#Star Fox Arena

[blue-and-art]

Promo arts for Star Fox Arena

[pluck-heartstrings]

So I was thinking about Pluck my Heartstrings, as I am want to do, and it hit me.

I used to live near Atlanta, Georgia and in the city there is a theatre. The Fox Theater.

And oh my god the whole venue is amazing (I had my junior prom in their Egyptian ball room. Phenomenal.) anyway.

Their ceilings are painted to look like the sky and the project moving clouds onto it’s surface and sometimes stars.

And I though the whole vibe was a lot like what I imagine when I’m thinking about Castle Faz

Though, of course Castle Faz is a jousting arena and not a stage but I feel like the vibe are very similar.

I've actually been to the Fox Theater!!! I saw a production of Nine to Five there years and years ago.

And you're absolutely right, the design and vibe is stunning, perfect. I am absolutely taking this colour scheme and using it as inspiration going forward.

You're a gem Robin <3 <3 <3

[raccoon-crown]

DREAM LAND: The King DeDeDe!!

Yeah, I finally finished King DeDeDe!! (Sorry about the time it took but my job has been leaving me without strength to do anything...)

Let's get into some details for the King

He is still called DeDeDe, but everyone calls him at his back Knuckles because they think he is a knuckle head (he enjoys fighting in his own area so...)

His main weapon are his golden fist and didn't even had a second weapon till Kirby Amy knocked him in his arena one day. After that he trained with the hammer to have his revenge.

Is only one year older than Meta Sonic, and also was defeated by him before Amy did it again (Amy actually hurt his pride since at least Meta Sonic was the son of a powerful knight).

Has been a king since he was a little kid since his parents passed in a war, that made him a kind of Special king...

And even is he is the King of the Popstar planet, his domain is mainly the land of the foxes (instead of waddle dees).

So technically all foxes must obey him (he even has one as a symbol in the back of his robes). But the only fox that doesn't listen to him is Tails since he determined him as a subject of Meta Knight's (Sonic) territory.

Tails was Scared of him at the start but after a time he finds him annoying. Their relationship progressed quite slowly at the beginning.

Is a star guardian since birth for being a member (and the last one) of the royal family, he has the power and the heart but takes terrible decisions most of the time.

And before I forget, let's have the welcome ya all voted for him!!!

[arkus-rhapsode]

Video Game Hot Take of The Day: Metroid Other M would've actually been more warmly received if it had nothing to do with Metroid.

Nintendo is one of those rare companies where they've got such appealing characters and worlds for a general market, that they can take a lot of their existing franchises and expand them out into other genres to get players to try. Nervous about buying a tennis game? Well don't worry we have Mario in it. Wanna play a rhythm game? Well we got theses Bongos with that Donkey Kong plays along to. However, a lot of these are still general and broad appealing genres. What about more diverse styles of gameplay?

This is certainly more of a gamble. Sure Mario and Zelda transitioned in big 3D worlds fine. They're basically the same core mechanics but in a different dimension. Metroid Prime is still a search adventure style game but they move it into an FPS perspective and make it more about gathering info. But in terms of massive genre shift you get all the Mario RPG series, something that almost completely ditches the gameplay of Mario and becomes a completely different experience. Now Mario and Luigi and Paper Mario are generally well liked and for some the only RPGs they'll play, but then you get something like Star Fox Adventures, a game that wasn't intended to be a star fox game and has very little things sections that have original star fox gameplay. Now Adventures has its fans, people who would say they'd never try a Star Fox game due to the fact its a flight sim, but others will argue it strays too far from the series identity. So it often makes you wonder what it be like if Dinosaur Planet did come out instead. Would it still be considered a Ocarina of Time clone? Or would it be see as standing on its own merits?

And what about something like Pikmin? Some of Pikmin's earliest prototyping phases had it as a Mario game. But it was ultimately made into its own franchise with its own identity. But what if it was just other Mario game. Mario isn't some small man needing to flee this foreign world on a time limit before he dies, he's just be leading a bunch of goombas or koopas or something collecting mushrooms. Would it be as fondly remembered? Would it be consistently released across Nintendo consoles?

Now of course we can debate on the merits on what direction to take a franchise in or if we can balance releases of a franchise with two distinct types of gameplay like 2D and 3D Mario plus its various spin offs. But in the case of Metroid Other M, a lot of the hostility is often due to the story. A game that seemed to both contradict lore and ruin the mystique of a beloved character. However, the actual gameplay was done by, of all people, Team Ninja. A group known for character action games. The actual exploring and arena combat in Other M is actually pretty fine. Yes it was the Wii so there was Wii Remote shenanigans, but in terms of the actual combos and supernovas you could do, it was pretty alright. Its no DMC, but I could see it being something that would get people into DMC.

Its also important to remember at the time, Nintendo didn't really have their own unique character action game. Meanwhile, Sony was just cleaning up with stuff like God of War. Now of course Nintendo has Bayonetta and they even have a franchise they own that's also a character action game in the form of Astral Chain. But that leaves me wondering what could've been had Metroid Other M just had nothing to do with Metroid? What if it really was just some different sci-fi story about a moody girl with a chip on her shoulder as she smashes up aliens and robots? Not having at all to worry about an existing canon or timeline?

Honestly, I have no real answer. People could've still acted the story, the wii was still mostly known as a general entertainment system so maybe it would've do too well. Its would just be speculation on my part and I highly doubt at this point we'd see Other M 2. But I do at least think as an actual gaming experience, Other M isn't that bad. But it absolutely is a bad Metroid game.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Mike Luckovich

* * * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

August 5, 2024

Heather Cox Richardson

Aug 06, 2024

Christi Carras of the Los Angeles Times reported today that the reality TV industry has collapsed. From April to June, reality TV production in the Los Angeles region fell by 57% compared to the same period in 2023; that’s a 50% drop over the five-year average, excluding the Covid-induced production shutdown. The immediate reasons for the dropping production are systemic to the business, Carras reports, but the change seems to represent Americans’ souring on the blurring of reality and entertainment that gave us the Trump era.

Trump rose to political power thanks to his appearances on reality TV, which claimed to be unscripted but was actually edited to emphasize ruthless competition among people striving for ultimate victory in a closed system. The Apprentice launched in 2004, and its highly edited episodes portrayed its star, Trump, as a brilliant and very wealthy businessman despite his past failures. 

Since 2015, Trump has offered a simple narrative of American life that did not reflect reality. Using the sort of language rising authoritarians use to attract a disaffected population, he promised those left behind economically by forty years of supply-side economics that he would bring back manufacturing, close tax loopholes, promote infrastructure, and make healthcare cheaper and better. He also promised sexists and racists who wanted to roll back the gains women and racial and gender minorities had made since the 1950s that he would, once again, center white, heteronormative men.

He never delivered on his economic promises: manufacturing continued to decline, he cut taxes for the wealthy and for corporations, “infrastructure week” became a national joke, and rather than expand the Affordable Care Act, Republicans repeatedly tried to kill it. But Trump and his followers did center those who had gravitated toward the MAGA movement for its cultural promises. Now, in 2024, that gravitation means that the Republican Party has become an antidemocratic vehicle for Christian nationalism.

In the 2024 contest, Trump has continued to push a fake narrative, but his ability to dominate the political conversation is slipping. Last Wednesday, his interview before the National Association of Black Journalists began more than an hour late; Trump publicly blamed the delay on the association’s technology, and there was, in fact, a brief issue with the audio. But it turns out that the delay was due primarily to Trump’s not wanting to be fact-checked during the interview. He was not willing to go on stage without a promise that the journalists would permit him to say whatever he wanted. They declined.

Trump’s determination to have a friendly audience to promote his narrative was behind the dust-up over planned presidential debates. Trump has not sat down for an interview with any but friendly right-wing interviewers. He agreed to a September 10 debate on ABC News back when he assumed the Democratic presidential nominee would be President Joe Biden. As soon as Biden said he would not accept the nomination, Trump suggested he would not be willing to follow through with the ABC News event if Vice President Kamala Harris was his opponent.

Over the weekend, he announced that he would be willing to debate Harris on September 4, but only on his terms: he wants the Fox News Channel—which had to pay a $787 million settlement for lying that Trump won the 2020 election—to host such an event, and he wants the arena full of people. Essentially, he wants to set up the conditions for one of his rallies and then “debate” Harris in that right-wing bubble. 

But Harris has stood firm on the previous agreement, condemning Trump’s trash talk about her and daring Trump instead to “say it to my face.” She is taunting him for chickening out of the arranged debate, and says she will follow through with the September 10 event to which both campaigns agreed. Trump’s new plan doubles as a way to get out of debating altogether: he’s saying that if she doesn’t show up at his event, he won’t debate her at all. 

At the same time, Americans have seen the Biden-Harris administration actually do the hard work of governing, completing the promises Trump made but didn’t deliver. Manufacturing has surged under Biden, with factories under construction and about 800,000 manufacturing jobs created. The Biden-Harris administration more fully funded the IRS to go after tax cheats, passing the mark of recovering more than $1 billion from high-income, high-wealth individuals earlier this month and scoring a $6 billion judgment against Coca-Cola Co. for back taxes just last week. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is rebuilding the nation’s roads and bridges, and a record high number of people have enrolled in affordable health coverage plans since January 2021.

The difference between sound bites and the hard work of governance was illustrated last week when Biden and Harris were the ones who pulled off a complicated multi-country swap that freed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich—whom Trump had repeatedly boasted that he alone could get Russian president Vladimir Putin to release—along with fifteen other Russian-held prisoners. 

That focus on complicated governance rather than sound bites has paid off in the Indo-Pacific region as well. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan wrote in the Washington Post today that “enhanced U.S. power in the [Indo-Pacific] region is one of the most important legacies of this administration.” 

They note that “[n]o place on Earth is more critical to Americans’ livelihoods and futures than the Indo-Pacific.” It generates nearly 60% of global gross domestic product and its commerce supports more than 3 million U.S. jobs, while the area’s security challenges—North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and China’s provocations at sea—have far reaching effects. 

As the U.S. turned inward during the Trump administration, China’s power grew, and when Biden and Harris took office, America’s standing in the Indo-Pacific was at “its lowest point in decades.” Biden’s transformation of the nation’s Indo-Pacific policy “is one of the most important and least-told stories of the [administration’s] foreign policy strategy,” the authors write. Biden’s team replaced one-to-one relationships in the region with wider partnerships: AUKUS, a new security partnership comprising Australia, the U.K., and the U.S.; a trilateral summit with Japan and South Korea; and a summit with Japan and the Philippines. It elevated the Quad—Australia, India, Japan, and the U.S.—and hosted both the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Pacific Islands Forum. With 13 other countries, it created the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity. 

These partnerships do not translate to easy slogans, but they have strengthened defense and supply chains and helped address climate change. “Our security partnerships across the Indo-Pacific” make “us and our neighbors safer and stronger,” they wrote. 

The stock market fell today, with the big indices—the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Nasdaq Composite, and the S&P 500—all sliding. The Dow, which measures 30 of the nation’s older, prominent companies, and the S&P 500, which measures 500 of the largest companies on the U.S. stock exchanges, took their biggest daily losses since September 2022, although they still remain up about 60% from the time of Biden’s election. 

In June, Moody’s Analytics assessed that the economy would grow less under Trump’s policies than under a continuation of Biden’s, but today, Trump promptly wrote: “Stock markets are crashing, jobs numbers are terrible, we are heading to World War III, and we have two of the most incompetent ‘leaders’ in history.” His running mate, J.D. Vance, followed that up by blaming Vice President Kamala Harris. “The stock market is crashing because of weak and failed Kamala Harris’ policies and the world is on the brink of WW3,” he said. 

But what is really at stake here is the complicated business of balancing the economy as it has come out of the worst of the coronavirus pandemic. The Biden-Harris administration made the decision to invest money in ordinary Americans, and it worked: the U.S. came out of the pandemic with a stronger economy than any other nation.

That economic strength came with inflation, both because people had more money to spend thanks to higher wages and because that cash meant that corporations could continue to charge higher prices: the net profits of food companies, for example, are up by a median of 51% since just before the pandemic, according to Tom Perkins of The Guardian, and one egg producer’s profits went up by around 950% (not a typo). To get inflation under control, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell—a Trump appointee, by the way—kept interest rates high. 

He has been under pressure to cut interest rates in order to keep the economy humming but has not, and on Friday a jobs report showed that U.S. employers had added fewer jobs than economists had expected, while the unemployment rate ticked up. This hiccup in the booming economy prompted investors to sell.

Fine-tuning the economy through interest rates is like catching an egg on a plate. Economist Robert Reich notes that the economy will continue to need the antitrust regulations the administration has put in place to bring down costs, and just today federal judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google illegally maintained a monopoly for internet searches, a decision likely to influence other antitrust lawsuits the government has undertaken. 

Voters seem increasingly aware of the difference between image and reality. Today the hospitality workers’ union UNITE HERE, which plays a big role in Nevada politics, endorsed Vice President Harris for president. Trump had tried to court the union with a promise to end taxes on tips, a plan Americans for Tax Fairness says avoids increasing the low minimum wage for waitstaff and instead opens the door to tax abuse by high-income professionals who reclassify their compensation as tips.

Union president Gwen Mills told Josh Boak of the Associated Press that Trump was just “making a play” for votes. The union says its members will knock on more than 3.3 million doors for Harris in swing states.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[iheartgod175]

Some MORE Thoughts…

—I’ve actually had the hankering to do some art again after like a month, haha ^^ Taking a month hiatus from creating to refill my creative well has done me some wonders, because now I feel a lot more inspired and ready to write and draw!

—An idea that I’ve had for the last couple of days was including Dragon Tales into SRBA. My childhood lives! I love how at this point, the remastered SRBA is kinda becoming the MCU, lol—after all, I kinda have it set that the Super Readers would meet WordGirl and the characters from Santiago of the Seas, so why the heck not XD That means I’m gonna have to go back and fix the timeline again to include this.

—And in case anybody was wondering what other shows would be featured in this AU, it’s currently Santiago of the Seas, WordGirl, Dragon Tales and (possibly) Arthur. The later I put in brackets because I’m not sure how it’d work yet ^^;

—I am still working on that KonoSuba/Star Fox story, but most of it is just brainstorming fifty million ideas. I do have some cool ideas for a potential sequel starring either Slippy or Beltino. Why? Well, I wanted to challenge myself writing a character that I eventually grew to appreciate—as I wrote in the original post, Fox and Falco would fit in with KonoSuba perfectly, but it’s too obvious a choice. Putting in a happy-go-lucky mechanic with no sense of flying in a world like KonoSuba’s would be hilarious—or a mild-mannered scientist like Beltino. All I know is that either one of them would end up in Kazuma’s party, and Slippy and Aqua would butt heads because of her hatred for toads, LOL.

—2024 is not being kind to Love Livers thus far. I still think the whole “Love Live disappears but Revue Starlight is eternal” meme compilation is hilarious, though. Power creep and insane rates will not stop this game, I swear. Oh, and speaking of Revue Starlight, it’s been loving me again?? I’ve had better luck getting the 5-stars recently than I have had getting the birthday cards the last few years?! Which is good news for me, because my Wind, Moon and Space teams SUCK and I needed some better cards in order to prep for both Star Arena matches and future Trophy Roads.

—Kinda hopped back onto my Multo/Zeeter mood again, so I’ve been working on Love Language in between working on that StarFox/KonoSuba idea. I’m trying out a new writing routine, and hopefully, I can finish the first chapter sometime this year!

—Speaking of them, I was rereading my notes for that Revue Starlight inspired AU and I need to write out a post yelling about that. I literally have like six to seven pages of notes!

—Started Atelier Resleriana and it’s kinda cute! I’ve heard of the Atelier series, but never got a chance to play any of the games. But I’m liking it so far.

—Racing to get to the next few chapters of HI3rd. I’m kinda stoked for Part 2!

—And since I also got hit with the mood for it a few days ago, I’m going to be doing some in-depth notes about the Cerulean Avenger story, namely regarding the characters and what all to expect. The reason for that? It relates to the art I’m going to drop after making this post! 😁

[black-arcana]

The 50 best metal albums of 2023 - as voted by the readers of Metal Hammer

20. Blackbriar - A Dark Euphony (Nuclear Blast)

With many of the bands that brought symphonic metal to prominence in the late 90s and early 2000s since shifting away from the style to explore other realms, newcomers like Blackbriar are quickly filling the niche. Grandiose, gothic symphonic metal with a fairytale edge, the Dutch band's second record A Dark Euphony was hailed by Catherine Morris who hailed it as "unabashedly gorgeous and darkly romantic, Blackbriar have shown they are masters of painting lush soundscapes that symphonic metal fans will want to dive right into."

18. Delain - Dark Waters (Napalm)

Martijn Westerholt was forced to effectively rebuild Delain from the ground up when the other members quit in 2021, leaving him the sole remaining member. Thankfully, the band's seventh studio album shows no signs of that strife, the return of former drummer Sander Zoer and guitarist Ronald Landa helping cement a sense of vintage Delain whilst new vocalist Diana Leah delivered the grandeur and brilliance fans have come to expect, Danii Leivers ruling that "this feels like a band reborn: grandiose and fizzing with bright energy." 

16. Beyond The Black - Beyond The Black

Beyond The Black have been steadily building as symphonic metal's next stars ever since their 2015 debut achieved a top 20 position in their native Germany. The band's self-titled fifth record is an affirmation of everything that makes them brilliant: strident songwriting, fist-pumping melodies and hooks you could land Moby Dick with, reviewer Catherine Morris writing that "many of the melodies on Beyond The Black will stay with you – a sign that the band are now truly in their groove."

3. Within Temptation - Bleed Out (Force Music)

Whilst Within Temptation have never been wallflowers, their eighth record represents the band at their most fired-up and outspoken. Inspired by the state of global events, the Dutch band crafted some of the most inspiring and powerful anthems of their career. It's almost insane that we'll have to wait until late next year for the band to bring these songs to life live, but we dare say the wait will be worth it. 

2. Babymetal - The Other One (Cooking Vinyl)

It says something about the sheer scale of what Babymetal have achieved that the release of a new album is only part of their incredible story in 2023. While the recruitment of Momometal has kickstarted a new era, the band started their first new chapter since a year-long hiatus by unveiling some of their most grandiose and impressive songs to date in a sprawling concept record that showed just how much they have evolved in the past decade. Massive shows at home in Japan and an appearance at Wembley Arena with Sabaton in March gave way to smaller shows this winter that set the stage for even bigger things to come. The band already have an appearance at Download Festival set for next year, but beyond that? Well, you should know what they say about Fox Gods at this point. 

[overworkedblorbobattle]

Welcome to the Overworked Blorbo Battle Preliminary Round!

Many characters were submitted for this tournament so, in order to allow as many different blorbos into the bracket as I can, I’ve had to limit them to one per series. For most, i just included the most highly submitted character but there were a number of series with characters who had the same (or very similar) number of submissions. Therefore, I’ve created a preliminary round for you to vote on which character from each series gets to enter the bracket.

There will be 37 polls lasting 1 week each.

The polls will be separated into 3 waves. Each wave will be posted 24 hours after the previous.

The first wave will begin on Tuesday the 27th of June at 3PM BST

I've tried my best to only include official images for all of the characters on the polls but I'm not familiar with every series listed so, when the polls go up, if you notice I've used a fanart or cosplay image without permission or credit please let me know and I'll add credit and correct it for any future appearances of that character.

I apologise if I’ve accidentally spelled something wrong or used a wrong name for something, I’m not familiar with every series listed.

The matchups are listed under the read more

There may be spoilers ahead

Wave 1

Poll 1: Ace Attorney

Dick Gumshoe

Apollo Justice

Miles Edgeworth

Franziska Von Karma

Phoenix Wright

Poll 2: Avatar: The Last Airbender

Katara

Azula

Aang

The Cabbage Merchant

Poll 3: Batman

Barbara Gordon/Oracle

Batman/Bruce Wayne

Alfred Pennyworth

Tim Drake/Red Robin

Dick Grayson/Nightwing

Jim Gordon

Poll 4: BBC Ghosts

Pat Butcher

The Captain

Poll 5: Welcome To The Table

CDC

DC

Poll 6: Carmen Sandiengo

Carmen Sandiego

Chase Devineaux

Poll 7: Critical Role

Laerryn Coramar Seelie

Percival De Rolo

Poll 8: Death Note

Light Yagami

L

Touta Matsuda

Poll 9: Disco Elysium

Harry Du Bois

Kim Kitsuragi

Poll 10: Discworld

Havelock Vetinari

Ponder Stibbons

Moist Von Lipwig

Poll 11: Doctor Who

Coordinator Narvin

Romana II

Rory Williams

The Doctor

Poll 12: Ensemble Stars!

Keito Hasumi

Mao Isara

Tsumugi Aoba

Wave 2

Poll 13: ER

Carol Hathaway

Mark Greene

Poll 14: Falsettos

Mendel Weisenbachfeld

Dr Charlotte Dubois

Poll 15: Final Fantasy

Aymeric De Borel

Emet-Selch

Reeve Tuesti

Jessie Jaye

Poll 16: Fullmetal Alchemist

Riza Hawkeye

Roy Mustang

Poll 17: Hatchetfield/The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals

Emma Perkins

Paul Mattews

Poll 18: Homestuck

Karkat Vantas

Peregrine Mendicant

Poll 19: Honkai

Fu Hua

Natasha

Poll 20: House MD

Lisa Cuddy

James Wilson

Poll 21: Hunter X Hunter

Cheadle Yorkshire

Heavens Arena Elevator Operator

Kurapika

Poll 22: Lobotomy Corporate

Angela

Hod

Poll 23: Mistborn

Elend Venture

Marsh

Poll 24: Monster Prom

Joy Johnson-Johjima

Vera Oberlin

Wave 3

Poll 25: Persona

Ryotaro Dojima

Sadayo Kawakami

Poll 26: Project Sekai

Mafuyu Asahina

Yoisaki Kanade

Haruka Kiritani

Poll 27: Spongebob Squarepants

Squidward

Spongebob

Poll 28: Star Wars

Obi-Wan Kenobi

Commander Fox

Poll 29: The 25th Annual Putman County Spelling Bee

Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre

Marcy Park

Poll 30: The Adventure Zone

Lucretia

Mama

Kravitz

Poll 31: The Owl House

Alador Blight

Hunter

Poll 32: The Wilds

Dot Campbell

Fatin Jadmani

Rachel Reid

Poll 33: The X Files

Dana Scully

Director Walter Skinner

Poll 34: Toontown: Corporate Clash

Atticus Wing

Chip Revvington

Poll 35: Transformers

Soundwave

Shockwave

Prowl

Optimus Prime

Minimus Ambus

Ratchet

Poll 36: Witch Hat Atilier

Olruggio

Qifrey

Poll 37: Worm

Amy Dallon/Panacea

Lisa Wilbourn

[qnewsau]

Is Kylie Minogue starting her 2025 world tour in Australia?

New Post has been published on https://qnews.com.au/is-kylie-minogue-starting-her-2025-world-tour-in-australia/

Is Kylie Minogue starting her 2025 world tour in Australia?

Kylie Minogue could be back on Australian stages as early as February 2025, as tea starts to spill that a Tension world tour announcement is coming very, very soon.

It’s been an excruciating wait for Aussies after Kylie’s renaissance last year with banger Padam Padam and album Tension.

At that time, the singer was focusing on her Las Vegas residency. After the residency wrapped up in May, Kylie’s schedule opened up.

For months, we’ve known that a world tour is coming. But music industry chatter about details and dates has ramped up over the last few weeks.

A tour announcement could even drop as soon as next week.

However it’s understood Kylie is planning to start the world tour in Australia in February 2025, at the end of our summer.

UK’s The Sun has also reported that US cities are next, before Kylie does arena shows in the UK and then all over Europe over summer in the Northern Hemisphere.

In July, Kylie herself casually dropped confirmation of an upcoming Australian tour during a radio interview here.

“I want to say yes. Yes. The answer is yes! We’re just locking down details,” she told the Fifi, Fev and Nick show on The Fox 101.9 in Melbourne.

“Maybe I wasn’t meant to say that, but yeah.”

Kylie Minogue hasn’t gone out on tour since Golden

Kylie Minogue’s last big gig in Australia was the huge Sydney WorldPride closing concert last year.

The upcoming Tension tour will be her first since the Golden era, with follow-up album Disco recorded and released at the height of the pandemic.

In July, Kylie was to headline Australian festival Splendour in the Grass, before the entire event was sadly cancelled.

After Tension last year, Kylie has been dropping collaborations all year – Dance Alone with Sia in February, Midnight Ride with out country star Orville Peck and Diplo in June, My Oh My with Bebe Rexha and Tove Lo in July and Edge of Saturday Night with The Blessed Madonna last month.

There’s more new music on the way too. Kylie shared that she was in the studio with UK EDM pro Joel Corry, amid talk of work on a “full-on dance album” at the time.

The Aussie icon recently signed a multi-million dollar Netflix deal for a documentary. That project is reportedly set to start filming before the end of the year.

Read more:

Kylie Minogue lets slip huge Australian tour news

Kylie Minogue goes clubbing in Edge of Saturday Night video

Fans petition to name laneway after Kylie and Dannii Minogue

Kylie signs a huge deal with Netflix for mystery project

For the latest LGBTIQA+ Sister Girl and Brother Boy news, entertainment, community stories in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Check out our latest magazines or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

[gacmediadaily]

Does it feel like Texas is suddenly taking over the national entertainment industry?

Megaproducer Taylor Sheridan – Wind River, Hell or High Water, and now the blockbuster Yellowstone– raised in Fort Worth, is making Western culture popular again and filling rodeo arenas with city folks. 

A new force in streaming and cable

Another Texas-based player may be an even more disruptive force in the U.S. entertainment industry. 

Great American Media (GAM) is suddenly an overnight contender in the U.S. streaming and cable television space, winning regular coverage in industry flagships like Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, and it has the entertainment industry sitting up and taking notice for its success attracting audiences to faith and family content.

“We’re on our way to being America’s most uplifting and inspiring network,” says CEO Bill Abbott, who founded Great American Media in 2021.

Abbott follows a familiar playbook – his own — perfected over 35 years in family entertainment.

Abbott’s resume includes senior leadership roles at Fox Kids, Fox Family Channel, and ABC Family, plus more than 20 years as the architect of the Hallmark television brands. Now he has launched another TV brand in the burgeoning Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, a big community with small-town sensibilities and a dedicated and talented populace, he says.

As the engineer of the next big thing, Abbott pulled on both experience and his friends, instantly creating a crew of iconic TV stars, including Mario Lopez, Danica McKellar, Cameron Mathison, Alexa and Carlos PenaVega, and, of course, Candace Cameron Bure.

These stars are making an appearance at iconic venues across the nation for spotlight events and movie production. Carlos and Alexa PenaVega spent the day at AT&T Stadium in Dallas – right down the road from the headquarters of Great America Media – filming their upcoming holiday premiere movie. Not only is the AT&T Stadium recognizable by many, but this production further solidifies Abbott’s dedication to creating uplifting, quality content.

Today, his startup boasts over 70 million viewers and subscribers to its cable television channels and streaming service, a remarkable feat in any environment. The last three years have been some of the most tumultuous in television and entertainment history, with a record decline in cable subscribers and increasing competition among streaming services. Yet Great American Media is on the rise.

The success is a testament to early mornings, continual conference calls, coast-to-coast travel, and non-stop team building. Every Friday, Abbott hosts a company-wide review of the market and a company performance where he answers employees’ questions nationwide. One staffer describes it as a master class in cable and streaming television.

Great American Media’s Fort Worth headquarters includes production and administrative offices, while its sales and executive offices are in New York. Its member services center, a call center supporting a committed fan base, is in Phoenix.

“One of the most rewarding parts of my jobs is to read viewer emails,” says Abbott, who regularly corresponds with a group of over 25,000 loyal Great American Media Insiders. “Our viewers know what they want and it’s our job to give them a great uplifting experience free of the stress and contentiousness of their already overly complex world.”

Great American Media’s portfolio of brands now includes Great American Family, Great American Pure Flix, Great American Faith & Living, Great American Adventures, and Pure Flix TV.

As the company’s flagship cable TV network, Great American Family, features quality original movies and classic series that are inspiring and emotionally connecting. The business strategy is to align the content and convert cable viewers to streaming subscribers, a riddle many in Hollywood are attempting to solve.

Great American Pure Flix is GAM’s leading subscription on-demand streaming service and the most successful faith-based content provider of its size. A recent Financial Times story described GAM as the Netflix of faith-based content, to which Abbott responds, “Not bad company to be in after only three years.”

Great American Faith & Living features mostly unscripted lifestyle programming that celebrates family-friendly traditions every day and every season.

Great American Media is also home to a FAST (free ad-supporting streaming TV) channel with Great American Adventures, which offers both scripted and unscripted content, including cooking and do-it-yourself programs, and Great American Community, a free direct-to-consumer streaming app featuring short-form original series hosted by well-known lifestyle experts and TV stars. There is also a Pure Flix FAST channel.

“We are creating an oasis in a cultural desert,” says Candace Cameron Bure, star of many Great American Media original programs, including hit My Christmas Hero. She joined Abbott at the film’s screening on Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma, Washington.

Abbott agrees, saying, “I think that the culture overall needs what we’re offering. And there is just so little content out there that serves family and faith and yet is done in a quality way. It is a very big part of what our mission is and what we do, and the demand is huge.”

Not His First Rodeo

Abbott founded Great American Media in June 2021 with backing from Dallas-based investors, including Dallas businessman Doug Deason. Abbott credits Deason with the company’s steady focus on strategy.

“After running companies that possess varying levels of leadership and judgment exercised at the board and ownership level, I know first-hand that these qualities can make or break a business, and Great American Media’s success starts with Doug in his role as Chairman of the Board,” says Abbott.

Deason, who most recently demonstrated political acumen by leading an initiative to get Texans to set aside $1 billion to expand Texas state parks and co-chaired the expansion of Dallas’ Centennial Parks.

“Without Doug’s unwavering support, vision, and courage, Great American Media would lack the ability to stand firmly behind the values conveyed in our faith and family content,” says Abbott, “and in fact, it’s quite likely the business would never have gotten off the ground.”

Deason credits Abbott, who he points out is unique among broadcasting executives, who more typically are finance types or lawyers and rarely schooled in stories, let alone moral tales. Abbott is an English and Literature graduate of the College of the Holy Cross, a private Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, a foundation he puts to good use by reading every script and participating in creative development with his producers and stars.

GAM’s CEO is deeply respected in the industry and serves on the boards of the Parents Television & Media Council and the International Radio & Television Society Foundation. He was inducted into Broadcasting & Cable’s Hall of Fame in 2017. 

Previously, Abbott served for two decades as a senior executive and then CEO of Crown Media Family Networks, the parent company of Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Mystery, Hallmark Drama, and Hallmark Movies Now. 

“We had tremendous success with creating a destination that was family-friendly and themed around the holidays,” explains Abbott. He is credited with creating the Christmas television genre, expanding the network’s romantic comedies, and launching its mysteries channel.

After 20 years, Abbott left Hallmark and looked to Texas to build a new network: Great American Family.

“We’re proud to say we celebrate faith, family, and country,” explains Abbott, “and we have an investor group where we all believe in the mission of family-friendly and faith-based content.”

Equipped with funding and a vision, Abbott acquired Fort Worth’s independently owned equestrian and western channel Ride TV and a music video channel called Great American Country from Discovery. This gave his fledgling dream two traditional cable television linear channels. As the company sorted through its inherited programs and shows, Great American Media was quickly rebranded.

“Now we had something to work with, and we went to work,” he explained.

The entertainment world suddenly noticed when the new GAM network acquired Michael Landon Jr.’s When Calls the Heart spin-off, When Hope Calls,” and began hiring the most well-known talent in the genre to appear in its own slate of made-for-TV movies. 

GAM also quickly established Great American Christmas premieres and seasonal rotation around Christmas, including 12 original movies in its first year. Now, they’re producing more than 20 original Christmas movies per year.

Dream Streaming

While building a traditional cable offering, Abbott heard from Sony Pictures Entertainment, one of the world’s largest entertainment conglomerates. They owned Pure Flix, a niche faith-based streaming video-on-demand service with a loyal fan base.

“Pure Flix had been sort of under the radar,” explained Abbott. Sony had only recently acquired the streaming service and began looking for a means of growing it. Sony executives saw the synergies between Abbott’s startup, the Great American Family channel, and their streamer and proposed a merger.

The merger enhanced both platforms’ content library and created synergies between cable and streaming services, meeting customer expectations for a fulfilling, uplifting, and inspiring entertainment experience. Since the merger, SVOD subscriptions have increased, and the customer experience has been enhanced through several platform upgrades, making the streaming service intuitive and user-friendly.

“Our brands and diversified content distribution capabilities have helped us reach substantially larger and broader audiences on each platform, creating a family- and faith-friendly streaming service unlike any other,” he added. “Our business strategy is becoming more and more clear to the industry.”

And they’re noticing. Great American Media ncluded 2023 as the fastest-growing channel on cable television, and its ad sales were up 25 percent. Under Abbott’s watchful eye, the economy balances with creative excellence, allowing the GAM channels to increasingly share the same programming vision, creating the brand synergies critical to growth. 

Great American Media’s programming and development team steers all original scripts from concept through production with an eye toward brand integrity. Abbott and the leadership team ensure every frame it controls is on brand as promised.

Great American Media has made headlines for the stars it has drawn in its first few years, including Candace Cameron Bure, Danica McKellar, Trevor Donovan, Jill Wagner, Jen Lilley, Cameron Mathison, and Jen Lilley.

In February, Great American Media announced it signed Emmy Award–winning host and actor Mario Lopez to a multi-picture, multi-year deal to star in content across the company’s vast media portfolio. Lopez will be a major part of Great American Christmas 2024. His first film in the partnership will include a holiday film starring alongside his wife and Broadway star Courtney Lopez. Lopez will continue hosting NBC’s Access Hollywood and Access Daily.

Abbott cites the dedicated Fort Worth team and the talent across Texas as a critical aspect of GAM’s success, noting that programmers and production crews work around the clock and maintain a high commitment to the brand and its viewers.

As conglomerates continue to obliterate brands, Abbott is on a mission to maintain his company’s commitment to bringing high-quality family content with a faith focus to a new heyday. 

“We are not replicating the past; we are creating a new bright future, diverse in genre and format, but all wrapped in high-quality family programming that features romantic comedies, Christmas, drama, faith-inspired lifestyles, and even drama series,” says Abbott. Mysteries are now a cornerstone of the broad programming, with Great American Mysteries’ inaugural launch, The Ainsley McGregor Mysteries: A Case for the Winemaker, starring Cameron Bure, premiering on July 25.

 “We’re about faith, family, and country,” said Abbott, “and those values can be reflected in uplifting and inspiring ways across all genres, including mysteries.”

[teaheecoco]

Awakened Wilder is coming. It's most definitely Eironn!

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

Reasons why I think Eironn is getting an awakening:

◇ At this time, it's either 2 female awakened heros and 1 male awakened hero or vice versa, which is shown in the lightbearers and maulers section. We have 2 female awakened wilders, so it has to be male awakened wilder this time. So, unfortunately, it can't be Tasi or any other female wilders.

◇ Dolly mentions it's a prodigy and while it could be Lorsan, Dolly says that the hypogean attack is crucial and I don't think Lorsan will be able to handle it due to a scene from Lyca's awakening vid shown above. The only male wilder I can think of that is capable of protecting the forest is Eironn.

◇ Something I noticed is that the heroes before the awakened heroes always had something in common or associated with awakened heroes. Like how Solise and Eorin are fox species or how Trishea and Lyca are associated with stars. (Pt.1)

◇ This is the new wilder hero that comes before the awakened wilder. Misha is a snail but has elf-like ears like Eironn. (Pt.2)

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

I really do hope it's Eironn. He's one of the oldest heroes in Afk Arena. This is biased of me, but I'd be happy if not only one but two of my first elite heroes got an awakening.

(My first two elite heroes were Lyca and Eironn btw)

[blue-and-art]

Did you think I hadn’t been working on Star Fox Arena art? WRONG it was on Twitter but with how Twitter is kind of falling apart I’m posting more stuff here.

[bea12ful]

Me he pasado Drakengard 3, la flor que canta sobre muerte y amor

Había escuchado pocas cosas de Drakengard 3 antes de ponerme con él, principalmente su boss final, lo cual me dio curiosidad y que este juego era Yoko Taro hablando de sexo, lo cual me echó para atrás por que la última vez que le vi hablando de sexo fue 9S y... salió regular. Bueno, me mintieron parcialmente en ambas.

Lo digo desde ya, este juego se ha convertido en mi juego favorito de Yoko Taro por su historia, personajes, la manera tan sutil que tiene de tratar sus temas y su gameplay. Dios mío su gameplay.

Vale, vamos primero con el gameplay para que se pueda leer algo de esta review quien no quiera spoilers. El gameplay se trata de un hack and slash con unos toques de RPG. El juego se divide en misiones, que son niveles super lineales incluso cuando no lo parece en los que tendremos que ir matando hordas enormes de enemigos para avanzar. Los niveles en dragón se dividen en dos tipos de gameplays distintos, el primero es la arena donde tendremos que matar a unos cuantos enemigos o un boss usando a Mikhail mientras le monta Zero, podemos volar batiendo las alas, disparar bolas de fuego, disparar una llamarada enorme desde el suelo o una embestida desde el aire como el ataque fuerte. Es curioso lo bien que se siente todo este conjunto sobretodo para los bosses. Por otro lado tenemos el juego típico de naves, una suerte de Star Fox con un dragón que se siente como eso, jugar un juego de naves bien medido. He oído de gente que cuesta apuntar con el dragón pero para mí no ha sido el caso.

Todos estos gameplays se sienten genial y tienes un control total sobre Zero o Mikhail en todo momento, sintiendo las muertes como verdaderos errores de tu parte y no algo forzado por parte del juego. Por cierto, es la primera vez que las armas se sienten MUY bien en un juego de Yoko Taro, pues no solo cada tipo de arma se usan de maneras radicalmente distintas unas de otras, teniendo estas un uso en concreto cada una, si no que dentro de cada arma hay tres tipos de tamaños y cada uno tiene un moveset distinto. Tenemos las espadas que hacen ataques en arcos grandes y por lo tanto hacen daño a más de un enemigo que te pueden venir en grupos. Las lanzas cuyo ataque hacia delante es mayor que el resto y se usan para romper escudos. Los puños son perfectos para uno contra uno pues sus golpes son más rápidos y fáciles de cancelar para hacer una esquiva. Y por último los chakram, que tienen un rango enorme aunque en combate cercano son ultra lentos, pero tienen el ataque a distancia del juego. También tenemos el modo entonadora que nos vuelve invulnerable, hacemos mucho más daño y atacamos muy rápido, como pasa en muchos hack and slash conocidos como God of War y DMC.

Todo este sistema de combate me hizo enamorarme cuando jugué las segundarias de supervivencia. En ellas no puedes usar objetos por lo que no puedes curarte y puedes salir de la misión después de cada ronda, pero si quieres terminar la misión debes terminar la última oleada y, lo mejor, del tirón, empiezas siempre desde la primera oleada. Yo alabando segundarias, ojito eh.

Vale, se vienen spoilers, voy a hablar de la historia. Empezando por sus personajes, la mayoría son deplorables, literalmente solo hay 4 buenas personas en toda esta historia y dos de ellos son dragones.

Tenemos a nuestra protagonista, Zero, la entonadora traidora, maldita, asesina en serie... La dan muchos nombres. Esta mujer quiere matar a sus "hermanas".

Al principio dice que las quiere matar para absorber sus poderes y quedarse todo el mundo para ella, lo cual descubres muy rápido que es mentira. Cada vez que matas a una entonadora en la ruta A quien evoluciona es su dragón, Mikhail, y no ella, cosa de la que no se extraña por lo que entiendes rápido que volverse más poderosa no es su intención.

Al final de la ruta A no entiendes sus motivaciones pero ya te dicen que lo que está buscando, por mucho que parezca una villana, es salvar el mundo. Podrías pensar en un principio que sigue siendo la villana puesto que muchos villanos creen ser los héroes y no lo eran, pero sabiendo que quiere acabar con todas las entonadoras contándose a ella misma en el cómputo ves que hay algo más. Al llegar a la rama C entiendes más el por que hace lo que hace y cuando juegas la rama D entiendes su historia.

Entiendes por que trata de apartar a todos de su lado, el por que se comporta de forma tan violenta, el por que quiere completar su meta sea quien sea que se ponga en medio. Resulta que está infectada con La flor, el villano de todo Drakengard/Nier, una planta que ha parasitado el cuerpo de Zero cuando murió hace dos años y si no consigue acabar con la planta en cuestión se convertirá en una abominación y acabará con la raza humana entera. Sabe que tiene que morir, sabe que solo puede morir a manos de un dragón y que tiene que ser un dragón que pueda enfrentarse a ella y a la abominación si fuese necesario.

Un personaje muy bien escrito y que me ha hecho sentir muchas cosas durante su trama.

Mikhail, el dragón más adorable que he visto en historia alguna. Es un niño pequeño, literalmente. Su relación con Zero se siente la de una madre con su hijo o de dos hermanos.

Durante toda la historia le ves madurar y sufrir al no entender por que Zero en muchas ocasiones le aparta de su lado, pero es normal. Su papel, aunque él no lo sabe hasta el final, es matarla. Es la reencarnación de Michael, el dragón que tiene Zero al principio de la historia y que muere en la primera misión del juego. La relación de Zero y Michael era muy distinta a la que tiene con Mikhail, en el DLC de Zero prácticamente se da a entender que fueron amantes, por eso veo a Mikhail como su hijo.

Es el personaje por el que más he sufrido pues en dos de las ramas muere al final y en una de ellas, la C, muere de una forma super brutal y repentina que me dejó muy mal cuerpo. No tengo mucho más que decir de él nada más que es la mejor persona de todo el cast y es un dragón... Si contamos que es una reencarnación, dos dragones, siendo dos de los cuatro personajes que no son personas deplorables del cast.

Las entonadoras, las "hermanas" de Zero y las villanas de la historia. ¿No has dicho antes que la villana era la flor? Si, es que técnicamente ellas son parte de dicha flor, al igual que facetas de Zero que se separaron de ella cuanto intentó quitarse la flor a lo bruto. cuando empieza la historia estas cinco, llamadas literalmente Uno, Dos, Tres, Cuatro y Cinco, se te venden como las diosas protectoras de ese mundo, pero rápidamente nos vamos a dar cuenta de que están podridas.

La primera que matamos, Cinco, se nos presenta como una adicta al sexo y... Parece que no hay nada más. Con Cuatro pasa lo mismo, se nos presenta como una virgen y no se nos dice más de ella en un principio. Tres se nos vende como una loca que experimenta con seres vivos y que no es muy buena en la cama. Dos es la enamoradiza inexperta con un novio abusivo. Uno, sin embargo, es la única que parece ser consciente de la naturaleza de ella y sus hermanas y comparte meta con Zero solo que no se fían la una de la otra.

Como has podido comprobar, siempre se habla de sexo con ellas, reduciendo a dos de ellas a meramente su sexualidad y de manera directa no se nos va a decir nada más... Pero hay detalles. En los DLCs todo esto se expande un poco y se nos cuenta más cosas de algunas de ellas, menos de Tres, Tres es así siempre. Aun así, antes de los DLCs puedes ver cositas de todas las entonadoras, como Cuatro en realidad adoraba a Zero y eso hizo que su mente se quebrara poco a poco. En su DLC la ves siendo super racista exterminando casi por completo a los elfos solo por que si no son humanos no es malo matarlos. Cinco es caprichosa, lo cual en el sexo se traduce como la ninfómana que se nos presenta pero no solo es caprichosa en ese sentido, además de que es la nigromante de las cinco, dato gracioso teniendo en cuenta que siempre, en todas las ramas, es la primera en morir. Dos era la más buena de todas, siendo la única buena persona pero la naturaleza corrupta de su poder hizo que todo lo que tocara acabara mal y haciendo que su mente se quebrara. Uno, por su parte, pare a un "hermano" de manera similar que Zero y la flor lo hicieron con ellas solo por si Zero la mata, a pesar de que sabe que Zero busca la extinción de las entonadoras igual que ella, mentalidad de Batman la de esta señora.

Todas son deplorables a su manera y para nada son las diosas protectoras que te venden al principio. Son las villanas perfectas de la historia.

Los discípulos, seres abyectos que solo sirven para follar y dar por el culo... ¿O no? La primera vez que te presentan a esta gente y, si no te fijas en los pequeños detalles, se te presentan como literalmente eso. Joder, si puedo describirlos por un solo concepto, el psicópata, el sadomasoquista, el ninfómano y el novio tóxico. Pero no es así del todo.

Dito, el psicópata que parece un niño, es el discípulo de Cinco. Resulta que este señor está roto por que Cinco lo dejaba seco, haciendo que este no pudiera disfrutar de nada bonito y solo pudiera ver cosas buenas en todo lo podrido y abyecto del mundo, quedando una mente rota. Su final, merecidísimo, es uno en el que por venirse arriba matando acaba muerto él por su propia mano sin darse cuenta, una muerte merecida para alguien que no ha conocido felicidad más allá de la muerte ajena.

Octa, el discípulo de Tres, es un adicto al sexo que parece pensar solo con la polla y, en palabras suyas, su único valor está en su polla. Aún así, en varios momentos, sobretodo tirando para el final, en los que tiene momentos de lucidez y demuestra experiencia e inteligencia. Al final, quedándose a solas con Zero, es la única vez que su libido le traiciona pues ha encontrado valor fuera del sexo y no se había dado cuenta, entendiendo que esto último y abrazando el hecho de que su valor está en su polla, se sacrifica demostrando que vale para algo más.

Cent, el novio tóxico, se te presenta como alguien que se está aprovechando de que su entonadora, Dos, está rota mentalmente y la manipula como quiere, dando la impresión de que no está enamorado de ella y solo la manipulaba. Bueno, pues no, el tío está obsesionado con ella, cuando se une a ti es él tratando de pasar página pero no puede, y lo de él aprovechándose de ella es que simplemente no se ha dado cuenta por que tiene un retraso mental severo o algo así. Su final es él sacrificándose sin saberlo por que es imbécil y cuando se da cuenta no le da importancia pues sin Dos la vida no tiene sentido.

Decadus, el cual he dejado para el final por un motivo, es el discípulo de Cuatro y al principio se nos presenta como el masoquista. El hecho de que mucha gente meta a este personaje en el saco de despojos despreciables que son los otros tres me molesta, por que él es el único salvable de los cuatro. Es el único que demuestra preocupación por Zero y Mikhail genuinamente, momentos en los que Decadus demuestra ser una persona madura y un compañero fiel y, en general, una buena persona. Cuando juegas el DLC de Cuatro terminas de entender el por que es así con Zero y Mikhail, y es que Cuatro era un ser despreciable y Zero le trata bien. Esto, teniendo en cuenta que su final es sacrificarse para que Zero y Mikhail pudieran estar bien, teniendo un momento final romántico entre ambos me da a entender que se enamoró de Zero, amor que, aunque fuera correspondido, estaba destinado al fracaso por culpa del aciago destino de nuestra protagonista.

Gabriella, la dragona de Uno que durante la historia aparece como Gabriel, el dragón demonio. Solo la conozco por los DLCs pues en la historia es una marioneta corrupta pero básicamente es una dragona que se enamoró perdidamente de Uno y hace cualquier cosa por ella en pro de ser correspondida. No puedo hablar mucho más de ella nada más que es muy borde y mal hablada y me cae bien pero la cabrona participa en masacres si Uno se lo pide aunque no esté de acuerdo. Amiga, no te la vas a coger.

Por último, Accord, la robot lesbiana que salvó una línea temporal por enamorarse de una diosa corrupta. Accord aparece por primera vez al final de la línea A y te desvela que esta historia va a ir de líneas temporales alternas, pues esta señora es una Grabadora, una serie de autómatas dedicadas a grabar sucesos en las líneas temporales y observar.

Lo importante es eso, se supone que solo deben grabar y guardar la historia, pero resulta que esta cabrona está en toda la puta saga, pues es quien vende las armas a los protagonistas de todo Drakengard/Nier, actuando como una deidad griega de "no puedo interferir, toma mi poder".

En Drakengard 3 es distinto, Accord empieza a moverse entre líneas temporales buscando en concreto la línea en la que la flor es vencida. Al principio no entiende por que lo hace, pues aunque tiene que grabar todas estas variaciones, está buscando aquella en la que Zero hubiera conseguido su cometido de la mejor manera, pues técnicamente ya ve como derrotan a la flor en la rama A, pero poco a poco se da cuenta de que está desarrollando sentimientos hacia Zero, lo cual hace que poco a poco vaya interviniendo en las líneas temporales hasta conseguir la rama D, donde ella actúa de manera activa para salvar a Zero y ayudarla a pesar de que no debería ni lo necesita para su objetivo. Al final de Drakengard 3 entiende que estaba enamorada de ella y espera volverla a encontrar en alguno de sus millones de modelos.

Bien, entonces, ¿de que va la historia de Drakengard 3? Si escuchas a la gente hablar de este juego te van a decir que este juego va de violencia y sexo. Esa gente no ha entendido el subtexto de lo que te quiere contar. Drakengard 3 va de violencia y amor.

Todas las historias que cuenta acaban en lo mismo, el amor. El amor, como concepto, puede estar corrupto y puede no ser tan bonito como nos lo pintan las comedias románticas. Pongamos el primer ejemplo que se nos presenta, Cinco y Dito.

Cinco es una persona caprichosa, cuando quiere conseguir algo destrozará todo aquello que se interponga en su camino para conseguirlo, sea lo que sea y tenga que hacer lo que tenga que hacer. Esto hace que su discípulo, Dito, una paloma infundida con magia para conseguir forma humana diseñada mental y físicamente para complementarla. El tema está en que el capricho de Cinco la hace desear TODO y Dito es quien debe complacerla y satisfacerla, haciendo que poco a poco su mente se quebrara y no pudiera encontrar placer en las cosas bonitas o placenteras del mundo. Por eso estaba hasta la polla de Cinco y deseaba matarla, cosa que al final consigue en todas las líneas temporales. Pero en la rama D pasa algo, Cinco usa su nigromancia para revivir, dando como resultado una Cinco con la piel podrida y los ojos bizcos, una Cinco que enamora de nuevo a Dito.

Durante todo el juego se nos presentan distintos tipos de relaciones románticas, desde las mas podridas y abyectas hasta las más bonitas. Desde Uno corrompiendo a Gabriella hasta el punto de convertirla en un dragón demoniaco hasta Zero cuidando de Mikhail como si fuera el hijo de Michael.

Esto último es super importante, pues Drakengard 3 entiende que el amor no solo es romántico. Zero y Mikhail tienen una relación fraternal, pero también se muestran relaciones de compañerismo como algo importante en la vida de las personas, siendo la relación de Octa con el resto de discípulos lo que le lleva a darse cuenta de que en la vida hay algo más que el sexo.

Toda la obra es un ensayo al amor en sus distintas vertientes manchado por la primera capa y la única expuesta de este mensaje que es el sexo. Y es buen momento para hablar del sexo aquí.

Drakengard 3 entiende el sexo como algo posible en una relación romántica pero no necesariamente romántico. Veréis, se da a entender que la relación de Zero y Michael era romántica pero nunca tuvieron sexo, vendiendo aun así su relación como algo muy bonito y de mutuo respeto y cariño. También está la relación sexual de Zero con los discípulos que, menos con Decadus, se vende como solo placer y ya está.

En general el juego entiende a la perfección todos estos conceptos y los mueve y juega con ellos sin decirte todo a la cara, dejando que la gente se quede en la superficie si no son capaces de distinguir el amor y el sexo en sus distintas vertientes y como todas ellas nos hacen humanos.

Vale, vamos al elefante en la habitación, el boss final, la última canción. Jugablemente es basura, es lo mismo que se pudo jugar al final de Drakengard pero más largo y ahora con paneos de cámara colocados sola y únicamente para dar por el culo al jugador y hacerte perder la paciencia. Esta, por muy importante que fuese para la historia y el lore de la saga, es una idea de mierda que se podía haber llevado mil veces mejor.

Literalmente es lo único que empaña esta obra, el pequeño toque de Yoko Taro, ese desarrollador de videojuegos que no sabe hacer videojuegos pero sí historias... Lo que me molesta es que justo este juego es buenísimo jugablemente y me tienes que hacer el tonto en el puto boss final, Yoko Taro, cojones.

Aun así, tratándose solo del boss final no puedo dejar que empañe mucho una obra que me ha hecho pensar, reflexionar, enamorarme y obsesionarme, no dejéis que os la empañe a vosotros tampoco.

Como consejo, cuando lleguéis aquí veros esta misión entera en youtube y ya está, es mejor para vuestra salud mental.

En conclusión, Drakengard 3 es el mejor juego de Yoko Taro. Su historia, personajes y gameplay son putamente excelentes, es un juego que se que va a quedarse conmigo para siempre, una de esas obras, como el Nier original, que siempre van a estar conmigo.

Me parece increíble como esta saga se compone de un juego de mierda con una historia de puta madre, un juego bueno con uno de los mejores plot twist de la historia, un juegardo excelente en todos sus apartados con un boss final de mierda y un buen juego con buena historia pero personajes muy mal llevados (te odio 9S).

En definitiva, incluso si no os gustan los dos Nier y el primer Drakengard (normal), dadle una oportunidad al menos a este juego y no os quedéis en la superficie del mensaje, mirad más allá, intentad entender lo que quiere contar por que es un buen mensaje.

Y recordad, incluso la flor más marchita puede amar.

[sterek-ao3feed]

Divine Death XIII

Read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/56291785

by lynxalon

In Tarot, Death is principally about transformation. A big change is coming; the death of one thing is the birth, or rebirth, of another. Still, Death cannot shake it's harrowed image. But, let's look closer, shall we?

Begun a thousand years ago (chaos strife pain) Spun it's web to set the stage (acquire execute attain) Son of stars and son of shield (smile cry feign) Stun and stab and lie in wait (taint blight stain) Shun brotherhood to shun the light (vapid futile vain) Run to hide and choke to breathe (afflict exhaust drain) Done with playing all alone (corral copy contain) None to escape the minded maze (decay desist wane) Fun and fun and their restless lives (malice mischief disdain) Ton of ties which tied to naught (illusory erratic sane) Sun will fall and keep the moon (den arena domain) Won or lost alone (affection leash bane) One to die, live, remain

Or,

It begins with a fox and a boy. The nogitsune and Miezyslaw "Stiles" Stilinski. How does it end? Well, certainly not with a divine move and certainly not in Death. This is a retelling of season 3B, with plenty of tweaks to the... interesting plot choices.

Words: 282, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Teen Wolf (TV)

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Categories: Multi

Characters: Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale, Scott McCall (Teen Wolf), Allison Argent, Lydia Martin, Jackson Whittemore, Liam Dunbar, Peter Hale, Ethan (Teen Wolf), Aiden (Teen Wolf), Isaac Lahey, Erica Reyes, Vernon Boyd, The Hale Family (Teen Wolf), Malia Tate, Alan Deaton, Kira Yukimura

Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski

https://archiveofourown.org/works/56291785

[lover-of-mine]

No but like, the star-crossed lovers angle only works because of Peeta and Peeta isn't really trying to get both of them out of the games alive, he knows that if someone from 12 wins the games, it's better for his family and for the district, there are perks for everyone if Katniss wins and he knows Katniss has a fighting chance so he's trying to help make her more desirable so capitol is invested on her. And Haymitch picks Katniss out of the two because Katniss is a hunter, so between Peeta and her, she has better odds, even more if they can get sponsors. But if you switch Peeta with Gale and you put Gale on the games with Katniss, Katniss loses that advantage. Gale is also a hunter, he's good with traps, he's also older and bigger, he could easily draw just as much attention as Thresh or Cato. Because Katniss gets a lot of sympathy because of Prim, you can try to put the tragic backstory on Gale too, he lost his dad, he takes care of his siblings, he's easy to sell with the added bonus that Gale is more willing to do whatever it takes to survive. And while I do think he would've ended up getting too confident and getting himself killed in the bloodbath, if he made it through the first day, he has decent odds against the rest of the tributes. But if Gale was the male tribute with Katniss, Katniss would've lost her mind. I think the knowledge that Gale is back in the district and he would take care of Prim helps her and without that she would be fox face, she would run as far into the woods as possible and just be there. Especially because if Gale is getting more attention, he would be a bigger target so people wouldn't pay Katniss that much attention, so she would just disappear until something killed her. When you think about it, Katniss only wins the games with Peeta. I don't think there's even a guarantee that Katniss and Gale would end up teaming up once in the arena because I don't think Gale cared about her enough to die for her, self preservation would win there because Gale also has real odds of winning.

[miloscat]

[Review] Steel Diver: Sub Wars (3DS)

More like Sub Bores, am I right???

Some time after making Star Fox 2 for Nintendo and seeing it cancelled, core members of Argonaut Dylan Cuthbert and Giles Goddard went their separate ways. Cuthbert went on to found Q-Games and ended up making some other Star Fox games, whereas Goddard did some other Nintendo projects before starting the company Vitei. They created the tepidly-received 3DS launch title Steel Diver, a sidescrolling submarine game with gyro and strategy modes.

Three years later in 2014 their follow-up was Steel Diver: Sub Wars, Nintendo’s first free-to-play title. Gameplay had been refocused to a first person view and the central focus was on making an online multiplayer title that any 3DS owner could play, whether they had paid or not. Premium content included extra single player levels and a bunch of extra submarines. I never played the multiplayer mode but I can’t imagine it was too astounding; Nintendo’s online infrastructure has never held up well for real-time games, especially in high-ping Australia. I just played solo: to be honest, the only reason I played this right now was to scout for Star Fox vibes.

It was well publicised at the time that Peppy Hare of Star Fox makes a cameo appearance, shilling the premium content if you’re a free-play bozo in the same vein as the Streetpass rabbits and Badge Arcade bunny (the git…). This meaningless cameo doesn’t contribute much; the other “characters” are caricatured humans but the game otherwise has a quite bland military theme. The other Star Fox connection is the inclusion of Lylat Wars’ Blue Marine, which I used throughout the campaign until its low durability proved too much of a liability in the final mission.

While you could argue that piloting a sub in a 3D environment isn’t too dissimilar to taking an Arwing out in first-person on an All-Range stage, in practice Sub Wars is much closer to a simulation game. The subs move ponderously, and your encounters with enemy boats and submersibles are careful and tactical. Unlike in the first Steel Diver, your core actions are mapped to buttons but also represented on the touchscreen with a nice crusty control panel clustered around a sonar display. It does a decent job getting across the feel of piloting a weighty metal craft while outmanoeuvring fellow subs, but it’s not overly exciting.

Sadly the campaign feels like an afterthought, or maybe more of a warmup for the “real game” of online or local PvP. There’s only seven stages, although each has three difficulty levels (you’ll need to hit up multiple of these to get the required medals to unlock later stages). Not only are these short but they don’t really do much that’s interesting, mostly being shallow open sea combat arenas or corridor shooting galleries. Two stand out: the Morse code test that has you signalling words in rapid succession (this mechanic is amusingly the only way to communicate in multiplayer) which as a minigame is a nice change of pace; and the floating fortress which felt the most Star Fox-esque. The battle involves waiting for panels to open to shoot into the vulnerable reactor, while dodging torpedoes.

This fortress is basically the only fantastical element in the game. I was reminded of Jaws: Ultimate Predator, another 3DS game I played last year, with its murky sea almost devoid of interesting detail and basic “kill all the boats” objectives. As with that game I found myself wishing for it to go harder and be weirder, for level design or missions to be more complex and engaging. Alas.

Perhaps my hopes as a Star Fox fan coming into this couldn’t be met by a multiplayer-focused microtransaction-fuelled budget submarine sim. It is what it is, I just found it uninteresting. I do acknowledge the mismatch, that I wasn’t playing it the intended way, but shutdown of the online servers is imminent and many sub designs and customisable crew members are locked behind multiplayer play. Soon enough the whole game will be obsolete… but all games are worth preserving, even if I wasn’t thrilled with this one.