#and its backed up in the post canon bonus where they discuss their parents

[comicteaparty]

August 16th, 2018 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on August 16th, 2018, from 5PM - 7PM PDT.  The chat focused on Raison d'Etre by Cloud Fourteen (Funari and Leigh).

Featured Comment:

Chat:

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

COMIC TEA PARTY START!

Good day everyone~! This week’s Comic Tea Party is now officially beginning~! Today we are discussing Raison d'Etre by Cloud Fourteen (Funari and Leigh)~! (http://raisondetrecomic.tumblr.com/) For those new or in need of a reminder, discussions about the comic are freeform, so please feel free to bring up whatever you wish. However, every 30 minutes I will be dropping in a discussion question to help those who would like a prompt. These questions are totally OPTIONAL to answer, and you can pay them no mind if you wish. If you miss out on any though, they’ll be pinned for the duration of the chat once they’re posted~! Remember, constructive criticism is allowed, but the primary focus here is to have fun and appreciate the amazing comics that the community makes~! All that being said, let’s get started and have a great discussion!

QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?

snuffysam

my favorite scene is the scene where inada gives yukina the journals, but only on a second reading. "hey tante, can you help me research-" "what's that? you wanted my sister's diary? you wanted my big sister's deepest, darkest secrets? you wanted to learn the most intimate details of your mothers' lives? that's what you wanted?"

Funari

Mueheheh~ Yeah, we love putting in stuff like that. Seemingly innocent comment at first, but during a reread? BONUS!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

in the retrospect i can only suspect inada was saving them for blackmail O_O

Funari

Little siblings...they can be such brats ;P

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

lets see, lets see. i think my favorite scene is when yukina is in the shadow place because i really like the tension of shit hitting the fan, the visuals, and then the comedic end where yukina and rie just wind up in a pile.

Funari

Ah, yes. Chapter 5 was when Leigh started putting in her two cents more into the story. I don't recall who came up with the exact direction there BUT that was a good one. It kinda encompasses Raison's story style as a whole - can get serious but then it has its comedic moments just kinda "whoop!" right back

A roller coaster of emotions

snuffysam

i really like that comedic aspect too

like in the story being told about miko and sachiko rescuing nozomi

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

I'm pretty bad for being able to figure out relationships unless they're spelled out in black and white myself. Even the big reveal of "Kaa-san", I don't remember how long it took until I clued in to there being two mothers.

snuffysam

i think "oh, she's their daughter" was the first thing i thought of, but the way the characters' talked threw me off

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

LOL. i guess thats fair though. not sure how much anime you watch cause if you dont watch anime, yeah, kaa-san would probably just go right over.

Funari

Leigh: The "rescuing Nozomi" story was one of the first stories I was asked to help with back in Part 1. I've looked forward to that scene finally playing out, and was not disappointed!(edited)

snuffysam

i like how japanese mom is kaa-san and french mom is maman lol(edited)

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

My favourite scene was actually pretty early on. It was when Kregor was going after Sachiko saying something to the effect of "this should be easy" only to have Miko disarm his dagger and get into a whole fight.

Funari

Leigh: Made life a little easier as far as trying to write for these idiots ;p(edited)

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

In a sense it helped set up his other flailed attempts.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

another scene that i really liked was when yukina learned about the ascendent and decided that perhaps she should stop hiding and all that. i feel that was portrayed in a powerful direct effect of reading the journal.

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

(Yes, I meant flailed not failed.)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

any scene with kregor is a classic because kregor is that right mix of overconfident and screw up

Funari

Poor Kregor~

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Rebel: I watch anime. I got the reference, I didn't put two and two together that Miko and Sachi were married.

Funari

Leigh: I'm working on a page with Kregor at this very moment. So he's not going anywhere soon!(edited)

snuffysam

it's the first thing we learn about them math!

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Snuffy: I did think that was clever about the two language mothers.

I have the mind of a goldfish!

Rebel: Yeah, that whole ascendent thing was good. I liked the side story of her with her mother too.

snuffysam

"eh, i just sort of forgot about this canon f/f ship" - math, 2018

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

We were in the future though!

Funari

A little something from Maman, and a little something from Kaa-san ;p

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

I'm used to seeing them younger and courting.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Hello!

snuffysam

hey sj!

Funari

Hello there :3

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

(I'll be a bit in-and-out with my 2 month old, btw.)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

hey sj~!

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I see you're one of the creative talents responsible for this comic, @Funari

Really nice efforts ya got here!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

well the important part, math, is that you figured it out eventually and saw that those ship sails moved at full force.

Funari

Thank you :3 I created the universe and the basic plot and some of the cast. Leigh created the other half of the cast and has helped string the plot together a bit better since chapter 5 :3

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Ah okies!

Always appreciate a good team effort.

Also was not expecting that four year timeskip

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah i have to say the timeskip surprised me too. not that it was unwelcome, mind you, just something that made me go legasp

Funari

I don't think anyone was, according to folks over at the c14 server or anyone who's commented to us besides one friend lol

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

lol

Funari

Ever since Leigh started contributing more, it made twists even more likely. Sometimes she'll suggest an idea and smirk at me from across the room and...oh boy.. xD

snuffysam

yeah i was figuring part 2 would begin with the gang immediately going to rescue them but nope

it was a cool twist!

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

lol XD

AV-chan

Hi, just dropped by to join the Raison discussion party here Favorite scenes? I think it's mostly the ones with Miko and Sachiko especially when they were in their teens

Funari

Leigh: smirks

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Also just wanted to say this is a really good suit https://78.media.tumblr.com/ea04508234ff49e7d6b78458cef47714/tumblr_inline_nal653HGRk1r87x2y.png

Funari

Hey AV! :3

snuffysam

but yeah @AV-chan , i absolutely agree

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Hello AV!

snuffysam

seeing miko and sachiko interact as teens is just the best

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

welcome @AV-chan ~! thank you for coming!

AV-chan

Hiya everyone

snuffysam

they're so perfect together!

AV-chan

I know right, it's just so cute seeing them get together

Funari

Leigh: I do love a woman in uniform @Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

miko and sachiko have a really nice and fluffy relationship so seeing them together is a happy thing :3

Funari

Awwww

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Women in univerm are always so awesome

especially the battle-ready ones

Funari

Leigh: Heheh~ YES! Sword Wife!

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

A good sword wife

AV-chan

Totally

Funari

It personally makes me gush that you guys love the SachiMiko interactions x3

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Sweet to hear~

AV-chan

Maybe soon with Yucchan too but that's probably not gonna happen any time soon I think

Funari

Leigh: Smirks

snuffysam

i seem to recall on some page where yukina's mom (not sure which) called to her from off-screen, there was an author comment that went something like "i have no idea what her parents' designs will be lol"

that was a nice touch

Funari

laughs

AV-chan

I think it's mostly cause how I somehow witness the development and changes to your OCs Funari that makes me very interested in them as well

snuffysam

though to be fair, we hadn't seen what miko and sachiko looked like as adults yet, so that wasn't necessarily a lie

Funari

Leigh: I knew that Nari had been hanging with me for too long when that popped up!

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Oh yeah, then it was a hat hiding things. Was that an accident?

Like, saying that?

Funari

That's the point! @snuffysam xD

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

speaking of designs tho, i really do like the adult designs for them. especially how sachiko has this sort of grizzled look now cause of the eyepatch

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

https://78.media.tumblr.com/bc036315fd6b663afa1ffaffa11a5e89/tumblr_p9i9zvvI3w1tzfltho1_1280.png Wow, the future sure looks... different.

Funari

Don't quite get what you mean there @MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑 Just want to be sure I know what you're talking about before I answer

AV-chan

A traditional house in the future?

snuffysam

people have traditional houses today, don't they?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

QUESTION 2. Throughout the comic, we continually see the appearance of Kregor who is out to cause a lot of harm at the behest of his boss, Lady Elianne. What do you think is so special about Sachiko’s blood? Does it have something to do with Allie or is something else afoot? Why do you think Lady Elianne targets Sachiko specifically and not anyone else in her family? Do you think Lady Elianne will ultimately succeed, or will everyone be able to stop her? Who even is Lady Elianne? Outside of Sachiko, Kregor also hunts Yukina’s friend Rie at the behest of the Tanuki Brothers. Do you think the initial failure will deter Kregor from trying again? If Kregor doesn’t try again, do you believe the Tanuki Brothers will leave Rie alone? If Kregor does try again, will he succeed or will something else stop him?

Funari

Stuff has happened to both between their teenaged years and when they're moms. Meta-wise, we're also not fans of works where adult forms of characters almost look exactly the same as the young forms but with smaller eyes or the like

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yes, we do

snuffysam

it's clear that there's something important about the nakamura bloodline

Funari

The idea behind the Miyamotos' house is that was to hammer down the idea that they were pretty traditional. At least since Nozomi got married.

(and there are still traditional homes in Japan today ;P )

AV-chan

Ooh that's true

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

aah, alright X3

snuffysam

plenty of houses that are around today were built centuries ago, and plenty of modern houses try to imitate houses from centuries ago

AV-chan

That part with Sachiko being hunted has always piqued my curiosity in a way, like what's gonna happen next

Funari

Oh and my reaction to Question 2? ohhhhh that's pretty much what Part 2 is all about! So I'll just keep myself "quiet"

snuffysam

well we know what did happen next

Funari

And Leigh is saying she's just gonna keep smirking, so not much input from her either lol

snuffysam

lost her depth perception, for one

gained a shadow friend

Funari

True, very true...for the depth perception bit

Shadow friend? Ohhhhhh that happened sooner in her life

AV-chan

An interesting twist there

snuffysam

i mean "next" being after the latest journal entry that yucchan read

i don't think we've seen allie in any journal entries so far?

Funari

Nope, not in journals, though there is a Special comic that shows a specific moment in Sachiko's life relating to that

https://imgur.com/a/Q4J7v

snuffysam

i bet everyone is super jealous of yucchan's three moms

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

"How do you even get three mommies?"

snuffysam

japanese mom, french mom, and shadow mom

Funari

Leigh: Hey, I'M jealous of her moms!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

so in respects to the question, i recall elianne referring to the thing as a curse and how its killed her ancestors. but im starting to wonder if its not something on her mother's side but something on her father's side. because nobody on her mother's side seems at all bothered by any sort of curse and what not and it fits why kregor is targetting sachiko and not say her brother.

AV-chan

That's an interesting way to put it

I forgot if Sachiko's brother had a different dad

snuffysam

he did

Funari

He does!

Also BOOM! Good catch, @✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨ !

AV-chan

Ah that most likely it

Funari

Hayato was born through Rin's marriage with Japanese businessman Daichi Nakamura. Sachiko was....well, by all means, an illegitimate child from a guy in France that Rin knew

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Back, sorry @Funari ; I think what I was wondering was were Yukinas parents always decided from the start, and it was how they looked in the future that gave rise to the hat, or was the scene with her parents evolving as that scene began.

Funari

@MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑 Yukina was always intended to be Sachiko and Miko's kid. Her meta-conception was pretty much that basic idea

But, ahem, yeah. Something's going on with Sachiko's paternal blood that's related to Elianne. Some big stuff

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Oh yeah, Sachiko's dad is actually the head of some other huge NKP department or something... that's probably the reason the hit was put out on her?

Funari

The Rin (Favreau) side of things is mostly just "Oh, this family is one of the famous clans in the NKP!"

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i wonder if sachiko's dad knew about this so-called curse?

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Lady Elianne is Sachiko's step-mom.

Don't want her getting the inheritance.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

oh no the mom count increases to four now

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Mum's the word.

snuffysam

what's with men not telling their partners about their bloodline stuff lol

Funari

That was Leigh. This is what I put up with when she inks pages

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Hah! That's funny. Nice heart for penache.

AV-chan

Haha

Funari

Also, Math, you are NOT the only one who has mentioned a theory that Elianne is related to Sachiko like that

I can't say yes or no though

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

it seems plausible given elianne keeps saying the blood belongs to her. and thats usually something ppl say when theyre blood-related

and theyre evil that is

snuffysam

that's also the sort of thing you say if you're evil and want blood

like in general

AV-chan

Inb4 something like Elianne is the mother of Sachiko's dad

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Or they're vampires.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

or both

elianne is sachiko's vampire granny

AV-chan

Yeah

Funari

Leigh: Isn't that the usual plot twist nowadays?

AV-chan

It's still a good twist

Funari

Elianne is....SOMETHING!

Leigh: She's a real piece of work. A real PAIN IN THE PATELLA

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I wonder

Doesn't anyone else in the roster have badass suits?

AV-chan

Wanna see Yukina in that suit soon

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Speaking of Kregor - does the guy have good lawyers, or what? He keeps getting banished to be tried for his crimes, and he keeps getting off... sometimes even portaling away before he can be banished. Who is paying his legal fees?(edited)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

it is a nice suit

Funari

The most we got right now is this

AV-chan

Elianne maybe?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

elianne of course

assuming she doesnt just bust him out of jail by other means

Funari

It's Elianne :P

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

She's a rules lawyer too then.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

speaking of kregor though, i do wonder for real if rie is still in danger. cause didnt kregor already get paid?

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

"You didn't inflect properly, so my client goes free."

AV-chan

That long hair... Yukina grew her hair?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

its bad assassin form to take the money and not finish the job

Funari

Rie is out of danger

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

dat suit

I'll take it

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Rie's mom might still pay a ransom.

Funari

Elianne has been working on something that's far more significant than the Rie thing and when Kregor told her he missed and hit Sachiko and Miko instead with her spell, she was like "Oh. OH. NEVER MIND ABOUT THE TANUKIS."

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

"Ship... out of danger?" "You saved the ship." "The needs of the many..."

Funari

Kregor would do anything for Elianne by the way

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

He would do anything for love. But he won't do that.

AV-chan

That thing huh

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

That thing with the strawberries.

Funari

Also, Nozomi is on HIGH ALERT for Kregor to show up, so even if he tried to finish the deed, he's not gonna

Nozomi...is a tough little firecracker

With a crossbow

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Lol

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i feel like this is gonna put them on the tanuki's shit list though then? cause id be pretty mad if i paid an assassin and then they were like "sorry bro my lady says we got better shit to do peace out."

Funari

Leigh: Tanuki vs Elianne. Round 1 (ding)

snuffysam

no refunds!

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

FIGHT!

Funari

Leigh: No, for real, they're welcome to try it

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

true i dont imagine theyre actually a threat XD

but they could at least go around spreading ill founded gossip

the horror

QUESTION 3. Chapter 6 of the comic is a four year time skip after Lady Elianne inadvertently captures Sachiko and Koyomiko. What do you think Yukina has been doing for the four years? Has she been in France the whole time, or do you think she came back to Japan at some point? How do you think Yukina has been coping with her missing mothers, and what do you think she intends to do about it? In regards to other characters, how do you think they’re doing? Is Rie okay, or has something happened because of her grandmother’s heir? Do you think Rie’s mother is doing okay as captain, and what do you think the state of her marriage is? Are Sachiko and Koyomiko alive still, and if so, why haven’t they escaped? What, in general, do you think is going to happen now?

snuffysam

they'll hit lady elianne where it hurts - her wallet. leave a bad review, and nobody will hire her again.

Funari

As I read this question out to Leigh, she got this HUGE smile on her face

I think she likes this question :P

snuffysam

and yeah i think things aren't looking great for nozomi. a guy kidnapped her best friends in an attempted kidnapping of her daughter, all because her husband didn't tell her anything

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Probably stayed in France for two years then came back to Japan the final two

Just having a four year-long vacation

Funari

An interesting theory

Also @snuffysam - If that all happened to me, I'd be pretty angry and stressed out, that's for sure!

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

And that's why you need a vacation

to get all that stress off ya

and plot your comeback

Funari

Nozomi needs a vacation like no one's business

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yes

Funari

Considering what we know of Nozomi's personality, and that the Captain in the NKP is the leader of the whole group...

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i think it largely depends on whats happening too. if its business as usual i think nozomi would be fine, but if crime shot up or something thatd be a diff story. albeit im sure stressed. especially if on the side shes been trying to inquire where sachiko and miko be at. and losing all the sleep. also wondering when rie's destiny will come knocking at the door

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Perhaps

Funari

We plan to do a special comic about Rie's grandmother finally showing up

Because Rie turned 18 within the 4 year timeskip

snuffysam

oh snap

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Oh snap!

Double Snap

snuffysam

hey total non-sequiter. how old was rin when she married mr. nakamura?

no wait i did the math on hayato's birth year totally wrong. ignore me.

Funari

Oh, okay xD

I was about to pull up my notes

But it's cool :P

snuffysam

np np

Funari

Oh by the way, I DID actually cover this question in a way. Theorize :P

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Oh my god

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

old enough to marry, but not old enough to recognize a potentially bad partner when she sees it

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

That looks really nice

And lol

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

ah sweet the cat thing whose name i forgot found a friend

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I’d talk about what I would do if I found out that my partner was less then desirable but this isn’t life tea party so

snuffysam

he already had one though ):

Funari

Do not forget about Miko and Sachiko D: His first friends/family

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Oh...

snuffysam

yeah, exactly

Funari

And, as we can see in the drawing, yes, Nozomi is stressing hard during the past 4 years

snuffysam

he had a friend

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

well okay, cat thing found a new friend. to combat the lonliness but probably more likely to get in elianne's way.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I wonder, what if the timeskip was only one year

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i really wanna know why elianne specifically referred to the cat as a renegade

Funari

Leigh: Well, he's done it once. What's not to say he'll do it again?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

the timeskip wasnt only one year tho?

Funari

Koneko the Renegade~

snuffysam

well, this may come as a shock - but i don't believe koneko was born on earth

Funari

Or, if you've read the most recent pages, Ozadarr :P

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

Koneko is the real hero of the story

snuffysam

and we don't know how old he is at that. it's possible he's been a thorn in elianne's side since before miko was born

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

that is the impression i got

that theres tons of past history here

and koneko is a sneaky sneak

Funari

Leigh: No one really knows how old Koneko is. Except us, of course

Funari

Koneko is very much a sneaky sneak!

And even besides the Elianne thing, consider that Koneko looked exactly the same between the 2000s-era journal flashbacks and Yucchan's present time...Red flags

snuffysam

plenty of cats look the same across, like, 30 years

not weird at all

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Mmmm

Very sneaky~

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

but speaking of not koneko, im gonna be optimistic and assume sachiko and miko are alive and just being held prisoner. since elianne cant do the evil without memories or something apparently. meanwhile koneko fled to mexico or canada. O_O cause thats where all the criminals in popculture flee.

Funari

Those memories....they're pretty important

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

4 years of prison.

Sounds like hell

snuffysam

i don't think koneko's running away so much as looking for help

and hey, at least they have each other?

Funari

4 years of prison while suffering from amnesia!

Just imagine looking to the side, and there's another beautiful woman and you have NO idea who they are, and they're giving you that same look

snuffysam

at least when they get out they'll know for sure that love at first sight is a real thing?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

elianne is at least being nice if she puts them in a cell or something together.

Funari

Leigh: I like that remark! @snuffysam

They're in exactly the same place you saw them in the Interlude

So...sort of a prison?

Not the bars and concrete kind, but they're trapped in that weird bubble in a strange dimension (though the beginning of ch 6 mentions what it is in slightly more detail as a passing comment...)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

QUESTION 4. By Yukina’s time period, Sachiko and Koyomiko are pretty legendary. What do you think happened in the past that earned them such notoriety? Is it something to do with catching Kregor, Koyomiko’s Ascendant Rights work, or just everything put together? Speaking of the past, do you think Koyomiko repaired the relationship with her family at some point? We also see a brief flashback of how Sachiko lost her eye, so what do you think are the circumstances that brought that about? Aside from the past, do you think reading the journals about Sachiko and Koyomiko has helped Yukina in ways besides offering her a new perspective on them? Do you believe they will help Yukina find her raison?

snuffysam

"And for almost catching Kregor for good no less than sixty times, we give the medal of bravery to Sachiko and Koyomiko!"

Funari

The Kregor Katcher Award

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

(A half hour of crying baby later... )

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

poor baby :<

Funari

:<

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Regards the prior question, obviously the reason Sachiko and Miko haven't escaped yet is because they don't have their memories and don't know where to escape to. It's a fun Catch-22, because if they had their memories, they'd be put to death.

(Baby's had a bottle now. No, not the weird one, the other one. And not with the cold formula, the other stuff.)

Funari

Leigh: Right on the money

Leigh: There's a few more complexities involved, but that's the gist of it

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

That kinda seemed obvious to me.

(Am I making up for not realizing who the mothers were?)

Funari

Leigh: It wasn't supposed to be particularly hidden lol

Leigh: You're forgiven. For now

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

it was pretty obvious but ya never know when someone might have an interesting theory

like elianne gave them part time work and theyre like "sweet this pays way more than min wage"

Funari

Yeah, no that makes perfect sense. But, in this case, we weren't trying to hide anything extra there

We'll be adding more details in the next few updates actually

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Seconding Rebel

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Also regards the prior question, I feel like Yukina's been trying to train herself in France so as to (1) Not ask stupid questions like what's going on when in the middle of a tense situation, and (2) Learn from Cassandra about what to do to avoid flipping out after freezing at the end of said tense situation.

Funari

Thank you for remembering that Cassandra exists :3

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

LOVE the Cassandra angle. Gotta go to her for Ascendant issues.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i was wondering if we were gonna see cassandra again

Funari

VERY soon

snuffysam

i wonder if Yukina'll meet up with her grandfather?

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

I mean, she could be in Scotland, but she did speak French. shrugs

Funari

We're both very fond of Cassie

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Training during a break seems like a good idea. Especially for four years

Never skipping leg day either

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

As to the NEW question, perhaps they're legendary for their looooove. It was even pointed out how everyone in school knew back then.

Funari

Cassandra's well-traveled. She knows French, German, and a bit of Japanese thanks to having Miko as a very close friend

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

omg math. that would actually be hilarious if true. theyre legendary because no matter the trial their love was unconquered

Funari

WELL, in a personal sense, that may be true!

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Does Yuzu + Miko = Suzaku no Miko? (hashtag Fushigi Yugi...)

Funari

Leigh: Certainly, when everyone who was at their wedding remembers them for their bond!

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Rebel: True love did kind of conquor that darkness spell that hit Sachiko.

(I mean, it wasn't a kiss, but still... we can imagine that...)

Funari

heheh

Their love is pretty darn important!

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Actually, maybe Sachiko's already conquered her evil step-mom? Could be someone other than Elianne, maybe that was the big deal.

Losing the eye was probably a prophecy... darn those prophecies...

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Never underestimate it

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i am curious why sachiko didnt seem to block kregor in that flashback. like theres a point id think shed stop freezing up with fear, but maybe it was not at that time i guess

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Actually, kind of interesting that in 2031 they don't have a prosthetic for that. Unless Sachiko wears the eyepatch as a badge of honour.

Funari

It was an incident related to Elianne. No prophecies this time, just some crazy stuff.

Sachiko definitely has a problem with freezing up

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Rebel: Maybe Miko was behind her.

Funari

The wound isn't natural

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

hmm thats interesting it isnt natural

which makes me think man, that must of hurt even more

Funari

But yeah, deep down, Sachiko would prefer to solve things without violence. Miko's the more violent-prone one

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

As to Miko's family... I kinda doubt it? The way she referred to her mom and everything back then? The ascendancy stuff becoming mainstream might have helped, but I kinda doubt it.

Funari

Conferring with Leigh and

Eh, may as well just say it

No

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

The wound isn't natural... it's artificial. Sachiko's been a clone this whole time.

Gotcha. Probably why Miko wants to do things better with her family though.

Funari

Miko's mom's attitude never changed, so Miko never made up with her. Even Tomoko eventually moved away from her, though she still has a sort-of connection there. Sort of

Oh yeah. That's how she reacted to the abuse. It helped that she had folks like Sachiko and Rin around to show her what family can be like, and her dad WAS an okay man, but he was married to....that. She always wanted to be better than her mom

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Actually, if anyone's a clone, it's probably Kregor. Explains why he was vanquished 60 times.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I man, how many people stride to be better than their parents? Just curious

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

haha i suspected. making up with ppl is difficult if it can be done at all in those cases.

you cant clone kregor

kregor is one of a kind

O_O

Funari

Leigh: personal experience

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Hmmm, if Miko had both Sachiko and a clone of Sachiko to spend time with at once...

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

math plz

theres already a threesome with allie in the mix

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Always room for one more.

One for the shadows, one for the daytime.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

A foursome?

Sign me up

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

anyway, idk if the journals helped yukina find a raison or purpose, but im sure her moms getting kidnapped certainly helped

Funari

(was trying to make this quick. It DOES seem like Kregor's got fans!)

snuffysam

"gee yukina, how come you get to have FOUR moms whenmmmmghg-" gets kidnapped by kitsune grandma

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Oooh, title drop. (Yeah, I was surprised that with all the French nods, Funari's not part French that I can tell...)

Funari

omg

Leigh: I think Rie would say that one mom is plenty, giving who HER mom is!

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Kregor's the villain you love to hate.

Funari

And in regards to @✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨ - we're definitely moving towards a moment of recknoning for Yucchan

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

So here's a question I wanted to ask before we run out of time -- have we seen Pan in the future?

Did I just miss it?

Funari

Not yet

She's in the little "How things have changed" drawing, and there are plans, but officially not yet

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Ooooh, hmmmm. As long as she didn't turn to the dark side.

Funari

No, we can confidently confirm that Pan is still on our side ;p

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Lol

What about the light side

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Mr & Mrs Daggers?

Funari

fjfjgjfj

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i have wondered where pan has been too. i think from the time skip im most interested in seeing what rie's dad is up too given for all i know nozomi kicked his butt out onto the street into the gutter(edited)

snuffysam

good

Funari

OOF

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Okay since we're running out of time here I just wanted to say good luck on the rest of the comic and hope it all goes well, there's some seriously good reads hidden in there.

Funari

Thanks much :3

Any other quick questions?

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Yeah, funny thing is, I can kind of see why he'd bow to the pressure of not telling his wife about Rie. The thing I don't get is him not telling about who he was before the marriage, that's the weird transgression to me.

Funari

Leigh and I have certainly had lots of fun tonight! Glad you all have enjoyed what we've done so far!

Leigh: Mmmhmm (too secretive for his own good)

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Does "Cat" have a human form too?

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

You're welcome!(edited)

Funari

TECHNICALLY yes

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Hashtag catgirls?

(Or catboys, whatever.)

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Funari

Catpeople

But yes, technically he does, but we won't see it any time soon. There are Reasons

raisons

Elianne's gonna do a huge exposition dump in the next few pages

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Cassandra's mother was secretly a catgirl.

Funari

She is...preparing for it

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Anyway, good job! It'll be interesting to see what happens as comic looks at other planes, as seems to be happening in the new pages.(edited)

(Or just people from other planes hiding out in ours.)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

COMIC TEA PARTY END!

Unfortunately, the scheduled Comic Tea Party time is now up~! Thank you everyone so much for reading and joining this week’s chat~! We want to give a special thank you to Cloud Fourteen (Funari and Leigh), as well, for making Raison d'Etre and volunteering it for our reading queue. If you liked the comic, please be sure to support Cloud Fourteen (Funari and Leigh)’s efforts however you’re able to. All that being said, if you would like to continue discussing this week’s comic, we highly encourage you to do so~!

For next week, Comic Tea Party will focus on Pathways: Chronicles of Tuvana by Elaine Tipping. As always, please use the next several days to read as much of the comic as you would like. We hope to see you next Thursday on August 23rd from 5PM to 7PM PDT for the chat~! Until then, happy reading~! Comic: http://pathways.smackjeeves.com/

[kyloren]

Mileven post-S2 fanfiction recommendation list: PART VI

To compensate for the long wait, part VI is extra long. For past rec lists please see instalments I, II, III, IV, and V. If your fanfic isn’t featured, apologies. Message me and we’ll amend that grievance in the next rec list instalment. 

* marks the ongoing stories. 

canon: 

chain reaction* by FourthHorse: “Old ghosts come back knocking, and growing up was never meant to be easy.” 

what makes you different by cali-chan (girls_are_weird): ““I wish you could see yourself like I see you,” he breathed out almost subconsciously. “Because then… you’d know.””

+ its sequel: we are not alone by cali-chan (girls_are_weird): “And just like that, the library at Hawkins High had become a war room, a strategy session where all the members of the party devised a plan to protect one of their own. Because that’s what friends do.” 

i wanna dance with somebody by @eleventhemage​ (richiewheeler (jormaperalta): “Eleven is popular. And mike feels insecure about it (she gonna chose being popular over him) but she chooses him.” 

a year in the life by @jeeno2: “Four times Mike and Eleven don’t kiss and one time they do.” 

eleven things* by Socalledfriend: “Eleven returns, but things don’t just go back to the way they were. It’s not clear how she managed to get home, and meanwhile Will’s sickness is only getting worse. Some things never change though, and while she’s back, Mike manages to teach her at least eleven things about the outside world.” 

the rules by Strange_Archivist: “Hopper lays down the rules for Mike.” 

what’s in a name? by @isaksredscarf (wordsarelifealways): “It’s been about a fortnight, and El wants to share her real name with Mike.” 

day 21 by kittenCorrosion: “It’s not the first day, day one, but it’s the first day she hears him. The first day she realises how much he misses her. The first day she remembers just how much she needs him.”

return to me* by AdelaideElaine: “Eleven reappears as suddenly as she left, and although she wants to stay with Joyce Byers, it’s decided that it would be best for all involved if she lives at the Wheeler house. Karen tries to teach her to cook, Mike tries to teach her to dance, and Nancy is charged with the task of trying to teach her how to be a Normal Girl — even if having Jonathan Byers back in her life means that she has less understanding of what that means than ever.” 

are you gonna be my girl by cali-chan (girls_are_weird): ““So,” he whispered in her ear, dropping a kiss on her cheek that she leaned into, “what do you say? Do you want to be my girlfriend?”” 

jane, pt. 1 by EvieSmallwood: “El tells Mike her real name.”

jane, pt. 2 by EvieSmallwood: “Love is a funny old thing.” 

time together by JoMo3: “Mike and Eleven have a sleepover.” 

+ its sequel: more than like by JoMo3: “Mike and El have the “l word” talk.” 

understand by DBSean: “Mike Wheeler and Chief Hopper have a long-overdue discussion about their favourite person.” 

christmas with the wheelers by luxuriousvoyage11: “On the first week in December, nerdy stuttering Mike Wheeler had done his routine visit and bashfully invited El and her adoptive father over for Christmas dinner.” 

contact by sporadicallyceaseless: “Before, El didn’t know any good people, or things she liked, or touches that didn’t hurt. Things are much different now. Much better.” 

safe by DBSean: ““El?” Mike asked, now fully awake, his concern and confusion quickly overriding any remnants of sleep or exhaustion he may have been experiencing. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?” Eleven nodded, and Mike saw for the first time that there were tears in her eyes. “Not safe.”” 

11 months by @eddiesghost (thewolfmoon): “Eleven’s gone for 353 days. Mike struggles through each and every one of them.” 

like a distant star by someone.else.before: “Now that Mike knows El is alive, he’s not going to let even the scariest police chief in the world get in the way of seeing her again.”  

first christmas by Browneyesparker: “Mike and El celebrate Christmas together.” 

crying in the rain by DreamersMyth27: ““I miss moments like this more than anything,” Mike sighed. El looked at him curiously and tilted her head to the side slightly.” 

the first summer* by Kiddo7: “It’s the gang’s first summer all together, and Mike can’t wait to show El all that it has to offer.” 

sugar cookies & snow days by Browneyesparker: “Mike and El have a snow day, and bake some sugar cookies together.” 

the first outing by pathvain_aelien: “Eleven goes bowling.” 

+ actually pathvain_aelien has a lot of interesting stories that you should check out. 

perfect summer day by AR357: “It was a sunny summer day in 1984. Mike had been looking forward to this day for a while. With each breath of crisp summer air, he felt more and more invigorated. With each hill he crested, he felt his heart thumping away. But then again, maybe he was just thinking about what the day’s events would hold.”

things you said* by Brown Eyes Parker: “a collection of one-shots revolving around Mike & Eleven and things they say to each other.” 

things you said, alternate stories* by Brown Eyes Parker: “Original and alternate or continuations of stories in my “things you said” series.” 

cold, helpless, fragile as glass when i shatter, i will find you* by janeelevenives83: “Mike and El Wheeler had never expected their life to be normal. One little stick at 4am on the bathroom floor changes that. But when old ‘friends’ come back to play, they leave with not only their ultimate goal, but a piece of Eleven that leaves a gnawing hole in her. And Mike won’t stand for it…” 

raspberry breeze by urdearestmom: “Sometimes she stays up with him, and she calls him ridiculous. How don't you fall over when you get up in the morning? She asks. Pfft, I don’t need sleep! Who do you think I am? He says, but then he smiles and her heart melts, she’s never been able to be angry at this boy for more than a few minutes.” 

alternative universe: 

lost in translation* by cosmilk: “For a whole year, the Wheelers are going to live with a foreign exchange student. Little does Mike know he’s going to get pretty attached to this girl.” foreign-exchange-student!El AU. 

(all i wanna be is) somebody to you* by sinclairsmax: “Elle Hopper never thought that she’d win American Idol. Then again, she also never thought Mike Wheeler would fall in love with her. Behind the cameras, everything is turned upside down.” YouTubers AU. [I AM FREAKING OUT. I AM FREAKING OUT.] 

inked mesmerisms* by apathetical: “Twelve year old Mike Wheeler isn’t sure what to make of things when the numbers ‘011’ suddenly appear upon his wrist one day.” Soulmate AU. 

infinite, undying* by @eleventhemage richiewheeler (jormaperalta): “When Hawkins Lab and Department of Energy officially decided to merge, it was discovered both factions had been experimenting on children in order to create super spies. 011, a tekekinetic, was from the Hawkins Lab side. “Mike,” a fire manipulator, was from the DoE side.” Mike is also an experiment AU. 

mixtape* by @elevenseggoobsession (frankiethebard): “Mike & Jane hook up at a party, then discover their parents are engaged to be married. Can they put their attraction aside, or will it be too strong to ignore?” High School AU. 

greyscale by @trash-the-tozier​ (littleboxesofstars): “Soulmates are what make the world vibrant, colors getting brighter and brighter the closer a pair of souls get to one another. In usual cases, the world starts off black and white and changes as a person travels, but for Mike, colors have always been there. Faint, but there, and that doesn’t change until the night his friend Will goes missing.” Soulmate AU. 

you ain’t nobody until you got somebody* by lovelysarcastic: “What if soulmates aren’t good for us? What if that so-called soulmate, the one that supposedly is so good for you, instead of loving you right, destroys you?” Soulmate AU. 

no remedy for memory by runawayrunt: “At 23, Mike Wheeler is going for broke. Having quit college on his sophomore year, he traded the diploma for the dream. At 18, Jane “Eleven” Hopper is ready to leave her entire life behind. She took a bus ride from Sacramento to Los Angeles on a hot day. The chorus of the cicadas sounded off like a farewell hymn.” 

all sorts of far away* by BinarySunrise: “Eleanor Hopper is a quiet, pretty cheerleader with more than a few mysteries in her past. Mike is a nerd with a secret crush on her. She has more walls in place than the popular crowd cares to tear down, and he’s more than a little paranoid about reaching out to girls like her, but fate still finds its ways of pushing them together.”

reality in motion* by AkaiaOwl: “It hurt her to listen to the ruthless voice in her head, but, as much as she hated to admit it, El knew it was probably right. It had happened countless times before. Well, actually two. Two times in which El found herself feeling funny and giddy and hopeful about someone, only to be disappointed. It always ended that way. She was destined to be alone and it was probably for the best.” College AU. 

things change* by untiltheyfindtheperfectgirl: “Two years have passed since Eleven went missing. A distraught Mike has pulled away from the party and made friends with his middle school bullies. What happens when one day in sophomore year a mysterious character from his past resurfaces?” 

karma by reddieforlove: “Mike didn’t fully understand the meaning of instant karma until a small hand came out of nowhere and whacked him in the face with enough force to blind him for several moments.” College AU. 

all for one* by PaladinofFarore: “1985 was going to be a wild school year.” Time Travel AU. 

blind date by reddieforlove: “Mike is a waiter. Eleven is on a terrible date.” 

crossover: 

a happy thought by midas_touch_of_angst: “The Party tries to summon their Patronuses. El seems to be having the hardest time.” Hogwarts AU. 

+ bonus: wherein The Party is featured prominently once again: 

a different kind of monster by @bananannabeth: “Billy Hargrove seems to have a habit of getting Karen to answer the door in nothing but a robe. Unfortunately for him, she’s noticed that he also seems to have a habit of beating his step-sister.” 

love (and other weird things) by cali-chan (girls_are_weird): “The Wheelers travel to New York to spend Thanksgiving 1987 with Nancy, and Mike is having trouble going two days without speaking to his girlfriend.” 

a gift for mike by PureShores: “Lucas, Dustin and Will come up with the perfect Christmas gift idea for Mike. But giving it to him might be a little more complicated.”

raising peter rabbit by @paradiamond: “After the Gate closes, Jim and El kick off their better start.” 

the wild youth (reckless) by dumbledore_93: ““He looks really bad,” Dustin croaks. “There’s a lot of blood.” Mike steps over cautiously. There is a lot of blood.”

kids these days by apollos: “Between fighting monsters and catching her little brother doing that with his girlfriend, Nancy would rather have the monsters.” 

and then there was one by @timetravl (dustingspace): “In which Dustin is the last remaining party member to believe in Santa Claus; and the rest of the party has to debate over whether or not to tell him the truth.”

you’re not alone* by Playfulelectrode: “This is right after El closes the Gate. We start with Mike, and what it’s like while he waits for Hopper to come back with El. There will be an exploration into the world as El tries to not only figure out where she belongs, but also who she is.” 

after the gate closed* by insomniacwriter17: “Jonathan doesn’t know how to deal with all the people staying in his house after the events of the night. Luckily, he’s not the only one.”

finally (i don’t care about tradition) @eleventhemage richiewheeler (jormaperalta): “I don’t care about tradition, you try and get me to kiss you under the mistletoe and I will punch you.” 

you are in love* by @upsidedownpromises (rainingcatsandkisses): “Little moments that make Eleven realise that she’s in love.” 

sometimes a family is* by merrymegtargaryen: “Just some domestic fluff with only the vaguest inclination of a plot.” 

someone to turn to by Val-Creative: “El finds meaning in her new identity and home and a relatively peaceful existence. When things don’t go the way they should, she’s grateful for Mike sticking with her. Max attempts to befriend her one last time, for the sake of their friends and themselves.”

a girl is the strongest thing you can be by @timetravl (dustingspace): “She thinks about the Demogorgon and the MindFlayer and part of her wonders if she’s the same girl now that she was when she defeated them. People don’t treat her like she is.”

the importance of thinking happy thoughts by selkieskin: “Eleven didn’t want to be angry any more. So when she was alone in the cabin during the day and she tried to use her powers using an emotion other than anger, she just kept on thinking of how much attention Mike was paying to Will, not her, and anger kept welling up anyway.” 

i’m gross? by untiltheyfindtheperfectgirl: “An unexpectedly eventful snow day...”

so i could kill them for you by valancysnaith: “Max deserves so much better. The party is there for her.” [this one is…odd, to say the least.] 

time’s just holding me down (i’ll tear up this town) by jormaperalta: “The Snow Ball is this weekend, and the Demogorgon is back. Thankfully, so is Eleven.” 

an even stranger connection by untiltheyfindtheperfectgirl: “Mike looked down at Eleven, his eyes wide. Was he really hearing Eleven in his head?” 

.

.

P.S. I’m trying out a thing where I tag the author’s tumblrs if I find them. With that in mind, if anyone knows the authors I featured in previous instalments, would you please tag them. Thanks. 🌸 

[tiefighters]

ILM Shares ‘Star Wars Stories’ at Gnomon

ILM’S Paul Giacoppo, Charmaine Chan, and Jay Machado discuss their career paths, making Rogue One, and much more. 

From the opening shot until those final moments before the Tantive IV takes off into hyperspace, Rogue One’s visual storytelling takes center-stage in a big way. The credits run long for a reason, and that’s because hundreds of people at Industrial Light & Magic worked tirelessly to bring every major visual to life in a way that felt both “classic” and new at the same time. Last month at Gnomon University in Los Angeles, three of those visionaries brought their work to an audience of eager visual effects students in a special presentation called Star Wars Stories: An Evening with ILM. ILM’s Paul Giacoppo, Charmaine Chan, and Jay Machado brought decades’ worth of experience to their discussion.

Machado was on the modeling team for The Force Awakens’ Millennium Falcon, and created the award-winning Imperial Star Destroyer that we see rise from the shadows in Rogue One. Charmaine Chan spoke of her history at ILM, illustrating how careers grow and change on the company’s campus. Giacoppo is behind some extremely recognizable work that reaches back decades over the history of Lucasfilm and ILM; the crowd was hooked when he showed off his visually memorable “Hulk Smash” shot from Marvel’s Avengers.

But while their extensive careers could take up an entire editorial on their own, the focus of the evening was visual storytelling, and how ILM created Rogue One. Giacoppo outlined the overall objective of what the team wanted fans to see and understand: “The idea behind our work on Rogue One was that it had to have the visual feel of the classic 1977 Star Wars, but have a new vision as well.”

When it came to seeking out inspiration, the team had to look further than the usual standards. They began with concepts by Ralph McQuarrie, Joe Johnson, and several others that defined the look of Star Wars. These angular, expansive, and recognizable styles still reflect throughout Rogue One, but the team looked at what they could do differently as well, because the story in itself was different from the norm. “[McQuarrie and Johnson’s concepts] were part of what the visual language of Rogue One was,” said Giacoppo. “But it was a different kind of movie. It was a true war movie, about people with a mission to complete. So it’s not exactly a ‘hero’s journey,’ and we had to change what we were doing in order to tell this different kind of story.”

Giacoppo dove into set design, then, showing off digital recreations of classic sets that were created by John Knoll, ILM’s chief creative officer and a staple of Star Wars creativity. Knoll, attempting to explain how characters would move through various scenes, created digital set tours practically overnight in order to explain his vision.

Giacoppo then dove into characters that were created digitally for the film, focusing first and foremost on K-2SO, who he says has been part of the Rogue One story since its original pitch. K-2SO varied greatly from past on-screen droid companions, who were so often cute, or at least a little more friendly-looking. “He’s intimidating, he’s really stealthy, and he’s huge… and he was always an Imperial enforcer droid.

“There was a lot of time spent with the texture artists to get those same materials and weathering we’re used to in Star Wars,” Giacoppo explained, noting the details that showed Kaytoo’s age and length of use.

The team took designing Kaytoo very seriously, spending hours on specific details about how he would emote. The team looked at more eyes than one can count on two hands, then went through tests of how they would move — if at all — and how Kaytoo looked when expressing himself. “There was a big push to have a part of him blink, and to have a part of him move his mouth,” said Giacoppo, noting that such a thing is a rarity among Star Wars droids, who often reflect a much more industrial feel in design than most AI-driven beings within the genre. “But it just didn’t feel like Star Wars. See, he’s all blinking and jittering around… there’s too much going on.” With animation supervisor Hal Hickel’s guidance, the team ultimately went with “this sort of more impassive mask”, said Giacoppo, allowing fans to read and “project” emotions onto Kaytoo as they got to know him.

As a special bonus, Giacoppo showed a tiny clip of K-2SO playing with toys that paired with some very familiar audio from Alan Tudyk’s Wash in Firefly (“Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!).

ILM’s Jay Machado, a hard-surface modeler and texture artist, was a welcome and familiar face that evening. As a Gnomon alum himself, Machado’s post-grad years have been more than exciting. For Rogue One, following his Millenium Falcon re-creation, Machado was tasked with creating iconic ship-looks once again. To set the tone for the talk, Machado showed off that iconic opening shot from A New Hope, where the belly of the Star Destroyer sails over the camera in pursuit of Princess Leia’s Tantive IV. “We wanted it to feel like the exact same era,” said Machado. So, his team at ILM went to the root of all builds to recreate and design ships in Rogue One. “For the ships, we went up to the archives, we took lots of photos, we scanned things, stuff like that — all to get the ships to be just right,” Machado told the crowd. “There’s a few people still working at ILM that we were able to talk to, like [long-time ILM VFX artist and supervisor] Dennis Muren, who [shot] much of this originally, and that really helped when it came to making it accurate.

“What I was surprised by is that the original Star Destroyer is only three feet long…a lot of the panel lines are drawn in with pencil. And we wanted to match that so that in a way, you could watch Rogue One and seamlessly start A New Hope.”

As far as new ships went, Machado noted that the tasks were just as difficult, but worth every grueling second. “Working with Doug Chiang and the art department, we had to design [the new ships] in a way that felt familiar so that they would blend in seamlessly with the ships we know and love.” Machado highlighted the U-wing, Krennic’s ship, and the new TIE strikers, stating that they were kind of meant to “compliment” the U-wing, with forward-sweeping panels and a unique, planet-specific use.

What may have been most exciting was the creation of new ships to the canon, like the Ghost from Star Wars Rebels, which featured on screen twice in Rogue One. “It fell to me to actually [build the Ghost] and it was kind of a secret project,” said Machado. “Well, at first it was a secret. Nobody else was supposed to know about it. I was supposed to do this quickly, and I had to design it in between my daily work so that people within the office wouldn’t start getting suspicious,” he joked. There are panels and pieces that might look familiar, too — parts of the Ghost might look similar to the Falcon, and that’s no mistake.

One other major ship from Rebels that ended up in Rogue One came all the way from the Knights of the Old Republic games, originally. Hammerhead cruisers, which Princess Leia worked with Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger to steal for the Rebellion in Star Wars Rebels, played an integral part in Rogue One, and Machado was among those responsible for their finished designs on the big screen.

Charmaine Chan’s presentation focused more on the process of growing her career before and after ILM. As an up-and-coming artist who veered off the trail that her parents originally wanted (worry not — they were ultimately supportive either way), Chan hit the ground running by creating work early and producing it every day. Since joining ILM, Chan has worked on more movies than one can count — a once-over of her IMDB page shows credits for Transformers, Captain America: Civil War, Jurassic World, and more. But her beginnings were in Web development.

According to Chan, she learned HTML, CSS+, and more “so that I could build Spice Girls websites” as a little girl. As that hobby grew, Chan broke into graphic design, then Flash animation. (As someone who started her career building Star Wars and N*SYNC fansites, this writer can relate.) “That’s what really started all of this, because I started watching movies closer and learning what it took to compose a full shot. There’s lightning, texture, and all sorts of details to consider, which I found really interesting…it really helped me move into this form of art.” Chan took those skills to the next level, learning visual effects, making motion graphics (“You know, like, DVD menus!” she joked) and eventually applying for a digital research position at ILM. “That gave me a really great overview of what the VFX process is,” said Chan. “I got to touch the shots at the beginning and the end.” From there, she kept working her way into a position at ILM that has grown and spanned over a decade, leading to her work as a compositor today.

The night was a wonderfully informative look at how the story of Rogue One was brought to to the big screen with stunning, modern, yet familiar visuals. One of the biggest surprises for this writer was learning about the sheer scale of people working on each Star Wars film. Hundreds of names scroll down through the credits after every film, but there’s just something unique and different about putting faces to those names and realizing just how many people it takes to make our favorite galaxy far, far away come to life.

[gta-5-cheats]

Life is Strange: Before the Storm Review

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Life is Strange: Before the Storm Review

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“What would Chloe do?” was a question I asked myself repeatedly during the three episodes of Life is Strange: Before the Storm, the prequel story set three years prior to 2015’s Life is Strange. Before the Storm puts you in the role of the previous game’s protagonist’s (Max’s) best friend, back when she was still a sophomore. While playing as Max felt more natural – she was generally more agreeable and hence easier to relate to – Chloe is unlike her in most ways, and her rebellious streak is crucial to not just everything she does, but everything she says too.

Of course, it’s nigh impossible to not let personal biases, prejudices, and experiences influence your choices in dialogue trees. This is an interactive story, after all, one where you get to decide how you want Chloe to behave and how those decisions shape her life.

While most choices are clear cut – a report card at the end of each episode shows what percentage of the community chose what route – the biggest decisions continue to be polarising in Before the Storm, just as they were with Max in Life is Strange, where sacrificing Chloe to save Arcadia Bay or sacrificing Arcadia Bay to save Chloe was split down the middle.

The consequences aren’t as heavy and world-altering as they were in the original. Max’s time-travelling abilities allowed her to reverse events and bring back people from the dead. But now your decisions carry more impact at times, owing to their permanence.

You can still reload from the last checkpoint to try out different scenarios in the short term, but time – and the story – are linear in the long run. Chloe’s “abilities”, if you can even call them that, are simply a by-product of her personality: the Backtalk feature, appearing in dialogue trees now and then, lets you twist people’s words to aggravate and annoy them, in a bid to get them to do what you want. It’s used sparingly throughout Before the Storm, but it develops nicely across the three episodes, giving you more or less room depending on who you’re conversing with.

  But the real beauty of the prequel story – penned by American developer Deck Nine, taking over from Paris-based Dontnod, which caused reservations among the fandom before the game’s release at the end of August – is in its writing, be it the emotional depth it affords all its characters (even the supporting cast), the rushed yet touching portrayal of queer teenage romance, as two girls open up about their feelings, or the way it talks about grief over losing a loved one, and exploring how it embeds itself in nearly everything you face.

There were genuine concerns that exploring the origins of Chloe’s reverence of Rachel – who became her best friend in the intervening years Max had moved away to Seattle – could easily backfire, given she was this haloed and mesmerising figure players kept hearing about in Life is Strange. Thankfully, Before the Storm crafts a nuanced, multi-layered depiction of Rachel, one that pulls you in the minute you meet her in the first episode, and progresses in ways that help convince you of the connection between her and Chloe.

And given that you’ve prior knowledge of the tragedy that befell her – the third and final episode of Before the Storm closes with a shot that is bound to evoke heart-breaking memories for anyone who played the original game in full – it makes the moments you spend with the duo all the more important and emotionally-packed, knowing that fate is coming soon for Rachel.

The walk under the street-lights after the play in episode two is a highlight, and it is extended conversations like those, where the characters wallow and inhabit one environment, that enrich Before the Storm. It’s also great to see a game having two powerful female protagonists at its centre, praise which underscores the sad state of video game affairs in 2017.

Note: spoilers ahead for Life is Strange: Before the Storm

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Equally important, and more affecting, is the honest dialogue and comments on dealing with grief. The death of Chloe’s father is inescapable for the high school dropout, following her like a shadow no matter what she tackles, and the dreamscape sequences in Before the Storm – most of which end in wailing and severe anguish for the protagonist – form the bedrock for understanding her slow descent into caring less and less about the world around her.

She does ultimately start to find peace towards the end of the third episode, accepting that he wasn’t perfect because nobody is, but that doesn’t change the fact he’s still her dad (even though he only exists in her mind). That connects into the story arc of Rachel finding the truth about her parents, who have lied to her to keep her away from any negative influences.

Lying to your loved ones to protect them is another theme for Before the Storm, which ties it into the big final decision you’ve to make as Chloe: will you give Rachel the truth and risk breaking up her family, or shield her from the harshness and bitter nature of truth, in turn keeping her from what she wants? The fact that the player-base has been split evenly on answering that dilemma shows the uniqueness of an interactive game opposed to a TV show, where fans get to see the what-ifs played out, instead of just discussing them in theory.

All this is improved by the game’s defining soundtrack, composed by the British indie folk rock outfit Daughter. In our review of the opening episode, we spoke of how the electric guitar and drums reflected Chloe’s aggressive streak, but it’s also the lyrics that communicate and deepen the tortured nature of the teenager – Burn It Down is a distillation of her feelings – while helping immerse you in the hella-cool fictional world of Arcadia Bay, based in the US state of Oregon.

And between all this misery and heart-break, Before the Storm also manages to squeeze in some much-needed comedy, with Chloe being dragged into a high school performance of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, having helped Rachel win back her leading role from Victoria: Prospera, the original play’s male lead as a female one. The look on Chloe’s face as she realises the horror of having to perform on stage is a delight, and one of the funniest moments the franchise has provided.

Taken all together, the three-episode story of Before the Storm is a meaningful, well-written addition to the Life is Strange canon, that tackles grief, love, and loneliness in noteworthy ways, sheds light on how Chloe became the 19-year-old broken soul, maintains the enigma of Rachel while giving a peek, and even ensures all its side characters are properly serviced. It doesn’t have the scale of the original, but it’s all the better for it.

Life is Strange: Before the Storm is proof that good prequels don’t just extend the atmosphere of what fans loved about its predecessor, but complement one another.

Pros:

Good, honest writing

Side characters serviced too

Themes, and what it has to say about them

Scenes with extended conversations

Big, powerful choices

Soundtrack

Cons:

Some conversations are uninteresting

Rating (out of 10): 9

Gadgets 360 played a review copy of Life is Strange: Before the Storm on the PC. The game’s Deluxe Edition – which comes with a bonus episode starring young Max and Chloe, available early 2018 – is currently on sale, down to Rs. 1,415 on the PS4, Rs. 1,456 on Xbox One, and Rs. 490 on Steam. It costs $16.99 in the US on all platforms.

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[kyloren]

Mileven post-S2 fanfiction recommendation list: PART III

This is a follow-up part III to the first and second instalments I made. I am far, far from finished with ao3 tag, as you can see. If your fanfic isn’t featured, apologies. Message me and we’ll amend that grievance in the next rec list instalment. 

* marks the ongoing stories. 

canon: 

can’t help falling in love with you* by Phantasmoplast: “The gate has been closed, Will has been cured, and the girl who has been haunting Mike’s dreams for a year is back. Everything is back to normal. Everything is perfect. There’s just one burr: Mike and Eleven are madly in love and it’s obvious to everyone except each other.” [THIS ONE IS SO GREAT. HONESTLY.] 

1985* by EvieSmallwood: “The DOE may have left Hawkins, but the mysteries and horrors have not. Darkness still lingers in the heart of Will Byers, and something else lurks in the shadows…” 

three hundred and fifty three* by argenttmccall: “(almost) a year’s worth of getting used to the New Normal. it takes them a while, but they’ll get there.” 

cherubim by veausy: “Reaching out one finger carefully, El brushed it over his bottom lip, watching pink skin stretch under the pressure. Mike stayed asleep.” 

four in the morning by cali-chan (girls_are_weird): ““You want me to get some sleep and go to school today? Then take me to the cabin. Please,” he was all but begging.” 

kinda like a promise by cali-chan (girls_are_weird): ““Like a secret?” “Yeah, but a good one. Like… it means more because it’s just between the two of us. It’s special.” January 1985 brings holiday-break afternoons at the Hoppers’.” 

if you love the girl by cali-chan (girls_are_weird): ““You should try not to get mad, you know. They only tease you because it gets such a rise out of you. But when you look past all the annoying stuff, they’re actually really happy for you.”” 

they are part of Mike, Eleven, and the quiet moments series, which is awesome. Check it out. 

nos adducere lucem* by richiewheeler (jormaperalta): “What happens when the headlights dim, the shadow leaves, and the gate closes.” 

love you like a love song* by FateChica: “For 353 days, Mike has lived without El. For 353 days, El has watched from afar and wished. Then the counting ends and the rest of their lives begin.” 

something strange in your neighborhood by vapoir: “Eleven goes out on halloween after all.” 

not half-way happy, just happy* by GhostHunterxoxo: “A retelling of Mike and El’s reunion and goodbye before she fights the Mind Flayer.” 

word of the day* by emmaofmisthaven: “aftermath: the period that follows an unpleasant event or accident, and the effects that it causes.” 

power cut* by PureShores: “Since returning from the Upside Down, El’s powers haven’t been the same. She worked so hard to return to them. Will her friends still want her once they find out?” 

what a night! by SmoothFluffle: “0.09 of BAC?! What were these kids thinking? How did Lucas even think of driving?!” 

and its sequel monday after by SmoothFluffle: “The group of bruised teens made quite a sight as they discussed their morning while eating their lunches.” [both fanfics are more general and AV-club-focused than strictly Mileven, but they are really good and worth a read.] 

ours* by Once_In_A_Lifetime_Or_4Ever: “Small bits of El and Mike’s life.” 

eleven & company by solangewrites: “Eleven survives the Demogorgon and has to learn to adjust to ‘normal’ life with her friends. Includes shopping, female friends, and many, many not-so-subtle pop culture references.” 

don’t worry anymore, child* by SingerOnTheRise: “El was back, but not the way Mike Wheeler expected. She did not know who he was and, in fact, she did not even know who she was.” [gotta be honest, the English here…it’s not the greatest, but the concept itself is fresh and interesting, and the story is worth a look.] 

alternative universe: 

i think i’m in love (again)* by sinclairsmax: “There he stood, at the door with his curly hair gelled back. The room fell silent, and Elle Byers stepped forward. “Mike?”” Reverse AU. 

find a way* by Booklover1217: “El Ives, once known as Jane, has always been running, running and hiding from the past that has continued to haunt and hunt her for her entire life. She never let herself get attached, knowing everything could be ripped away from her in seconds, as it had been time and time again. But that was until she met Mike Wheeler, and everything changed.” 

something good by helplessly: “Dustin doesn’t tell them that the newest person hoping to fill the empty room in their student home is a girl.” College No Supernatural AU. 

in dreams* by frankiethebard: “Mike can feel his friendships drifting apart, but when his literal dream girl turns out to be real, desperately in need of his help, Mike must gather the party to save her.” High School AU. 

take me home by Booklover1217: “El Hopper, once only known by the number Eleven, has been hiding from her past for almost a year, a year where she has lived as nothing more than a lifeless zombie. Now, someone has come back into her life asking for her help, and she can’t refuse. Will she find her missing friend? And, in the process, will she find the very person who will help her come back to life?” Soulmates AU. 

if anyone is listening by lovelysarcastic: ““I can see it now,” I said, leaning against the bathroom’s door. Mike, who was brushing his teeth, gave me a short, confused look. “What?” “Why I fell in love with you.”” No Some Supernatural AU. 

most magical place by TheMikeWheelers (jasongracefully): “Mike, Will, Lucas, Dustin, and El take a trip to Disney World.” vaguely canonical and yet not quite canon AU. 

crossover: 

imperio by serendipitous_rambles: “Mike first saw her on the platform at King’s Cross and ever since he’s been under her spell.” Stranger Things x Harry Potter Crossover. 

and its sequel/tie-in one-shot accio by serendipitous_rambles: “Where the Party meet the Golden Trio.” 

011* by PaladinofFarore: “The 011 tattooed on her arm had always been a painful reminder to her. A remnant of the enslavement she’d escaped. To the world, it would be the name of one of earth’s mightiest heroes.” Stranger Things x Avengers Crossover. 

+ bonus: Wherein, the Wheeler family is featured prominently: 

you found me in the rain by bananannabeth: “Jane ‘El’ Hopper is new to Hawkins, but when she shows up on the Wheelers’ doorstep in the middle of a storm Karen gets the feeling that she’s seen her somewhere before.” 

and its sequel favorite by bananannabeth: “When Karen Wheeler runs into Steve Harrington at the supermarket and finds out that he’s home alone, she does what any good mother would do and invites him to dinner with her family. It’s definitely not awkward, because Nancy has gone out with Jonathan for the night, which makes things better, not worse. Right? Mike doesn’t think so.” 

both are part of the You Can Talk To Me (aka. Karen Wheeler is a Good Mom™) series. 

my name is el by PureShores: “Karen (with a little help from Mike) learns how to communicate with her newest houseguest.” 

worse things* by Ethosa: “The Wheeler parents are killed after insubordination in the hands of Brenner and his cronies. Mike and Nancy live as fugitives.” 

screw that by EvieSmallwood: “It’s 1985, and the Wheeler family is pretty much in shambles.” 

love is not for the impatient by writeyourheart: “After Ted cheats on Karen, Mike finds himself fearful of both his his feelings for Eleven and what it means to be in love.” 

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UPDATE: part IV is out.