#but give them segments!!! develop the characters!!!!!
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samijey · 9 months ago
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The OC - NXT 11/06/2024
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thewistlingbadger · 3 months ago
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I'm going to be honest: I think one of the ways you fix season 2 is by getting rid of Warwick
Act 2 was more or less entirely dedicated to Warwick, a new character who really isn't that new bc he's actually Vander from s1. Despite the fact that he plays a heavy role in the act, his character isn't explored at all. Warwick is used in act 2 for the main purpose of reuniting Jinx and Vi. The sisters end up basically ignoring all their problems and differences and become family again solely due to Warwick's presence. If you get rid of Warwick, then the sisters don't reunite. They either stay on opposing sides or they end up reconciling later in the show, most likely due to them developing some sort of understanding for the other and by actually exploring their baggage.
Warwick is tied to Singed in this season, and through him and Viktor he's tied to Ambessa. Half of the plot in act 2 is Ambessa trying to find Warwick by using Singed to turn Warwick into the ultimate weapon. This part of the show was kinda weird and it definitely took away from the plot. If you get rid of Warwick you can actually focus on ambessa and her motives, or on ambessa and Caitlyn since their relationship is established but not developed.
The sisters end up bringing Warwick to Viktor's commune, which is how Viktor gets reintroduced to the story after not being seen for several episodes. Viktor decides to attempt to heal Warwick, but it isn't said why. We learn that Viktor's powers are suffering and that the commune isn't all that it seems, but we never get to learn anything further bc this segment isn't focused on Viktor- it's focused on Warwick. If you get rid of Warwick, you could actually focus on Viktor, his powers, his commune, his relationship with sky and the hexcore, and his motives.
At the start of act 2, we see that Vi is in a really bad place. She's fighting a lot, getting wasted, and isn't taking care of herself. We see that she has a friendship with Loris as well. However, we're not able to explore Vi's friendship or her current situation or her character bc shortly after Jinx asks Vi to help her with Warwick. If Warwick is gone then you can actually focus on Vi as a character and unpack all the shit the show has built up.
At the start of act 2, we see there's a lot of unrest in zaun. We see zaunites starting to band together and view Jinx as a symbol. This is a really cool concept that isn't explored because instead of Jinx spending the act with other zaunites, she spends it with Warwick. If Warwick is gone then we could actually explore the current politics between zaun and piltover and the effects they have.
It really doesn't make sense to have Warwick be the center of the act when he's not a main character. Hell, he isn't a character at all. He's a plot device. Literally almost everything that happens in act 2 is somehow related to him, yet he has no arch in the season. Everything he does just adds to the plot, not to the value of the story. We end up getting the most random piece of lore dropped in the middle of the season because of him. Lore that literally wasn't relevant at all to what was going on in the show and was never brought up again. I understand that season 1 hinted at Warwick being Vander but if it were up to me I'd be prioritizing the other, much more important shit that s1 set up. Not fucking Warwick. Especially since he's just Vander, an excellent character that we were done with at the start of the first season. There's no reason for him to be back. Since act two is so centered on him, the other acts had to condense and become jammed packed full of shit. But if you get rid of Warwick, you give the story space to breathe. You could have things stretched out longer and in more detail because now you have the time to! You can go into the gray and Caitlyn's dictator arc in detail because now you don't have to worry about wrapping it up before Warwick shows up.
Warwick was literally so big in the show that he took away time and development from literally every character, but especially mel, jayce, ekko, heimerdinger, and Viktor, who were rarely seen this season despite being key players from season 1. If Warwick was gone, you could actually show what happened to ekko, Jayce, and heimerdinger before act 3. You could give ekko some much needed depth and screen time. You could actually explain the black rose, which is never explained throughout the entirety of the show. You could have had Ambessa's backstory be in the show and not its own separate music video. You could have showed Mel more. If Warwick was gone, you could actually explore the characters of Caitlyn and Vi and their relationship. You could explore Sevika's character, who got pushed to the side despite her promising start. You could explore Isha as a character. You could explore lest as a character, who was introduced and then completely forgotten. You could have expanded on the chem barons instead of glossing over them.
In general, if Warwick isn't around you just have more time to do more shit. Like holy shit this is actually crazy.
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tapwater118 · 9 months ago
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Has anyone ever heard of “Battle for Dream Island” (1990) before? Really obscure NES game, doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page (or hell, even a mention in one).
From what little I can find about it on the internet, Battle for Dream Island was an NES game released on January 1st, 1990, apparently made entirely by a pair of independent American developers. Never made all that many sales, but eventually it garnered a rather niche following on an obscure gaming forum, though it had long since dissipated. Unfortunately, seemingly nothing from the forum threads was archived, so all I have to go on are a few vague threads titles from a navigation page.
I, rather cliched like, bought this BfDI cartridge from a sleazy old guy at a flea market (along with Puzznic and Wario’s Woods for a bargain deal). I dumped the ROM and booted it up on an emulator to take some screencaps.
Upon pressing start, you are prompted to “Choose Contestant,” and have a choice between any of 20 playable characters (who are all everyday objects, for some reason). Each contestant has their own stats, and while you can feel the difference while playing, the overall impact of character choice is pretty negligible. (Also some of these guys don’t even have arms?? Weird design choice but okay.)
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Two screencaps of the character select screen. I went with Pin for my first playthrough cause idk she seemed kinda cute. I’m almost sure the stats are “Strength,” “Speed,” “Jump,” and “Skill.”
(Continued under cut)
While touting itself as a game show, BfDI is essentially a glorified minigame collection. The gameplay loop is as follows: You and the 19 other contestants play a minigame (referred to as “challenges”) to earn points based on how well you do (though I’m fairly certain the computer contestants just get a random amount of points for each challenge). Most of the challenges are various platforming segments, though some others fall more into puzzle game territory.
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Two of the challenges. The green “Win Tokens” can be collected for bonus points. LEFT: A horizontal platformer level. The grey wall in the middle of the screencap moves up and down. RIGHT: A challenge about climbing ladders while avoiding “acid spitballs.” The game pauses to scroll vertically a la Super Mario Bros. 2.
After each challenge, this speaker thing shows up (pretty sure he’s supposed to be like a game show host?) and tallies up everyone’s score. The contestant with the least score gets “eliminated” and removed from the game.
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The results screen. Leafy did rather poor on the last challenge, so she’s out of the game.
The game continues like this until you lose (have the least amount of points) and get booted to the game over screen, or until you are the last one left, in which case you win Dream Island! (Though of course in reality you just get booted back to the title screen. No Dream Island for you.)
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The victory screen, with the gates to Dream Island in sight. Feels more like the gates to hell given how Pin’s staring at me.
It’s a fairly easy game for NES standards (I won on my first try). Took me about 80 minutes on my first playthrough, though subsequent ones could take less than an hour as I knew what I was doing. The brevity and the fact it saves your high score gives BfDI a nice sense of replayability (though this is probably best done sporadically, as the challenges tend to get a bit samey after a couple of back-to-back playthroughs).
So yeah, just wanted to share this in case anybody else has heard of it. I’ll probably rip the sprites and upload them sometime later cause it doesn’t look like anybody’s done that yet.
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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 19 days ago
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Now don't throw tomatoes at me but I'm actually really excited to finally see malleus again— I've always loved malleus since we met him in the story, but I'm also sooo curious about what's gonna happen next,, I'm wondering the obvious thing, about whether or not we might get a parralel scenario like what happened with the KoD and silver will have to "slay" malleus or at least be the one to land a killing blow, but I also saw a really interesting post focusing on how magic is a manifestation of dreams and deep desires and imagination,,,, in that case, I may (VERY delusionally) hope that Yuu finally gets to be a major part of the story for once??? Even reading the novels, there HAS to be something bigger for yuu— while the idea of crowley simply being an incompetent airhead is fun and more comfortable, haven't you thought that meybe he pulled them into this world deliberately??
All to say, what if at some point, Yuu somehow manifests magic in a very dire moment ?? You know lol?? Agh idk. I just want yuu to finally make impactful choices but that IS too much to ask, as far as we can see for now,,, (but hey, that part leading up to ace getting is UM, and the convo between him and yuu,,, it *does* give one a sliver of hope, doesn't it? :') )
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Don't worry, no tomato throwing here! 😅 I may not care for certain characters, but I’m not going to shame anyone that does. You’re free to think however you want about Malleus!
dbjsvsJcwhj My personal feelings about him aside, I am actually glad he’s finally relevant to the main story again. He’s missed out on so much of his own book OTL In the time he’s been gone, the fandom has been left to speculate about both his and Lilia’s potential death flags. I really doubt Twst will have the balls to kill off one of them, but it would be cool to at least see Silver delivering the final blow to knock some sense into (not necessarily kill) OB Malleus.
Yes, it’s true that Silver states in the recent update that magic was originally considered “a miracle borne of strong desires from the heart.” But 💦 I don’t think that means Yuu would randomly manifest magic in the final fight?? It feels more like a “let’s save the day with the power of friendship” to me, but I could of course be wrong.
I understand being frustrated that Yuu’s participation in the main story seems to fluctuate a lot, with most of their activity being books 3, 4, and segments of 1, 6, and 7. That’s not much, especially considering how long books 6 and 7 are. Sometimes (even in events) it feels like Yuu is barely there, as most dialogue options don’t involve different reactions from the characters. Even Yuu's quest to find a way home is barely addressed or taken seriously until early in book 7. Yuu hasn't gotten "real" development unless you count them realizing their Disney dreams are prophetic in book 5, taking the initiative to save Grim in book 6, and that dialogue option about them being worried they're not contributing + the related convo with Ace in book 7. All very short moments in the grand scheme of things. And honestly, I think that makes sense for the kind of character Yuu is. A blank slate, a self-insert, an outsider that's easy to exposit information to, someone with which to view the story, characters, and world through. Yuu is primarily there to be the POV character, the lenses, the camera that we see Twst through. They're not really meant to be a traditional "main character". It's possible that Twst gives them a slightly bigger role at the very end (especially with what went down in the dream in book 7), but I doubt it will be a huge triumphant moment where they and they alone save the day or deal the final blow in a crazy act of self-sacrifice. Twst has always been a story that puts the NRC boys first, while Yuu is the observer.
I've noticed that the complaint of Yuu not doing a lot in the story comes mainly from English speaking fans?? And I guess that makes sense, given how western culture tends to emphasize independence and standing out. They want Yuu to reflect that. They want to be the ones to make a difference. I don't even remember ever seeing these same comments from the Japanese speaking fans; it's definitely a less common sentiment for them. The Japanese fans seem pretty content with Yuu being an observer and taking on more of a minor or supporting role. Again, this fits in with what I understand of many eastern cultures. They're demurer, not wanting to stand out too much from the crowd and instead prioritizing group harmony. Very interesting cultural difference to note!
It's a common theory (with many variants) that Crowley intentionally summoned Yuu to Twisted Wonderland for his own nefarious motives. People found him pretty sus right away due to how he seems to not put in any real time or effort into investigating a way to send Yuu home. Plus, there's that ominous opening monologue of his to consider. However, I don't think he summoned Yuu because of their (potential) great magical capabilities. The Mirror of Darkness tells us that it doesn't sense a shred of magic in Yuu, and Leona smells zero magic on them (though that could be because it hasn't technically manifested yet, as some fans claim).
The idea is that Yuu is supposed to be plain. They are supposed to be magicless. Why? To humble the NRC students and to show them that asserting yourself violently or with great magical power ISN'T the way to go. To show them value in strategizing (which Yuu does in the prologue by helping Grim aim at the ghosts), of camaraderie. What does it say about the story's themes if Yuu, the person who is supposed to be showing them the worth of mundane things, is suddenly... "secretly ultra-strong, actually/“just like you guys” (even if it's only a temporary hope-fueled magic)? It might contradict what has already been set up. It also breaks the self-insert appeal of Yuu, since developing magic would also mean Yuu would later have to further develop things like proficiency in magic, best/worst subjects, and an unique magic/signature spell... meaning Yuu HAS to become better "defined", thus losing their blank slate nature. This would surely upset some fans who deeply project onto Yuu, have a Yuusona, etc.
Yuu can still make an impact on the characters and the world--and they have, judging by how much closer the boys are with each other--without having to be The Most Special One or like everyone else. I think it undermines what Yuu has already managed to achieve to say that they haven't made an impactful choice at ANY point in the main story when I believe they definitely have. Yuu made the choice to sign the contract with Azul. Yuu made the choice to approach Malleus. Yuu made the choice to go against Crowley's orders and go retrieve Grim from S.T.Y.X. Yuu made the choice to get Leona’s help with the contracts. Yuu made the choice to stand with Adeuce against Riddle in book 1. Yuu made the choice to let the VDC/SDC tribe train at Ramshackle. Yuu has done a lot, and all without needing to seize the spotlight or to do anything big and flashy. I don't think Yuu needs to be big and flashy. There is pride to be had in simplicity and being humble too. There is pride in representing the 90% of humans in Twisted Wonderland that are ordinary and without magic.
(An aside: so if Yuu wasn’t able to manifest magic in many other extreme instances, does that mean their desire to save Grim in book 6 wasn’t “enough”? That their desire to save Ramshackle, their one and only home in this world, wasn’t “enough”? It implies that Yuu didn’t wish hard enough for these other things they clearly care about and want.)
I think a good way to give Yuu a decent role while staying true to their design as a blank slate would be for Twst to really lean into the whole "beast tamer" aspect that was introduced all the way back in the prologue. This would work well with their deep connection to Grim as well. Assuming that Grim ends up being the final OB... We could easily have the NRC students and staff on the ropes, Malleus at his wit's end after exhausting himself with his own OB, a rampaging Grim about to end it all. And then... one lone figure shakily rises from the rubble and confronts Grim. One human. Magicless, defenseless. A human lost in an unfamiliar world, a human who believes they're useless and don't contribute much. A human who is always in need of being protected by others. But not anymore. This time, it's Yuu's turn to protect what they love--their friends, this world they've come to love, Grim. Ace and Deuce yelling at Yuu to not be stupid, to get back--but Yuu just advances, calling out to Grim and begging him to stop. And maybe it's Yuu's wish that rallies everyone and/or gets OB Grim to hesitate. That's when they can strike. Is that corny? Yeah. Does it sound like the ending to a Disney film? Sure. But it still grants Yuu, a magicless human that is supposed to be there to teach everyone about friendship, cooperation, and humility, their big moment to shine. The best of both worlds, I'd say.
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bowandbrush · 13 days ago
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sorry for patronizing you mutuals with my sudden avatar fixation!
having rewatched the series, I decided to check out the live action series out of curiosity (I jumped straight into the Kyoshi island episode, to see what the interaction between Sokka and suki was like. Yeah)
In the new series we have much more screen time with Suki and more story on her past, but it’s not written half as well as the original. I understand they’re trying to change some things up and erase sexist Sokka, but that was the entire point in the original story.
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in the new version, Sokka just…stares a little and tries talking to her. Which is fine I guess. He’s impressed with her skill in fighting and devotion to being a warrior. It’s understandable, as he develops a bit of a crush after watching her in combat. Later discovering her training dojo, Suki just decides to train him. Out of nowhere. There are a fair amount of scenes and dialogue that insinuates she has a thing for him too, a lot. The entire training segment is just them standing close, tripping over each other, staring, etc. basically the same formula so many writers use to build tension between two characters.
It lacks substance. There isn’t much reason for them to like each other here. And for Pete’s sake, we don’t get to see Sokka wearing the traditional Kyoshi outfit!
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In the original, Sokka saunters in with prideful arrogance, dismissing and underestimating the female warriors. Y’know, because they’re girls. This scene wasn’t being sexist, Sokka was. I still don’t understand why they erased this, because it was a very important character development.
When Sokka ‘demonstrates’ his combat skills, Suki sets him straight without a sweat. In humiliation, Sokka realizes how much how wrong he was about women and their strength. How disrespectful he was.
that gives him a reason to ask for training. For forgiveness, and to better himself. It’s also a great scene when we see Suki sharing her culture with him. Although she wouldn’t normally “train outsiders, much less boys”, she still gives him a second chance.
There is so much authenticity here. He grows to admire Suki as a fighter and as a person. For her kindness and forgiveness too, not just strength.
we can see Suki grow on Sokka, appreciating his unbreakable loyalty and bravery. As well as his silly demeanor. We all like funny guys!
It’s a really nice Strong and brave woman + smart and silly idiot duo, and I love it.
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live action is just,,,watered down a lot. I don’t know what the live action series will do in the future. I don’t really care anyways. BUT what I really appreciate with Suki and Sokka is their vulnerability with each other.
nowadays, every “strong” girl is defined with outer works/action. That usually means no crying, no soft side, no fear. Especially if she’s in a relationship with a man. She has to be tougher than him. Because I guess vulnerable and defeated girls can’t be strong. At least, that’s the trope I see most often.
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Suki is very strong, brave, and tough. But when the appropriate time comes, she lets herself be open and exposed. She can let her guard down and expose her inner pain, because she knows Sokka is there for her.
it’s perfectly normal and healthy for a man to be able fall apart in his girls’ arms. But I feel like that’s suppressed the other way around, because it displays weakness. And I guess we’re cancelling weakness in women now. Because of woke
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felassan · 7 months ago
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Notes on and quotes from today’s new DA:TV coverage content from Game Informer, the video “The Making of Dragon Age: The Veilguard | Cover Story Feature”. The rest of this post is under a cut due to DA:TV spoilers.
First I'll note that the Game Informer video contains spoilers for DA:TV, so bear that in mind before deciding to watch it or read further in this post.
There were no new images, screenshots or videos from the game in the Game Informer video. There was however a series of music pieces playing in the background of the devs talking throughout. I didn't recognize these music pieces (lmk if you did tho pls hh!), so I'm wondering if the music in this video was all-new DA music from DA:TV!! 👁️
Next I will say that there was not much in the way of new information in the video. The devs were chatting about topics, info segments and talking points that have been featured in previous articles & previous coverage on the game. however, the devs seemed really happy and excited, and proud of what they've made, excited to share about it, and that was rly nice to see. :)
For the rest of this post, it is not a 'cliff notes on everything said in the video'-type post. It's just a series of notes on and quotes from the video that particularly stood out to me and that I particularly liked. ^^
"You start DA:TV having chased Solas to Minrathous. You're there to stop his ritual, there to take him down. You're there to find this character, so you're chasing him, you're trying to stop this ritual that he has already said multiple times that he is going to perform before he performs it, because, if he does, the Veil will get torn down, the Fade and the world of the waking will merge, and demons will pour out, pretty much meaning the end of life as we know it".
John Epler: "Solas always feels that he is a tragic hero, but a hero [of the story] nonetheless. So he is coming into this believing firmly that what you stopped him from doing [Rook stopping the ritual the way they did in the gameplay reveal video] was the right thing, that you've made a mistake, but, because now he's trapped, now he can't reach out and actively affect, he needs to work with you. And that allows us to provide a lot of nuance to the relationship, because Solas sees a lot of himself in you, especially the parts of himself that he maybe doesn't like to face, so there is kinda that interesting push and pull between the two characters, Solas and the main protagonist Rook. And you can define what that relationship means. You can continue to be suspicious and hostile towards him. Or you can start to see him and find that common ground, find that connection between the two of you and really develop a different relationship over thee course of the story." Mark Darrah: "This is a good direction to take the Solas story. It allows us to hopefully give a good conclusion to all of the varied attitudes towards Solas that are gonna be coming into this game. People who love Solas, people who agree with Solas, people who hate Solas, people who want to kick Solas off of a building, I think that we give you the opportunity to bring that to a close, but then tell a greater story about The Veilguard and about the world as a whole."
BioWare wanted to tell a story this time where you literally cannot save the world without these characters
The companions have relationships with each other too. "They have friendships, they have rivalries, and lean into that concept, you're not just pulling together a bunch of people who will do whatever you say, you're assembling a family and that becomes the core of what The Veilguard is all about. It's about taking this group, this found family and saving the world side by side with them."
In the game, things and the storytelling are done towards a goal, towards a storytelling goal, "towards the future" [of the franchise it sounds like], not 'just because' or 'just to do them'
John: "The message of The Veilguard is, you’re not saving the world on your own. You need your companions but you also need these factions, these other groups in the world. You help them, they help you. Now, something we wanted to avoid, because, you know, there's always the trope of, 'oh yeah, I would help you save the world but I need you to go gather 200 wood', it's kind of a silly concept, so what we wanted to build is these factions that do want to help you but have realistic challenges, problems in front of them. So narratively, you help them with their problems, they will help you with yours when the time comes, but beyond that each faction has a follower, as well as an ancillary character we’re calling 'agents', who exist as these, face of the faction. We’re not gonna get too deep into those right now, but we didn’t wanna just say, 'here's the Wardens, go deal with the Wardens', we wanted to have characters within that faction who are sympathetic, who you can see and who become the face of that faction, so even if there's moments where the faction as a whole may be on the outs with you, these characters are still with you, they’ve still got your back. It’s a core with what we’ve done with the storytelling in this game. We wanted to make sure all the content you did felt relevant. Everything you do has a purpose and has a tie back into the critical path. Sometimes it's more explicit than others, but there is always a sense that you are moving towards the goal of stopping the elven gods, stopping the end of the world, and it's not just [like how some of the side content in DA:I was]. Helping these people, helping these groups, so that they can help you when the time comes."
In the story and tone of this game, it has the highest of highest and the lowest of lows. At the lowest of lows, "it gets gritty, it gets painful, it gets dark", but there are also nice positive moments in the game and a colorful, optimistic throughline. Corinne: "This identity is something special for the franchise now and for the franchise going forward"
"the depths of Arlathan Forest"
"In the case of Arlathan, what does it look like when you go to the place where the elves had their ancient empire that was run on and fuelled by magic? What does the aftermath of that look like, especially when the gods are out in the world and raw magic is seeping back out from the Fade."
DA has always been a series where in the world, the truth has multiple perspectives
We will journey out from the Lighthouse into the area of the Fade known as the Crossroads, "which is full of mysteries, exploration, branching paths". We will take eluvians to the far corners of northern Thedas
Some of the environments are more mission-focused, "with narrative beat after narrative beat"
"We know what's gonna happen, we know when it's gonna happen, but of course it's influenced by all the decisions you've made as the player along the way"
There are also more non-linear, more open areas in which we will be able to open up new sections of the map, find new pathways, "really leaning into solving mysteries and finding ancient treasures and some of our apex battles, there are some truly terrifying enemies that you're going to encounter when you're left to your own means to kind've explore these larger areas".
"Tevinter has always been a land where mages rule, they are in charge, they make the rules and run the show. So what does that look like? And, as we've gone through DA:O, DAII and DA:I, magic has become more and more present, and part of that is because Solas has been slowly preparing this ritual for longer than anyone in the DA universe is really aware of, but also just, going into these spaces where magic is, by definition, and by the lore, much much more present. It's been fun"
For the first time in DA BW are able to let the visuals speak for themselves (as in, the technology has caught up and they aren’t just saying 'trust us, this [magic thing] is really cool')
They took great care with how they introduce each companion and major story character
Corinne is really proud of what BW have built with the CC. "It is a game where everyone belongs"
A new to DA feature in CC: full body customization with pretty robust diversity. Body shape, body size, body proportions
They invested huge effort into their strand hair technology. There are numerous hairstyles in the game, they know how much the fans care about hair and Corinne is one of these people. They know that the range of hairstyles matters too and that it is not just about quantity. "Making sure we have diverse representation for all types of players."
They took a step back and asked, how are we going to incorporate things like your background in a meaningful way?
They call difficulty levels "playstyles". This is integrated into the CC process. You can select a number of preset experiences that your character will adopt and step into the game with, but you can also customize that playstyle e.g., if you're bad at parrying, you can ease this up
Some of the locations that we will visit are "bustling cityscapes." "We're gonna go right into the heart of the Tevinter empire. We're also going to a city in Antiva called Treviso"
Corinne Busche: "[those places] have a dense populace and we knew we needed to have the tools to support a wide range of NPCs. You will not find NPCs that look alike in this game. Each one is crafted using the same tools that we're giving to our players, with the exception of some of our custom-sculpted characters like the companions. So when you go up to that market vendor in Minrathous, you can make that character. When you see the guards patrolling the street, you can make that character too. You can therefore be inspired by the population around you and go and create that in CC."
The Lighthouse as we know is our HQ and base of operations. Each of the companions has their own sanctuary, their own room within it. These spaces become a reflection of who they are. The more time we spend with them as the game develops, as we work through their arc, their room and their personality will evolve and flourish and become more complete as they trust us and we understand them better
Corinne: "There are moments in the game where two of our companions fell in love with each other and I had to make some pretty challenging choices as it related to the quest we were on, and it broke my heart, it absolutely did"
The game tries to give the player as much agency as it can, and then reflect it back on us. Choice and consequence can be hard to show, but this is a game about agency and about giving us options
We can upgrade gear and enchant gear, this extends to the companions too
The 3 specs for each of the 3 classes are highly distinct
Every attack, every swing of a sword, when you connect you feel it, these have weight
Companion abilities can be queued up one after the other
The devs are really proud of this game and excited about it. Everything that's in the game is in there because someone cares about it. The game really reflects the dev team and it's coming together well, they are really excited for us to get our hands on it soon
[source]
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yannisdesk · 3 months ago
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I disagree with the arguments going around that Vander's past was poorly handled in season 2 of act 2, or that it somehow "cheapens" his and Silco's character. This initially was just a paragraph, but it got a little long, so I broke it down.
"Vander and Silco knowing the sisters' mom pre-prologue is bad writing because she didn't know them in season 1." - If Vander and Silco knowing Vi + Jinx's mom pre-prologue is bad writing then that means the bad writing goes back to the very first scene in act 1 season 1. She's shown in the prologue dead after fighting in the battle that Vander orchestrated and led. He clearly recognizes the girls and when they give him that pleading look, he turns in the exact direction that Felicia and Connol's corpse was in, which communicates that he knew exactly who they were and who they were looking for. Their parents and Vander always knew each other, it just wasn't obvious how. Now we know.
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"It makes Silco's character unnecessarily dark." - It really doesn't change Silco's character as much as you'd think. Yeah, it darkens him, but only by like 5% more. Silco throughout all of season 1, especially act 1, is extremely a "do whatever it takes" type. He wanted power, he wanted to free Zaun, and was willing to do some heinous things, some "base violence" to set off the domino effect he desired for his rise to fame. One of the first things we're shown him doing, is using Zaun's children to experiment with shimmer. He has no sentimental ties to anyone but...Vander, and even then we see that it can only go so far. Come act 2 and 3, and he's clearly different, because he raised Jinx. We see Silco post-fallout with Vander. This Silco is simply different from the one we see in the flashback, but there are still shades of him throughout season 1 as we see with his relationship with Jinx, which yes, was extremely messed up, but he did care for her in his own way. Like how the Jinx we see at the beginning of season 1 act 2 is extremely different from Powder - this Silco has been through a lot, and has a completely different outlook. But similar to how Powder is never gone from Jinx, pre-fallout Silco is never fully gone from post-fallout Silco, as he embraces Powder rather quickly. Like Powder, pre-fallout Silco always there, bubbling just beneath the surface. He's just better at drowning out that part of him.
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"It cheapens Vander's anti-violence stance." - No, it doesn't. He could still very much be disturbed by how many Zaunites died during the battle (a lot of his people were lost, just look at the prologue) and draw the line at that, but Felicia's death in particular is what drove the wedge between him and Silco, and that's a separate thing. As we see in season 1, Vander does care about his people beyond his adoptive children. He doesn't say "Okay, everyone but the kids can fight!" No, he straight up says no one will fight. And when push comes to shove, he offers up himself to protect Vi, which was probably coming anyway because he said during the bridge scene in season 1 episode 2 that he didn't know what to do in terms of handling the apartment explosion. So no, Vander caring about the people of Zaun is not all of a sudden tossed out of a window because he cared about a friend who died tragically.
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"It means Vander, Vi, Jinx, Claggor, and Mylo are no longer a found-family."- How? Vander isn't related to Vi or Jinx by blood. Going by the watercolor memory segment, he was a family friend who was active in Vi's life, sure, however that doesn't mean he was some sort of surrogate father to her pre-prologue. He was a trusted adult figure in her life, and he became much more than that once her parents were killed. He became a father to her, Powder, Claggor, and Mylo, who also became their brothers. They were a found family. They never would've developed that dynamic if their bio-families were still around - or at least, not to the extent that it did.
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There are things I could drag act 2 for - namely the pacing and how Vi's character is handled. But, I'm fully behind Vander's lore expansion.
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venusmage · 6 days ago
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genuine q's from someone wanting to place KCD2 and saw your huge praise!
Do you have to have played 1 to get it or no?
If you do have to play 1 is that one good? I heard such a mixed bag when it released and I'm not sure if that was just the 'there are only white people' thing or what
I want to play these games but I have not personally paid a lot of attention to the world of video games in many years and do not know the current narrative/vibe around the KCD1 and 2 team, appreciate any insights!
1. No you don't! As someone who bounced off of KCD1 when it released, 2 does a great job recapping the most important story beats within the first hour of the game. I think it might be one of the best done "previously on" type segments I've ever seen. My wife knew nothing about the series at all and she understood everything going on with zero issue.
That being said, I'm loving 2 so much that I am going to go back and give 1 another shot after we're finished. 1 IS good, but it was Warhorse's first game and a niche one at that, so it has some jank that I'm not feeling in 2 so far. I think they really polished things up in the sequel and it's probably going to prepare me for 1. I won't lie and say 2 doesn't have a learning curve. One of my only, if not my only critique is that I wish the game had better accessibility options for those who want to customize parts of the experience. Right now mods are handling that, but it's only a fix if you're a PC player. However as a person who tends to find an abundance of systems/options overwhelming, this game does a good job in making the management aspects FUN rather than a chore. This has quickly become a cozy game for me lol.
2. I guess the criticism you mentioned for 1 could be levied at 2 as well, but I do think that kind of argument may be taking the game in bad faith or misguided. KCD's thing is that it's heavily researched, fairly faithful historical fiction. Bohemia is in what is now the Czech Republic. The games take place in the early 1400s and try to accurately reflect the people, culture, and beliefs from that era. I don't think its a bad thing that the devs, who are based in Prauge, want to create a game that is inspired by their country's history. If you have absolutely no interest in the time period or that part of Europe then maybe it won't be for you and that's totally okay! As someone who usually likes A) creating my own playable characters from scratch B) playing women and C) doesn't often care for war stories -- this game surprised me in that it didn't deter me at all. I love Henry as much as if he were a custom PC.
I admit to not knowing a lot about the devs in general. I like keeping a distance from the commercial art I consume because I think blurring the line between creators and fandom pretty much always ends badly (bioware...larian a bit too). I've heard that there is at least one vocally shitty developer who's a typical anti-woke gamer asshole, but I have no reason to think that the other people involved with making the game are like that at all, and I don't believe in discarding an entire piece of art because one shitty person is attached. Because here's the thing: while KCD2 very faithfully portrays some deeply upsetting subject matter (war, racism/xenophobia, PTSD, homophobia, sexism, antisemitism), 3/4ths into the game I've only seen these portrayals done in a way that is respectful to the vulnerable parties. An acknowledgement that these horrible things happen while clearly condemning them at the same time. I've not had a suck-my-teeth-and-grimace moment with this game despite the grim plot line. It does not punch down. Which is funny, given the crowd of gamerbros that are fans of it as well. The story and characters are too thoughtfully written for it to be anythibg but intentional. Having a game not insult my intelligence has been lovely. I feel like that's rare lately.
Yes most of the plot important characters are European Christian guys from 1403 and they act like it. However the minority characters that are included are handled with just as much respect and effort as our lead Henry. Katherine, Samuel and Musa are three of my favorites in the entire cast, actually. As well as Hans who genuinely feels like he's written to be implied gay/bi. His romance, compared to the two straight options, genuinely seems to me like the "intended" one just due to how the plot is written and the themes throughout the story, and hes with Henry the whole game. And the thing is this game is so carefully and lovingly put together that I struggle to believe it's just a coincidence. Because nothing in this fucking game is a coincidence.
Sorry for the gigantic response but I think this RPG is so special in such a rare way. The Writers, developers, musicians artists and actors all deserve the highest praise. The first and only game that if it doesn't win GOTY I'm actually going to be pissed.
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cairavende · 1 year ago
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My wonderful girlfriend got me Gideon the Ninth for Christmas and I realized why should I just give Worm recaps? Let's read some Locked Tomb! (We'll see how this format works, maybe I'll adjust it. Specifically might break stuff down into smaller segments instead of full acts, but I didn't think of doing this until after I had read all of act 1.)
Gideon the Ninth Act 1 (chapter 1 through 8) thoughts:
This book is so gay oh my god
Like, it's gay in ways I can't even explain. I love it.
Harrow beats the shit out of Gideon in chapter 2 and I don't know if I've ever seen someone get beat up in a more gay way.
"Oh Griddle! But I don't even remember about you most of the time." ROLL A FUCKING DECEPTION CHECK HARROW! You are saying this standing in the middle of the field you spent all night burying bones in just to foil her escape in the most dramatic way. You can't stop remembering her.
Gideon is the most herbo of herbos. I fucking love her. I love reading her PoV. She just knows punch and stab with sword and if those don't work than she'll just do them harder.
Also Gideon is SO fucking gay. Dear god. Dulcinea faints and Gideon turns off all though. HELP PRETTY GIRL. Nothing else.
Ok I could just make this whole thing "EVERYTHING IS GAY" but there is technically more than that.
I love how weird everything is and how little explanation is given. I don't want pages of exposition, I want to learn the world as it comes at me! This is perfect.
And just the very nature of things that seem weird not being given more than a passing thought in the book is information. Something may seem wild to the reader but it's so normalized to the characters that they wouldn't even think about the idea of it being different.
Lack of explanation also helps really show how much of a meathead Gideon is. Do the readers get to learn details about this thing? Only if it is a weapon, has tits, or Gideon is forced to listen while Harrow explains it. Otherwise no, why the fuck would Gideon spend her precious few brain cells on thinking?
And even if Gideon is forced to listen as Harrow explains it, the readers might not learn much cause Gideon might stop listening. I love her.
Aiglamene is wonderful. Crux is fine but I like her more.
Poor Gideon just wants a big sword that she can swing hard. It's not like she can't use a rapier. But why when she can go big sword?
SO MUCH CATHOLICISM
As someone who once was Catholic and then realized I was actually not a straight man, but instead a lesbian, I am in deep.
And the fucking slang used! Or whatever would be the right term. The shit they say! I love it. Just the weird sci-fi far future space necromancer universe and then suddenly "Are you asking me to . . . throw her a bone?", "Gideon had always known that this would be how she went: gangbanged to death by skeletons.", "Don’t hypothetically shove stuff up my butt again, it never does any good.", "Lo! A destructed ass.", "Well we were developing common sense, she studied the blade.", "Double Bones with Doctor Skelebone."
House of the First appears to be Earth. I kinda assume the House of the Ninth is Pluto, even though things obviously aren't in order given that the Seventh and Sixth are closer to the sun. Of course, I'm kinda expecting this to not technically be this solar system at all.
Undying Emperor, King of Resurrection, I Have Ten-Thousand Titles, Boss First, etc etc hasn't been on "Earth" in over nine thousand years. I wanna know MORE.
And the fucking Ninth House has their own prayer! Everyone else has one that the Ninth didn't know and then the Ninth had one that no one else knows! GIMME MORE!!!!
Also again, so many Catholicism metaphors or comparisons or whatever!
I could go on forever but gonna end this one with OH MY GOD SHE FOUND SUNGLASSES I LOVE HER. Fucking "I came prepared, my sweet." and "But then you couldn't have admired . . . these!" as she whips on the sunglasses. God. I nearly died.
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medusasea · 3 months ago
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South Park Has too Many Characters
Don't get me wrong, most of the characters are good or at least decent, but there are tons of characters who don't get as much screen time as they deserve or they are downright underdeveloped.
I feel for instance like the show didn't give Wendy enough screen time, but she is one of the lucky characters, since she often has an important compared to most other recurring characters.
Heidi however is pretty much a background character now. However, she is also one of the lucky ones since she got quite a long arc and character development.
Damien on the other hand has only one episode. He is never seen interacting with his father Satan, even though the latter frequently appeared.
There's also Kevin Mccormick, who has always just been there since the show's beginning. They then gave Kenny a little sister in the season 9 episode "Best Friends Forever", where she was just a background character and I didn't even notice her during the first viewing. She only became relevant six seasons later and her only role since then is to be taken care of by Kenny. Adding her didn't even make it easier to give Kenny the spotlight more often, since she was rarely used. Not to mention that if they wanted Kenny to take care of someone, there were already plenty of other characters he could've helped. Sure, his friends aren't nearly as vulnerable as Karen and it wouldn't make any sense for him to pretend being their guardian angel (I'd argue it doesn't even make sense for him to pretend being Karen's guardian angel, but that's a story for another day), but they are not indestructible either. The show frequently puts these kids in danger, it has supernatural elements. Writing Kenny as the one needing help/rescue more often would've also been better than adding Karen just to waste her, since with Kenny they bother giving him legitimate character development and agency. Karen was only relevant in 2 episodes and 1 game segment. If instead of adding her, the writers had Kenny take care of any other character or had him be the one needing help, it wouldn't be nearly as jarring, even if those plots were mediocre or even bad.
Speaking of Kenny, many people complain he doesn't get enough relevance either. I pretty much agree with this, but I don't think it's too big of a problem for the same reason I don't mind it that much Wendy didn't get more screen time.
I am not expecting them to develop every single character or to give all of them the same amount of relevance. Most minor characters should stay like that. As I mentioned, I can cut them some slack for underusing a character that already had plenty development and multiple appearances. Though it highly depends both on the character and the story overall if I consider them underused. For instance, I dislike not getting at least a few interactions between Damien and his father, but I don't mind Gary being used only once, since he was pretty much there for the Mormon theme of the episode and not very memorable in comparison to other South Park characters. He's a good enough character and I wouldn't have minded if he appeared more often, but I don't really miss him either. There are some fans who wanted him back badly and it's totally fine if you also want that.
This is pretty much all I have to write for this post. I don't think it's possible for the creators to perfectly write every single character and I can accept underused characters to a certain extent, but in South Park's case the problem feels to big for me.
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giantchasm · 8 months ago
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“What is it that the child has to teach? The child naively believes that everything should be fair and everyone should be honest, that only good should prevail, that everyone should have what they want and there should be no pain or sadness The child believes the world should be perfect and is outraged to discover it is not. And the child is right.”
WOO! After a little over a month and 60+ hours of drawing, it's finally finished. The Peony animatic I promised you has, at long last, arrived.
It took a lot of work, but I'm super happy with how it came out! And, tbh, I'm already planning more animatics I want to do in the future.
I think the majority of you are already acquainted with Peony, but just in case you aren't, here's a quick rundown of her story, or at least what's covered in the video:
Peony has always known her family experienced quite a bit of strife before her birth, but she doesn’t quite understand the full extent of it until getting caught up in a horrible accident. After nearly losing her life, the young magician develops an affinity for Soul magic— more specifically a connection with the spirit plane, and thanks to that, she’s able to meet two very special people. Her deceased granddad and her father’s long-gone ex-best friend are far from perfect people, but Peony quickly warms up to them anyways. She can see they were dealt an unfair hand in life, and that the tragedies they were involved with weren’t necessarily their fault. As she sees it, they deserve a second chance. So that’s exactly what she’s going to give them! Peony resolves to find a way to bring her dead loved ones back to life… developing her powers more and more along the way and providing her family some much needed closure. But is something like resurrection really possible? It seems Peony may be flying too close to the sun. A certain fluttering fiend is keeping an eye on her, telling her it won’t allow her to disrupt the natural order of things, and that one can’t undo what has already been done. But Peony? She doesn’t know how to listen. The young girl will stop at nothing until she saves her two guardian angels and sets her family right.
...She's a stubborn little goober, that's for sure.
I love her, though, I really do, and I hope you love her too. This video was a real passion project, and I'm super happy with how it came out. I'm glad I could get it finished just before the round 3 polls of the OC Tourney start.
Remember, everyone! Peony for president. Girl's already ready to throw hands with a god.
@kirbyoctournament
Some of my favorite frames will be under the cut with annotations/interesting details pointed out.
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I really enjoyed the crayon drawing aspect of this video. The doodles were super fun to do and added a lot of character to it!
One may have noticed that the way Peony drew her mother's side of the family changed, though, as she told their story... and that's not just to represent them getting older! The way she drew their eyes and other stuff changed because during the later half she depicts them with their cybernetics, whereas during the beginning of their tale, she doesn't. Pretty cool stuff.
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Technically, in Peony's story, she can't really touch/physically interact with the ghosts... at least not at the point in the timeline this part of the animatic takes place during. All the same, though, I decided to fudge it just a little for more interesting character interactions.
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This frame depicts Peony's near death experience, LOL. Don't worry about it... she's fine in the end. In general, this segment of the animatic displays her story a little more chronologically, showing how she developed her powers, learned who the ghosts were, and got better and better at using aforementioned powers.
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Shortly after Peony's near-death-experience, Morpho Knight tried to reap Sectonia and Haltmann for interfering with the living world and helping save her life. However, Peony, even not knowing who they were at the time, stood up for them- offering up her life, instead, and Morpho Knight, impressed by the display of bravery, allowed it to slide for now.
...Stars, it's going soft, isn't it? Stupid Kirby
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Peony doing some detective work! I really like the framing of this drawing. Here you can see Taranza and Joronia when they were younger alongside Haltmann and Susie pre-cybernetics, like I mentioned earlier.
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This bit is meant to be Peony finally confronting the ghosts (or- well, more specifically her granddad) about knowing who they are. She points out that she and him HAVE to be related. Look! They share the same hair fwoof!
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There's a very distinct scene I have in my mind for the first time Peony is ever able to physically interact with the ghosts. She's making flower crowns and jokingly tries to put one on Sectonia's head, only for it to work. Needless to say, they're both shocked, then delighted.
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These reunions make me feel things. Admittedly stuff is still a little complicated between Susie and her father, but ultimately she is glad to see him... and as for the spiders? I think they missed each other more than they could possibly put into words. They're so, so happy.
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This is one of my favorite sets of frames. It took FOREVER to do all of the little doodles, but it turned out looking awesome, as did the ripping effect! See if you can spot all of the different family traumas she's depicted.
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I like to think eventually Peony acquires some precious heirlooms. Sectonia hands down the matching scarf she had with Taranza but discarded when she went mad. Haltmann, meanwhile, no longer has his pocket watch, but when Peony tries to surprise him with a new one as a gift, only to realize he can't really hold onto it, he tells her to take care of it for him 'until he can.' This is something she does with pride.
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Originally, I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with these sets of frames. I mean... I knew I wanted to have Peony walking past her family thriving, but I didn't know how I wanted to orient the group. I figured they'd be best in sets of two, but wasn't sure how to sort them out.
If I were to draw her parents with their dead loved ones, I feared I'd sort of be insinuating their bond with each other wasn't as important now that they had those dead loved ones back, and that isn't true at all. But if I were to draw the living characters and dead characters together... well, that wouldn't really represent how Peony changed the family, now would it?
Ultimately, I decided to draw Susie hanging out with Sectonia and Taranza talking with Haltmann. I thought it'd be a nice way to represent the group as a whole have become a ragtag sort of family. Everyone loves everyone here.
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This is one of my favorite frames. I simply think it's so cute. Peony is so, so beloved, and she loves her weird little family so much, too.
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I adore these final three frames. Throughout the animatic, the crayon drawings are used to represent her family's tumultuous past, but finally, Peony depicts a more positive moment, quite literally slapping it over a sad one. It's a symbol of her determination to rewrite their— rewrite her— story, no matter what it takes.
Little does she know, even if she ultimately can't bring Sectonia and Haltmann back from the dead, she's already given both them and her parents a happier ending. They're all together, at least, and that's what matters most.
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caw4brandon · 9 months ago
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How to End a Story
Stories are often told through two styles. It's either a recollection of something that has already happened. Or, it's an ongoing event happening to the character's life.
The story can be told through just one main character or multiple characters but like all stories. They have to end. Let's discuss the ending of three shows that I recently watched. (I'll try not to get into the spoilers)
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- They're Not just Frogs -
< Amphibia > by Matt Braly; follows three girls; Anne, Sasha and Marcy who stole a mysterious music box that transported them into another world of talking frogs, toads, newts and other horrifying monsters.
Our main character is Anne Boonchuy who found her temporary home with the Plantars; Hop Pop, Sprig and Polly. A small family of frogs who took Anne in and helped her better understand the world. The show is good at using little segments to build the world. Such as a mind manipulation sentient spore, the divisions between the main races and the mystery behind the music box.
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Story-wise, the show tried to make the flow of events happen at a nicer pace. Season 1 was used on Anne to better understand the world and how things have changed between her friends. Season 2 used that change to add another twist to their relationship. As the seasons progress, the cast slowly expands.
The show eases in the main trio and their new friends. Some episodes foreshadowed what was coming for the characters, and some felt pointless. With a cast that big, it would slow the story down but surprisingly, it felt okay.
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You get to spend some time with them, learn what makes them tick, what changed them and how they felt about the current state of the story. As a person who had some regrets in life, I really liked Sasha Waybright's development. She went from someone who took charge to becoming a character who matured into a better person. Giving her time to improve, showed that she improved but is still a work in progress.
As far as the ending goes, I felt a little bittersweet. I liked that it ended and that the big arc of the main trio is resolved but I would really like to see an expansion for how they deal with all the events they went through as it was rather traumatic. Thankfully, we have fan artists for that!
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- Eat This Sucka!!! -
It would be impossible to avoid spoilers when < The Owl House > by Dana Terrace was at its peak. Spoilers were happening left and right!
Context, The Owl House follows the outcast teen; Luz Noceda who was meant to go to a summer camp. On the day she was about to go. Luz got distracted by a thief who went through a mysterious door that led Luz into the Demon Realm.
The series takes on a familiar arc where the outsider; Luz learns the ways of the witches but with her own creativity and innovation. Luz also resides under the care of the Owl Lady; Eda Clawthorne, King and Hooty (The house itself)
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As the seasons progress, Luz helps the other witches her age improve and come out of their shells. Importantly, she finds new friends she never had in the human realm.
The Owl House is a show of obviously coded Queer characters and individuals that don't fit with the norm. Dana is a genius that never made a big fuss over the fact that some characters are openly Queer. Although the studio; Disney tried to limit the screentime to avoid public outcry.
The show is my first-ever witness to openly Queer characters being completely normal about it instead of being preachy. Perhaps this has to do with the title; Demon Realm.
"Where the general belief of the overzealous conservatives in a so-called Good and Righteous God thinks that's where Queer people and other abnormal people belong."
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The main villain; Belos tries his hardest to "purify" the realm by limiting how witches use magic and violently persecute anyone who opposes these new rules. It's a symbolic view of the Puritan tyrant. That their ways are destined to be divine when it was all a ruse to further their own personal agenda.
The show suffered a mess of developments as Disney has a strong Anti-Queer policy with their shows. But Dana, the sneaky bastard that she is. (he says affectionately) Slipped in undeniable proof that the characters are proudly Queer and the Puritian miserably fails.
The ending was pure cinema! The show uses Luz's perspective to show that kids can have their own complexities and what we may think is good may not be what is right for said person. The show also displays good values of being open to change, that it's never too late to right the wrongs and Weirdos Gotta Stick Together.
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- The Freaky Friends -
We finally came to my favourite show of this batch. < Hilda > by Luke Pearson is a fun and adventurous show about a young girl who loves adventures living in a world that is brimming with magic. I would like to talk more about it but I've already covered that in [The Beautiful World of Hilda]
For the sake of this post, I'm only focusing on Season 3. The final season of the series. While the show is not as plot-driven as the latter mentions. I think there is much to be said about the breath of fresh air Hilda brings to the table.
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Hilda has a special place in my heart for how she managed to bring wonder and joy into my viewing experience. This season, took on a more ominous turn where the adventures get deadlier and the stakes get higher in this little world of the blue-haired adventurer.
Season 3 was commented on by the viewers as "underwhelming and inconclusive" and that it tore its own "fan theories" apart. Personally, I loved that the showrunner revealed everything and also nothing because that's the point.
Hilda is not about a big mystery, it's a pure adventure and curious exploration of the mythology surrounding Trollberg and the rest of the world in Hilda. The feeling of fulfilment but also, melancholy that the series has ended is in my opinion, the best conclusion.
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Admittedly, I didn't know how to end the post. I just wanted to get my thoughts out about these three shows and how it ended. It feels like the end of another era. A close to another chapter for animation and the stories it can tell.
These three shows; Amphibia, The Owl House and Hilda proved that animation is still taking new heights but still maintains the charm of what stories are. A good ending where the arc may be over but the adventures will still carry on.
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It's been a fun and tear-jerking journey with Hilda, Luz and Anne. Their worlds are unique and brimming with excitement that I haven't felt in years and a desire to catch up more.
I'll miss them dearly but hey, such is the life of an adventurer. Don't be sad that it's over. Be happy that it happened and above all. Go make your own stories!
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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 15 days ago
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I saw what you said about the dreams being nothing and useless to the story, and I was curious about something, do you think the characters that never got closure or development from their book should have stayed like that or do you think a new book should have been made to tie up the initial stories?
Heartslabyul for example had a lot of loose ends on their book that never got resolved, Cater never had focus or allowed development, the others too didnt get true closure, and I thought the heartslabyul dreams was the perfect way to finish their arc in a fulfilling way.
But you hold the opinion the dream arcs shoudnt have focused on them too much right? Do you think It was okay for the characters development to end in their book, or do you think their closure should have been in a different moment or way?
[Referencing this post!]
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While I realize that the original post was very critical of the dream hopping segments, I did not mean to call them "nothing" and "useless" as a whole. I'm unhappy with how the dreams were executed, especially the lack of urgency present in them. My main gripe is how the characters know that they're on a time crunch, yet they hardly ever act like it. Instead, they stand around for multiple segments eating fake food or casually sharing stories about their families. This is time-wasting nonsense and it does nothing to help their situation. We quickly started to stray from Diasomnia and the urgency of the conflict at hand in favor of fanservice (like dorm leader Cater, despite Cater expressing he never wanted the position) and trying to explain away that fanservice with contrived dialogue.
Please do not misunderstand me. I never said that I don't want any non-Ignihyde or non-Diasomnia character to get development in book 7. It's true that many characters, especially the non-OB boys, never got the spotlight in previous books or that we never got the satisfaction of seeing their growth this far into the school year. If any of them were going to get attention, it makes sense to do it now as one last hurrah in book 7. It might not have been very obvious due to the critical nature of that original post, but I actually thought some of the later dreams (namely the Savanaclaw and Heartslabyul ones) were good and wrapped things up nicely. I will, however, still lampoon them for having the characters standing around and eating/talking for way too long.
It's not that I wished the game didn't focus on the non-OB boys, it's that I wished the execution of them wasn't so meandering. If the devs wanted to keep the dream segments in, they should have trimmed the fat out. Get rid of all (or most of) the idle parts, or at least trim down on the idle dialogue by a lot. Or maybe just make the OB boys mandatory and the others optional. Like, still part of book 7 but you can read the non-OB boys at your leisure, similar to collecting individual students' wishes in the Wish Upon a Star event, and you only need to clear the OB boys to advance in the story. Have short scenes where dorm members reunite (sort of like at the end of book 6, when everyone regrouped with their respective OB boy) and gear up + strategize with each other. Cut back briefly to Malleus and Lilia's brawl between each dorm, just to keep them relevant and/or remind us of that clock ticking down as Lilia gets more and more worn down. Maybe standardize how many parts are dedicated to every character too… Not have a spread of 4 to 46. That would at least speed us along a little faster or at least give a better sense of rushing to prepare for the fight against Malleus.
That being said, characters don’t just magically stop developing the instant their book ends. They’re changing on their own, outside of the purview of the player or off-screen (like when Riddle talks with his mom over winter break), all the time. A lot of this happens through self-reflection/internal thoughts, so we the players don’t get to see it. It doesn’t mean the characters haven’t changed or wouldn’t change without us viewing it ourselves. Even now, the characters are still growing and changing. Some of them might have more concrete “closure” now (like Kalim finally getting to punch Jamil), but the truth of the matter is that character development never truly “ends” (ie Kalim and Jamil still have their complicated relationship to sort through). It is a continuous thing we consciously work at. There’s truly no end in sight for it. Regardless of whether we got those dream sequences or not or how that development was delivered to us, this still would have been true.
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fatuismooches · 2 months ago
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I used to love scrolling through the Dottore x Reader tag on Tumblr until I stumbled upon your account and ended up binge-reading all of your posts. [I would spam-like all your posts, but I’m unsure if spam-liking is unwelcome! (/--)/] I just have to say, your writing and characterization of Dottore and his segments are by far the best I’ve ever read and seen???? Honestly, it’s my favourite portrayal of Dottore, and your writing is just so immaculate??? The emotions and details are perfect, and it’s always such a joy to read and visualize everything in my head. If I had to describe it with a physical feeling, your writing feels warm, fun, freeing, and safe—like lying in a field of grass under a night sky, with warm winds brushing against my skin. \(^-^)/
I love your versions of the segments, too! They all feel so unique, and there’s such variety in your portrayal of them. I love how each segment gets its share of love. The interactions between the reader, Prime, and the segments never feel awkward—everything feels balanced and fair. I used to be really unsure about segments x reader content, but you’ve made me fall in love with them all. The way you give each segment so much personality while ensuring none of them overshadow the others is just incredible?? IF THAT MAKES SENSE—I’M JUST RAMBLING I FEAR— TLDR: YOUR WRITING MAKES MY EYES AND HEART EXPLODE WITH HAPPINESS. (*^ー^)ノ♪
AND THE ANGST WRITING TOO??? UGH, MY HEART. IT’S SO PAINFUL. I LITERALLY TEAR UP AND CHOKE UP EVERY TIME YOU WRITE ANGST. [PLEASE, SEGMENTS AND PRIME DOTTORE LIVE FOREVER!!! MY HEART CANT HANDLE THAT PAIN- AND THAT LATEST ONE ABOUT OMEGA AND READER HAD ME DOWN ON THE GROUND, UNABLE TO GET UP. (/_;)/] But seriously, your work has made me so much more attached to Dottore than ever before. Sometimes I even find it hard to go through the Dottore x Reader tag nowadays because I’ve developed such a heavy bias and preference for your characterization of him. It’s such a refreshing take on the character and I absolutely adore it. \(^-^)/
Also, I’m just in general a sucker for villains being soft for their lover, and the fragile reader concept you explore on this blog is just chef’s kiss.
Please write forever, I don't know what I'll do with my nightly reading time without your delicious dottore content /lh /pos
Also, your blog is so organized it saves me so much time as someone who frequently gets losT online and irl
CAN I BE 💀🎉 ANON???? I'VE NEVER BEEN AN ANON THING BEFORE IDK HOW TO DO THIS
SORRY FOR THE WORD VOMIT MY MIND HAS LIKE 3938328 THINGS RUNNING AT ONCE AND WANTS TO SAY THEM ALL IN ONE GO
ANON??!? IM LITERALLY GOING TO CRY I NEED A MOMENT TO BREATHE WHO LET YOU BE SO KIND- IWHDEUWIDHEW
FIRST OF ALL, THANK U FOR THIS ILY 😭🙏 I'm super happy you like my writing and characterization of Dottore, your praise makes my heart happy and want to continue to write *hugs* 💕! (and feel free to spam like, it doesn't bother me and it makes me smile actually!)
I'M GLAD I MADE YOU LIKE SEGMENTS FICS TOO??😭🥺 that's a huge compliment bfbewfe imo the segments are underrated in fics and need more love so to know i converted you just makes me go 🥹🥹🥹🤏💙💙💙💕🥺 FELLOW SEGMENT LOVER!!!! I VERY MUCH ADORE YOUR RAMBLING ANON!! your praise for my writing is far too high i fear- i just write what my whimsical heart tells me to 🫶 i think ur the one making my eyes and heart explode!!! >.<
AHH IM HOLDING U TIGHTLY DURING THE ANGST FBEWFEW I PROMMY EVERYONE IS ALIVE!!!! I'm also glad you liked the Omega fic hehe i was worried it didn't have the usual oomph BUT IT SEEMS I DID MY JOB!!! (secretly love-hate writing angst bc it makes me sad but i also love reactions like these-) It's always the nicest thing when people love Dottore more thanks to my writing, it's truly so cute!! I love spreading the doter love... 💞💞💞
SUPER GLAD YOU LOVE THAT TROPE TOO!!! IT IS MY LIFE'S BLOOD!! i prommy to write forever for you dear 💀🎉 anon (funny emoji combo) I WILL MAKE YOUR NIGHTS THE BEST NIGHTS!! also glad to see you appreciate my organization, i am actually proud of my blog's structure hehe
U DON'T NEED TO APOLOGIZE!!! I LOVED THIS ASK SM IM STORING IT SAFELY!!
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felassan · 8 months ago
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Cliff notes on the new info on Dragon Age: The Veilguard from the print issue of Game Informer (DA:TV spoiler warning for link) that came out the other day (magazine hub link) that contained story spoilers - spoiler free version. This post is a version of this post (DA:TV spoiler warning for link), only with story-related information of note removed.
In CC you can customize things like shoulder width, chest size, glute size, hip width, how bloodshot your eyes are, nose crookedness, and more
There are hundreds of sliders for body proportions
CC detail: “Features like skin hue, tone, melanin”
There is nudity in DA:TV, “which I learned firsthand while customizing my Rook” in CC
Rook’s backstory also affects “reputation standing”, along with the other previously-known things like in-game dialogue etc
Lords of Fortune are pirate-themed, “piratic”
Rook ascends because of competency, not because of a magical McGuffin, contrasting with the ‘destiny-has-chosen you’ angle DA:I has for the Inquisitor
Rook is here because they chose to be, “and that speaks to the kind of character that we’ve built. Someone needs to stop this, and Rook says, ‘I guess that’s me'”
The 4 voices we can choose for Rook each have a pitch shifter in CC
The game starts inside the bar (as previously detailed in other coverage)
In some dialogue wheels there is a “romantically inclined ‘emotional’ response” option. These are the replies that will build relationships with characters, romantic and platonic alike, but you can ignore them if you want to. Giving a companion the cold shoulder might nudge them into another companion’s embrace however
Bellara’s surname is Lutara
In the streets of Minrathous (in the opening segment of the game), there is a wide, winding pathway with a pub which has a dozen NPCs in it (is this The Swan tavern?)
The devs used the DA:TV CC to make each in-world NPC, except for specific characters like companions
There is smart use of verticality, scaling and wayfinding in the gameplay
If you play as e.g. a qunari Rook, the camera adjusts to ensure larger characters like them loom over those below. The camera also adjusts appropriately for dwarves to demonstrate their smaller stature
Neve Gallus is described as being capable
Demons are fully redesigned in this game, on their original premise as creatures of feeling that live and die off the emotions around them. “As such, they are just a floating nervous system, pushed into this world from the Fade, rapidly assembled into bodies out of whatever scraps they find”
Our base in this game is the place where the team bonds, grows, and prepares for its adventures
Clock symbols over dialogue icons signal optional dialogue options
If you are playing, e.g., a qunari, and you encounter elfy stuff, you might be missing unique dialogue options and an elf Rook would have more to say at that point
“There’s a heavy emphasis on storytelling and dialogue, and it feels deep and meaty, like a good fantasy novel. BioWare doesn’t shy away from minutes-long cutscenes”
For Rook, this story is about what does it mean to be a leader? We define their leadership style with our choices. “From the sound of it, my team will react to my chosen leadership style in how my relationships play out.” This is demonstrated within the game’s dialogue and a special relationship meter on each character’s companion screen
In gameplay/combat, players complete every swing in real time. Special care was taken in development for animation swing-through and cancelling. We can dash, parry, charge moves, and a completely revamped healing system that allows us to use potions at our discretion by hitting right on the d-pad. You can combo attacks and even ‘bookmark’ combos with a quick dash, which means that you can pause a combo’s status with a dash to safety and continue the rest of the combo afterward
Abilities can be used to customize your kit. They can be used on the fly as long as you account for cooldowns
When you pause and pull up the ability Wheel, it highlights you and your companions’ skills. There you can choose abilities, queue them, target specific enemies, and strategize with synergies and combos
Each character plays the same in that you execute light and heavy attacks with the same buttons, use abilities with the same buttons, and interact with the combo wheel in the same way, regardless of which class you select
Sword and shield warriors can hip-fire or aim their shield and throw it like Captain America
Warriors can parry incoming attacks which can stagger enemies. Rogues have a larger parry window. The mage the writer played couldn’t parry at all. Instead they throw up a shield that blocks incoming attacks automatically, so long as you have the mana to maintain it
On the start/pause screen: it has the map, journal, character sheets, skill tree, and a library for lore information. You can use it to cross-compare equipment and equip new gear for Rook and their companions, build weapon loadouts for quick change-ups mid-combat, and customize you and your party’s abilities and builds via an easy-to-understand skill tree. There aren’t in-depth minutiae, just "real numbers”. For example, an unlocked trait might increase damage by 25 percent against armor, but that’s as in-depth as the numbers get. Passive abilities unlock jump attacks and guarantee critical hit opportunities, while abilities add moves like a Wall of Fire to your arsenal if you’re a mage. As you spec out this skill tree, which is 100 percent bespoke to each class, you’ll work closer to unlocking a spec, complete with a unique ultimate ability
Combat is flashy and quick, with different types of health bars. Greenish-blue represents a barrier, which is taken down most effectively with ranged attacks
The game is gorgeous, with sprinkles, droplets, and splashes of magic in each attack a mage unleashes
The game looks amazing on consoles both in fidelity and performance modes
Bellara is bubbly, witty, and charming. She is spunky and effervescent, a sweetheart and a nerd for ancient elven artifacts, which is why she’s dressed more like an academic than a combatant
While Neve uses ice magic and can slow time with a special ability, Bellara specializes in electricity, and she can also use magic to heal you. electricity magic is effective against a certain mob type. “However, without Bellara, we could also equip a rune that converts my ice magic, for a brief duration, into electricity to counter the [enemies]”
If you don’t direct your companions in combat, they are fully independent and will attack on their own
The style of the game is more high fantasy than anything in the series thus far and almost reminiscent of the whimsy of Fable. Matt Rhodes says that this is the result of the game’s newfound dose of magic: “The use of magic has been an evolution as the series has gone on. In the past, you could hint at cooler magical things in the corner because you couldn’t actually go there, but now we actually can, and it’s fun to showcase that.” however, areas of whimsy will starkly contrast to the game’s other areas. The devs promise some grim locations and even grimmer story moments because, without that contrast, everything falls flat. Corinne says it’s like a “thread of optimism” pulled through otherworldly chaos ravaging Thedas.
We can advance our bonds with our companions on their own personal quests and by including them in our party on main quests. Every Relationship Level you rank up, shown on their character sheet, nets you a skill point to spend on them. “The choices you make, what you say to companions, how you help them, and more all matter to their development as characters and party members”. Each companion has access to 5 abilities.
Each companion has issues, problems, and personal quests to complete.
You can create Arcane Bombs on enemies. It does high damage after being hit by a heavy attack
It sounds like mage characters can charge heavy attacks on their magical staffs. “then switch to magical daggers in a second loadout accessed with a quick tap of down on the d-pad to unleash some quick attacks”
Some enemies are “Frenzied”, meaning that they hit harder, move faster, and have more health
re: an arena-like boss fight "[it] attacks, hitting hard with unblockable, red-coded attacks and a massive shield that you need to take down first. It is weak to fire"
The design of the game is not open world. The devs describe it as a “hub-and-spoke” design where the needs of the story are served by the level design. it is not a connected open world. locations include Minrathous, tropical beaches, Arlathan Forest, “to grim and gothic areas and elsewhere”. Some of these areas are large and full of secrets and treasures. Others are smaller and more focused on linear storytelling.
Each location has a minimap, though linear levels won’t have the 'fog of war’ that disappears as you explore like in some of the game’s bigger locations
The game has the largest number of diverse biomes in DA history
The Thedas of DA:TV “lives in the uncertainty”. “the mystery of its narrative”, “the implications of its lore”
The writer is surprised by BioWare’s command over the notoriously difficult Frostbite engine, and by how much narrative thought the dev team poured into these characters, even for BioWare.
[source: the Game Informer pages from Issue 367 - the cover story from June 18th (link), two] <- DA:TV spoiler warning for links
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gleamingtempest · 8 months ago
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Xander Matthews - [DRDT] Character Analysis #01
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Welcome
Hello. : ) This is a part in a series of analysis' by me where I will be individually outlining the negative experience, core belief & stated belief for every main character in the Danganronpa: Despair Time cast. Danganronpa: Despair Time is not a complete text yet so these analysis' will not be exclusively based on text from the project. All segments of these posts which cover parts of a character's story which has not yet covered in the text. Speculation will always be marked by the indicator [X] when it occurs. The purpose of this series is ultimately to provide my own individual thoughts, feelings & speculation on each character with actual text as my basis for building those actual thoughts, feelings & speculation. I hope you are all able to find it useful. Please be well - and enjoy. 🙇🏻‍♀️
*Note: This post was written at the time of 4/25/2024. At this time, the latest DRDT episode release was Chapter 2 - Episode 11. Every post in this series will be redone after the full release of the series.
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Negative Experience
Xander Matthews
-> Negative Experience: The most prominent traumatic events or event experienced by the character in their past, which primarily informs their core belief & stated belief in the main story.
Negative Experience Xander Matthews was a person born to a financially struggling nuclear family in the US with an indeterminant amount of siblings. He moved to the UK before he was 18 to study abroad and stayed long enough to pick up an accent. During this time he cared deeply about his grades & school was his most prominent priority. While abroad his family became extensively ill as a result of their local drinking water and, with no other choice but to drink it, died intensely graphic deaths as a result of their illness during the summer heat where they suffered for a long time. Xander was the only survivor of his immediate family. This incident was somehow the result of Duke Spurling.
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Core Belief
Xander Matthews
-> Core Belief: The Core Belief is the unconscious belief held by the character which informs their external & internal beliefs about themselves & the world, or, their "stated belief."
Core Belief
As a result of his negative experience, Xander developed an aversion to conformity, rigidity & organized or systemic discrimination, especially at the hands of institutions and corrupt individuals. [X] This implies that Xander's implicit belief about the world, prior to the incident, was one which prioritized authority figures & approval subconsciously. Xander shifted towards the belief that in order to avoid failure (to protect those he loves) he needs to compete against (the corporations, institutions, etc.) which hurt him & "win", or achieve victory against them. "I need to defeat the enemy in order to have worth. Failure is not an option." In this way, most of Xander's actions are motivated by shame, and especially the guilt which he feels over his inability to save his family & more specifically, his own survival where they could not.
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Stated Belief
Xander Matthews
-> Stated Belief: The external & internal ideology or belief which the character actively & consciously applies.
Stated Belief
A prominent part of Xander's characterization is the prioritization of determination & a refusal to falter or hesitate when reaching for a goal. "If it's there, reach out and take it, before the world can take it away from you." Based on his core belief, which predicates his value on his ability to succeed, Xander outwardly performs a loud, boisterous persona who refuses to give into the weight of a world which wants to stifle human spirit, creativity & determination. [X] This explains Xander's proclivity towards performative masculinity, in spite of his emphasis on morality & "goodness" - he is, at heart, a performer who seeks to be seen a certain way, more than he is a reformer seeking to bring "goodness" to the world. [X] His activism is an extension of this performance rather than the root of it.
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Design
Xander Matthews
-> Design Philosophy: In order to analyze the designs of the Danganronpa: Despair Time cast I would like to establish my method for identifying significant elements of their design to outline & analyze. -> The order I will look at the designs through will be: [Color] -> [Clothing] -> [Story]. Color will usually consist of discussing three prime colors used for the design however their will be outliers to this rule. Story will often be speculative, since we're early in the text.
Color
The most prominent colors in Xander's design are Yellow, Orange and Red. Red is the main color while Yellow & Orange are the support colors. Red is used to reflect his base human determination while the fluctuation between yellow and gray are used to reflect when Xander is able to and is not able to view himself as human enough to be worthy of action; alternatively, his "energy" or "belief" levels. Gray is often used as a dehumanizing color which "lacks humanity" while yellow is humanity and warmth itself. The warm hearth and interior of a human being & their ability to express kindness and love.
A failure on his part to act with love is ultimately his downfall & his inability to act with love for himself is the downfall of others. Clothing
Xander dresses in a disordered school uniform in order to emphasize his aversion to authority & institutions as he is now, or, a direction opposition to his "enemy" which he must "defeat." His singular eye is used as a symbol to reflect his single sightedness, or inability to see past his own goals so that he can consider a different perspective & approach to living, especially one which is less destructive to his own being & self. Since Xander's internal battle emphasizes shame so much, an open & loud design is a contrast which also highlights his focus on performance & performative activism. His right eye being hidden by his hair brings the design back towards his internal shame, since the design builds outwards from the eyepatch & since the eyes are often portrayed as "the windows to the soul." Story
Xander's right eye, or his missing eye is the most prominent element of his design, as well as the one which holds the most story relevance. The only thing which the text directly states about the eye are what it looks like, and that Xander does not remember how he received it, but that it must have been very soon before the KG began. [X] The eye could have been used as a hiding place for the note which Xander received telling him the kill Teruko Tawaki, which is why it has been emphasized so much in the text so far.
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Final Speculation
Xander Matthews
-> Survivors Guilt
Xander is the first victim of the Killing Game and the survivor of a tragedy in his own life. He's a red herring which is meant to draw the viewers attention away from Teruko Tawaki & at the same time the most clear piece of evidence we have about who Teruko Tawaki really is comes from Xander himself; both in his thoughts about her and in his actions towards her. From these we can gleam two things: -> Teruko is a perfectly normal & faultless person in this scenario, and -> Teruko needs to die if the Killing Game is going to end. Xander contributed to the Killing Game's orchestration indirectly by providing the unnamed student from the bonus episodes with private documents from or about Hopes Peak.
Xander left himself the note which ordered him to kill Teruko Tawaki, which is why he did it without hesitation & which is why he regretted doing it so much: Xander believes in himself as much as he hates himself. Xander gouged out his own eye with a fork in order to hide the message. The message was from the end of a previous killing game in which Xander and Teruko were the only survivors(?) other than the mastermind. Alternatively, the Killing Game is a clone "time loop" where only the survivors get to keep their current bodies, which is why Xander needed to mutilate himself.
That is all - TY for reading. 🛐 I look forward to Min Jeung next.
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