little girl and this change in the balance of power is displayed by switching the sides of the characters. The tighter shot of the two at the table reflects the man's desire not to have others overhear the conversation, but the long depth of field implies that the other people in the bar can hear everything just fine. It is a brilliant sequence by director Peter Bogdanovich. Even more so, this whole film is extra special as he was advised throughout the production by his close friend and mentor, Orson Welles.

Breaking the 180 Degree Rule in a Bad Movie

I think that this is fast becoming my favorite aspect of these posts. I was watching the movie Catwoman (2004), starring Halle Berry, and the poor filming technique is disorienting throughout the run time. The film has a 9% Rotten Tomato score and took home many Razzies for being basically the worst movie of the year. The acting is just silly, the story doesn't really make sense, and the directing is laughable. I think the cinematography might be the worst aspect of the film (it is so hard to choose), mainly because director Pitof couldn't decide on a shot and just cut everything together in a massive jumble. There are constant circling shots, weird quick cuts, and sudden jumps with no explanation. One thing that actually gives me a headache is that the constantly circling camera crosses the 180-degree line often, so the viewer has no idea of what the spatial orientation is. There is a fight in a jewelry shop in which it makes some sense, but then it is done during a discussion in a boardroom, at the lead characters cubicle, at a little library, during a pickup basketball game, and even just walking down the street. It makes us constantly have to guess who each character is talking to, how the sets are laid out, and where characters are moving. Again, this might make sense in a fight since Catwoman is very quick and agile, which makes it confusing for her opponents. But there are quick cuts and circling shots that cross the eyeline that basically cause motion sickness. It feels like you are on a boat and the prop furniture is constantly shifting and re-orientating itself. Below is a gif of the inappropriate basketball game that has me looking for my Dramamine. This is not skipping around; this is how the movie was apparently intended to look.

I see some dribbling of a basketball, so I am thinking it is a one-on-one match with these kids watching. Where are they on the court? Got me. Are the kids surrounding the area of play? I'm pretty sure, yes. I also am pretty sure it is half court with a wall on the side (although the camera might be located in the wall at some point?). From watching the whole scene, I believe that the woman (Halle Berry) has cat powers and is trying to attract the man (Benjamin Bratt) with her new skills and confidence. I think the circling is implying that man is changing his opinion about her or that he is confused...maybe? I shouldn't have to guess or make up my own story, the visual telling is the job of the director and cinematographer. This is a mess and an extreme example of crossing over the 180-degree line and destroying any semblance of spatial orientation.

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Where actors are placed in relation to the camera is very important. This can be used to keep the audience calm and orientated to time and space, or it can be used to purposefully cause chaos and confusion. Subtle details in the shooting can help tell the story, or it can inadvertently confuse the audience as to what the heck is going on. No matter how it is used, spatial orientation and the 180 Degree Rule are good basic things to always keep in mind when filming.