#and doesnt affect the actual exploration and platforming

[treemotan]

Been obsessively playing Infinity Nikki the last couple days. Gonna upload some screenshots soon and probably my FC

Anyways this game is fucking fantastic recommend 100%

[sylwanin-was-right]

My reactions to the review under the cut 💙

5:00-6:00 - i LOVE the incorperation of the wildlife into gameplay so much. We'll get to see so many new and immersive plants from Pandora that are FINALLY canon and feel immersive and not just for "window dressing" or even overtly obvious game machanics.

6:50 - STORM BEAST LMAO

8:00 - I love this "lived in" aspect of the game! The Na'vi are original people of Pandora, so its do nice to actually see them in mundane situations. I cant wait to see more of their daily lives through NCP interactions!

8:10 - UGH THEIR HOMETREE IS SO GORGEOUS. I wish I could get this gane JUST to explore and escape.

10:30 - aw man i love the totem experience dialougue. Rlly profound and beautiful; immersive and spirutual, esp bc the main protag is reconnecting.

11:00 - OFC the RDA were shooting wildlife! Ugh, bastards!!

11:20 - OMG weather conditions affect gameplay!! Nice!! I love the concept of the harvestable resources affected by in-game weather patterns.

12:18 - YES being able to fly ikran anywhere unrestricted... ugh if only i had that simulation on Wii. The Owls of Ga'hoole Wii game had such nice controls for flight and it was soothing just to fly around various maps tilting the wii remote. I imagine its a different feeling with a controler but maybe u can tilt console controler too? Would be a rlly cool experience if u could.

12:50 - Love to hear that the game feels as immersive as it looks!! Thats the biggest perk imo. Ive played skyrim on my xbox (rip, doesnt rlly work well anymore) and at times id just play the game for its ambience and the exploration (open-world games are my fave bc of this). I cant wait to explore Pandora as a true Na'vi bc of the attention to detail of the team from Frontiers!

13:15 - i love that there arent many distractions on screen! Much more immersive that way. And makes u feel like youve really stepped into a different perspective.

- Love bringing the Iknimaya to life in the game! And loyalty is what you get from your ikran for proving to them how strong you are to follow them and work with their mind to fly together. So when u fall they will be there to catch you whenever. Very nice detail.

15:18 - FLAOTING RDA PLATFORMS?? DISRUPTING WILDLIFE?? 👀

- Not much to say abt the combat since I'm no expert or even casual enjoyer of combat games (Most ive ever played is Red Dead Redemption and [cant remember]). Looks cool tho!

20:39 - Oh wow thats an interesting setup to play the game demo lol! Streamed to his PC from a different local lol.

- Hmm he said he prefers first person shooter games on PC. I dont think I've ever played one on PC before! Very interesting.

---

Tewti! What a nice and honest review! Lots of considerations for gameplay time and intentional demo setup from him, and lots to look foward to in only 20 more days!

Oe so'ha nìtxan!!!!!

[roppiepop]

Fandom discourses are inherently messy bcs it concerns how ppl interpret text and media, but i feel like when it concerns mainstream cape comics character accuracy, at the base of it, you can’t really win.

Theres a conversation to be had about mcu adaptations and the motives of streamlining characters to fit ur multibillion dollar franchise under the evil mouse corporation, fucking over the aspects of representation they try to sell to you then having these mangled versions end up being the defining incarnation to the general public.

But for my purposes this is mainly concerning dc.

The nature of the serialization for these comics being a collaborative effort of ever-changing writers in an ever-expanding universe mean that for the most part, every decision made would disservice at least one character, and consequently piss someone off.

Having books where most of its supporting characters are fully developed with their own runs seem to be a double-edged sword where there should be plenty of material to draw from and build plots around, but only under the assumption that the writers read the comics of the characters they write about.

And then in the events that a character long neglected gets brought back and remolded to be a tag-a-long in someone else’s series, or a reboot nerfs a character real bad, with whatever trickle-down effect it causes, if said characterization ends up being adopted in canon longer than their original incarnation,

At what point does that first personality become the one actually considered ooc? How much consistent appearance of what you consider ‘bad writing’ has to be there before u have to accept that making them not be like that is the deviation?

Current decisions in dc of soft reboots and having all their characters remember what happened pre-new52, but not erasing the aspects readers hated from said reboot, and not at all exploring how that knowledge would affect the characters, coupled with how they dont seem to keep track of character developments in other books, make trying to keep up with continuity itself feel like an exercise in futility.

You might get runs with the intention of repairing damages that might fix characterization issues to a point, but also feels like a regression of all the development they should’ve had.

Depending on your comic entry point, your blorbo, and what aspects of said blorbo you connect with, how you interact and which canons you adopt would be wildy varied, and like, you probably wont be wrong for it.

Its also very understandable when regarding characters that have so much history and adaptations people end up going off more accessible and streamlined incarnations, like say, a free webtoon on a big platform or other fanworks.

Is it annoying when larger fanon doesnt fit how you perceive those characters and dynamics? Sure. Are they wrong? Well??? Again, thats free game.

Fandom has always been drawn to exploration and extrapolation, and the way mainstream superhero comics are written dont tend to linger on big character/plot beats. Theres plenty of play room and its easy to headcanon someone one way or another.

Sometimes it can end up creating a more in-depth and nuanced version of a character you’d probably never see in the hand of canon writers, other times they get flattened in all the wrong angles.

But being a fan of mainstream cape comics is so rarely rewarding, the nature of it really is to just pick and choose whatever parts of it brings you the most joy. No one wins in this dnsnsnsns.

That tweet that said ‘the best way to enjoy fandom is to keep it between you and 3 or 4 likeminded friends’ really is the best way to keep u sane in these things.

[boglog]

HoC Onion !

[TW mention of sexual abuse/violence]

I’m foregoing the pros/cons format here but generally-speaking my negative points are still gathered at the top w the highlights near the end.

Obviously, between letting a sex offender have a platform in mass media and potholes, I’d choose the latter. My below crits absolutely are not a demand for Spacey to be brought back and he can die in a fire for all i care. I just wish his character’s absence was not the nº1 reason for this season not making any sense

as far as i can gather, this season’s primary arc is as much about Frank’s death (in lieu of Doug’s) as it is Claire’s emotional and political divorce from Frank while she undergoes your traditional postbreakup analysis of who she was pre Frank and post Frank and were Frank actually there this idea might have legs

...but instead we have Doug ://

the level of intensity that the plot demands cannot be carried by forcing Doug into being a deeper character than he was intended, all the way until the end, he truly just reads as either a pitiful sadist or a henchman. It’s disharmonious and dangerously close to bad. 

Frances Underwood makes more sense if Frank dies in episode 8!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She’s literally going to be his reincarnation!!!!!!!

literally...who cares if Doug gets stabbed by Frank’s letter opener? whomst?

Doug can’t be Frank’s proxy, but sans a certain pedoph*le, the plot will just have to suffer. 

Other side effects of Doug’s undeserved promotion include but are not limited to: 

forcing Doug to share the role of antagonist with the Shepards, yet another New Villain © that feels totally unnecessary and confusing (the Conways at least got two seasons)

Frank’s diary feels forced and out of character for someone decidedly so unsentimental  

How does Claire have a bun in the oven when she clearly didnt sleep with Frank for all of season 5 and locked herself in her room while he was being assassinated? How is a Dramatic paternity test not going to be insisted upon in the show’s universe?

fixation on Frank’s will as a McGuffin is really... I don't know boring considering no one cares for the guy? What property of his does claire stand to lose? I’m sure the rich people fandom can speculate but i honestly needed this manifested in the show via some examples instead of the grand abstraction that is The Will bc losing Frank’s assets would set Claire back but it would not directly threaten her presidency. Not to mention that i’m not entirely sure Frank’d have Doug of all people as his sole heir if it didn't serve as revenge against Claire, which just lowers Doug’s importantance even more

Frank never cared for Doug, a largely unlikeable character, which we already knew from the beginning, so Doug’s entire arc is pathetic at best as well as his tangential inclusion in the Cliare v Frank arc

My major problems with Doug’s character began as early as season 4. 

Did not understand why they didn't actually have Doug switch sides by joining the Dunbar campaign in earnest in season 4. Like... it’s such an obvious opportunity to Thicken The Plot © that it’s reached this gif levels of dropping the ball:

P much everything about Doug’s character since then is just so.... lacking, while for the last few seasons they give him depth when he magically has empathy for one (1) woman before she dies (possibly as a direct result of his actions). This entire plot about him evaluating why he was so loyal to Frank could've been unpacked whilst he avoids Dunbar finding out about the murders he did commit. I’d rather him having agency than be a flat, troubled underling.

Aright I'm going to stop complaining about Doug. In season 3 and 4, his insecurity over being replaced and his sacrifices for Frank (and subsequent guilt) came close to giving us a real Moment with him as we delve more into how colourless his life outside of work really is. But beyond that, when his character started getting repetitive, there’s very little to compensate for his alternating acts of extreme narcissism/violence versus his childish confusion / self pity when he doesn’t get what he wants.

Anyways I'm basically at a point where I’d be okay if Frank’s long-lost cousin replaced Doug replacing Frank 

I’m appreciating the writers’ distinct refrain from plot formats and that the seasons progressively move towards the Underwoods but what if just for circularity and added balance we return to having a full-on reporter B plot in s6? More emphasis on Janine and Tom’s sleuthing, culminating in Tom’s assassination and Janine publishing the tell-all expose against Frank---including a reference to Zoe---that becomes the magnum opus of her career (and Claire using that against Frank). I just think the season needed more balance that Doug, the Shepards and Tom were not offering 

The Shepards and Tom, meanwhile, are decidedly banal. First of all, I had a hard time even telling Bill and Tom apart esp given that they were introduced one after the other. All white guys are the same.

Bill just kind of sits around until he has a platform to reference his favourite action movies doesn't he?

Moreover what does Tom do!? he doesn't want power, he doesnt seem to want anything. He’s just kind of there?

Unlike the Conways, the Shepards don’t have a clear goal and are not often in direct conflict with Claire the way Frank and Conway were. They want to control the presidency for money and Claire is always bouncing back from reliving her girlhood to political rivalry w Anette, yes, but what does that mean? What are the consequences? The logistics are so indirect and complicated, what precisely does Anette want? And why does anyone care? The Shepards are extremely boring.

Frank’s asides were purple and long af so I appreciate Claire’s succinct style not to mention her fantastic screen presence. I’m left to wonder, though, if maybe hers and every other aside in HoC is a little too on the nose. Like, they didn't hafta spell it out that the bird in the wall was a representation of Frank’s shadow trapping her, I think we got that 

The artistic intercuts to Claire’s troubled childhood wherein a group of bullies coerce her into stripping naked through the forest, while visually stunning and clever for its self-explanatory nature, feel really passive. They don't visually show us any reason for her not to resist, the bullies even let her keep her clothes after cutting them off her so we’re left to wonder why she does nothing....

Claire was raised to be ~proper~ so her resistance (likely) comes in the form of biting, passive-aggressive poise which is hard to get across in a silent montage but it just feels.. weird

Frances Underwood is going to have a very sad childhood

nearly all the Claire flashbacks are cinematic masterpieces and as much i think Claire’s backstory deserves more attention, i also appreciate the minimalism and the choice humanising moments of her adolescence 

listen I'm sure we all agree Robin Wright is peak acting but the actor for young Claire, who has the arguably harder task of copying Wright is fantastic 

Of all the characters who crop up every season seemingly out of nowhere only to disappear once more once when the plot the Underwoods are done with them, Jane is one of my favourites and possibly one of the greyest characters alive. Smart, mysterious, worldly, a bit of a hippie despite her job, severe despite her sense of humour. Really loves her extremely pedestrian surname. We stan.

Secondary characters rarely get anything close to a backstory on this show, esp ones that were introduced so late. Still, her motivations seem more complicated then others (i.e. betraying Cathy, one of two people she cares about) and I wonder if they deserve a bit more of an explanation. Especially seeing as she has a relationship with every major character.

If anyone deserves a spin-off it might be Jane and her name-dropping career/social life

Cathy faking her own death with a terrible french accent? On stan !!!

Seth teasing Doug even while he’s completely undervalued by everyone around him is a power move

Impressed that they managed three characters named Tom, their distinctly different appearances and the fact that they're almost never in the same POV shots works to separate them.

Claire using the word “female” even facetiously is cringe

Whenever they use the cinema room, the movie they watch is always symbolic. Before the 2017 election, Frank and Claire imitate the characters in Double Indemnity, and this season a pregnant claire watches Rosemary’s Baby. Clever.

i liked the whitehouse tour guide’s inclusion and the cameo from _____ though this season was especially white without their usual token secondary character

So overall i liked season 6 as an exploration of Claire’s character even while it did v little justice to most of the other characters and unfortunately spacey’s absence did affect the storyline

and finally: that cinnamontography !

Not that the series should be pushed past its prime, but wouldn’t it be interesting to see Claire as a mother?

[rpsychic]

i have the worst habit of loving creating the muse && their backstory and then hating actually writing them

what platform do you rp on typically? sometimes the platform can definitely affect that as I've had muses that just aren't cut out for twitter no matter how badly i want them to because body language cant be translated through tweets and facial expressions are limited to emojis and gifs that may not be in line with my muse. i cant say i have the same habit but i do have a similar one.  put it under a read more because i got longwinded zczczcczcz

i always write these really detailed backgrounds for my muses but often times when actually playing them i find myself taking them in a direction i dont want which then of course makes me not like writing them as much. for instance one muse I’m playing right now? i absolutely love her and her backstory but i think she’s become much more emotional than i wanted her too ontop of the fact that other muses (in my point of view) seem to view her almost childlike or as the “little sister” which was not at all what i originally played her like and now i have no idea how to backtrack. meanwhile my other muse well i got him into a situation ship that's taking a turn for the serious even though i feel its too early for him to get in a ship and want him to flirt and explore his sexuality more but again have no idea how to backtrack because it’s not in his character to ask for space to explore himself as i know he isnt upset about how things are just feeling confined but doesnt want to hurt this muse as they have a past. i dont know how it is for you but whether its like me or simply because you dont like playing theres a bunch of things you can do. maybe make your characters and write about them instead of playing them like writing a book, ask friends to make characters and backstories and incorporate them into your own stories. try a different platform maybe where ever you write isnt for you and you need to switch things up a bit.