#and sorry this post spoils the plot of the sound of music but the movie came out in 1965. so if you haven't watched it that's kinda on you

[notebookmusical]

Hi!!! I totally missed talking to you too! I would love to hear about the performance or festival! It sounds super cool and I've never been to one. I hope it was amazing. I totally agree that the surprise songs are a nice bonus and how it makes every show different and special no matter what. I totally agree about the Folklore dresses..they are my favorite next to Speak Now. Unfortunately I didn't get to go to the Paramore show the other night which is a huge bummer. It just didn't work out at the last minute. But I finally saw the Barbie movie last night! It was pretty good. There were some things that surprised me still even if I got stuff spoiled. I loved all the pink stuff and the Ken stuff. It managed to be funny but also kinda heartfelt and real. Like even America's speech..even though it felt on the nose at times, it was kinda nice to hear her say it in a simple relatable way and it did make me think about being a woman. It had a lot of good themes and ideas but almost felt like two different movies...and I guess because of the two settings. It made it a little different than what I expected though and I don't even know what I was expecting either. I loved the I'm Just Ken song and scene! It makes me happy that he got to sing in another movie again haha. I guess they are still working on a La La Land stage version but I haven't heard anything else about it. I'm curious what other kinda songs could be in your musical version. I could definitely see a welcome to Barbie land song and maybe a song for Weird Barbie. I could see it being similar to Mamma Mia I guess. I love Megan Fahy as a choice and I loved her in the Bold Type and then I found out she was in Next to Normal. I'll watch the videos you posted too. Gavin Creel and Jen Coella seem perfect haha. I was lucky to see Gavin as Cinderellas prince/wolf in Into the Woods last month and he was funny so he'd be great in this. That's so awesome about getting Hadestown tickets! I'd definitely say it was one of my favorites in the last few years and to see live. I haven't actually listened to the new Sweeney Todd yet but I guess I'd recommend the original cast with Angela Lansbury as Mrs Lovett, but I've also seen Patti Lupone. For Rent, sometimes I just like hearing the songs compared to watching the show..like you can get most of the plot from the cast recording even if you're unfamiliar. That is sooo cool about Newsies!!! Did you get to see Jeremy Jordan? I've seen the proshot a ton of times anyway but I'm so curious. I also enjoyed and would recommend SMASH since we are talking about musical shows lol. But Schmigadoon was the same way with all of the references and stuff. Also who did you see in Waitress? I still watch the Tony's and try to keep up with it but I feel like the revivals were better than new musicals this year or that's what I was familiar with and I didn't listen to any cast recordings. I used to always do that before the Tony's with any new show but I didn't this year..but I will eventually. It's really hard for me to know who should win Tony's since I usually like most musicals. The only ones that I don't really like are the bio ones that's also jukebox cuz they all seem similar to me. I have a musical sideblog so I do try to keep up with it and I love all your gifs. You have great taste in musicals. I love anything Sondheim and those are great picks. Spring Awakening is also a favorite of mine! I forgot the rest of your list but I think I'm familiar with most of them. Also that's pretty cool about the Notebook musical and I'm sorry it wasn't good. Maybe some things shouldn't be a musical and I can't really imagine the songs translating well or how many songs it would be but at least you liked the actors. I'd be curious to hear more about it if you wanna share! I thought it could have potential with Ingrid Michaelson. I think I saw a clip of Joy Woods singing Suddenly Seymour from Little Shop if I'm remembering correctly and her voice is so good!

hellooooo friend!! i went to lollapalooza last week, which was my first music festival and it was a lot, but also really fun! i definitely am not an outdoorsy girl, and i was not as prepared for chicago summer heat as i should've been. i lowkey had more fun at the aftershows (for sabrina carpenter, and maisie peters), and i think if i was to do lollapalooza again, i'd probably just do aftershows and maybe not do GA for all 4 days, but just one day? there were a few sets where i was like "... i probably would have a better view and have more fun watching this on the hulu livestream", which is a little bit unfortunate, but you live, you learn! it was actually kind of scary watching so many people around me pass out, and i just ... do not think i am a festival girlie! which is fun because i have bumbershoot coming up, but it's not really a big music festival, just a very small one in seattle and i'll probably just hang out with the crafty things instead (unless the people i'm going with really want to listen to the music)! i got to see some of my favorite artists though, and it was just really, really lovely — especially holly humberstone, because i don't think i'll get the chance to see her for a while (unless she tours to seattle with her new album)! i don't think i've asked you this, but aside from paramore and taylor swift, who else do you like to listen to? 🤍 i'm sorry about paramore :( i thought of you earlier! i got a notification on my phone about cheap paramore tickets in seattle tonight and i was like oh .....! i almost caved and got tickets but i am 1) still run down from chicago/lolla + 2) i spent money on tickets this morning! but eeeee i'm glad you got the chance to see barbie!! i do agree about it feeling a little clunky / like two separate movies! i don't know what i had expected from the barbie movie, but i definitely didn't expect that! ugh i'm already thinking about how beautiful a barbie musical set would be (can you imagine the barbie house?) maybe something by jason sherwood or beowulf boritt? i just think it would be so fun!! and yes — love love love meghann fahy! she also sang a bunch of kerrigan-lowdermilk (who wrote sam brown) songs back in the day that i really like, like say the word i'm so jealous you got to see gavin in into the woods! the tour didn't come to seattle :( i've only heard the best things about gavin, and one of my close friends loves gavin creel so i was like "oh he'd be a perfect ken!" i think they finally announced the sweeney todd revival cast recording release date, so i mightttt hold off and wait till then, and then go backwards and listen to angela lansbury! i did not get to see jeremy jordan in newsies, but i have seen him live — he came to seattle with betsy wolfe to sing with the seattle symphony a couple years ago! i saw newsies on august 9th, 2014, actually (what are the odds), with corey cott, liana hunt, and ben fankhauser! i like the proshot, but i think i'm more partial to the casts i saw (and i think that jeremy and kara and ben and akb were all a little too old to play teenagers at that point)! although my favorite cast is probably actually an amalgamation of the first national tour cast — stephanie styles as katherine, joey barreiro as jack (i've actually seen him as jack twice; once on tour and once regionally), and i think i've just loved every davey i've seen! i love smash! i was talking to someone in chicago about it, actually — they were sitting at the table next to ours and i just struck up a conversation about lolla since they mentioned someone i really love and we ended up talking about broadway / smash and it was really fun! i always say i'll do a smash rewatch and then i never do, but the music is just so good! i'm super curious to see what happens with the smash musical (bombshell musical?) they're supposedly working on.

with waitress, i saw betsy wolfe & drew gehling twice on broadway, desi oakley twice on tour, and i saw alison luff & mark evans on broadway three times! my jenna ranking is probably alison then desi then betsy, and i just really liked how alison and mark played off each other (i have a soft spot for mark from when he was in the play that goes wrong). but i think my favorite jenna overall would be nicolette! i kind of stopped paying a ton of attention to waitress after it closed on broadway though! i also feel that way with this last tony season! i feel like everything now is just either a revival (no shade to revivals), or an adaptation, or a jukebox and it is very rare that an adaptation feels ... complete to me now rather than just a cash grab. it's just very disheartening, as someone who loves theatre! if/when you feel comfortable coming off anon, i'd love to follow your sideblog (and/or your main blog), but that's totally up to you! always happy to chat with you on anon 🤍 i got to see a sunday afternoon on the island of la grande jatte again in chicago, and i had a good little cry! i'm such a sondheim girlie. and that's okay; not all musicals are winners/will speak to me! i think the notebook musical just felt very ... cashgrabb-y? it did make me cry though, so there's that (not that it takes much to make me cry)! i think the songs were just kind of ... forgettable, which really sucks because i like a lot of ingrid michaelson's songs! joy woods' voice is BEAUTIFUL, and john cardoza really just stood out to me! i remember sitting in the theatre and thinking to myself "this man needs to be orpheus someday" and then went to look at his insta and realized he covered epic II from it! i was so so happy when he was cast in moulin rouge as christian; i've heard some clips of his christian and i really like him too! i think the set was beautiful too; i remember being really impressed by the rain scene! i wonder if they've reworked it for broadway, and what will be the same!

[queerprayers]

I'm actively discerning & struggling with clarity; what would you say, for you, is the "gut" difference between "actually becoming a nun" & "just needing fellowship, space to pray, & freedom?" Like what's the key aspect that makes it Not a call to literal vocation? If I am understanding you correctly! Thank you nevertheless & I hope God gives & guides you to exactly what you need. 🙏

(re: this post)

Great question, beloved! First, I'll remind you I'm not Catholic, so my understanding/associations of monastic life may be differently informed than yours. If anything I say doesn't match up with your understanding/beliefs about the topic, while I always encourage an open mind, you'll probably get more specific/relevant answers from a member of your denomination/community.

Alright, so, I wrote that post deciding that I probably didn't want to be a nun, but I did want community, time and space to practice my religion, and freedom from capitalism. There are limited options for someone who wants those things, especially in the US, so monastic life has been very appealing to me in recent years. And I do think I could be happy and create a fulfilling life as a nun! But I don't think it's what I'm meant for, at least right now, and I'll try to explain why.

I will say that for some people, there might not be a difference? Like in a perfect world everyone would have community/prayer/freedom, but we're not there, and I'm sure there are people who have turned to monastic life as a way to find those things. And that's not a bad thing at all! If you desire/are fulfilled by certain things, and monastic life is the only/easiest/best way in this world to receive them, then by all means, pursue that life. Historically, those have been some of the reasons people (especially women) enter monasteries/convents—besides it being the best option in a lot of cases for unmarried people, of course. But marriage and being a nun aren't the only two main options for women anymore (thankfully), and I pray every day for a world in which people can find community/prayer/freedom in all walks of life.

Confession: I made that post after watching The Sound of Music, because I've always loved Maria and really connect with her. Spoiler alert, but she doesn't end up a nun. She tries really hard, though! Honestly, that's kind of the dream? Be a nun for a while, then meet a perfect, handsome, put together, rich person who comes with children, and marry them, while making Nazis' lives harder.

I'm really interested in getting married in the future, and while that doesn't rule out monastic life as a Protestant, it is something I have to be conscious of. Maybe that can be our retirement plan? If my future wife is Christian, perhaps we can join an order once we're a bit done with normal society. (I think if I was born anytime before this century, I would already be a nun. If I couldn't have a human wife I'd marry Jesus immediately.)

The main difference for me is when I'm craving monastic life, it's because I want a break. Because the world is too much, and I'm not finding the space/time to pray, and I'm lonely. Now these aren't bad reasons to become a nun, and I don't want to diminish those factors, but for me those feelings are temporary, and a sign that I need to reach out to more people, and talk to my therapist, and put time in my schedule to worship.

Because of this, it seems like in my life the desire to become a nun is a kind of escapism, an impulsive alternative to more destructive ways to give up on life. This is absolutely NOT the case for everyone, and I don't want to imply that, but that's how it is for me (at least right now), and I'm proud of myself for (and thank God that) I'm realizing and honoring this. There may come a day when that desire is a recognition of where I would be most fulfilled, though, you never know.

I'm not sure I have a definite way for someone to tell what they're called to do. I do believe that there isn't one thing we were made for. If an angel came to you and gave you a mission, by all means go do that, but if that were the case you probably wouldn't be asking me for advice. As for the rest of us, God has given us so many diverse gifts, and how we use them is (amazingly but also terrifyingly) up to us! There isn't one path you need to find and all others would be abandoning God's will. There are many ways for you to have a beautiful life.

I don't blame anyone who runs away and joins a convent to escape from life, but ideally we learn about ourselves and participate in general society, deciding what kind of life we'll create—and perhaps end up in a convent somewhere down the line.

What relationships do you seek? Do you want to get married/have children? Who do you want to live with in the future? What gifts do you have? Do you write, sing, draw, run, speak, cook, work, comfort, heal? You don't have to be a genius at anything, and maybe your gift right now is resting and having lunch with your friends—that absolutely counts. How have you brought love/God's will into the world? How do you want to in the future? How would becoming a nun/monk help you fulfill these things? How would it limit you?

Monastic life gives you community/relationships, but may also ask you to forgo certain other community/relationships. It gives you a set purpose and duties, but there will be other purposes/duties you have to give up. Just like any job, relationship, or home, there are sacrifices you have to make, and beautiful things you can fulfill—and this would be all three!

I'm sure you know this stuff, but just in case: Many religious orders offer retreats/temporary stays, and this could be a great option for you! It could let you know whether you just need some time, or whether this is the life you want to follow. Also, keep in mind that there are usually multiple years when joining an order before you commit/take vows. There is no shame in realizing it's not a life you're made for. (Watch The Sound of Music if you need that affirmation.) And every community is different, so make sure you know your options! Cloistered vs. un-cloistered, for instance, is a huge difference.

We all need community, and time, and freedom. But we need those things and find fulfillment in so many different ways. I don't know if I've given you the answers you're looking for, but I pray that you make your decisions with honesty, caring for yourself and the world, and dedicating yourself to God every day, whether in or out of an official religious order.

<3 Johanna

[incorrectlumityquotes]

FULL REVIEWS: “Covention”

I didn’t think I’d have a harder time doing these reviews on my days off than on a workday, but errands and all that. I had no expectations going into this episode at the time since “covention” is a fake made up word. But I heard Amity was going to be in it, so I got excited. The spice of life returns. It’s been a hot minute. Let’s see how the episode holds up.

The episode starts with one of my favorite cold openings. Super funny and gives a good shot at those books that have that pretentious flowery language. Seriously who says “thou” and “hast” anymore. Lame. Luz tossing King into the portal right when it closes was my favorite bit. Was Eda really going to go to the human world just for that? 

Also I didn’t notice until someone pointed it out but I guess they’re using Azura and Hecate as some kinda parallel to Luz and Amity. Hope Amity doesn’t find out that she’s not the Azura character. Does that mean that Eda is that old ass lady and King is that little fox dog thing? That’s not cool, man. Be nice.

So much can be read into it, but that’s for another blog post for another time.

And of course, dumb-dumb me had to wait until the word was said out loud to realize that it was a play on the words “coven” and “convention.” So basically it’s a con episode. Cov episode? Whatever. Big brain hurt.

Relationships are a give and take and sometimes you gotta give in. Sorry, Eda.

I don’t know about you guys, but I never really had a lot of fun going to cons. The only part I really liked was meeting my favorite voice actors and watching indie wrestling. All the food, merch, and art was always overpriced and from shows I don’t watch. I don’t join video game tournaments because those people take the games way too seriously. Plus the area that I live in isn’t known for being big on nerd culture so the cons are never that impressive. I met Steve Blum last time and went to one and you can only go down from there so I don’t think I’ll be going to another one any time soon.

I caught this first time I saw it on TV. Luz and Willow arm in arm. Maybe in another life I would be shipping Luz & Willow. Maybe maybe. Also, Skara in the background. I think her design is really cute. Maybe she’ll get an episode in season two. Maybe maybe.

More lore and more worldbuilding which people really seemed to want and we got it. Eda explains that while covens seem like cool groups to belong to, they also strip you of all the other kind of magic you can do. Why? My theory was (and is) that about fifty years ago a bunch of religious and political hustlers got together and tried to figure out a way to control people. Really keep them in line. They knew that people were basically stupid and would believe anything you told them, so they announced that this one guy could talk to the titan that the Isles were based of off. This one guys says that only he could talk to the titan and hear what the titan was saying and that only he could do all kinds of magic. Everyone else is doing it wrong and only he’s doing it right. With no proof or evidence, but trust him he’s on the level. The Boiling Isles was just doing fine before him, but now all of a sudden, we’re all doing it wrong. Let that be a lesson to you, kids. If anyone tells you anything like that, it’s bullshit.

Also the nine covens. Why nine? Why not group the bard and illusionary covens together into the music video coven? Why does potions get its own coven? How much school do you really have to take to learn to mix shit together and stir? Wouldn’t the plant magic coven know something about using plants to make potions? Why does the construction coven get it’s own coven? Couldn’t you use any kind of magic to build things? Is the construction coven the blue collar coven? Beast keeping gets it’s own coven? Like the bitch at the plant coven needs to switch covens to be told to feed her dog? My theory, the nine covens was really a marketing decision. Ten sounds too official. They knew that if it was too neat and tidy, they’d know something was up. Would they though? I don’t think so. 

Any group that has their own stormtroopers is automatically evil. Even more proof that the coven system is bullshit.

“Distraction spell!”

This moment made me laugh so damn hard. The crap that Eda pulls is one of the highlights of the show for me.

Luz and Eda go check out The Emperor’s Coven panel in the main hall, and we’re introduced to another major character. Enter Lilith, Eda’s older sister. And I swear to you guys, I was so confused this entire time on who was the older and who was the younger sister until the season finale. Seriously, I kept getting mixed messages. I mean, I know now but give me a break here.

I think Lilith is a good character and a great foil to Eda. The fun part is that since they are sisters, Eda knows exactly how to push her buttons and drag Lilith down to her level. It’s always fun to see a stoic character break. 

My finger points.

Amity shows up which automatically makes this episode better. Luz properly introduces herself and we get more back-and-forth. Amity being a real bitch here is more to mislead us for the last act of the episode, but when I first saw it I thought it was more confirmation that Amity was going to be the Draco Malfoy-clone of the series. Glad I was wrong.

We get more of Luz trying to make life play out like her favorite stories and challenges Amity to a witch’s duel. A thing she read in Azura that she has no clue whether or not is a thing in The Boiling Isles. There’s an equal chance that Amity could have just shaken her head and be like, “The fuck is a witch’s duel? That sounds like something you just made up.”

Also Amity should have caught that Azura reference from the start, but then that kinda would have spoiled Lost in Language, huh?

Again, Luz needs to learn that life does not play out like it does in her favorite stories. Challenging your rival to a duel is cool on paper but a big “Yeah no” IRL. Especially since she knows no real offensive spells, no defensive spells, is a weak nerd who has probably never been in a real fight in her life and has no fighting spirit. Trust me guys I learned the hard way. Life is not a shonen anime. You can’t settle anything by fighting. 

I love mentor/mentee stories especially when they have a rival mentor/mentee pair. Too bad Dana has already said that Amity and Lilith were not close at all. It was more a relationship of convenience. But then again that would help witch whole foil angle. Lilith and Amity just use each other to get ahead while Eda and Luz do actually build a familial bond. 

The duel goes...exactly the way I thought it would. Honestly. The cheating, the whole fight just breaking down, even Lilith and Eda doing an actual witch’s fight. Totally saw it coming. What I didn’t see coming was the bad ass animation they used for the Lilith/Eda fight and...

The Amity scene. The big reveal that Amity is not a Draco Malfoy clone (I only saw the first four movies). She’s just a girl who thinks people should follow the rules, hates cheaters and is under a lot of pressure to succeed. Only someone as empathic as Luz and try to keep building that bridge and try to make things right with Amity, but that’s a whole other episode.

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And the episode ends with another great lesson I really like. “Will I ever be a true witch?” “I don’t know. What’s a true witch?” There are always expectations and pressure put upon you to be a true something. Others will want you to conform into a label for one reason or another. But all those expectations and labels are just illusions. It reminds me of a Bruce Lee quote. When an interviewer asked Bruce if he considers himself Chinese or American, he answers that he considers himself, “a human being.”

Labels can be fun because it makes it easier for the brain to organize things, but when people put too much stock into these labels problems arise. Think of labels as a boat to get you across the river. Once you cross the river you leave the boat behind. You don’t carry the boat with you. That’s just dumb.

“Witch please”

FINAL SCORE: 5 - Loved it.

Hot take, Amity makes every episode better. More funny jokes, more worldbuilding, more Amity and hints at the main villain of the show. Lilith was a great addition and the episode hints at the main plot. Probably the most fun I’ve ever had at a con. And speaking of more Amity...

[runningfromrealitytoanime]

Rise of skywalker review (contains SPOILERS!)

I watched this on 20th December at 5.30pm in a pretty decent cinema but just going to post it later so not to spoil for other moviegoers.

IF YOU DO NOT LIKE SPOILERS, THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO SAVE YOURSELF AND RUN FROM THIS! A LOT OF SPOILERS ARE GOING TO BE DISCUSSED IN THIS.

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Alrighty. On to the review!

First thing: Reylo was a thing. For a freaking minute!!! I swear I was screaming so bad when they kissed and was like the ship sails and yep. It died just a moment later and ding. He dies. She lives. She takes the name of Skywalker. Okokokok. Know it is to honor her masters but ok bro... what??

Also, thought it was weird that Kylo went to the light side once more and while I thought it fit the title Rise of Skywalker, thought it was odd that he spends two and a half movies turning her and bam, he joins her side. Adam Driver was amazing though and had to say his performance was one of the few saving graces of the film. Gonna miss his character: he was the main reason I stuck to the film.

Was pretty pissed with how they handled the Knights of Ren. Zero dialogue, not much work done, more like side characters. So why make them sound like a troop of fearsome Dark Side warriors who fell to Ben so quickly? I have read some amazing fanfiction about the Knights and how the saga could have ended and some portrayed the knights so well. I was anticipating how they would contribute to the story and been wanting some good Knights of Ren combat scenes and possibly show of faces and what not but no, that didn’t happen. At all!

Palpatine. I swear,he is an amazing bad guy but whats with the whole he being Rey's grandad and having an army of hooded people? While he was essential to the plot, I feel that he is to be left as part of another story but it worked out. Somehow. Figures Rey had to be his granddaughter and what not.

Plot wasn't great. Felt like they were jumping places, things seemed rushed and the whole thing with the resistance going Kamikaze was pretty stupid on Poe's end (dude did you forget what happened in the last Jedi?). Action scenes just felt thrown out there and didnt really fit to the story.

Actors were ok, loved how they brought in old voices from the movies and animated series like Kanan Jarrus and Ahsoka. Could barely pick them out but managed to hear Obiwan, Yoda and Qui Gonn. And Hayden Christensen yay! (Was hoping to see a Force Ghost Anakin but we can't win all the time right?)

One thing that really pissed me off was how the characters seemed so disconnected form one another. Rose got pushed to the background, Finn has a crush on Rey and never told her, Poe likes some girl and wants to get together with her and even though I ship Reylo to the ends of the earth, I was a bit like eh, did they really kiss? I was super surprised when they kissed to be fair but other than that, I felt they were throwing random actors together in scenes and just trying to make them work. The humour can be pretty bad : sorry but Star wars isn’t supposed to be a comedy. Don’t turn it into a comedy like the way you did Marvel Disney!

One of my favourite scenes was the whole reenactment of Kylo facing Han and going through the exact same words he had told his father back in the Force Awakens and this time, throwing away the Dark Side and coming back to the light. And although I found it a bit odd that he decided to do it all of a sudden after all the shit that happened in the past movies, it was nice to see him redeem himself and while I knew there was no possible way for him to be able to live and tell the tale after what happened, seriously wished he was the one who lived instead of Rey... no offence, not a Rey fan. And with the whole becoming one with the Force, wished we got to see Ben standing next to Leia, Han and Luke once more... now the Skywalker family has truly ended and its so sad...

Music was on point. Loved how they used music from all the films past and CGI, nothing to comment.

Conclusion : Pissed Reylo sank after shipping them so hard for four years, Adam Driver rocks and the plot, not gonna miss it. Gonna give it a 6/10 for the Reylo moment.

Now gonna cry myself to sleep and drown in fanfiction.

[sukisdeliveryservice]

helloo! how was your day milady? its always a pleasure reading your replies too! <333 and i hope you'll enjoy your hiatus :))

also idk i just find parrots rly pretty, and the way the supposedly repeat stuff you say is rly endearing too djhdjfhfb in all honesty, im pretty new to the whole baking thing, but i love making cookies :D they always smell so lovely djfjdjdj i'd love to explore and make more stuff!

you do digital drawing? :o id love to see something! only if you're comfortable sharing though ofc <3

mmm i haven't watched alot of tv shows really tbh. my favourite and the only one im invested in atm is friends, ive watched alittle of modern family and how i met your mother, but that's pretty much it ig jdndjdj

as for movies, i love the greatest showman! it hits a bit too close to home but i always love the goosebumps i get whenever i watch it :) next would be thor ragnorok, which ive mentioned before djjdjs but its just really funny and love it sm, and it was loki's turning point so bonus marks. black widow is also a new favourite <333 though i felt terrible when they were being tortured as kids, but it really showed a new perspective on natasha and her past. i also really like the notebook! everything was so sweet it rly nearly brought me to tears jsbdjdjjsh and finally the shawshank redemption! it was something i didn't rly think i would like, but i was really pleasantly surprised lmao. everything was pretty depressing but it also kinda blew my mind away :D

for songs, my no.1 song rn is nct dream's irreplaceable, idk why exactly but i love that song. i also have a thing for songs that are similar genres to baekhyun's un village, nct jaehyun's try again and jungkook's still with you, so those are three more though im not really sure if they're really the same genre anyways and its been almost a year now and i still cant get over how nct 127's boom makes me feel 💕

hmm for fics, i dont really remember everything i read, but i absolutely loved your ceo cheol fic 🥺 it was so cute and the way reader and cheol work perfectly together T-T most of the time fics like these consist of cold bosses who only show a little warmth to the reader, but cheol was so sweet throughout everything it just made everything so much more adorable and endearing. i really really loved it :'D <333

what are your top 5 of these? and also for the next question, have you ever

been to a concert?

sneaked out from your house?

gone through a one direction and/or bts phase?

had a crush?

had a pet?

performed in front of a crowd?

read a book/fic that you love so much you still think of it occasionally? (yes im asking for recs)

- 💎 anon who loves you lots!! <333

milady?? heh you sound like chat noir from miraculous ladybug (my guilty non guilty pleasure show) i was thinking carefully about these answers thats why it took so long!! i'm going to go to bed after this is posted hehe this is gonna be a long reply so take all the time you need to answer pfft- my day has been lovely thanks to this ask by the way!!

yeah i'd love to show you something!! there were a couple burried in my rambling tags but when we're allowed to turn off anon i'd love to show you!! do you have discord btw?? it might be easier to talk on there afterwards!!

ooh how i met your mother is probably my favourite sitcom!! maybe that and b99. its pretty long and the ending was erm...not good imo but i still think the long length was worth finishing!!

the movies you picked are lovely anon!! i am also a fan of the greatest showman since i am also a big fan of musicals!! it was pretty fast paced but overall the grandeur and visuals of it stunned me and the sountrack is amazing!! i haven't watched black widow but hopefully soon!! and i dont usually watch a lot of western films but i really want to check out the notebook as well!!

ahh your music taste is also exquisite!! so im guessing you're more into like soft pop/rnb kinds of songs!! i definitely listen to baekhyun's music before sleeping since his vocals really suit soothing songs. i really need to check out more of nct's music - hello future was really good!!

OMG ANON YOU READ MY CHEOL FIC??? i was so unsure about that one but it makes my heart squeeze that you read all of it and liked it :'D

okie so my top 5 (no particular order) i'm probably forgetting a few

tv shows - 1. HUGE atla fan!! i even liked legend of korra even though some poeple didn't 2. how i met your mother 3. horimiya 4. extraordinary you 5. yona of the dawn

movies - 1. your name 2. big hero 6 3. tangled 4. weathering with you 5. from up on poppy hill - literally any ghibli i've watched

books (sorry lots of these are manga) - 1. fruits basket 2. haikyuu!! 3. SNOW WHITE WITH THE RED HAIR (IT'S MY FAVOURITE EVERYTHING) 4. to all the boys i've loved before (it's very different from the movies) 5. i don't mean to bring up percy jackson since it's been years but those books are still everything to me

songs - 1. eight (iu, suga) 2. all my love (svt) 3. kidult (svt) 4. dandelions (ruth b) 5. somehow (day6)

thank you for asking anon! i loved listing these out! next to the never have i ever!!

been to a concert? NEVER!! waiting for svt to come to canada, they didn't list canada for ode to you :(((

sneaked out from your house? NEVER i've sneaked people into my house...

gone through a one direction and/or bts phase? I HAVE! bts but it was only for like a month before i fell in love with 13 men...

had a crush? soobin duh i'm beginning to realize now that maybe i've been more in love with the idea of love instead of harbouring genuine feelings // NEVER!!

had a pet? I HAVE!! multiple fishes...rip

performed in front of a crowd? I HAVE!! i've played the drums during school concerts and during a competition a few years back!!

read a book/fic that you love so much you still think of it occasionally?

for this last one i'm going to tie it in into my top 5 fics of all time!! (with mini reviews!!) i should make a masterlist of my recs honestly - when i compile all of my favourites i think that's when i've be brave enough to tag the writers fjdshfdkj

out of touch, out of time by @/by-moonflower // i read this months ago and my heart literally still sinks whenever it even crosses my mind. i don't think i've ever been so emotionally impacted by a fic before and this is my go to rec for anyone who wants to FEEL something. i don't wanna go in depth as to spoil it, so i'll just leave it at that for now.

outlasting the universe by @/by-moonflower // you know what i'm just gonna link their entire masterlist because all of their works (even the short drabbles) are just literary masterpieces. the way they write makes you feel so alive?? and everything just speaks for itself and is so authentic. they make you feel like you're wandering amidst a ghibli film, periof. authentic is the best word i can use to describe their work and this fic is just the definition of beautiful.

bluff and nonsense by @/thepixelelf // THIS FIC. it's my go to rec overall. it was so memorable had such good flow and just genuinely so genuine?? i have no other words to describe it, it's just so ,,, lovely. the plot takes you on a journey and it's woven together so seamlessly.

in a span of three months by @/viastro // i won't be surpprised if you've read this one already because this author is a true staple in the carat writing community and honestly all of their works are simple timeless. this one really hit the mark for the me the most though and i finished it all in one sitting.

wish by @chocosvt // goodness i'm a fan of hoshi fics aren't i? this one was also really memorable for me and i have read it several times!! friends to lovers but they really made the trope their own and added lots of twists and tadbits that gave it so much charm!! i would also rec this as a starter fic for svt :))

phew thank you for reading all of that anon, i really appreicate you taking the time to write such love responses and questions. now i'd like to know your answers for the same questions ,,, have you ever:

been to a concert?

sneaked out from your house?

gone through a one direction and/or bts phase?

had a crush?

had a pet?

performed in front of a crowd?

read a book/fic that you love so much you still think of it occasionally?

to add on:

been to a place/been in a particular mood after a specific event that you wanted to stay in forever?

written a piece of work that sparked energy within your fingertips!!

met a person/have someone in your life who you now just treasure so deeply?

this is getting super long we need to reveal our identities soon fkdsfkjlds

[97mika]

Hellooo~ I felt like making a random post on resent animus I’ve watched since my not posting as much, and think people should definitely check out! please bear with me with my explaining the series, I’ve never been too good with it *scratches head* I’ll try my best though~ Anyhoo… here we goo!

1) Rainbow: Nisha Rokubou no Shichinin

I’ve literally just finished this 26 episode long series,, The story follows 7 boys struggling together to survive the brutality and humiliations of this disciplinary prison after committing serious crimes. Now bear in mind, this is a very brutal anime, and it mentions some touchy topics such as rape, suicide etc… but that only makes you severely appreciate the heartwarming scenes between these 7 teens a whole lot more, and you really feel the emotions for them with what they go through and how they survive. To sum it up, this is a masterpiece, and one of my favorites. The music is beautiful [please look up the sound track] ah ma heart >.< the characters and how they show their stories, and the story itself especially! It’s just brutally, emotionally, friendship’ly’? perfect. 

2) Doukyuusei

If you don’t like yaoi or Shounen ai, skip this, because though not graphic, this movie is a romance between 2 boys. But it’s freaking perfect, and I don’t know about anybody else who has watched this, but I honestly loved the art style! It was different, and I found that refreshing. This movie is pretty much the perfect yaoi movie, the perfect amount of drama, not too much graphic, just a sweet story about two guys. The moments between them are too cute to bear, plus Hiroshi Kamiya voices Hikaru (the blond guy) it’s nothing to cry or cringe over (when I say cringe I mean its not overly cheesy) you can just sit back and enjoy the story these two boys share (with popcorn)

3) NHK ni Youkoso! (Welcome to the NHK)

I think the best way I can explain this 24 episode long series is that it hits you deep with reality in a somewhat comical way. The story follows this man named Satou, dealing with everyday life as a hikikomori (a person who avoids social contact with others) he later on takes up counseling from a girl named Misaki, who is also dealing with her own problems. I wont say too much, otherwise the whole twist in this series will be spoiled. Along his journey, Satou deals with everyday problems which I wont mention. And you’ll honestly be sitting and hoping that he’ll succeed and kinda face palming when he doesn’t due to the really simple mistakes he pulls bless him. It’s a pretty gripping plot, but I’ll also give a warning that, as I said, they do display reality in a comical way, but it does bring up touchy subjects such as suicide. 

4) Bakuman.

I love this anime. It’s definitely up there with my favorites! I won’t be surprised if alot of people already know about this, but I’m putting it here anyhoo. The story simply follows two friends who follow the path of becoming magaka’s. This windy journey is filled with rivals, drama, friendship, and hardcore courage. You learn alot about the mangaka life and how tough it is. But then you also laugh and tear up with these wonderful characters. It’s honestly just one of those series to sit back with the family or whoever, and enjoy. Theres not a character I don’t like-well… okay apart from one, theres not a character I don’t like, and the whole 3 amazing seasons just sends a buzz down my spine and makes me want to draw! I love it and definitely recommend it.

I think I’ll leave it with 4. I’m sorry for the poor explanations, I did try, just trust me when I say that they are definitely worth the watch. I was going to put Neon Genesis Evangelion as the 4th, but 1- I haven’t even finished watching it aha, and 2- I realized most of the anime’s I’ve wrote about here are all pretty deep, apart from Doukyuusei. So I thought I’d keep the last one light hearted ^_^ anyhoo, I hope you give these a watch if you haven’t already, and thank you for reading!

[gleereviewpodcast]

Marie’s Lists

So I needed to leave the Rachel podcast early, and therefore I didn’t get to give you guys my lists! Therefore, I’m going to post them here for anyone interested. Under the cut. 

What are your 15 (Ranked or Unranked) Worse Songs ?

All of mine are unranked BTW

Smile (the Lily Allen one): I felt like Lea was putting on a weird accent during this one. Maybe it was just the production? Regardless, this was a weird one to me.

Next to Me: We’ve covered it before, but this song was absolutely wrong for Lea’s voice. And Idina’s. It hurts me to say, but true. Should’ve been a Naya/Amber duet. 

A Change Would Do You Good: Ok, first of all, I’m just not a fan of the song. Second, even though I’m not nearly anti-Brody’s voice as Emily, it is pretty clear on this one that he’s not nearly as good as Lea. Not her fault, but still don’t like it.

All That Jazz: Glee can’t do Chicago justice. Watch the movie, people, and you will feel my pain.

A Thousand Miles: Samchel must die. 

Time After Time: STOP RUINING SONGS I LIKE SAMCHEL!

The Way You Look Tonight/You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile: The Way You Look Tonight is a genuinely fantastic standard Frank Sinatra song I adore. If I ever get married, you can bet it’ll be at my wedding. This mash-up RUINED the song for me. I’m not a huge Annie fan, but it ruined this song too. If they had just picked one, I would’ve been good with it. 

Firework: Lea Michele is too good to sing Katy Perry.

Big Girls Don’t Cry: I have never liked this song. I think she sounded better on it than Kurt or Blaine, but this song must die. It’s so annoying.

My Man: Sorry Emily and David. I snooze through it.

Who Are You Now: Why the everloving fuck is Sue singing on this?

Break Free: You guys know, Arianna Grande annoys the crap out of me. And I don’t think this is Lea’s style. 

I’ll Never Fall in Love Again: Yup, the other Samchel song, is also awful.

Barracuda: We all agree on this one. I actually like the original, but whereas they can sometimes give Lea rock songs and I end up loving them (see Creep), this one did not work for me at all. Maybe if they were more creative with the arangement, I could’ve dug it, but this was a miss for me.

I’m the Greatest Star: I just hate this song. 

Which is the worst of them? If we’re talking Lea on it, for me it’s Next to Me. If we’re talking in general, A Thousand Miles. If I could get a Lea only version of it though, that would’ve been ok. I think a lot of my hate is also thinking of the plot around it which makes me want to gag and vomit and die. 

What are your 15 (Ranked or Unranked) Best Songs ?

Don’t Rain On My Parade:  This was Rachel’s hail-Mary moment and if Make You Feel My Love didn’t exist, this would be my favorite Rachel solo. She comes out there with great power in her voice, and makes this song her bitch. I love it. 

O Holy Night: Ok, as much as I hate her winning Winter Showcase with no competition, I have to admit, this is gorgeous. And I hate Christmas music, and the religious songs especially normally do nothing for me. In terms of showing off her vocal power, this song is one of the best for showing it. Claps for this one.

Make You Feel My Love: I sob and cry every time I hear it. It’s another one where she just sounds lovely. 

I Feel Pretty/Unpretty: I basically get a vocal orgasm when I hear them sing on this together. It’s beautiful. I still listen to this one a lot. 

This Time: The only song in Dreams Come True I liked! It’s a little cheesey, but as far as original songs go, it’s one of the few that’s pretty good. And I just think Lea sounded good on it, and as a song, it was a good one to wrap up Rachel. 

Rolling in the Deep: the arrangement and her singing with Jon Groff does things to me. 

Mama Mia: Is this an odd choice? Maybe. But if I don’t dance and sing to it loudly (let’s be real I shout to it) I’ll be damned. 

Poker Face: Because I’m a sucker for different arrangements and Idina Menzel.

Listen to Your Heart: Ok, my embarrassing backstory for this song. When I was a young high schooler, I lacked gaydar. I had a crush on a guy who was so gay. He did come out to me as bisexual, and he had a boyfriend, but I had deluded myself into thinking he’d dump his BF and fall in love with me. I’d cry to this song about how i should tell him my feelings (I did eventually and it was awkward as hell). So I like the song in general for that reason. As far as in the show, it reminds me of the giddiness I felt when she got a relationship that didn’t suck.

Hello 12, Hello 13, Hello Love: Gah, more Jon/Leagasming.

The Rose: I actually found this song beautiful. It will show up later in a bad way, but here, it’s in a good way. I think the reason it shows up later in a bad way is because it made me sad because I felt like it would’ve been a good song about her relationship with Finn and it was a shitty audition number.

Defying Gravity: Wicked is magical. 

To Love You More: So I know Emily isn’t a fan. I think it sounds pretty.

Brave: This is mostly because I needed a Pezberry number. Gosh, they sound sexy together. 

Faithfully: Now it’s sad. 

Don’t Go Breakin’ My Heart: I just love the original and it’s cute. 

Yesterday: It’s a different arrangement I love. And it makes me sad too. And Yesterday is one of my favorite Beatles’s songs of all time.

What are your 5 (Ranked or Unranked) Worse Performances ?

My Man (Plus every time she’s boring on a stage): This is more of a type of song that she did. . .a lot. She would sing emotionally on a stage, maybe making some faces, but otherwise just walking around and being boring. I obviously don’t expect crazy dancing during this, but just something not boring.

A Thousand Miles: It looked tacky and green screened. It also was my worst nightmare in that it lead to one of the most utterly disgusting moments Glee has ever given me of Sam and Rachel kissing. Ugh.  

The Rose: This is actually a fantastic song, and I recommend you guys looking up the lyrics if you haven’t. This could’ve been an incredibly meaningful song for Rachel. INSTEAD, it was her auditioning for the stupid TV show (ugh) in a goofy way. Ugh.

I’m the Greatest Star: It felt underwhelming after all the build-up to Rachel on Broadway. Also, again, I’m spoiled by Tatiana Maslany. It felt like Lea being over-the-top instead of Rachel playing a character.

It’s All Coming Back to Me: 100% context on this one. Rachel shouldn’t have gotten into NYADA because of this.

What are your 5 (Ranked or Unranked) Best Performances ?

Make you feel my love: Self-explanitory

DROMP: Lea Michele commanded that stage.

Hello 12: The Jon/Lea chemistry was amazing.

Don’t You Want Me Baby: She’s wearing an absurd outfit and drunk and flirting with Blaine. It’s great.

Run Joey Run: This was just hilarious.

Worst 5 Episodes of the series ?

Props: I don’t think I need to go into this one.

Untitled Rachel Berry Project: At this point, we’re meant to be happy she goes to this awful TV show. Nope.

Frenemies: You guys know how I feel about her towards Santana here

Back-Up Plan: My dreams came true! Now I don’t care about it, one month later! Let me abandon everything, right now.

Trio: Just more of the awfulness with her and Santana. And I felt bad for Kurt and Elliot for getting dragged into it all.

Best 5 Episodes of the series ?

Quarterback: Not going to lie, this is all Lea for me. I cry.

Loser Like Me: This was basically Rachel’s redemption for me.

The Break-Up: Her break-up scene with Finn still stands out to me as one of Lea’s better dramatic acting scenes.

Pilot: This was a great set-up, for what should’ve been dealt with more in the show, about her insecurities.

Theatricality: She handles the Shelby stuff very maturely, and I do feel bad for her in this one.

[theworstbob]

the thing journal, 4.9.2017

scattered thoughts on the things i took in over the last seven days. this week: hannibal s3, bad cop/bad cop, the lobster, netflix teen mystery drama (yeah i’m not gonna type the name out, i ain’t finna deal with a fandom), joey bada$$, the big nowhere, win it all

1) Hannibal, season three: Boy, we sure did spend half the season stumbling aimlessly around Italy, didn't we? No no no, give me another abstract montage with fun camera tricks and eight layers of symbolism, Mr. Neftali, I was gonna say, it's been a few scenes since we've had a montage, when are you gonna deliver another one? FUCK IT! THERE AIN'T GONNA BE A SEASON FOUR! INDULGE ALL YOUR WORST IMPULSES! The show picked up once it got to the Red Dragon plot, and one would have to imagine that is due to the fact of, um, the plot existing at that point?, but I think this show took these characters about as far as they could go. This was a good place for it to end. I'm not sure how far they could have gone having everyone speak to Hannibal through a wall for 13 episodes (it was starting to get tired even after a few episodes here). I did enjoy the Red Dragon episodes, that was the Hannibal I loved in the first two seasons, and it built well toward the ultimate ending (or penultimate ending, yay post-credits sequence, do set up that fourth season, no no no definitely gonna happen). Not Hannibal at its best, but close enough and still good enough when it was On that it I'm still OK calling Hannibal one of my favorite series of all time.

2) Not Sorry, by Bad Cop/Bad Cop: I DERIVED VALUE FROM A DIVE INTO YOUTUBE COMMENTS I went into the comments under a Bombpops song just to see what they were like, and they weren't... as bad as I expected? Not good, but at least not explicitly hateful. But someone in the comments mentioned this band, and I was intrigued enough by the name to check 'em out. (I check out new-to-me bands if they're recommended by a trusted source or if they have a dope name.) And that YouTube comment was right, this album fucking rules. "Cheers" is another item in the long list of things I love named Cheers, the closer is superb, and just, there's so much punk/rock goodness, and I can't believe I heard about them via a fucking YouTube comment.

3) The Lobster, by Yorgos Lanthimos: yoooooooooooooooo My chief disagreement with this film is that it's sort of a waste of a fantastical premise. Maybe I'm just spoiled by BoJack Horseman, but I think the premise that single people are turned into animals was mostly wasted, didn't provide for any interesting background jokes, didn't create moral dilemmas when the woman asked the dude to catch rabbits, was barely even a concern through the second half of the film. It only sticks out because so much of the rest of the film was executed superbly. I loved where the film took the main part of the premise (you have to find a mate, you have to share one defining characteristic with that mate; on the outskirts of civilization are Loners). The dialogue is so stilted and unnatural and performed in a highly mannered way, and once you get to the Loners and there's this woman speaking freely and naturally, it really adds to The Leader's power (and that's such a fucking cool performance, too, on its own), and it makes it more pronounced that the dude and the woman never quite break from their practiced way of talking, never quite breaking from the society that instructs, "This is what love is. Loneliness is dangerous." It's also some of the bleakest comedy you'll ever see. It's an odd fit for John C. Reilly's big ol' heart, but he makes it work as he always does, and MY GOSH THE HEARTLESS WOMAN. I WANT A WHOLE MOVIE ABOUT WHAT THE HEARTLESS WOMAN GOT UP TO BEFORE COLIN FARRELL CAME ALONG.

4) Netflix Teen Mystery Drama, s1, cr. Brian Yorkey: So, one good thing, I loved how the show delineated Today from Yesterday, making Today cold and Yesterday warm. It's a simple thing they did, but it gave the show a distinct look and let them do some neat visual stuff with the flashback structure, like I'm not sure I stick with this show if it weren't such a cool thing to look at. Because fucking yeesh. This is a show about stupid people who keep secrets. Literally the entire show doesn't exist if any character told the truth to anyone else in this show at any point. Half of this show is one character saying to another, "I can't tell you that yet" or "I'm not at liberty to discuss that" or "You'll have to find out for yourself" or "This stays between us." I'm hesitant to say it's bad writing, these are TV professionals and I’m a yutz with a blog, but I found it highly disagreeable. And that sucks that the show was written like this, because there's something great about this idea of how kids hurt each other without realizing what they're doing because they’re idiots who don’t know how to be people. I thought it was fascinating that, as these horrible things were happening to the main girl, they kept cutting to the main dude being on the margins, observing the events but not doing anything helpful, and if the show had a tighter focus and could have followed that arrow more closely, it would have been so much better for it. I know this was based on a novel, and while I will likely not read the novel, I have to imagine the novel is better, because the novel doesn't have to fill 13 hours of television with All The Things ALL THE THINGS and pad itself out by having people lie to each other until it is time to make the revelation ("Why can't you tell me now?" "Because you have to wait." "For what?" "Episode nine." Like if you won't be real with each other at least be real with me), and it can be about just The One Thing. That sounds so much better than this show, which feels overstuffed and, I just, I have to ask, season one? Season one. Are you kidding me. How are you going to find 13 more hours in this universe, about these people. Like, I'm good. It's like Broadchurch, I will respect that there's other seasons, but I think y'all did what you came to do in the one. Honestly, between this and the American Psycho musical, I have no idea how Next to Normal is so good. (Compliment sandwich! The main girl was a really cool character, and it was so easy to imagine this being a show about Natalie from N2N in an alternate timeline. Also, I kept count, the exchange "Hey." "Hey." appears in this show four times.) Wow that was hella paragraph for something I wasn't keen on.

5) ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$, by JOEY BADA$$: Hey. White man, here, trying to offer critical assessment of an album called ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$. ...Maybe it's not my place. I mean, it's not really my place to offer criticism on, um, anything, but ESPECIALLY an album about what it's like to be black in America, and not just the Trump America (though he's not happy about that, either), but in an America that has always hated black people, Trump only making that subtext text. I kept thinking "break-up album with America," but that sounds reductive, as did "To Pimp a Butterfly with mainstream ambitions," and while I don't wanna reduce this, I DO still want to say those things. It's good stuff. That's all I can say, really. (Also, there’s a spate of pop artists trying to get by with all-caps names or song titles. This absolutely earns the ability to slam that Caps Lock key. You hear this shit, PARTYNEXTDOOR? This is all-caps music.)

6) The Big Nowhere, by James Ellroy: One good thing about The Thing Journal is that I have an excuse to read physical books on the bus AND read all the books my dad has been giving me for Christmas the past few years! I'll cop (ha!) to not being overly invested in the plot. Oh, boy, a story about a serial killer who's into some weird sex stuff, that's new to me, no tell me about the perverted twist that made the killer what he is, oh wow so fucked up. What I really loved this book was the realistic version of Los Angeles in the 1950s, what with the cops walking around spouting racial slurs as people do heaven and hide their homosexuality. We always get caught up in the notion that the '50s were a more innocent time, our nation is currently being run by people who want us to take us back in time, but like people were doing fuckin' heroin in the '50s. The '50s were shitty, too. I found spending time in this version of Los Angeles valuable. It's a gritty cop drama, sure, but it more than earns its grit. This has been Bob! Attempts To Review a 30-Year-Old Novel Set 60 Years in the Past!

7) Win It All, dir. Joe Swanberg: So one of my favorite lyrics of all time, I can't remember if I've brought this up here or elsewhere but I'm prolly gonna bring it up again, is from Frank Turner's "Recovery:" "Broken people can get better if they really want to/At least, that's what I have to tell myself if I am hoping to/Survive." While only having seen two of his works, this and Drinking Buddies, I feel comfortable saying Joe Swanberg has a deft handle on depicting the person from that lyric in film. My initial impression was that the film didn't do enough to prove the main character deserved redemption (minor spoiler, insofar as this film has a plot, but he does sort of spend the entire film lying to the woman he's falling in love with), but the more I've thought about it, the more I'm thinking, who am I to decide who deserves redemption? He's trying. At no point in his life has he not been trying. He is aware he has made bad choices, and he is keenly aware of his flaws. (His reaction to the contents of the bag is priceless. Jake Johnson is a treasure.) If he makes an honest effort, why shouldn't he get better? No one deserves to be broken, either.

[thomasroach]

The Darkside Detective Review: Occult fun for All Ages

The post The Darkside Detective Review: Occult fun for All Ages appeared first on Fextralife.

The following post is this author’s opinion and does not reflect the thoughts and feelings of Fextralife as a whole nor the individual content creators associated with the site. Any link that goes outside of Fextralife are owned by their respective authors.

This started out as just a Steam review but I wanted to post due to the fact I enjoyed the game so much. But after the second paragraph, just after finding out that the Devs are releasing Season 2 in the coming year after a successful kickstarter, I realized that this is a game I want as many people as I can tell to know about. Just adding another positive rating to the already existent mass of them would be as helpful as getting a windmill to spin by blowing on it. So let’s do a full review, published courtesy of Fextralife so I can waste your time tell you about a pixel styled, point and click adventure game, so you can waste spend your money on it.

The Darkside Detective Review: Occult fun for All Ages

Genre: Adventure/Point & Click Developed by: Spooky Doorway Published by: Spooky Doorway Release Date: July 27th, 2017 Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC via Steam (Review Platform), Mac, Linux, Windows Price at the time of the review: $12.99

This is probably one of the funniest adventure games I’ve ever played and has got me back into occult fiction and fantasy. This is a mix of Ghost Busters and the X-Files, added with two thirds of the three stooges. It’s silly, spooky, laugh out loud fun and deserving of more investment, and no I am not a member of the dev team or affiliated with them in any way, but yes you should give them lots of money. If you have little to no interest in occult fantasy, buddy cop comedies, pixel graphics, or point-and-click adventure games, then I’m sorry to say you have lost approximately fifty seconds of your life reading the introduction to the review of a game you probably won’t want to get anyway. If you do, then let’s begin.

Story & Setting

The Darkside Detective tells the story, or rather many stories by Francis McQueeen, a seeker of the occult and eldritch as well as an investigator of all things paranormal and supernatural. Teamed with his goofy cop sidekick, Officer Dooley, Detective McQueen investigates multiple cases dealing with some form of ghostly apparition, crazed cultist, demonic entity, or cryptic creature. Despite its many horror themes and monsters, this game is a satire through and through, making fun of everything horror B-movies have tried to scare audiences with. It’s filled with parodies of various popular horror flicks and myths.

The satire, however, is really only a small facet of the comedic hilarity, as The Darkside Detective excels with its writing of ridiculous characters, situations, with plenty of jokes and jabs, that revolve around what is terrorizing New Yor-I mean Twin Lakes at the time being. Twin Lakes is a city rife with crazy paranormal encounters, and equally crazy (if not more so) people to deal with. Its a bevy of kooks and weirdos who range from a pyromaniac eight-year-olds, a paranoid anti-government sea monster, An occultist train engineer, a rival detective so douchy he literally takes candy from babies (then fines the baby for crying about it) and more.

It’s just…a mess, a beautiful mess of madness that makes progressing through each story a treat, with dialogue so funny that I want to interact with every possible thing just to hear it all, and everything seeming to have some kind of oddity or quirk just to make it all that much stranger. I could go into further detail on each individual story, but honestly the best experience with this game, is going in blind. Truly it’s the storytelling and writing that makes this game fantastic, as it seems to be for the most part of these classic adventure games.

If my mother had that much storage space in her closet, she’d still run out of room by the end of the month.

It’s the major selling point, and what I most loved about The Darkside Detective. I wish I could say more, but unlike thoroughly explaining gameplay, visuals, audio, and all other more technical components of a game, story and humor are some things you can’t go into full detail  without spoiling the plot, or weakening the experience compared to a first time playthrough. Again, if you enjoy buddy cop comedies, Ghostbusters, and horror movie satire, this is a sure thing, heck, even if you don’t like point-and-clicks, I would still say get a guide and play through it like that, cause the humor is top notch. Simple at times, witty at others, but splendid all around. Not every joke was equally funny, but there wasn’t a single one that didn’t at least put a smile on my face.

Audio & Visuals

Simplistic, is one word I could use to sum up the pixel art style and colorful is another. Blocky, square, and geometrically appealing are a few more. “The Darkside Detective’s pixel graphic style lends a nostalgic return to classic point and clicks of old, that is reminiscent of titles such as Monkey Island and Dark Mansion” is a pretentious sentence I could also use to describe the art style. However, when it comes to pixel art, there only three things I, and likely what most people care about.

There are no words to describe how I feel about this.

Does it look nice? Can you tell what’s going on and what’s what? And will it possibly give me an epileptic seizure? To all these questions I can pretty much answer yes, yes and you may want to consult your doctor about that. Really though, given the decades of practice game development has had in 2D pixel art, I think it should be the basic standard for any pixel game to look “nice”, decent at least, and The Darkside Detective has certainly accomplished that.

Though simplistic to the point of not having facial features for most characters outside of facial hair, and hardly any dynamic animations, the game looks vibrantly colourful, and is especially beautiful at certain points in the story. It’s…like a child’s drawing actually, made into pixel form. Lots of strong, crayon colors, simple details, and some cartoonishly designed characters. which is quite fitting given the game’s comical nature.

But this is a quite an important feature that can damn a point-and-click pixel game into the nine circles of game development hell. If a pixel game’s standard is to look attractive, then knowing what anything and everything is at a glance should be the barest minimum. This is so I can tell the difference between a baby rattle and a bomb so I don’t accidentally recreate a morbidly dark version of a loony toons skit. So, how hard is it to tell what the hell I’m looking at and clicking on? I’m happy to say, hardly difficult at all. Unlike some point-and-click titles, this is one where I can tell exactly what’s what and who’s who.

Pretty much everything of interest is definable from the background and usually large enough and colorful enough to catch the eye. Anything that doesn’t easily stand out can be found with a little mouse waving. The point is, I never had a ���What the $&%! Am I looking at?!” moment, or ever got stuck because the thing I needed to find was so obscurely hidden in a mess of visual clutter, so that it ended up being a hidden object game on top of a logic puzzle.

Finding things was fairly easy, and the game hit that sweet spot of being visually interesting and fun, but not so much so that I ever got sick and confused from looking at it. The game’s visuals are neither boring nor over stimulating, and the valuable items are easy to distinguish with a little looking at the most, giving the Darkside Detective a pass and thumbs up in its visuals department. While I do admit some more dynamic animations would have be welcomed, I can’t say there was any point in the game when I didn’t enjoy what I saw on my screen.

When it comes to audio, yeeeeah, don’t expect award winning vocal performances because as well as having no mouths, no one has voices either. Does this bring down the game? Well if you hate reading of all kinds, then yes, yes it does. However, if you do enjoy the written word as well as or even more than the spoken, then you’ll have no problems here. For me, the silence is actually preferable in this case. The lack of vocal sound leaves one in a quieter atmosphere, as well as it draws more focus on the music, which I’ll get to in a minute. Also, personally, I would bet that the voices the devs would get for the characters if they did, wouldn’t be as good as the ones imagined in my head.

Sound Effects

As for sound effects, they do their job, quite minimal and only occur during certain events such as putting out a fire but are well used as they do add to the scene or action. I can’t really complain about nor commend the sound effects, but given how little significance they have to the game as a whole, I don’t think it really matters. In a more action focused game, this would be a problem, but in an adventure title having sound only when something’s happening is probably for the best. Having constant, distracting noises would probably just get annoying over time, and like I said, when they do occur, the sound effects do add something, so they’re not a waste.

Soundtrack

Finally and most creepily, you have the music. If the voice and sound effects were largely ignored to focus on the music, then I have to say it was a smart choice. Simply put, the music for this game in fantastic, a beautifully fitting soundtrack of creepy and spooky pieces, paranormal and ghostly in tone and execution, amplifying the horror side of this horror comedy. Each song a similar yet unique brand of subtle horror, not truly scary or spine chilling in the sense of wandering around an empty house with Michael Mires walking in pace right behind with that classic Halloween music playing. It’s more on the side of what you would hear in say a supernatural mystery documentary, or a ghost story narrative such as tales from the crypt.

The Darkside Detective Soundtrack by Ben Prunty

It’s whimsical, with a good deal of creep factor, not to cause terror, but to draw one into a state of calm eeriness. It’s somewhat enchantingly haunting all at the same time, more serene than disturbing, in a way that soothes the nerves rather than putting them on edge like the aforementioned Michael Mires theme music. It also gives the feeling that something’s not quite right, that proper paranormal vibe like a specter may be looming over you.

Gameplay

As a point-and-click adventure game, the biggest thing you would want to know is this “how hard is the gameplay?” Because when it comes to games like these, difficulty can range from being fairly easy, just click the big shiny red button with “press this” in big, bold letters. To being more challenging in terms of gameplay with “you better have a detailed walkthrough on hand cause this will be like figuring out the Divinci Code, upside down, in a bad translation of J.R.Tolken Elvish speak…………and the paper’s on fire”. Thankfully, the Darkside Detective is not the latter and far from it.

The answer to this conundrum is easier than you think, though it does require extensive understanding of fourth dimensional quantum physics.

Puzzles

The puzzles are on the easier side of the scale, with the majority of puzzles giving strong hints as to what you need to do and what does what, as well as being largely involving “use this on this” style of puzzle solving. A staple of point ‘n’ clicks, with a few fun little mini games such as clear the tiles, make a pipe chain, or connect the wires without crossing them. Most of the use this on this puzzles usually took but a minute to put two and two together, after finding the needed objects. The only times I ever got stuck was because I didn’t know exactly how to use the items and on what. This was largely due to not knowing what order certain things had to be done in, but even then, that was only during a few problematic minutes.

Only once did I ever run into a situation where felt particularly stuck which I feel is worth mentioning. This happened due to an arbitrary order of operations where in this particular instance I had actually worked out what I had to do, before clicking on the hint that would lead me to the action.

Aaah, if gamers of the past could see us now. Futuristic graphical technology that can render beads of sweat dripping off of a realistic swimsuit model, and we’re still playing games you could run on a calculator.

Aside from that, the gameplay is, admittedly pretty average, though I did find the occasional mini game quite colorfully fun and a welcome exception to the standard point ‘n’ click affair. The puzzles that had logical solutions were in no way hard, and any puzzles whose sensibility and reasoning deviated from common logic were clearly explained. I never really encountered a situation where I’d solve a puzzle and then say “how the hell does that make any sense?!”, or, “how the hell was I supposed to figure that out?!”, or “how many drugs were these developers taking to think this up?!” And you know what? That’s the way I like it.

The puzzles are easy but not too easy, thus giving quite entertaining and not too frustrating obstacles between plot segments or events. The short length of each case (level as it were) makes it so that they don’t get stale before the next case, and helps change things up a bit.

Final Thoughts

The Darkside Detective isn’t revolutionary, it isn’t mind blowing and it isn’t a brain buster. However it succeeds where it matters most, it’s fun. It’s fun to look at, it’s fun to listen to, it’s fun to watch, it’s fun to read, and it’s fun to play. From start to finish, I had a great time playing this wacky little game and enjoying all the humor, mystery, and added spookiness that it had to offer. While I can definitely see room for improvement, this is still a solid experience as it is, and I wholly recommend it to anyone who wants a light-hearted adventure into the world of the supernatural and occult.

However, though the find and use puzzles are a common staple of the point-and-click genre, I do genuinely think they’re becoming too common place in gameplay in these games. I would rather see more of the kind of puzzles that diverge from the well-treaded design. In The Darkside Detective these worked well to a certain extent, but it was the puzzles that didn’t have them, that really stood out for me, even if they were ones not completely original.

I much prefer adventure games with clear, simple, logical puzzles rather than the extremely obscure moon logic puzzles the “classic” adventure games present me with, and you know why? Cause that’s not what I playto adventure games for. I come to them for enjoyable, entertaining stories as well as characters with clever dialogue, colorful plots, and interesting worlds to explore. That’s exactly what The Darkside Detective gives players.

If you enjoyed this review be sure to read more with our latest thoughts on action shinobi Sekiro Review: Shinobis Die Many Times. Or you can check out Capcom’s demon hunting title Devil May Cry 5 Review: Ssstylish Perfection.

The post The Darkside Detective Review: Occult fun for All Ages appeared first on Fextralife.

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[recentanimenews]

Anime NYC 2018, Day Two

Yesterday was light to nonexistent. The same for tomorrow. But today? We had ALL THE THINGS! Starting off with the joint Kodansha and Vertical panel, which was in a nice big panel room and there was no line. A good start!

Ben Applegate was there from Kodansha and Tomo Tran from Vertical. They talked about all the giveaways they had at the booth, with Summer Wars stickers, After the Rain music download cards, Devils’ Line stuff, Pop Team Epic “shitty merchandise” (nicely done), and some of the Monogatari art exhibit being available to look at. Vertical then announced a new artbook from VOFAN, the artist for the Monogatari Series novels. This is actually a collection of his non-commercial art, so it should be far more intriguing than just another collection of stuff you’ve seen before in a larger size. It’s coming in Fall 2019.

Kodansha ran through some of their titles currently being released, including the Sailor Moon Eternal Edition, and mentioned the Sailor Moon musical is coming to NYC and DC. They then got on to new titles, though one is a collected edition: Princess Jellyfish is getting a Complete Box Set! Given at one point they weren’t sure they’d even finish the series, this is terrific news. Tales of Berseria is a three-volume series from Ichijinsha’s Comic REX, and is a fantasy title based off of a video game – I think it has an anime as well.

Fate/Grand Order gets its first manga adaptation license with the mortalis stella series, a 2-volume manga that is also Ichijinsha, from their Comic Zero Sum. I believe this stars Mash. Lastly, Kodansha is doing a new Cardcaptor Sakura edition with all the bells and whistles – hardcover, some new covers, new translation – the whole nine yards. I was a bit surprised by this, given it wasn’t too long ago that Dark Horse had re-released the series, but I’ve heard this will be worth the repurchase.

There were also two new digital announcements, coming out the first and second week of December, respectively. Red Riding Hood’s Wolf Apprentice (Akazukin no Ookami Deshi) is a Betsushonen title with Little Red Riding Hood as a beast hunter, and it’s supposed to be amusing. And on a more ridiculous note, we have Crocodile Baron, a Weekly Morning title that is three volumes long. Kodansha emphasized that the synopsis was irrelevant because there was a crocodile in a top hat on the cover. They’re not wrong.

After this there was Q&A, but I had to leave right away to get to the debut panel for Denpa Books, run by Ed Chavez (ex-Vertical) and Jacob Gray (ex-Fakku). They had special guests at the panel, though they quickly had to leave, so weren’t the focus – Range Murata, character designer for Last Exile and others, whose futurelog artbook is out next month and has ALL the bells and whistles – seriously, I could not believe how tricked out this artbook is. Hiroyuki Asada is known here for Tegami Bachi, but is putting out a more experimental title via Denpa, PEZ.

Most of the titles talked about have been mentioned before in some way or another. I was most interested in Invitation from a Crab and Maiden Railways, both of which seem to come from Hakusensha’s Rakuen Le Paradis, as well as Dining with the Emiya Family, for Fate/Stay Night fans who know what the most important thing in the Fate franchise is – FOOD.

The new titles included Super Dimensional Love Gun, a Shintaro Kago title that Fakku had previously released, but this is a nicer edition. It contains the usual Shintaro Kago warnings – if you aren’t a fan of his, you’ll likely be grossed out. Heavenly Delusion (Tengoku Daimakyou) is a brand new seinen series running in Kodansha’s Afternoon, and Denpa managed to license it before the first volume was even out in Japan. They’re super excited for it – it’s post-apocalyptic slice of life, a popular genre lately. The creator may be better known for SoreMachi. The last Denpa title was Pleasure and Corruption (Tsumi to Kai), from Square Enix’s Young Gangan. Honestly, it feels more like a Fakku title than a Denpa title, but it’s being sold to those who liked the sort of dark sexuality of Flowers of Evil. Expect BDSM themes.

After eating lunch, I had a choice: I could go to Viz, or go to Vertical’s Katanagatari panel. I chose the latter (sorry, Viz, I always seem to miss you at these events). Vertical’s panel had the translator, Sam Bett, who walked through some of the things they’re doing with the title – the footnotes, which are half gag and half serious, as well as the hardcover omnibus editions. Given its author, you can imagine how much sword wordplay and how many sword puns there are. Most of the audience has already seen the anime, but Sam was quick to note that even given the novels are short (each is approximately 100 pages in English, meaning the omnibus is 300), there is a lot the anime had to adapt or leave out.

Even leaving aside that it was Nisioisin, translating it could be difficult – these are not “light” novels, and there’s lots of obscure or archaic Japanese terms that need adapting. He also explained why he used ��mutant blades” rather than “deviant blades” – he felt the latter made them sound more evil than they really should be seen. It takes him longer to do Nisio’s translation than other titles, but not a LOT longer – about 20% longer, on average. He said even a Japanese reader might find themselves reaching for a dictionary to look up words with this one.

Despite not being at the Viz panel, I will be looking at their announcements anyway, at least the manga ones. My Hero Academia SMASH! is a 5-volume comedy series that ran in Shonen Jump +, and is, as you might have guessed, a wacky 4-koma take on the popular series. This license was obvious, but I am quite pleased nevertheless. Komi Can’t Communicate (Komi-san wa Komyushou Desu) was a very popular license announcement, being a Shonen Sunday title with a lot of buzz. Komi is the cool, aloof beauty according to the school, but in reality, she’s just bad at communication.

Beastars is a Weekly Shonen Champion title (nice to see Akita Shoten stuff out over here in a (mostly) post-Tokyopop world), and it’s an award winning manga about anthropomorphic high school students. It’s 11+ volumes, and looks dark but cool. Lastly, Haikasoru has a new sci-fi novel announcement with Automatic Eve, that seems to be a steampunk title.

I was lurking waiting for Yen Press, so I checked out the GKids panel. They’re a group that puts out a lot of the “anime movie” series we’ve seen recently, the most recent varieties being Mirai and Fireworks: Shall We See It from the Side or the Bottom?. They’re also now in charge of the Ghibli line, with nice handsome DVD/Blu-Ray releases of those titles. They are clearly cery excited about getting these releases into theaters, and the trailers for the movies looked exciting and fun – I particularly liked the Miyazaki documentary.

My last panel of the day was Yen Press, but they also announced the most titles – easily. The panel room filled up rapidly, being near standing room only 15 minutes before, but I think everyone who wanted to get in was able to. Announcing for Yen were Kurt Haessler and Tania Biswas, as well as Carl, Ivan, and Anna, who sadly remained last name-less. Unlike all the other panels I went to, Yen knew it had a pile to announce, so did not do a run-through of any recent releases – through they did have some poster giveaways, including Psycome, much to my surprise.

We began with the novel of Wolf Children: Ame and Yuki. Yen had previously released the manga, but they now have the novel adaptation of this popular movie. (Anna spoiled a death when describing the plot, which Kurt mercilessly mocked her for.) Whenever Our Eyes Meet is a yuri anthology a la Eclair, but this time the protagonists are all adult women, for those who are tired of the usual high school girls. Speaking of yuri, we also have Killing Me!, a one-volume title from Comic Cune about two high school girls who are a vampire and a vampire hunter. It looks very much like a “yuri for guys” series.

Also one volume is Little Miss P (Seiri-chan), an Enterbrain series about an anthropomorphic period. As in menstruation period. The audience was taken aback, but Yen clearly really enjoyed talking about this one, and think it will be great fun. Last Round Arthurs: Scum Arthur and Heretic Merlin is a brand new fantasy title – brand new in Japan too, so there’s not much info about it. The author did Akashic Records of Bastard Magical Instructor, the artist does Index. It seems to be about an Arthurian tournament, and is two volumes to date.

On a darker note, they have both the novel and the manga for Torture Princess (Isekai Goumon Hime), whose artist has also done Black Bullet. It’s a Media Factory title and is apparently quite violent, about a man who is reincarnated in an artificial body and the demon hunter who wants his help. The German subtitle is Fremd Torturchen, and the manga runs on Kadokawa’s Comic Walker site. We also get an Enterbrain light novel called The Dirty Way to Destroy the Goddess’ Hero (Megami no Yuusha wo Taosu Gesu na Houhou). No, not that kind of dirty. The demon lord just wants to eat tasty food, but heroes keep trying to kill them. So… they summon their own hero.

Back to manga with The Monster and the Beast (Bakemono to Kedamono), a BL title from Asuka Ciel, about a nice monster and a nasty older man, and their budding relationship. Yuri Life is another yuri title, this one taken from Pixiv artist Kurikurihime, and also features two women in their late twenties, not late teens. It’s very sliec-of-yuri life. For fans of Beasts of Abigaile, we have a title from the same creator. Kaiju Girl Caramelizer (Otome Monster Caramelize) runs in my old nemesis, Comic Alive (pauses to shake fist at sky), but looks good anyway, and is about a girl who has an affliction that when she gets upset, her body parts “monsterize”.

More light novels with Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki (Jaku Chara Tomozaki-kun), a Shogakukan title (in other words, expect print-only for this one) about a loser gamer guy who thinks the world is awful, and a winning gamer girl who shows him the “cheats” to help him succeed at life. It gets points for not being a fantasy title, I’ll say that. The artist is also pretty fly. (I’m so sorry.) Back to manga for God Shining Moonlight Howling Moon (Mahou Shoujo Flaming Star), by the creators of Trinity Seven and High School of the Dead. Given that combo, you know there will be breasts a plenty. It also runs in Bessatsu Dragon Age, which sort of clinches that, and is about a Magical Girl called upon to save the Earth… but is she one of the good guys?

The last one is another light novel, The Hero Is Overpowered But Overly Cautious (Kono Yuusha ga Ore Tueee Kuse ni Shinchou Sugiru), a fairly recent Kadokawa series. A fantasy world is in desperate straits. They need a hero. They get a really strong one… but he’s far too wary, never wanting to attack unless he knows he can win. What makes this interesting is that the book is from the POV of the goddess who summoned him, and she has to find a way to make him do what needs to be done. It’s five volumes in Japan. After that came Q&A, but honestly, let’s just move along now.

And with that, I wrapped up my second and busiest day of Anime NYC. Again, I was pretty happy. The staff was nice and knowledgeable, the crowds were large but reasonable, and I got to see everything I wanted. Tomorrow I have no panels I want to see, so will take in Artist’s Alley, and may also scope out the AMV contest.

By: Sean Gaffney

[sebastiano-merlino]

Every time someone asks me how they could improve their writing I always answer the same thing. To be honest, whatever I say is the same thing everybody else says:

Read more (especially the classics)

Join workshops

Practice every day

etc…

It is not that these suggestions are wrong – because they are not – it is just that everybody has probably already told them to you.

Do you really need me to repeat them?

Do you?!?!

I guessed so.

Despite this, here I want to give you a set of suggestions to improve your writing. These are relaxing, easy to follow, and fun to implement, but, on top of the rest, quite unusual.

1) Read a book about scriptwriting

One of the most important lessons for someone who just started writing is that a big chunk of what is in the manuscript is just fat.

I know… I know, everything you write is gold and you love it. But, look at it for real just a minute, don’t you think that the digression on why macaques* have a red bum in the last chapter of your noir was redundant?

This is so hard because we produce lines and lines of text to which we get attached. Maybe that sentence sounds great. Maybe that chapter allowed us to show off our prose. Despite this, if it is not useful to the plot, it should go away.

Scriptwriters have even stronger rules on this. They have pretty strong boundaries and, most of the times, their movie will have to stay within the two hours boundary. Because of this, scriptwriters have to learn the hard way how to cut all the fat from their stories.

Reading a good book on scriptwriting will give you the idea of how seriously these guys take the task. A good one is: “On Directing Film” by David Mamet (who I am also watching on Masterclass). I’d also advise you to just read some scripts: IMSDb is a great resource for that.

2) Go to the theatre

For similar reasons, I also suggest visiting the theatre from time to time. On top of that, this helps you with other three things:

Improving your dialogues

Learning how to keep your readers’ attention

Inspiration

While the third is obvious, the first two are more interesting.

Consider what theatre is: a set of actors talking. If there are no actors talking there is no scene – now, now… I know this is reductive and if you work in theatre you are going to kill me because of course there could be theatre without dialogue – just let me simplify here and talk for the majority of theatrical pieces.

When we are at the theatre, the scriptwriter has to keep us awake the whole time. They will have to fight against our short attention span. Because of this, dialogues need to be extremely well written and hit the point.

Similarly, when we watch monologues, they have to involve us even more. Especially on this point, watching some standup comedy might come to your help. Comedians tell stories and they do it very well – that is how they keep you there, listening to them until the punchline arrives.

3) Watch good movies

I like to watch movies almost for the same reasons I suggest to go to the theatre. Again, stories have not much fat, dialogues have to be strong and the pace has to keep going.

I mostly like movies because they are inexpensive to watch. You can do that at home while you relax. An additional advantage to movies is that they are relatively short. I find them a great way to find inspiration and consume a good media. Reading books helps you even more but obviously, the number of books we can read will never match the number of movies we can consume (this because the information can be sent to us over multiple channels in parallel while we watch a movie).

I advise watching movies keeping your eyes open though. Try to identify characters’ motivations, general themes and key moments of the story within the movie. This will help you write better stories in general.

4) Travel / Watch cultural documentaries

I know this is unfair: travelling might be expensive and not everybody can afford it. Fortunately, in 2017, there are other ways you can visit new places and learn about different cultures: internet and TV documentaries are some of those.

Whether you travel with your body or just with your mind and spirit, my advice is to look at the world. It is big; really big. Even if you write fantasy or sci-fi there are chances that whatever you are writing can get a boost of inspiration from some culture you’ve never heard of.

5) Read comic books

If movies and theatre have to be concise, comics have to be slim. We often keep this media on the side but I still think it has a lot to teach.

In comics, the dialogue is again the key but, in this case, the limits are extreme. The balloons are small and often you don’t want a sentence to go beyond a handful of words.

On top of this, comics have a lot of other tricks to teach. The narration often uses colour themes and tend to be able to drive the reader in a more structural way than books (which is needed since potentially what is coming can be spoiled by the page itself). Many of these tricks can be learned and ported into books.

6) Take an acting class

Sorry, I am probably a bit overly obsessed with improving my scenes with dialogues.

Acting classes are great for this. Actors have to re-learn how to express emotions so that they are clear to their audience. They use recognizable movements and expressions. This is particularly useful for writers because it suggests us how to show our characters’ emotions in a way that is comprehensible and without having to tell them.

7) Surround yourself with art and music

My final suggestion is to surround yourself with inspiration. One thing I do is listening to music as much as I can.

Other people might just like to go to museums or art exhibitions.

Whatever works for you, do something!

Just, don’t spend your days at home in silence struggling to find something interesting to write. Nothing comes to you if not from your surroundings.

  *by the way: macaques don’t have a red bum (I mean at least that is visible to us) those are baboons – and this is for important reproductive reasons. Respect.

  I hope you enjoyed this article – in any case, let me know in the comments below. Feel free to subscribe if you want to know about my next articles.

The post Seven unusual ways to improve your writing appeared first on My Little Blackbird.

[thomasroach]

The Darkside Detective Review: Occult fun for All Ages

The post The Darkside Detective Review: Occult fun for All Ages appeared first on Fextralife.

The following post is this author’s opinion and does not reflect the thoughts and feelings of Fextralife as a whole nor the individual content creators associated with the site. Any link that goes outside of Fextralife are owned by their respective authors.

This started out as just a Steam review but I wanted to post due to the fact I enjoyed the game so much. But after the second paragraph, just after finding out that the Devs are releasing Season 2 in the coming year after a successful kickstarter, I realized that this is a game I want as many people as I can tell to know about. Just adding another positive rating to the already existent mass of them would be as helpful as getting a windmill to spin by blowing on it. So let’s do a full review, published courtesy of Fextralife so I can waste your time tell you about a pixel styled, point and click adventure game, so you can waste spend your money on it.

The Darkside Detective Review: Occult fun for All Ages

Genre: Adventure/Point & Click Developed by: Spooky Doorway Published by: Spooky Doorway Release Date: July 27th, 2017 Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC via Steam (Review Platform), Mac, Linux, Windows Price at the time of the review: $12.99

This is probably one of the funniest adventure games I’ve ever played and has got me back into occult fiction and fantasy. This is a mix of Ghost Busters and the X-Files, added with two thirds of the three stooges. It’s silly, spooky, laugh out loud fun and deserving of more investment, and no I am not a member of the dev team or affiliated with them in any way, but yes you should give them lots of money. If you have little to no interest in occult fantasy, buddy cop comedies, pixel graphics, or point-and-click adventure games, then I’m sorry to say you have lost approximately fifty seconds of your life reading the introduction to the review of a game you probably won’t want to get anyway. If you do, then let’s begin.

Story & Setting

The Darkside Detective tells the story, or rather many stories by Francis McQueeen, a seeker of the occult and eldritch as well as an investigator of all things paranormal and supernatural. Teamed with his goofy cop sidekick, Officer Dooley, Detective McQueen investigates multiple cases dealing with some form of ghostly apparition, crazed cultist, demonic entity, or cryptic creature. Despite its many horror themes and monsters, this game is a satire through and through, making fun of everything horror B-movies have tried to scare audiences with. It’s filled with parodies of various popular horror flicks and myths.

The satire, however, is really only a small facet of the comedic hilarity, as The Darkside Detective excels with its writing of ridiculous characters, situations, with plenty of jokes and jabs, that revolve around what is terrorizing New Yor-I mean Twin Lakes at the time being. Twin Lakes is a city rife with crazy paranormal encounters, and equally crazy (if not more so) people to deal with. Its a bevy of kooks and weirdos who range from a pyromaniac eight-year-olds, a paranoid anti-government sea monster, An occultist train engineer, a rival detective so douchy he literally takes candy from babies (then fines the baby for crying about it) and more.

It’s just…a mess, a beautiful mess of madness that makes progressing through each story a treat, with dialogue so funny that I want to interact with every possible thing just to hear it all, and everything seeming to have some kind of oddity or quirk just to make it all that much stranger. I could go into further detail on each individual story, but honestly the best experience with this game, is going in blind. Truly it’s the storytelling and writing that makes this game fantastic, as it seems to be for the most part of these classic adventure games.

If my mother had that much storage space in her closet, she’d still run out of room by the end of the month.

It’s the major selling point, and what I most loved about The Darkside Detective. I wish I could say more, but unlike thoroughly explaining gameplay, visuals, audio, and all other more technical components of a game, story and humor are some things you can’t go into full detail  without spoiling the plot, or weakening the experience compared to a first time playthrough. Again, if you enjoy buddy cop comedies, Ghostbusters, and horror movie satire, this is a sure thing, heck, even if you don’t like point-and-clicks, I would still say get a guide and play through it like that, cause the humor is top notch. Simple at times, witty at others, but splendid all around. Not every joke was equally funny, but there wasn’t a single one that didn’t at least put a smile on my face.

Audio & Visuals

Simplistic, is one word I could use to sum up the pixel art style and colorful is another. Blocky, square, and geometrically appealing are a few more. “The Darkside Detective’s pixel graphic style lends a nostalgic return to classic point and clicks of old, that is reminiscent of titles such as Monkey Island and Dark Mansion” is a pretentious sentence I could also use to describe the art style. However, when it comes to pixel art, there only three things I, and likely what most people care about.

There are no words to describe how I feel about this.

Does it look nice? Can you tell what’s going on and what’s what? And will it possibly give me an epileptic seizure? To all these questions I can pretty much answer yes, yes and you may want to consult your doctor about that. Really though, given the decades of practice game development has had in 2D pixel art, I think it should be the basic standard for any pixel game to look “nice”, decent at least, and The Darkside Detective has certainly accomplished that.

Though simplistic to the point of not having facial features for most characters outside of facial hair, and hardly any dynamic animations, the game looks vibrantly colourful, and is especially beautiful at certain points in the story. It’s…like a child’s drawing actually, made into pixel form. Lots of strong, crayon colors, simple details, and some cartoonishly designed characters. which is quite fitting given the game’s comical nature.

But this is a quite an important feature that can damn a point-and-click pixel game into the nine circles of game development hell. If a pixel game’s standard is to look attractive, then knowing what anything and everything is at a glance should be the barest minimum. This is so I can tell the difference between a baby rattle and a bomb so I don’t accidentally recreate a morbidly dark version of a loony toons skit. So, how hard is it to tell what the hell I’m looking at and clicking on? I’m happy to say, hardly difficult at all. Unlike some point-and-click titles, this is one where I can tell exactly what’s what and who’s who.

Pretty much everything of interest is definable from the background and usually large enough and colorful enough to catch the eye. Anything that doesn’t easily stand out can be found with a little mouse waving. The point is, I never had a “What the $&%! Am I looking at?!” moment, or ever got stuck because the thing I needed to find was so obscurely hidden in a mess of visual clutter, so that it ended up being a hidden object game on top of a logic puzzle.

Finding things was fairly easy, and the game hit that sweet spot of being visually interesting and fun, but not so much so that I ever got sick and confused from looking at it. The game’s visuals are neither boring nor over stimulating, and the valuable items are easy to distinguish with a little looking at the most, giving the Darkside Detective a pass and thumbs up in its visuals department. While I do admit some more dynamic animations would have be welcomed, I can’t say there was any point in the game when I didn’t enjoy what I saw on my screen.

When it comes to audio, yeeeeah, don’t expect award winning vocal performances because as well as having no mouths, no one has voices either. Does this bring down the game? Well if you hate reading of all kinds, then yes, yes it does. However, if you do enjoy the written word as well as or even more than the spoken, then you’ll have no problems here. For me, the silence is actually preferable in this case. The lack of vocal sound leaves one in a quieter atmosphere, as well as it draws more focus on the music, which I’ll get to in a minute. Also, personally, I would bet that the voices the devs would get for the characters if they did, wouldn’t be as good as the ones imagined in my head.

Sound Effects

As for sound effects, they do their job, quite minimal and only occur during certain events such as putting out a fire but are well used as they do add to the scene or action. I can’t really complain about nor commend the sound effects, but given how little significance they have to the game as a whole, I don’t think it really matters. In a more action focused game, this would be a problem, but in an adventure title having sound only when something’s happening is probably for the best. Having constant, distracting noises would probably just get annoying over time, and like I said, when they do occur, the sound effects do add something, so they’re not a waste.

Soundtrack

Finally and most creepily, you have the music. If the voice and sound effects were largely ignored to focus on the music, then I have to say it was a smart choice. Simply put, the music for this game in fantastic, a beautifully fitting soundtrack of creepy and spooky pieces, paranormal and ghostly in tone and execution, amplifying the horror side of this horror comedy. Each song a similar yet unique brand of subtle horror, not truly scary or spine chilling in the sense of wandering around an empty house with Michael Mires walking in pace right behind with that classic Halloween music playing. It’s more on the side of what you would hear in say a supernatural mystery documentary, or a ghost story narrative such as tales from the crypt.

The Darkside Detective Soundtrack by Ben Prunty

It’s whimsical, with a good deal of creep factor, not to cause terror, but to draw one into a state of calm eeriness. It’s somewhat enchantingly haunting all at the same time, more serene than disturbing, in a way that soothes the nerves rather than putting them on edge like the aforementioned Michael Mires theme music. It also gives the feeling that something’s not quite right, that proper paranormal vibe like a specter may be looming over you.

Gameplay

As a point-and-click adventure game, the biggest thing you would want to know is this “how hard is the gameplay?” Because when it comes to games like these, difficulty can range from being fairly easy, just click the big shiny red button with “press this” in big, bold letters. To being more challenging in terms of gameplay with “you better have a detailed walkthrough on hand cause this will be like figuring out the Divinci Code, upside down, in a bad translation of J.R.Tolken Elvish speak…………and the paper’s on fire”. Thankfully, the Darkside Detective is not the latter and far from it.

The answer to this conundrum is easier than you think, though it does require extensive understanding of fourth dimensional quantum physics.

Puzzles

The puzzles are on the easier side of the scale, with the majority of puzzles giving strong hints as to what you need to do and what does what, as well as being largely involving “use this on this” style of puzzle solving. A staple of point ‘n’ clicks, with a few fun little mini games such as clear the tiles, make a pipe chain, or connect the wires without crossing them. Most of the use this on this puzzles usually took but a minute to put two and two together, after finding the needed objects. The only times I ever got stuck was because I didn’t know exactly how to use the items and on what. This was largely due to not knowing what order certain things had to be done in, but even then, that was only during a few problematic minutes.

Only once did I ever run into a situation where felt particularly stuck which I feel is worth mentioning. This happened due to an arbitrary order of operations where in this particular instance I had actually worked out what I had to do, before clicking on the hint that would lead me to the action.

Aaah, if gamers of the past could see us now. Futuristic graphical technology that can render beads of sweat dripping off of a realistic swimsuit model, and we’re still playing games you could run on a calculator.

Aside from that, the gameplay is, admittedly pretty average, though I did find the occasional mini game quite colorfully fun and a welcome exception to the standard point ‘n’ click affair. The puzzles that had logical solutions were in no way hard, and any puzzles whose sensibility and reasoning deviated from common logic were clearly explained. I never really encountered a situation where I’d solve a puzzle and then say “how the hell does that make any sense?!”, or, “how the hell was I supposed to figure that out?!”, or “how many drugs were these developers taking to think this up?!” And you know what? That’s the way I like it.

The puzzles are easy but not too easy, thus giving quite entertaining and not too frustrating obstacles between plot segments or events. The short length of each case (level as it were) makes it so that they don’t get stale before the next case, and helps change things up a bit.

Final Thoughts

The Darkside Detective isn’t revolutionary, it isn’t mind blowing and it isn’t a brain buster. However it succeeds where it matters most, it’s fun. It’s fun to look at, it’s fun to listen to, it’s fun to watch, it’s fun to read, and it’s fun to play. From start to finish, I had a great time playing this wacky little game and enjoying all the humor, mystery, and added spookiness that it had to offer. While I can definitely see room for improvement, this is still a solid experience as it is, and I wholly recommend it to anyone who wants a light-hearted adventure into the world of the supernatural and occult.

However, though the find and use puzzles are a common staple of the point-and-click genre, I do genuinely think they’re becoming too common place in gameplay in these games. I would rather see more of the kind of puzzles that diverge from the well-treaded design. In The Darkside Detective these worked well to a certain extent, but it was the puzzles that didn’t have them, that really stood out for me, even if they were ones not completely original.

I much prefer adventure games with clear, simple, logical puzzles rather than the extremely obscure moon logic puzzles the “classic” adventure games present me with, and you know why? Cause that’s not what I playto adventure games for. I come to them for enjoyable, entertaining stories as well as characters with clever dialogue, colorful plots, and interesting worlds to explore. That’s exactly what The Darkside Detective gives players.

If you enjoyed this review be sure to read more with our latest thoughts on action shinobi Sekiro Review: Shinobis Die Many Times. Or you can check out Capcom’s demon hunting title Devil May Cry 5 Review: Ssstylish Perfection.

The post The Darkside Detective Review: Occult fun for All Ages appeared first on Fextralife.

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[sebastiano-merlino]

I've just published a new post on https://mylittleblackbird.com/2017/10/23/xx-unusual-ways-to-improve-your-writing/

Seven unusual ways to improve your writing

Every time someone asks me how they could improve their writing I always answer the same thing. To be honest, whatever I say is the same thing everybody else says:

Read more (especially the classics)

Join workshops

Practice every day

etc…

It is not that these suggestions are wrong – because they are not – it is just that everybody has probably already told them to you.

Do you really need me to repeat them?

Do you?!?!

I guessed so.

Despite this, here I want to give you a set of suggestions to improve your writing. These are relaxing, easy to follow, and fun to implement, but, on top of the rest, quite unusual.

1) Read a book about scriptwriting

One of the most important lessons for someone who just started writing is that a big chunk of what is in the manuscript is just fat.

I know… I know, everything you write is gold and you love it. But, look at it for real just a minute, don’t you think that the digression on why macaques* have a red bum in the last chapter of your noir was redundant?

This is so hard because we produce lines and lines of text to which we get attached. Maybe that sentence sounds great. Maybe that chapter allowed us to show off our prose. Despite this, if it is not useful to the plot, it should go away.

Scriptwriters have even stronger rules on this. They have pretty strong boundaries and, most of the times, their movie will have to stay within the two hours boundary. Because of this, scriptwriters have to learn the hard way how to cut all the fat from their stories.

Reading a good book on scriptwriting will give you the idea of how seriously these guys take the task. A good one is: “On Directing Film” by David Mamet (who I am also watching on Masterclass). I’d also advise you to just read some scripts: IMSDb is a great resource for that.

2) Go to the theatre

For similar reasons, I also suggest visiting the theatre from time to time. On top of that, this helps you with other three things:

Improving your dialogues

Learning how to keep your readers’ attention

Inspiration

While the third is obvious, the first two are more interesting.

Consider what theatre is: a set of actors talking. If there are no actors talking there is no scene – now, now… I know this is reductive and if you work in theatre you are going to kill me because of course there could be theatre without dialogue – just let me simplify here and talk for the majority of theatrical pieces.

When we are at the theatre, the scriptwriter has to keep us awake the whole time. They will have to fight against our short attention span. Because of this, dialogues need to be extremely well written and hit the point.

Similarly, when we watch monologues, they have to involve us even more. Especially on this point, watching some standup comedy might come to your help. Comedians tell stories and they do it very well – that is how they keep you there, listening to them until the punchline arrives.

3) Watch good movies

I like to watch movies almost for the same reasons I suggest to go to the theatre. Again, stories have not much fat, dialogues have to be strong and the pace has to keep going.

I mostly like movies because they are inexpensive to watch. You can do that at home while you relax. An additional advantage to movies is that they are relatively short. I find them a great way to find inspiration and consume a good media. Reading books helps you even more but obviously, the number of books we can read will never match the number of movies we can consume (this because the information can be sent to us over multiple channels in parallel while we watch a movie).

I advise watching movies keeping your eyes open though. Try to identify characters’ motivations, general themes and key moments of the story within the movie. This will help you write better stories in general.

4) Travel / Watch cultural documentaries

I know this is unfair: travelling might be expensive and not everybody can afford it. Fortunately, in 2017, there are other ways you can visit new places and learn about different cultures: internet and TV documentaries are some of those.

Whether you travel with your body or just with your mind and spirit, my advice is to look at the world. It is big; really big. Even if you write fantasy or sci-fi there are chances that whatever you are writing can get a boost of inspiration from some culture you’ve never heard of.

5) Read comic books

If movies and theatre have to be concise, comics have to be slim. We often keep this media on the side but I still think it has a lot to teach.

In comics, the dialogue is again the key but, in this case, the limits are extreme. The balloons are small and often you don’t want a sentence to go beyond a handful of words.

On top of this, comics have a lot of other tricks to teach. The narration often uses colour themes and tend to be able to drive the reader in a more structural way than books (which is needed since potentially what is coming can be spoiled by the page itself). Many of these tricks can be learned and ported into books.

6) Take an acting class

Sorry, I am probably a bit overly obsessed with improving my scenes with dialogues.

Acting classes are great for this. Actors have to re-learn how to express emotions so that they are clear to their audience. They use recognizable movements and expressions. This is particularly useful for writers because it suggests us how to show our characters’ emotions in a way that is comprehensible and without having to tell them.

7) Surround yourself with art and music

My final suggestion is to surround yourself with inspiration. One thing I do is listening to music as much as I can.

Other people might just like to go to museums or art exhibitions.

Whatever works for you, do something!

Just, don’t spend your days at home in silence struggling to find something interesting to write. Nothing comes to you if not from your surroundings.

  *by the way: macaques don’t have a red bum (I mean at least that is visible to us) those are baboons – and this is for important reproductive reasons. Respect.

  I hope you enjoyed this article – in any case, let me know in the comments below. Feel free to subscribe if you want to know about my next articles.