#Studio Trial Five

[fans4wga]

'Why creatives are seeking residuals' - thread by Stefanie Williams

[Tweet thread by Stefanie Williams @/StefWilliams25

TRANSCRIPT:

Why creatives are seeking residuals vs. "do you pay the mattress maker every time you sleep on a mattress?" A thread. I keep hearing over and over again that writers/actors/creatives don't deserve residuals for the work they create. "If I build a bathroom in a house, I don't get paid every time someone uses the toilet."

TRUE! However, your bathroom build has a set market value. Art does not. No one knows what makes one TV show an overnight success, and another a flop. No one knows what makes one song a hit, and the other a dud. If they did, trust me when I say record companies would be churning out Taylor Swifts over and over again. Studios would be making nothing but Stranger Things.

But that isn't the case. No one could predict Stranger Things would be a massive, billion dollar hit. No one could predict Taylor Swift was going to be a world wide phenomenon who literally could record herself reading Aesop's Fables and make millions of dollars. Which is why residuals are important. The pay structure protects both the creators and the publishers/distributors.

The easiest way to explain it is by referencing an author writing a book. Sure, an author might get a very modest up front fee, but the author is banking on royalties to really make money on the book — for every book sold, the author gets a piece of the pie. This protects both the author and the publisher—because if the book is a flop, the publisher doesn't go broke on a financial promise they made to the author that didn't pan out, and if the book is a mega-hit, the author didn't give away a massive, million-dollar book for 20k.

It's a sliding scale that is required for a product that has no set market value. What makes an actor's work on a hit show more valuable than an actor's work on a show that gets canned after five episodes? The market value for art almost always comes after the fact, so residuals account for that reality. They make sure the creator get compensated at a fair market rate. A person who builds a bathroom knows, upfront, what the market rate for a bathroom is. That bathroom won't suddenly be worth 1000 times more than you built it for in six months. It doesn't have the potential to be built for 20k and generate 20 million.

Residuals are a pay structure that simply account for an unsure market value. Trust me, we all wish we could quantify art in terms of dollars. But art is unpredictable. So studios and streamers -- which literally REQUIRE content to stay viable -- have to account for that unpredictability. And for studios (or record labels, or book publishers) it's always trial and error. The only way to get a hit, is to go through a few flops.

For every Whitney Houston, there was a singer you never heard of. For every Sopranos, there was a show that got scrapped mid season. For every Titanic, there was a movie that bombed. For every Twilight, there was a book about vampires that went nowhere. Residuals are kind of a reverse market valuation. They pay a fair wage for a product than can only have a set value once it's been created and effectively consumed.

And even then, shit changes. Anyone think Kate Bush would spend weeks on the top of the charts in 2022? Residuals account for unpredictable markets. And in order to have accurate residuals, streamers and studios need to be transparent and open about their data, which is one of the MANY things the WGA and SAG are both fighting for.

[justiceamberheard]

Lola Glaudini shared a new story about Johnny Depp from the set of the 2001 film ''Blow'' on an episode of the Powerful Truth Angels podcast in January. The actress says the experience was brought back to her mind while watching news footage of the Depp/Amber Heard trial.

Johnny Depp… comes up to me, sticks his finger in my face. And I’m in a bikini, on the ground, like this. And he comes over and he goes, ‘Who the fuck do you think you are? Who the fuck do you think you are? Shut the fuck up. I’m out here, and I’m trying to fuckin’ say my lines, and you’re fuckin’ pulling focus, you fucking idiot! …Oh, now? Oh now it’s not so funny? Now you can shut up? Now you can fuckin’ shut the fuck up? Oh it’s not funny now? Okay, the quiet that you are right now, that’s how you fuckin’ stay.’ First day on the set. I’d never met him. This is my first studio movie, I’ve just done indies until then. And I have the star who I have idolized, who I’m so excited to work with, reamed me in my face. The only thing going through my head was, ‘Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry.’”

Demme didn’t intervene on Glaudini’s behalf, and over the next “five, six more hours” she was treated by everyone on set as a “pariah.” “Like, no one wanted to fucking talk to me, because I’m the bitch who he railed at,” the actor recalls. Afterward, she went to her trailer and sobbed, then spoke to her father, who said she could either choose to walk away or “don’t let them see you sweat.” Resolved to stay on the film, she left her trailer and was confronted by Depp again. Looking down on her from the doorframe of her own trailer, the star gave her “a non-apology apology,” giving excuses that he was “really in [his] head” and that the Boston accent he was doing was “really fucking with [him].” When he said he wanted to make sure the pair was “cool,” “I just looked at him and I was like, ‘I don’t even know what you’re talking about. Of course. Totally cool,” Glaudini says. “’Cause I was just like, don’t let them see you sweat. And so that was that. And then we had six weeks in Acapulco.”

[kirain]

Saw your comment on a post about Sound of Freedom and I came here to say.....shame on you. Shame. On. You. Since when is child trafficking a political issue? Since when is calling pedophilia bad a political issue? If you have a problem with this movie then maybe YOU'RE the problem. No better than the big Disney fat cats who tried to suppress this movie and keep it shelved. Or theaters messing with the ac and saying seats are sold out when they're empty. Shame on you! God's children are not for sale!

I wish people would do a little more research on this topic. If Hollywood and the "powers that be" didn't want this movie being seen, it wouldn't have been released in over 3000 theatres countrywide. It's being shown in major and minor locations all across America and Canada, and the vast majority of those locations aren't having any problems.

Case and point, my own mother and her friend went to see it last week and everything was fine. No issues whatsoever and the seats were packed. The movie isn't being "suppressed". This is all a marketing gimmick from the production company Angel Studios, a Christian streaming service. The movie is jam-packed with lies and only serves to glorify Tim Ballard, the man the movie is based on, and Christianity as a whole. I truly wish this wasn't political, but it is. They made it political.

Tim Ballard has provably exaggerated or fabricated many, if not most of his "rescues", and his organisation, Operation Underground Railroad, has been widely criticised by professional anti-sex trafficking organizations (including other Christian-based ones) for years. He has accumulated millions of dollars for his so-called "non-profit" organisation, and he runs several for profit organisations on the side. Most of this money is presumably pocketed by Ballard and his cohorts, as millions is unaccounted for and only a sliver goes to OUR. It's not about "saving children", it's about money and spreading Ballard's religious ideology.

This is compounded by the fact that Ballard, before he left the CIA, was almost always the last officer to arrive on any scene where child sex trafficking was involved, yet he somehow has hundreds of stories where he's singlehandedly rescued children. In fact, the "true story" the film is based on, where Ballard apparently saved a five year old boy—who, by Ballard's own account, ran up to him, hugged him, and begged to be taken away—didn't even happen. According to court receipts from the arrest and trial of Earl Venton Buchanan (the pedophile in possession of the little boy), Ballard arrived at the scene long after the boy was rescued and taken into custody, and he was barely involved. The documents can easily be found online under the San Diego incident reports.

Ballard was also caught lying about saving one particular girl named Liliana, the literal poster child for OUR. As it turns out, Liliana rescued herself by escaping her captors when she was seventeen and being trafficked in New York. Even more egregious, every time Ballard told her story, he would lower her age to garner more sympathy ... as if her being seventeen wasn't sad enough. In one instance, he claimed she was 14. In another, he claimed she was 11. Ballard also exploited Liliana's story as a reason for needing stricter border patrols and a better wall, despite the fact that she was being abused in America. There is no evidence to suggest OUR had anything to do with her rescue.

Ballard and his "organisation" have even ruined entire legitimate rescue operations in other countries and put children at risk, like in the Dominican Republic, where he endangered the lives of 26 girls by playing vigilante, being followed around by a camera crew, and causing a shootout that effectively traumatised the children he used as a prop to lure in buyers. His response to the mishap and rightful criticism by the Dominican police was basically, "Well ... you win some, you lose some."

The children were released without receiving any therapy or rehabilitative care, and Anne Gallagher, the leading global expert on the international law on human trafficking, said that OUR has an "alarming lack of understanding about how sophisticated criminal trafficking networks must be approached and dismantled" and went on to call the work of OUR "arrogant, unethical, and illegal". Those children easily could've been shot and killed. This occurred in 2014, but Ballard still insists that his "rescues" be filmed, and he even pitched it as a reality TV show. His reasoning for this, he says, is to "spread awareness", but we all know it's because he loves the spotlight.

Entire law enforcement agencies have actually cut ties with or even condemned OUR, such as Washington State Law Enforcement, as a result of Ballard's proclivity to conflate child sex trafficking with consensual adult sex work. Ballard and OUR regularly set up sting operations and lambasted the men who showed up for kink play, publicly branding them as pedophiles, even though the men in question were under the impression that they were meeting for sex with consenting, adult women. This led to several lawsuits against OUR, all of which they rightfully lost.

Ballard's means of gathering intelligence is also questionable, as he, by his own admission, sometimes consults psychic mediums for information on missing children and asks where they're being held captive. I genuinely wish I was joking about that.

The main actor in Sound of Freedom, Jim Caviezel, also has ties to the Qanon movement, and Caviezel himself is a hardcore conspiracy theorist. He believes that Donald Trump is "the new Moses" and that "liberals [literally] drink the blood of children". This is ironic, considering Caviezel and Ballard both met Trump several times, yet never pressed him for information regarding Epstein's client list. Moreover, Caviezel and Ballard both donate to the Catholic Church, which funds the largest child sex trafficking ring on the southern border and has a history of rampant sexual abuse of children. Even more insane, Caviezel admitted to watching child porn, to apparently "get in character" for the movie. He claimed that if Ballard had to watch it, it only "made sense" that he'd have to watch it, too. To "motivate" him to fight child trafficking.

...Alright, bud.

Surprise, surprise, both men are also outspokenly anti-LGBTQ+, despite the fact that children/teens in that community are statistically more likely to be trafficked. The majority of child trafficking is not the result of random kidnappings, as the movie would have you believe. The majority of children are actually recruited into sexual exploitation by a family member or friend/boss. The majority of those children are also not generally passed around in Mexico, like this racist, white savior-oriented movie would have you believe, but they actually either stay in or end up in America. America is, in fact, the largest consumer of child porn and child sex slaves this side of the globe (and nearly the largest producer), yet the movie depicts almost every pedophile as Mexican or some other non-white race.

At the end of the movie, Ballard comes on screen and asks people to donate/buy tickets for others, so that the movie can spread awareness. This is why so many seats in certain theatres are empty, despite websites saying the seats are sold out. Whether or not Angel Studios is also shadow purchasing tickets to boost sales can't be proven, obviously, but I wouldn't put it past them. These "conspiracies" have all served to market the movie and boost ticket sales.

As for Disney trying to keep the movie shelved, that's also a lie. Yes, Disney did technically shelve the movie when they bought Fox, since it didn't exactly correspond with its family-friendly brand, but they had no problem with the movie being released under a different studio. The actual reason Sound of Freedom was in "production hell" for five years was because Tim Ballard kept trying to milk donations. Despite the fact that filming wrapped up in 2018, he kept asking for more and more and more. He used people's faith and understandably emotional response to something as wicked as pedophilia to rake in millions. That's what Ballard is really about, money and stardom. In the movie, there's even a post-credit message where Jim Caviezel says the movie was held back to "maximize its distribution and raise awareness about child sex trafficking".

Translation: Ballard greedy.

Ballard himself admitted the accuracy of this movie "isn't important", and that he just wanted to get the movie out to "spread the word". By that, he of course means the Christian word—but why should fighting child sex trafficking be tied to religion? At the end of the day, Sound of Freedom is a vanity project, and it spreads incredibly dangerous misinformation. Stranger still, Ballard left the OUR just prior to the debut of Sound of Freedom, a fact he's neglected to mention in every interview regarding the movie. It's not clear why he left, but it seems that he fled after an internal investigation into the organisation began. That's not too suspicious or anything. My guess is authorities are trying to find out were all that missing money went, and Ballard doesn't want to be there when they figure it out.

By the way, that final line you hit me with; "God's children are not for sale", the line from the movie that Ballard claims a fellow agent whispered to him while on a case, as well as the title of the movie, which another agent supposedly said to Ballard after a giant rescue operation—those were lies, too. No agents ever said that to him. The police reports for those cases, as well as the agents Ballard supposedly quoted, all said he was the last to arrive on the scene and those conversations never happened.

Ballard cannot be trusted and Sound of Freedom is based on a lie. It's a scam. Everything he does is a scam. All he cares about is spreading his ideology, making money, and looking like a superhero. And this is only the tip of the iceberg. Look into his other companies, and into the ex-military soldiers and police officers who left OUR because of how poorly trained their people are when it comes to rescue operations.

Every sane person knows pedophilia and human trafficking is wrong, but giving your money to Qanon-adjacent, right-wing leaning, LGBTQ+-hating, Catholic Church-sympathising, fame-chasing, money-hungry, perpetual liar Tim Ballard isn't going to help.

The best way to help out is learning about the signs of child trafficking. Keep an eye out for any children that might be getting abused. If you suspect something, report it, don't be a silent bystander. Volunteer within your community to make sure the children in your area have food and resources, support LGBTQ+ youth, and watch the other adults around you to ensure they're not acting inappropriately. You can also donate to social programs that create safe spaces for children and even apply for jobs that specialise in these fields. Don't go to see a movie just because it aligns with your religious beliefs, feel sad for a little while, then sit on your ass and let Tim Ballard handle everything.

[beardedmrbean]

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday overturned actor Jussie Smollett’s conviction on charges that he staged a racist and homophobic attack against himself in downtown Chicago in 2019 and lied to police.

The state’s highest court ruled that a special prosecutor should not have been allowed to intervene after the Cook County state’s attorney initially dropped charges against Smollett in exchange for forfeiting his $10,000 bond and conducting community service. The ruling and the appeal did not address Smollett’s continued claim of innocence.

Smollett, who is Black and gay, claimed two men assaulted him, spouted racial and homophobic slurs and tossed a noose around his neck, leading to a massive search for suspects by Chicago police detectives and kicking up an international uproar. Smollett was on the television drama “Empire,” which filmed in Chicago, and prosecutors alleged he staged the attack because he was unhappy with the studio’s response to hate mail he received.

“We are aware that this case has generated significant public interest and that many people were dissatisfied with the resolution of the original case and believed it to be unjust,” Justice Elizabeth Rochford wrote in the 5-0 decision. “Nevertheless, what would be more unjust than the resolution of any one criminal case would be a holding from this court that the state was not bound to honor agreements upon which people have detrimentally relied.”

Smollett’s attorneys have argued that the case was over when the Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office dropped an initial 16 counts of disorderly conduct. A grand jury restored charges after a special prosecutor took the case. A jury convicted Smollett of five counts of disorderly conduct in 2021.

Emailed messages seeking comment were sent Thursday to Foxx’s office and to Smollett’s attorney, who have argued that Smollett has been victimized by a racist and politicized justice system.

Testimony at his trial indicated Smollett paid $3,500 to two men whom he knew from “Empire” to carry out the attack. Prosecutors said he told them what slurs to shout, and to yell that Smollett was in “MAGA country,” an apparent reference to the Donald Trump’s presidential campaign slogan.

Smollett testified that “there was no hoax” and that he was the victim of a hate crime in his downtown Chicago neighborhood.

He was sentenced to 150 days in jail — six of which he served before he was freed pending appeal — 30 months of probation and ordered to pay about $130,000 in restitution.

A state appellate court ruling upheld Smollett’s the conviction, declaring that no one promised Smollett he wouldn’t face a fresh prosecution after accepting the original deal.

Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis and Justice Joy Cunningham took no part in Thursday’s decision.

[gayhorrorboy]

ace attorney case 1-3 “turnabout samurai” spoilers under the cut because its literally the absolute funniest ace attorney case

this case took me literally ten hours and every guide i looked up recommended like 2 and a half

in my defense (and also in defense of all two of phoenixs braincells) you are not hired. your fucking child spirit seeing companion is watching her favorite tv show when a news broadcast pops up that the main actor killed the main villain’s actor.

so sure you go see this fella cuz sure. why not. your spirit seeing adoptive little sister immediately proves to be rather unhelpful and absolutely incapable of being impartial. the main actor breaks down in tears every time you speak to him. at the studio you meet the fucking weirdest assortment of theatre kids + the japanifornia equivalent of one of the original star trek fangirls (who threatens to beat you up, which is later revealed to be a credible threat)

am i the only who thought penny nichols was the real killer at first ???

somehow you make it through the whole first day of trial before its revealed that the “blocked path” to the second studio actually had a beehive of weirdos behind it. these include a child paparazzo, an incel movie director (unsurprised on that front), and a literal mafia boss funding samurai movies and shows because shes bored.

at this point shit gets even weirder because edgeworth, your law appointed (and maya appointed) rival, starts helping you ??? some of the easiest contradictions phoenix completely whiffs with no player input and edgeworth immediately objects FOR YOU.

then in the end its revealed the mafia boss gets away scot free because it was ‘self defense’ to kill a man after blackmailing him for five years straight because he planned to get back at her and frame the main actor. also her literally threatening to kill phoenix and maya is never ever brought up.

and finally finally finally… edgeworth comes to you outside the courtroom and tells you to fuck off, that he ruined his career for you, that he never wants to see you again. (this is immediately followed by the next case being him focused)

oh also hammer apparently never thought through the implication of framing will powers for vasquez’s death because i literally could not think of any possible motive for powers to do that.

[chiwwydawgdraws]

AAAAAYYYYY WE FINALLY MADE IT!!!!!

Six years later, and Lost Souls is in it's final chapter (and will be completed before the year ends YIPPEEE!!!) and I realized that I hadn't made good on something I said I would do: frequent comparisons between appearances of the characters to show how my art has changed and improved throughout the comic's run. Completely forgot. Oops...

So I figured what better way to celebrate how far we've come than to visually SHOW how different the start and the end are! Here we go! (LONG POST AHEAD!)

PROLOGUE

Not much to say about the first chapter--other than it shows its age. 💀 At the time I really struggled with contrast and color theory, because everything is muddy and blends together.

I found all the Fazbears challenging to draw, but I especially remember struggling with Chica the most SOLEY because of her beak--I was having difficulty wrapping my head around making it look the way I wanted it to. Once I let myself treat Chica's beak less like an actual beak and more like a pair of extra thick lips she became one of the easier characters to draw.

CHAPTER ONE

Its so weird seeing where my blood children started and where they ended up design-wise. Cody's hair is a lot more tamer in style in these first chapters, and it took a while to get the hang of how I wanted to depict Bridget's wavy hair.

CHAPTER TWO

UGGHH MORE MUDDY COLORS GET IT AWAY GET IT AWAY

Back during this chapter the fog looked more like actual fog than a manifestation of all the animal souls Gold had collected and tenuously tied together with sheer force of will. All I can say is I guess I was still figuring out the art direction I was going.

CHAPTER THREE

I was REALLY proud how I subverted expectations by not letting Cody or Bridget faint upon meeting the Fazbears. XD

I also did this dumb thing where I would block the farther limbs in shadow to try and save time (you can see it most notably on Halo and Bonnie's ears.)

This did not in fact save much time and ended up looking kinda dumb and making people think characters were missing limbs. >_<

CHAPTER FOUR

Character designs are notably more consistent.

Here was where I dropped using Photoshop Elements 7 for my drawing and used Krita. I still used Photoshop for finishing details etc.

CHAPTER FIVE & SIX

If I had to pin a chapter in which character designs were pretty much solidified, it would be these chapters.

CHAPTER SEVEN

The only major characters here are Cody and Regan.

I made this chapter during the height of 2020. So naturally I was in the throws of a MAJOR depressive episode.

I took a lot of short cuts in an attempt to just get this chapter DONE. Don't know if it's noticeable or not, but yeah it was rough.

I didn't include the Bidibabs and Minireenas because there's too darn many if them, and they're not always grouped together for the most effective comparison shots.

CHAPTER EIGHT & NINE

Grouped because eight wasn't particularly noteworthy.

Other than it's where I made the switch to Clip Studio Paint.

I had experimented with it when I made the prior Crybaby chapters and fell in love with the program before I even finished the free trial.

CHAPTER TEN

Ooh I was SO anxious for this chapter, because here was when the story would reach the point of no return--it was literally all downhill from here and I wouldn't be able to just drop the comic if I lost interest.

(But I didn't! )

Point being, lots of anxiety surrounding this chapter.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Here is officially past the event horizon. At this point I had no idea how much farther I had to go in spite of the fact it was the start of the final night.

CHAPTER TWELVE

We officially enter the labyrinth here, and it is here where I officially decided I HATE the color green.

I really don't know what it was, but there wasn't many things I could do to make the characters stand out from the sheer GREEN of the vicinity, and it muddied up a lot of the colors of the characters.

Thankfully I had more experience under my belt to balance it all out (I hope 😬)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

More green.

So much green.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Which is why when Cody's group went into the mirror maze I switched it up and went more aquamarine/turquoise to make it more bearable for me.

Making the light emit from the glow-in-the-dark floor panels was a happy accident--I wad playing around with layer modes and the Add Dodge (Glow) layer mode in CSP caused an interesting effect that I took and ran.

Markiplier cameos here. (And dies. Sorry Mark.)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The double uploads started here and OH MY GOD I can't believe I managed to survive it. I really put my pedal to the metal here, and I came out on top!

(It was a race against myself really but HOT DAMN I WAS ON FIYA.)

Side note: this chapter went through SO MANY rough drafts guys it's not even funny.

The vibes weren't jiving, the pacing was all skiddly-wompus, and at one point the chapter was FIFTY PAGES LARGE (HELL NAW)

Its a miracle I'm alive man

Do your stinkin thumbnails guys--they saved my life

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

This was the hardest chapter to finish, if you can believe it.

It took the longest production-wise, because after SIX YEARS of non-stop comic work I was definitely burned out. Thank god I had already solidified the script and thumbnails beforehand because with that guide rail in place I could drag myself across the finish line by my fingernails because if there was ONE THING I DIDN'T WANT IT WAS A FRICKIN RUSHED ENDING. >:[

(Burned by too many unsatisfying webtoon/webcomic endings that basically went "and we lived happily ever after 😌")

Visually this is my favorite chapter. I love how the colors turned out, and all the characters felt truly "mine."

And that's that!

Man I started writing a whole paragraph and I realized that I should PROBABLY save it for the Afterword, when the comic is well and truly finished. So I'll hold off on that big ol' schpiel until then, but I will say:

THANK YOU FOR STICKING WITH US THIS FAR!

💖💕😘💕💖

[clonedchaos]

Machine Memories- Day 11: Melody

Summary:

Sammy's trial today was getting unruly and inexperienced musicians-in-training to carry a simple tune.

Rating: G/PG

"My Lord, if you please, do not pierce the drum head. We do not have any extra," Sammy muttered shortly. Of course it was an honor to be in his savior's presence, but he didn't expect for him to have such a disregard for fragile instruments.

"What?" The Ink Demon growled. "Where's the fun in that? You told me to hit the stupid thing."

"Gently, Ink," Audrey corrected for Sammy. The artist sat next to him, violin resting under her chin. She ran the bow across its strings, causing a high-pitched sound to pierce their eardrums. She quickly stopped. "... Sorry, everyone."

"Perhaps he needs some mittens," Allison piped up from behind the microphone.

"Good luck with that. You'd end up with a severed hand," Alice snorted from beside her.

"Who would like to try that idea?" The Ink Demon purred, tapping his claws against the drum head.

Sammy pinched the bridge of his nose. He was getting nowhere with this lot. Only Boris remained at attention with his flute. The wolf was capable of carrying a tune, thankfully. Meanwhile, Tom lurked by the in corner, refusing to participate but actively watching this disaster commence.

Bendy kept bouncing in his chair next to Henry with his tuba. "Come on! Are we going to get back to it or what?"

"If you all would cut the chatter, we might be able to," Sammy answered in exasperation. They had too much to get to, and they were barely five seconds into the song. An hour had agonizingly rolled by with little to no progress.

"How can we? These note sheets hardly make any sense," Henry replied, squinting to try and read the fine print. They had only reviewed it five times already. Sammy sighed.

"You've never played an instrument in your life, Stein?" Alice challenged and moved to stand next to Sammy.

"We went over this--" Sammy began before Bendy raised a hand.

"Sammy? Which is this? A treble cleft or a staff?" He held up his music sheet toward Sammy.

"Pretty sure that's a staff, Bendy," Henry chimed in at the same time Audrey added, "That's a cleft." Both artists stared at one another in confusion.

Something ripped. The Ink Demon stood behind the torn-up drum head, his claws still embedded in its surface. "... That was an accident."

Sammy felt like ripping his hair out-- not that he even had any to begin with. This was nothing like his previous life. The musicians he had worked with at the studio were experienced, more or less.  At the very least, they knew the basic roots of sheet reading. His goal was to conduct them, keep them on track, and help correct mistakes when needed.

However, looking back on it now, Sammy never missed the constantly changing deadlines and overwhelming pressure he faced as lead musician. He'd spend days working on the perfect piece, only for Joey to come in a screw it all up claiming "It doesn't fit my vision". Many nights he had stayed up reworking an entire composition before the next morning.

He made music, he loved music. Sometimes he needed a reminder of that. This wasn't Joey's music department anymore. It was his. Perhaps he can learn a bit of patience in time.

[copperbadge]

Okay but can the royal family be called to serve jury duty?

We were talking about this in comments briefly! I've been thinking about it since.

I think the discussion is predicated on the idea that Askazer-Shivadlakia even has trial by jury. France apparently only has jury trial for felony level crimes, while Italy doesn't use juries at all (they have a council of judges). Askazer-Shivadlakia has a number of cultures tugging on it, but given they speak English due to an occupation, probably they have a jury trial format of some kind. Perhaps with only five or nine jurors (Italian Judges Style) instead of twelve. In any case, let's assume they do.

Alanna and Jerry aren't elected or immediate family, they have paid staff positions -- although this made me think that Michaelis and Miranda offered Alanna the title of "princess" as a teen, because of her close relationship to them and lack of parents, although she probably didn't really need it, given her grandparents. Anyway, let's also put Jes in this category of "not royal", because they hold no official title or staff position but have a clear association. Michaelis and Noah are Royals but Michaelis is retired and Noah is appointed, so they have similar status to staff. Eddie, too, is "royal but not elected" and his main function is paid staff much like Al and Jerry. So really it's just Gregory who might legally be exempt. In the US, at least, elected officials at the federal level are. So let's presume that getting elected to king exempts you from jury service until you leave office.

Michaelis, Eddie, and Noah (once he turns eighteen) could be summoned to appear, but would immediately be disqualified from criminal cases because they're affiliated with the Crown and could be argued to have an unconscious bias. What we were discussing in comments was in part my thought that Michaelis, who became king (and thus disqualified) very young and ruled most of his life, would be rather excited for a novel civil service experience, and disappointed when he was dismissed.

I think pretty much any of the royal family except Gregory would be qualified to serve, and allowed to in a civil case (Jerry, Alanna, and Jes would also be fine in a criminal case). Jerry and Al are famous-ish as the local nobility, Jes is a famous journalist, and Michaelis, Noah, and Eddie are royals, but I did a bit of research and I guess celebrities aren't given any kind of special exemption usually. And it's canonical that the Shivadh find celebrities amusing at best, so I doubt their presence on a jury would even be particularly disruptive. So yeah, I could see the royal family serving jury duty.

But my brain is a bit sidelong, so while it would be entertaining to write that story, I was thinking more about...hearings, court protocols, the hierarchical structure of the courtroom, and the weird way in which everyone in a court is pushed into a very specific role. I'll probably write more about that in a general sense later, but where it took me was the idea that Gregory, as a king who has a parliament he has to obey but also certain specific unilateral power, might hold something like a quarterly "King's Boon" session ala the Big Block Of Cheese Day from the West Wing.

Some period of time, every few months, he basically holds open office and meets with people who are struggling to get heard in other ways -- people who want to suggest new laws, or want state funding for something, or need help untangling some bureaucratic issue. One person might have an idea for a law but not the legal training to write it up; Gregory might put them in touch with Palace legal, who can help them draft it for presentation to Parliament. Someone else might be having trouble with some kind of bank issue, Gregory can call up the bank and be like "Hey I'm the king and I'm here with one of your clients, let's get this solved before I audit you." When the recording studio collapses at the start of Infinite Jes and Michaelis says "I'm going to have a word with the government about building inspections", if he wasn't the former king he might take that kind of issue to the King's Boon. Two ordinary people who are arguing about some issue but don't want to take it to the courts might ask Gregory to decide the matter for them. Could be who owns the tree in their mutual front yard, could be some kind of philosophical argument they've got a bet about and they're willing to let Gregory rule on it (this is also very Talmudic, the idea of finding a Sage to figure your shit out for you).

And the nice thing is, much like in the West Wing, this is something Royals and palace staff would participate in -- so when Michaelis was king, he and Miranda would both participate (as would Eitan, as Well Connected Nobility); eventually Gregory as prince and then crown prince would participate as part of his training. It's basically "you, too, have a friend in high places" week in the Palace.

So you've got, say, King's Boon Week, where you get a number, show up on your appointed day, and hang out in the ballroom, which has been converted to a waiting room with nice chairs and snacks (presumably people who can't make it in person can get a Zoom call set up). You wait to be called, and you might meet with Gregory, but you also might meet with Eddie, Michaelis, Alanna, or Jerry. Noah would also participate but for a few years he'd be sitting in with Michaelis as training. Eddie would sit in with Gregory for a year or so after officially becoming King Consort, until he had a more thorough grasp of things. I have a feeling Jes would spend the time circulating and interviewing people for a quarterly podcast. :D

That just seems like a cool thing that is possible to achieve given the size and informality of the country, and would make I think potentially a more interesting story.

I mean. Just imagine. You're having trouble getting the permits all in order for the nightclub you want to open, and you're hoping to get Lady Alanna because you know she's got every bureaucratic "in" it's possible to have. But you groan a bit because you draw Duke Gerald, who...sure he's nice, but you've heard he's a daft scatterbrain. But then you meet with him and he goes through your business plan and is like "This is really solid. Let me make a call," and while you're gaping at him he calls a friend in Legal, gets your paperwork in order, phones a guy he knows who has a vacant building that you can lease on the cheap for the first year or two, and then looks you dead in the eye and says, "Do you need investors? I'd take a thirty percent stake in this," and you wander back into the waiting room, dazed, to inform your business partner that you've struck a deal for each of you to sell 15% of the nightclub to His Grace the Duke of Shivadlakia.

Now THAT'S a fun story. :D

(Eddie is like "Just herd anyone who wants to open a restaurant into my office," and the quality of the food in Fons-Askaz, already pretty good, shoots up a notch that year.)

[satoshi-mochida]

God of War: Ragnarok free DLC ‘Valhalla’ announced

Gematsu Source

Publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment and developer Santa Monica Studio have announced God of War: Ragnarok free downloadable content “Valhalla.” It will launch on December 12.

Here is an overview of the downloadable content, via PlayStation Blog:

(Spoilers for God of War: Ragnarok below)

Journey to Valhalla

God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla will be an epilogue to the events of God of War Ragnarok that follows Kratos on a deeply personal and reflective journey. Set after the decisive battle against Odin and Atreus’ departure, Kratos has seen a path for himself that he never thought possible before. Brought to the mysterious shores of Valhalla accompanied only by Mimir, Kratos will enter its unknown depths to overcome trials within himself and face echoes of his past.

Combat Reimagined

The team here at Santa Monica Studio challenged ourselves to make something different from anything we have done before in God of War history. God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla celebrates the combat you know and love from God of War Ragnarok and blends it with fresh, experimental elements inspired by the roguelite genre. Each attempt in Valhalla will encourage you to master different aspects of Kratos’ arsenal as you face new combinations of enemies and some surprises along the way!

Fight, Learn, Grow

In Valhalla, defeat in combat is not the end of a warrior’s spirit. If Kratos falls, he will reawaken outside the doors ready for the next try. During each attempt, you will learn and adapt to the challenges Valhalla has to offer. The more you overcome, the more resources you’ll gain that can be put towards permanent upgrades that affect both Kratos and even Valhalla itself. Accumulating rewards and knowledge during your attempts will help you get ever closer to discovering the mysteries that await Kratos within.

Master Valhalla, Master Thyself

The shore of Valhalla humbles all those who wish to enter. Kratos must cast off his armor and equipment, and instead build towards both per-attempt and permanent rewards. Kratos will have access to all his weapons and fully-upgraded skill trees at all times, but must commit to a shield and path of Spartan Rage for each attempt. As you overcome the trials of Valhalla and explore its depths, you will make choices between temporary Glyphs for which Stats to upgrade, which Perks to select, which Runic Attacks to wield, and more. Each attempt can play out differently based on the rewards you choose, so keep your strategy in mind when making selections! Wise preparation, adaptability to the challenge at hand, and command of your abilities will be the keys to mastery.

Play in Style

Armor in Valhalla is for appearances only, so don’t hold back when customizing for style! Unlock different looks, then mix and match your favorites between attempts to get Kratos looking fighting fit for all your Photo Mode needs.

Choose your Challenge

God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla has five difficulty settings that have been specially crafted and tuned to the unique gameplay of the downloadable content. Each difficulty setting increases the rewards you’ll gain from battle, and you can swap freely among them between attempts (including to and from the highest difficulty setting, Show Me Mastery). As your skills grow, we encourage you to try out some of the higher difficulties to earn more rewards and test your mastery over Kratos’ arsenal! Between the five options, you will be able to select the level of challenge that is most fun for you. To help further customize your gameplay experience, the downloadable content will continue God of War Ragnarök’s standard for accessibility settings.

Play at Any Time

God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla is a separate experience from God of War Ragnarök, so you don’t need to worry about going in without certain upgrades, equipment, or story progress. If you think the DLC sounds fun, you can jump in at any time! However, if you are concerned about narrative or gameplay spoilers, we do recommend that you finish God of War Ragnarok first as God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla serves as an epilogue to the story of the base game.

A Gift to the Fans

If you own God of War Ragnarok, you will be able to download God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla for free on December 12 at PlayStation Store. On behalf of everyone at Santa Monica Studio, we want to wish everyone a happy holiday and extend our heartfelt gratefulness for the incredible support you’ve shown us over the past year. We truly are fans of our fans, and we hope you enjoy God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla when it comes out next week. We can’t wait for you to play and share your experience with us by using #GodOfWarRagnarokValhalla or #GoWRV on social.

God of War Ragnarok is available now for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4.

Watch the announcement trailer below.

Announce Trailer

[demifiendrsa]

God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla - Reveal Trailer

The free "Valhalla" DLC for God of War Ragnarök will launch on December 12, 2023.

Key visual

First details via PlayStation Blog

Journey to Valhalla

God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla will be an epilogue to the events of God of War Ragnarok that follows Kratos on a deeply personal and reflective journey.

Set after the decisive battle against Odin and Atreus’ departure, Kratos has seen a path for himself that he never thought possible before. Brought to the mysterious shores of Valhalla accompanied only by Mimir, Kratos will enter its unknown depths to overcome trials within himself and face echoes of his past.

Combat Reimagined

The team here at Santa Monica Studio challenged ourselves to make something different from anything we have done before in God of War history. God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla celebrates the combat you know and love from God of War Ragnarok and blends it with fresh, experimental elements inspired by the roguelite genre.

Each attempt in Valhalla will encourage you to master different aspects of Kratos’ arsenal as you face new combinations of enemies and some surprises along the way!

Fight, Learn, Grow

In Valhalla, defeat in combat is not the end of a warrior’s spirit. If Kratos falls, he will reawaken outside the doors ready for the next try. During each attempt, you will learn and adapt to the challenges Valhalla has to offer. The more you overcome, the more resources you’ll gain that can be put towards permanent upgrades that affect both Kratos and even Valhalla itself.

Accumulating rewards and knowledge during your attempts will help you get ever closer to discovering the mysteries that await Kratos within.

Master Valhalla, Master Thyself

The shore of Valhalla humbles all those who wish to enter. Kratos must cast off his armor and equipment, and instead build towards both per-attempt and permanent rewards.

Kratos will have access to all his weapons and fully-upgraded skill trees at all times, but must commit to a shield and path of Spartan Rage for each attempt. As you overcome the trials of Valhalla and explore its depths, you will make choices between temporary Glyphs for which Stats to upgrade, which Perks to select, which Runic Attacks to wield, and more. Each attempt can play out differently based on the rewards you choose, so keep your strategy in mind when making selections!

Wise preparation, adaptability to the challenge at hand, and command of your abilities will be the keys to mastery.

Play in Style

Armor in Valhalla is for appearances only, so don’t hold back when customizing for style! Unlock different looks, then mix and match your favorites between attempts to get Kratos looking fighting fit for all your Photo Mode needs.

Choose your Challenge

God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla has five difficulty settings that have been specially crafted and tuned to the unique gameplay of the downloadable content. Each difficulty setting increases the rewards you’ll gain from battle, and you can swap freely among them between attempts (including to and from the highest difficulty setting, Show Me Mastery).

As your skills grow, we encourage you to try out some of the higher difficulties to earn more rewards and test your mastery over Kratos’ arsenal!

Between the five options, you will be able to select the level of challenge that is most fun for you. To help further customize your gameplay experience, the downloadable content will continue God of War Ragnarök’s standard for accessibility settings.

Play at Any Time

God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla is a separate experience from God of War Ragnarök, so you don’t need to worry about going in without certain upgrades, equipment, or story progress. If you think the DLC sounds fun, you can jump in at any time!

However, if you are concerned about narrative or gameplay spoilers, we do recommend that you finish God of War Ragnarok first as God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla serves as an epilogue to the story of the base game.

A Gift to the Fans

If you own God of War Ragnarok, you will be able to download God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla for free on December 12 at PlayStation Store.

On behalf of everyone at Santa Monica Studio, we want to wish everyone a happy holiday and extend our heartfelt gratefulness for the incredible support you’ve shown us over the past year. We truly are fans of our fans, and we hope you enjoy God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla when it comes out next week. We can’t wait for you to play and share your experience with us by using #GodOfWarRagnarokValhalla or #GoWRV on social.

[archivalofsins]

So I found a really fun visual parallel between Harrow and Deep Cover today.

For quick and easy reference these are all of my posts regarding this prisoner.

Kotoko Yuzuriha

July 8, 2023 Dissociation Gang Round 1 July 13, 2023 Dissociation Gang Round 2 July 17, 2023 Um hey- what the fuck??? (goes over everything in her basement studio and the animal pelts.) July 19, 2023 The Notorious Five (Seriously discusses their covers songs even though it's been stated those are just for fun but are chosen with the character in mind to an extent.) August 12, 2023 Obligatory Yuno mention (This continues the dissociation gang thing. As I point out the glitched switching within in Tear Drop and relate it to that briefly.) January 17, 2024 Possible reason for the pairing of 09 & 010 January 18, 2024 Deep Cover Analysis Stage 1 January 18, 2024 Defining Grooming (Status: Irritated.) February 3, 2024 Kazui and Kotoko Similarities and Parallels March 25, 2024 Second trial First Interrogation Question (Status at time: Bored) March 27, 2024 Second trial Third Interrogation Question (Status at time: Annoyed) April 3, 2024 Won't tolerate sin? April 3, 2024 Persecution & Ableism

And many others not tagged probably.

I have written so much on all these characters. I could make lists for all of them. Yet the one pertinent to this post would be July, 17, 2023 Um, hey- what the fuck?

Because the parallel I'll be showcasing here can be directly tied to points made there.

Though this very well may be another visual interpretation of the same scene. Since as we know from Harrow and Deep Cover showing it more blatantly the wolf represents Kotoko anyway. Also since Kotoko was working over time trial one to make the focus of her music video just that one guy despite it still being implied there were other victims it wouldn't be strange for the paper relating to that to be the only one scratched of at the end of Harrow.

Yet, in Deep Cover everything is crossed out in some area displaying the accurate number of attacks or the progression of her behavior. Also in the Deep Cover shot we get a clearer image of what I highlighted in the Um hey-what the fuck? post the pelts.

We can see both pelts clearly in this image something that's a fair bit more difficult to see in the image from Harrow.

Because of the lighting. The way the light is shining in can be considered indicative of the time of the day. So it could be around sun down in Harrow or just more cloudy outside given it was raining as she attacked that guy and it stops after she finishes and since Kotoko is in her murder fit when she's down in this room in Deep Cover.

A outfit she is never shown wearing inside this room throughout all of Harrow but the hoodie is shown to be hanging on the chair at the beginning of it.

Jacket circled for convenience here,

It's fair to reason that the sequences when this jacket are shown in this area happened after the attack and murder. She probably started with sitting on the floor then got up hung her jacket on the chair and sat down.

The end of Harrow where we see the area without Kotoko or her jacket is probably during the crime as illustrated though. However those two pelts are there within Harrow from the very start.

Here's a version I edited to circle the areas where the pelts are.

Deep cover only makes them a bit easier to see do to the better lighting. So yeah that's why I'm saying these scenes are paralleling each other or are the same scene depicted two different ways.

[thesilentgirlfromyourclass]

Lilacs (or you being Hyunjin's model) - H. Hyunjin x gn!reader

Genre: fluff

Word count: 678 words

Warnings: none

Summary: You being Hyunjin's muse for his new piece of art 💕

AN: I had a huge inspiration in the middle of the night yesterday, so I hope you like it ❤️

"Do you want me to stand like this? Or, maybe like this?" you asked your boyfriend for his opinion as the artist.

You were currently in Hyunjin's little art studio after he proposed that you would be the muse of his new painting. You immediately agreed and that is how you ended in front of him surrounded by lilacs that filled the room with the pleasant aroma of spring and a new beginning. Actually, Hyunjin didn't choose lilacs by accident. He informs you that they are a symbol of the first love, the one that always leaves its mark on the two lovers. That is what you were to each other - you met in high school and you have faced the thrills and trials of love as yet inexperienced, but there you were 5 years later - still in love like the first year.

Hyunjin looked one last time to check if the set up was fine before giving you last instructions.

"Put your elbow at the top of the table and put your chin on it. Yeah, exactly. That's it! Perfect!"

He gave you thumbs up. You blushed a little. Even though you have been together for 5 years straight, Hyunjin still knew ways to make you blush. One of them - painting or drawing you. Either you would sleep and he would draw you without your knowledge or you would be doing something else. That was his way of showing you that he cares and adores you.

"And I have to stay like this for hours?" you joked with him.

"Well, you agreed. Plus, it's not my fault that you are so beautiful. Actually, the lilacs are complimenting your whole existence, y'know?"

"Thank you, art boy." you answered.

"Not even one I love you, too or something? Even after I made you my model?" he asked with offended expression and a hand over his heart. "I think my heart can't take it."

You giggled while trying to hold your pose.

"Oh, c'mon, baby, you know I love you more than anything."

"Only that?" Hyunjin's face was now contorted as if in pain which made you laugh more.

"Are you gonna paint me or not? Because I am getting a bit tired." you fake yawned.

Hyunjin gave you one last smile before making the first stroke at the blank canvas in front of him reminding him of the first steps you took until you both built the bond you have now.

As the brush danced across the canvas, Hyunjin's focused gaze shifted between you and the emerging artwork. The lilacs began to take shape, each stroke echoing the five years of shared memories and the unspoken promises between you two.

"You make it look so easy," you remarked, breaking the silence in the studio.

He chuckled, "Well, it helps when you have the most inspiring muse."

The room was filled not only with the scent of lilacs but also with the warmth of shared history. Hyunjin continued to paint, occasionally stealing glances at you, capturing not just your physical form but the essence of your connection.

As the painting progressed, so did the conversation. You reminisced about the first time you met, the challenges you faced, and the simple joys that strengthened your bond. The lilacs became more than symbols; they became witnesses to your journey.

As the final touches were added, Hyunjin stepped back to admire his creation. The painting depicted more than just a scene—it told a story of love, growth, and the beauty found in shared moments.

"I think it's done," he said, looking at you with a satisfied smile.

You approached the canvas, eyes tracing the lines that mirrored your intertwined lives. "It's perfect," you whispered, feeling a surge of gratitude for the artist who turned your love into a timeless piece of art.

The painting found its place in your home, a testament to the enduring love that started in high school and continued to flourish in the small art studio filled with lilacs and sunlight.

[getvalentined]

One of my favorite things is finding out what software/device someone uses for their artwork and (if they're not using Procreate) being like "Have you tried CSP?" then linking them to get the trial version to see if it works for them.

Within a day they're like "Well. I'm using this forever now."

This has happened five times and it's always a great experience. I'm not exaggerating when I say that this program has literally changed my life, allowing my art to improve in spite of my physical condition continuing to degrade over the years. If you're not an iPad baby with Procreate and you want a program that is actually designed for artists, look into Clip Studio Paint—not Photosh○p.

The standard version of CSP for laptop/desktop is around $55 USD at a stretch (and it's $22 USD right now because there's a sale) for a perpetual license that is yours forever; you can get a subscription to get early access to new CSP features as they're implemented, and it's $10.99 per year for the standard version on top of the perpetual license—if you cancel the sub, you lose access to features outside the base version for which you purchased a perpetual license, but you get to keep that base program. Even the mobile version of CSP, which is on a subscription in order to stay up to date with mobile OS updates and maintain compatibility, is under $30 for a year when purchased direct from CELSYS.

The cheapest sub option for Photosh○p is currently $14.99 per month, Ad○be will charge you for six months upfront if you cancel, and you lose access to the program entirely (even though you just paid for six months) until you re-up the sub.

I'm not even gonna go into performance differences here. Just...trust me on this. If you're going to spend money on a digital art program, try CSP and see if it works for you. If it doesn't, that's fine! But you don't lose anything on a free trial, y'know?

And, before anyone tries to sweep in with some trash argument about CELSYS being in support of gen·A·I, there was an experimental gen·A·I feature that they announced a couple years ago and then immediately rolled back when the community raised objections. At the time, gen·A·I was not yet a particularly hot-button topic in Japan, where the company is based, and the implementation they had in mind was intended to assist in drafting, composition, and postprocessing, not the creation of full pieces. Rather than insisting that they were right and it wasn't their fault if people wound up using it unethically, CELSYS scrapped all plans to implement the feature and made a public apology for their negligence and lack of education on the issue. They have since even banned gen·A·I work from their asset marketplace.

Meanwhile, Ad○be uses gen·A·I slop images on their social media, their advertisements, their corporate literature, their webpage, and on Photosh○p's launcher.

If you're a digital artist, try CSP. It's $22 USD for the next two days, less than $60 even when it's not on sale, and once you have it, it's yours forever.

[steveyockey]

In 2009, I was sentenced to life in prison. Early one morning, I boarded a bus in shackles and a disposable jumpsuit, and rode to Calipatria State Prison, a cement fortress on the southern fringes of California. Triple-digit temperatures, cracked orange soil, and pungent whiffs of the nearby Salton Sea made me feel as though I’d been exiled to Mars. After six years in the chaos of the county jail, however, I could finally own small luxuries, like a television. The thick walls of Calipat, as we called the place, stifled our radio reception, but an institutional antenna delivered shows like “Access Hollywood,” “Entertainment Tonight,” and “TMZ.” I was irritated by the celebrity gossip, but it was a connection to the outside world, and it introduced me to snippets of Swift’s performances for the first time. Here and there, I’d catch her on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” or “Fallon,” and was surprised by how intently she discussed her songwriting. I didn’t tell anyone that I thought she was talented.

In 2013, when my security level was lowered owing to good behavior, I requested a transfer to Solano state prison, the facility with a Level 3 yard which was closest to my family in the Bay Area. I got the transfer, but my property—a TV, CD player, soap, toothpaste, lotion, food—was lost in transit. I shared a cell with someone in the same situation, so, for months, we relied on the kindness of our neighbors to get by. Our only source of music was a borrowed pocket radio, hooked up to earbuds that cost three dollars at the commissary. At night, we’d crank up the volume and lay the earbuds on the desk in our cell. Those tiny speakers radiated crickety renditions of Top Forty hits.

During that time, I heard tracks from “Red,” Swift’s fourth studio album, virtually every hour. I was starting to enjoy them. Laying on the top bunk, I would listen to my cellmate’s snores and wait for “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” to come around again. When it did, I would think about the woman I had lived with for seven years, before prison. I remembered bittersweet times when my sweetheart had visited me in county jail. We’d look at each other through security glass that was reinforced by wire. It didn’t seem fair to expect her to wait for me, and I told her that she deserved a partner who could be with her. But we didn’t use the word “never,” and deep down I always hoped that we’d get back together. When I heard “Everything Has Changed,” I had to fight back tears of exaltation and grief. Swift sings, “All I knew this morning when I woke / Is I know something now / Know something now I didn’t before.” I thought back to our first date, and how we had talked and laughed late into the night. We had to force ourselves to get a few hours of sleep before sunrise.

For the past two decades, sleep has not come easily to me. Often, when I get into bed, I think about the day I was arrested at the scene of my crime. Some neighbors called 911 and reported gunshots. I can still see the grieving family members of the man I killed, staring at me in the courtroom at my trial. I’m guilty of more than murder. I abandoned my parents and my sweetheart, too. There’s no way to fix this stuff.

Taylor Swift is currently the same age, thirty-three, that I was when I was arrested. I wonder whether her music would have resonated with me when I was her age. I wonder whether I would have reacted to the words “I’m the problem, it’s me.” Hers must be champagne problems compared with mine, but I still see myself in them. “I’ll stare directly at the sun, but never in the mirror,” Swift sings, and I think of the three-by-five-inch plastic mirrors that are available inside. For years out there, I viewed myself as the antihero in my own warped self-narrative. Do I want to see myself clearly?

In “Karma,” Swift sings, “Ask me what I learned from all those years / Ask me what I earned from all those tears.” A few months from now, California’s Board of Parole Hearings will ask me questions like that. What have I learned? What do I have to show for my twenty years of incarceration? In the months ahead, when these questions keep me up at night, I will listen to “Midnights.” The woman I love says she’s ready to meet me on the other side of the prison wall, on the day that I walk into the daylight. Recently, she asked me, “If you could go anywhere, do anything, that first day out, what would you want us to go do?” That question keeps me up at night, too.

[txttletale]

Do you have any videogames with strong narrative and story elements you'd be willing to recommend?

sure. i mostly care about games on the basis of their narrative and story, as far as i'm concerned the best gameplay is whatever complements that. here's my top ten:

pyre, by supergiant games

pyre's story is incredible. it's about people who've been exiled from society, and the things they build in exile, and whether society was really worth all that much in the end. it makes you make really genuinely difficult choices--i once deliberately threw a fight in this game because one of my party members asked me to--and it embraces failure as a mechanism by which the story can be advanced instead of ground to a halt.

disco elysium, by ZA/UM studios

if you've followed me for any period of time you've probably seen me talking about disco elysium. it's a masterful work of magical realism, it's melancholy and bleak and hopeful. it's about communism and cryptids. it's about all these things but it's nominally about being an amnesiac detective investigating a murder in a bleak post-soviet city that's been ransacked and occupied by international capital. and it's also very funny

heaven will be mine, by Worst Girls Games

heaven will be mine is about gay sex. it’s about other things but mostly it’s about gay sex. it’s about transgender lesbian mecha pilots fighting and fucking each other in their big robots which are metaphors for body dysmorphia and self-image and violence and hopes about the future. it genuinely reckons with the sci-fi genre and what it represents. every ending is a good ending because the characters will not let even the worst disaster be a bad ending.

hypnospace outlaw, by Tendershoot

hypnospace outlaw makes you a forum mod on a simulated early-2000s internet platform that you can only access in your dreams. it’s less about a linear narrative and more about getting to learn about characters through the strange and oddly intimiate things they post on their webzones. if you’ve met people you care about through the internet it will resonate with you.

paradise killer, by Kaizen Game Works

paradise killer is a murder mystery with no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answer. don’t get me wrong, there’s an answer to the mystery--it’s possible to conclusively identify the murderer. but you can also walk into the trial the moment the game starts, accuse the obvious stitch-up suspect, present the circumstancial evidence you’ve been handed by shifty players, and get him sentenced. the game won’t stop you. imagine if instead of funelling you towards getting the ‘right’ answers in order to progress, ace attorney all hinged on what evidence you chose to present and how. the game won’t stop you from being wrong! figure out the truth yourself, or don’t bother--you’re an immortal blood cultist cop, you won’t be the one suffering the consequernces of your mistakes.

the beginner’s guide, by Davey Wreden

the beginner’s guide presses you up right against the wall by your lapels and demands: why are you playing this? how do you interact with art? what can you say about an artist from their work? is it right or fair to say anything at all? is the way you engage with the things you love healthy? it’s best enjoyed blind so i won’t say anything other than that--but it made me cry.

if not us, by ubq4

a tragedy that will pulverize you. interactive fiction about the aftermath of five doomed heroes failing to save the world. does really interesting things with IF gameplay to convey different emotions and perspectives. made me cry more or less the entire time i played it. beautiful prose delivered perfectly.

dujanah, by Jack King-Spooner

a surreal claymation genre-mashup story about grief and death. dujanah is looking for her dead husband and child in a world that’s sometimes whimsical and sometimes nightmarish. the shifting dreamlike atmosphere makes this game’s political points more pointedly and acutely than any amount of gritty realism could. there’s nothing else like it

cultist simulator, by Weather Factory

this isn’t a narrative linear game--it’s a roguelike card type thing, but it creates such a rich and textured world with an economy of writing that is absolutely fucking mindblowing. a few sentences at most are dedicated to any given topic, and put together they weave an incredible tapestry of the first interesting ‘cosmic horror’ setting to be invented for what feels like decades. (nb: the main writer of this game, alexis kennedy, stands accused of some pretty slimy shitty stuff--so be aware of that and look into it before playing it, probably)

suzerain, by Torpor Games

suzerain is a visual novel cleverly disguised as a strategy game. it’s not about moving armies around a board or building units or planning out cities--it’s about playing the character of anton rayne, newly elected president in a pseudo-Eastern European country caught between superpowers. the only good game about politics, you’re really forced to juggle multiple different allies and enemies at once, decide which political hills to die on, or risk being assassinated, couped, or invaded. if you like political intrigue and drama, this is where it’s at.

honorable mentions: Transistor (Supergiant Games) and Shadowrun Hong Kong (Harebrained Schemes)

transistor is a game with fascinating themes and a flawless sense of tone. its world feels so vivid and unqiue, and the ideas it plays with are fascinating--but ultimately i feel like it’s more style than substance. that fucking style though, unimpeachable. shadowrun hong kong on the other hand has a fairly weak narrative but some incredibly well-drawn and interesting characters and the rare totally (for me at least, ymmv) succesful integration of a pre-established backstory with freeform character creation.

[the-last-dillpickle]

DS9 trivia from IMDB - Part 3

- Dax was originally envisioned as an alien from a low-gravity world forced to get around in a wheelchair and who flew around her quarters. The concept was scrapped because the "flight" cables were too difficult to rig. However, the idea was revisited in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Melora (1993) featuring a guest character.    

- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Trials and Tribble-ations (1996), a time travel story, was written to mark the 30th Anniversary of the Star Trek franchise. The DS9 crew travels back to 2268 at the time of Star Trek (1966) episode 2.15, Star Trek: The Trouble with Tribbles (1967), to prevent Arne Darvin from assassinating Captain Kirk and changing the timeline. Due to the ages of William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and the other original cast members, it was decided to have this show's cast interact with the original footage of the Star Trek (1966) episode. Bluescreen and computer technology were used that had recently been employed for Forrest Gump (1994), another Paramount property.  

- The primary design of Deep Space Nine was based on a gyroscope, but with the top and bottom parts removed. Some of the earlier designs by Herman F. Zimmerman had complete hoops, also like a gyroscope, and the idea was that rotating the station would create artificial gravity, until someone pointed out that there was no need for this, as Star Trek ships use gravity generators. However, the idea of a halo-shaped space station stuck, and it was used in the final design. Artificial gravity by rotating sections would also complicate matters as fans had already noted many similarities with Babylon 5 (1993), in which the titular station rotates to generate artificial gravity. Fans accused Paramount of plagiarizing many aspects of the show after J. Michael Straczynski pitched the show to Paramount Studios in the late 80's.    

- The name of the alien race "Ferengi" is derived from the Persian word for "foreigner", which is Farangi.    

- Worf never refers to nor addresses Quark by name. From joining the crew in season four to the finale, Worf always referred to him as "the Ferengi bartender".

- With the show debuting shortly after the 1992 Presidential election, some television viewers who were largely unfamiliar with the Star Trek franchise mistakenly believed that Quark was a lampoon of Independent Presidential candidate Ross Perot (short height, large ears, financially minded or obsessed). That was obviously not the case, as the Ferengi appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Last Outpost (1987), five years before Perot announced his candidacy.    

- The tankards used for Klingon bloodwine are actually measuring cups used in baking.    

- The appearance of the Trill symbiont is different from when it initially appeared on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) season four, episode twenty-three, "The Host". In that episode, the symbiont's appearance was made to resemble a caterpillar with the head of an octopus. According to Make-Up Supervisor Michael Westmore, the symbiont was re-made for this series to be more "stream-lined" to make it easier to handle. Also, the appearance of the Trill hosts had changed as well. In "The Host", the Trill people had semi-ridged foreheads and no body spots, but in this series, they have normal foreheads, and body spots. In "The Host", the Trill was also terrified of being transported, insinuating that it would damage the symbiont, but none of the Trills ever mentioned concerns with being transported.    

- The Dominion War storyline proved to be very divisive among veterans of the "Star Trek" universe. George Takei, in particular, voiced his belief that the storyline was directly antithetical to Gene Roddenberry's original concept of a peaceful, Utopian future.    

- From the fourth season on, the writers felt that they enjoyed an unprecedented amount of freedom in coming up with ideas for their Dominon War story arc. The first seasons of this show had run simultaneously with the last seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), so they had to maintain continuity with the latter show's story developments. After Next Generation wrapped in 1994 and Star Trek: Generations (1994) was released, there were no immediate plans for more theatrical movies, and Star Trek: Voyager (1995) wouldn't be directly affected, as it took place in the Delta Quadrant. The writers thus felt that they could take the main storyline in any direction, and decided to stir up the peaceful status quo of the Alpha Quadrant, by pitting several of its groups against each other.