#but the spoilers... i haven't seen anything except the trailers

[darkdragon768]

I'm going to grab my copy of eow today (pre-ordered it and I don't want to receive a stupid "you haven't picked it up today" call) but... I think I'll have to force myself to play it (zero motivation) to get spared by the spoilers.

[its-your-girl-geekerella]

Wicked Movie Review

Spoilers Ahead. (Obviously)

Okay, I saw it on opening night release day. I've just been busy. And here are my thoughts:

Pre-watch. I was hoping for the best. The trailers were amazing, and the budget seemed sufficient for all it wanted to do. The vocals seemed a little off, but that was only because they had to make it "fit" for the trailer score. So I had high hopes!

But I was also preparing for the worst. After all, movie adaptations of musicals have a bad reputation for a reason. And all the promotion they were doing? I was certain they were compensating for something. And besides that, I had almost no faith (again, aside from what I heard in the trailer) in Ariana Grande. I don't really listen to her music, but I've heard a few of her songs. I honestly didn't think she could do musical theatre.

And boy, was I wrong.

Post-watch. It. Was. Amazing. I absolutely LOVED it. Ariana CRUSHED it! I think she did better than some Glindas on Broadway! In every scene leading up to the Ozdust Ballroom, I hated her. And I LOVED hating her. I think some Glindas just don't have that hateability, or they're too charming. But not Ariana. And during "Popular"? I absolutely loved it! She was great!

Cynthia Erivo did great, too. Her voice singing the riff at the end of "Defying Gravity" will certainly take getting used to, but it was, objectively, good. Her acting was on point, and I absolutely loved watching her. Say what you will about the woman's poster dilemma, the woman has a powerful presence onscreen. I honestly never doubted her ability.

Some random thoughts:

The script. The script was practically word-for-word of the musical. Some people might find it annoying and predictable. I, for one, found it charming and-- frankly-- reassuring. I knew what was coming a lot of the time, even if they did change some minor plot points (if you can even call them "plot points"; like I said, they were minor and didn't change the course of the story at all). For example, Mr. Thropp doesn't already have Elphaba enrolled at the school in the movie. But because I know how the story goes, I was sitting in the theater saying to myself, "He's gonna say 'go with her'". And guess what? He did.

Unfortunately, the script being word-for-word (and a lot of theatre kids knowing certain lines from the musical) partially ruins the impact or comedy of certain lines. The most notable one was when Fiyero and Elphaba are in the woods with the cub. Elphaba informs him that he's bleeding, and says, "It must have scratched you." He replies, a bit disassociated because of her touch, "Yeah... or maybe... it scratched me or something." Typically, in the theater, Broadway, regional, or high school, the audience laughs at this line. You know how many people laughed at it in the movie theater? Zero. Zilch. Except me. The delivery was AWFUL. I honestly can't believe that Jon didn't have that line reshot. Which brings me to Jonathan Bailey.

Jonathan Bailey is... a good actor? I personally haven't seen him in anything other than Wicked. But I do know that he is a good looking actor. However, I do believe that he was miscast for this role for three reasons. 1) Like I said, the comedy was not exactly there. Another example: "I've been thinking" "So I heard" However, I won't count that one against him, as I feel that one was mostly Cynthia's fault. 2) At first, I thought that Cynthia Erivo would look too old to play Elphaba, but I got over it really quickly. It was easy for me to see her as a college-aged student. And let's be honest, Ariana Grande will always look like a child, so that was never a problem. Jonathan Bailey, though? He doesn't look like a college student. He looks like a really hot 36-year-old man. And this kinda goes into my last point. 3) He was too intentional. I think Fiyero's character is dynamic in a variety of ways, and Jonathan's portrayal seems more like "Act II Fiyero" than "Act I Fiyero". Act I Fiyero's whole deal is that he's extremely loose. And while, yes, Elphaba calls it out as a façade, I think it's still a part of him that is a bit dumb (see the disassociated "scratched" comment or the "thinking" comment). I think if Jonathan had tried to play Fiyero more "dumb jock", it would've worked better, because his natural acting inclination would've counteracted it just enough.

I feel bad for complaining about Jonathan Bailey for so long. So onto the songs! The score was amazing. The music was amazing. The vocals were amazing. My favorite song was "What Is This Feeling?" The camera angles in this scene were amazing, and the choreography slaps so hard.

Right before "One Short Day", I thought to myself, "I sure hope we get an Idina and Kristin cameo!" Guess what happened. Truthfully, I barely heard a word they were singing, I was too busy bouncing in my chair and fangirling with one of my friends to hear them.

If there's someone I didn't mention (I'm looking at you Ethan and Michelle), it's because they did a good job and I don't have any particular opinion on them. Overall, I really enjoyed the movie! My favorite song was "What Is This Feeling", Jonathan Bailey was the weakest part of the movie, and it was a lot better than I thought it would be. And it was really fun to fangirl with other theatre kids.

[anarcheamor]

Okay, Now I Can Talk About Annette's Vodou

Sike! I have to detour through Maria's summoning first. Spoilers for Nocturne will be said here so please stop reading from here if you haven't finished the show.

I know I watched the trailers and saw her summoning birds and thought it was cool but it still took me aback to see it in the show. And I think it's because, for one, knowing that her mother was a speaker made me question why she didn't know speaker magic and, for two, it was the first set of magic that needed a not-plot-relevant explanation for how it works. In the first show, the only times we got explanations for the magic was when something big was happening and the explanations served as part of the setup such as Doctor Saint Germain in the Multiverse of Madness and The Parent Trap: Alucard's Nightmare Editon. For Maria, there wasn't a plot reason for her powers being explained, it just seemed like the show had to provide one because the question was gonna be asked as we were watching. After all, she was summoning animals from somewhere and no other character we have seen had powers to teleport beings from one place to another so casually. Okay, so we have a daughter of a speaker magician who doesn't use speaker magic and we know that her daddy is definitely not capable of teaching it to her so what gives, right? Thus the show (read writers) felt compelled to break a convention from the first show and give us an explanation so that we could understand Maria's abilities and introduce the existence of other realms- something that was introduced in the first Castlevania via Saint Germain: Into The Germainer-verse. And that's fine, nothing too complicated, her relationship with the animals she summons seems to be something both originating from her magic and also from her using them in every day life. Cool! The alternate realm even has a name: the Other World. Alrighty, so I'm certain that it's that simple and we won't need anything else to be explained.

Except there is... turns out that the Otherworld is part of Celtic/Gaelic/Britonic myth which would explain why Maria's powers are different than her mother's as they most likely stem from her father's side of the family. An odd thing to leave out, no? I almost thought it was like Forgemastery where it was a Castlevania original form of magic. A small dive into the native roots of her magic could have added a bit more to her character and have the double effect of prepping us up mentally for Annette's Vodou especially since the two were directly compared but also to help showcase just how different Vodou is from people's traditional views on faith and magic.

Now I should say that my understanding of Vodou is coming from being an outsider to the faith but still connected to it culturally due to my ancestry, upbringing, hearing stories, etc., and then having to fill in the blanks with some research. This isn't gonna be accurate Vodou info because we're talking about a faith with three major variants that all have been pretty secretive for most of their existence due to religious oppression, demonization, and centuries-long attempts at exploiting and capitalizing on their "exoticness". So with all that said, take what I say with a good amount of salt.

Edouard says that Maria's Otherworld sounds like Annette's ancestral plain which is right in the sense that there is AN ancestral plain similar to the Otherworld. AN as in one because, in Vodou, there's multiple "nations" or families of spirits, with each spirit behaving and acting differently in some accordance to the nation they're in. The first red flage here is that the ancestral plain we see is pretty ambiguous and is just a gaggle of spirits in some ethereal place and the spirits themselves are mostly just diversely colored shadows save for Annette's mambo (teacher), Cecille. The next red flag is that Annette's magic is her own. In Vodou, powers are given by the spirits themselves, there's no level of spiritual genetics that can just imbue you with magical ability. Why? Because a major lesson in Vodou is that our strength comes from those who came before us and we can use them to support us as long as we reach out to them. Removing that aspect of Vodou from the equation just turns Annette's magic in regualr magic but with some Haitian flavor on it. And all of this is made most apparent than the biggest red flag...

THEY BROKE PAPA LEGBA'S NECK!?

So, Papa Legba is one of the most beloved of Lwa. First of all, you can't do much without him being involved as you have to talk to him first. Have you ever lived in a neighborhood and there's this gentle old man always sitting at his porch whose basically everybody's grampa? That's Papa Legba and his "house" is the entirety of the lwa nations (although he's considered to be from the Rada nation, one of the major nations I mentioned earlier). But he ain't no slouch and to cross him is to play one of the biggest FAFO games in your life. He's the head guard of all crossroads, doorways, etc., so him being summoned to deal with a portal to Hell and Forgemastery machine sounds appropriate but who thought it was a good idea to have him die? Is he dead? Just... why? How? Can spirits just die now? Ugh... on top of that, they could have just had him possess her. Usually, when Vodou practitioners want something from a lwa, the lwa can only interact physically through a human body so a rite is performed for the lwa to "dance in the head" of a trained practitioner who personally works with them. I can understand cutting corners in the show so that all Annette has to do is focus and call the name of a lwa but this would have been cool to see, allows greater focus on Annette, and allows you to have Papa Legba there without doing him dirtier than what American Horror Story did to him by having him just stand around until his neck gets turned intoa tetris piece.

You can see why I had to take this long to get to my main point, right? The first Castlevania used the straightforwardness of their magic to great effect but Nocturne introduced two new forms of magic with rocky starts because they don't match the formula established by the first set of magic. I hope that we get to see better representation of both.

[emperorbubblegum]

This is gonna be another long-ish spoiler post for F/SR, so don't click if you haven't learned Rider's True Name yet

Also slight spoilers for Fate/Extra CCC Foxtail and maybe Shimousa but those are old enough that I doubt people care

I really need to hear the opinion of someone who doesn't know much about Fate play Samurai Remnant. I feel like most of us where able to guess a lot of the new Servants based off connections they had to pre-established ones. Rider's probably one of two exceptions because her reveal is supposed to be this huge "what the fuck" moment - and it is, but I feel like that mostly hinges on the player knowing Fate's version of Minomoto-no-Raikou.

Ushi Gozen has been teased for years. Raikou's always been one of the many Servants that mentions how her Berserker Saint Graph isn't the only one we might aee of her (edit 1: I didn't play FGO when it first released so I didn't know this, but apparently Ushi actually shows up in the same event Raikou's introduced in). In Foxtail, we see her used as a prarallel to Suzuka, since both have connections to Oni. The most prominent tease is in Shimousa, where we actually see Ushi Gozen appear, but with the same design as Raikou for budget reasons I guess (edit 2: No we don't, that's just Raikou, but she has the Rider class so I misremembered her there as Ushi Gozen). And now she's actually here! She gets her own game! And she looks...

Girl what the fuck happened to you

I really like both of her designs to be honest. She's one of the few Servants to be wearing actual samurai armor, and she's the first to wear the helmet too I'm pretty sure. Then after Saber kicks the shit out of her, the armor falls apart and we see that she's in a much worse state than any of us expected. Her hair's cut short, her eyes are dead with noticeable bags, her skin's paler than it was before, and she barely looks like she's eaten anything. Those last two could also be said about Raikou (Raita for the love of god learn to draw human women properly) but on Rider they're noticeably worse. Also she seems crazier than her Berserker form, albeit a different kind of crazy.

When we fight her the second time in Chapter 5, she shows up with these awesome robot-like spider legs reminiscent of what Ushi-oni are usually described with. She doesn't look human because her humanity was seemingly beaten out of her. Raikou tends to suffer from what I like to call "the Altera Problem", where if used right she can be a really genuine and badass character, but 90% of the time she's used for jokes and to get people's dicks hard. However in things like Foxtail, or Shimousa (which is even more apparent in the manga), or Heian-Kyo we get to see her for how she really is, which is A) terrifying and B) a hero worthy of going down as one of humanity's best. Rider is only that first one. No jokes, no big tits, just pure unadulturated "you're gonna die" energy.

Rider's the first Servant we ever see in Samurai Remnant. She's the first one Iori encounters, leveling his house in the prologue and acting as the tutorial boss to show the player "hey you can't fucking take these guys on", and in the teaser trailer (which shows that scene) she's one of three Servants who are actually shown to us - the other two being SR's Saber and everyone's favorite bisexual dimension hopper, Musashi. I could write a whole other post about Shousetsu and Iori (maybe I will who knows) but Rider follows their dynamic. She's a strong parallel to Saber. Fuck she basically is Saber if they didn't have people like Ototachibana-Hime and Iori to keep them grounded.

All of the new Servants are super cool (with the exception of Caster that bitch ass nerd), but I think Rider's possibly the coolest. I mean, I've been wanting Samson since I got into Fate and you haven't seen me make any real posts about him because Minamoto-no-Raikou, one of my least favorite Servants, has got me in a vicegrip. I don't know if she's my favorite, but I'll definitely be saving for if she ever comes into FGO

[impostorsshow]

Okay so you’re my Legend of Zelda person

How are you feeling about the Echoes of Wisdom announcement? Surprised? Excited? Eh? Did you like what you saw of the game? The art style? The Echo mechanic?

(Personally, I’m really looking forward to the game, and it’s looking like the twink will finally have to be saved this time.)

I haven't seen much of the trailer and don't know what the echo mechanic is, I only get game info through my partner that stays up until 3-4 am their time to watch the Nintendo directs and I prefer to find out about zelda games far after the community has discussed it or play it blind myself with trusty non spoiler guide site zeldadungeon.com, but I love that we're getting another game in the chibi links awakening style!! It's my favorite, and my old comfort object that I lost was an amiibo figure of links awakening link, so I really hope they make a figure of Zelda I can buy - my family pirated every amiibo for Zelda that was released up to botw and they're about the size of the first index of my thumb but having a full figure of a Zelda character would be nice again.

I am also really surprised about it, and having Zelda as a playable character is amazing again. I only know of 4 Zelda games that have had the goddess reincarnation herself be the protagonist, 3 of the games were most likely released in the OG Zelda/adventure of link titles era or around the oracle games based on the cartridge? Art I saw idk it might also be related to the PC quest games that came out around the same time which for reference is the uh. "eXCUSSEEE ME PRINCESS" one I think that's the thing it's well known for that is a whole different convo with a different blog i know nothing of the older titles except the basics. Anyway anyway I own the 4th game I know about that no one else mentions because it's technically not canon and is worse off than Hyrule warriors is but it's called cadence of Hyrule I think just search up "Crypt of the Necromancer Zelda" you'll find it and I did play through most characters campaign including Zelda's in that one, and think it's definitely worth mentioning due to how different Zeldas gameplay is to links. Uh anyway based on that game alone I have very high hopes for the gameplay of Zelda, as well as the thinks the higher ups at Nintendo said about sticking with botw/totks direction and play style.

Lastly I'll be honest with you im sleep deprived as shit cause emergency irl shit happened last night and I havent been sleeping well in general so I forgot my big thing i wanted to talk about in this segment but uh. Salvaged bits are yada yada Zelda mechanics parallels to other games more characterization more well written fanfics that aren't JUST skyward sword and botw for her etc etc based on how they handled princess peach showtimes characterization [which like. Honest to God really hard character to write in 2024 due to her roots being damsel in distress 101 and people tending to mostly correctly point at any pinky extra feminine girl and shout misogynistic] I really don't think Nintendo can fuck this up, and I am fully confident they won't fuck it up :].

ALSO CAPE CAPE ZELDA CAPE SHE HAS A CAPE ITS A CAPE ZELDAS CAPE ITS SO CUTE GOOD CHARACTER DESIGN SHE HAS A CAPE ITS SO CUTE OH MY GOD CAPE CAPE CAPE SHE HAS A CAPE

Oh yeah actually I did like the little bit of the trailer I did see that link shot her free at the last second, showing he is still in character and they didn't shoehorn in an idea to have a female protagonist like other series would do, but that every side of the triforce is equally powerful. I expect this game to be like if links awakenings dungeon puzzles were used on the overworld, and based on another Tumblr post I saw there might be some diplomatic puzzles. Or at least dual sided quest lines

Uh is there anything else I was gonna say. Oh I'm definitely going to be live posting about when I play the game since my birthday [shoutout to sans undertale] is in September so im definitely planning to ask for it or get it myself, even though I know it comes out past my birthday

[zanyana626]

Alright, so here's my thoughts on the new Helluva Boss episode! 😈🤠❄️

Everything’s tagged as #hb spoilers for those who haven't seen it yet!

Stolas & Stella confronting each other be like:

Ice King Andrealphus being the third fucking wheel, questioning why he even showed up, but staying for the literal tea

Stolas & Stella obviously hated each other from the get go, so yeah, he didn't betray no one (except maybe his daughter's trust)

COWBOY DADDY STRIKER STRIKES BACK!!! Still sad that Norman Reedus didn't return to voice him, but I kinda already had a feeling that he wouldn't return cuz 1) We didn't get to hear Striker in the S2 Trailer & I think it was confirmed that most of the cast had finished recording their lines for this season over a year ago and 2) It's understandable bc he's a busy man in the acting industry!

And besides, Ed's an awesome VA (especially with all the characters he's voiced so far in the Hellaverse), so I didn't really mind the recast!

"Um... sexy?" Yep, Stolas & the I.M.P crew know what's up! 😉

Wonder what other kinds of Blessed items/weapons exist! I want more lore content!!!

Not bad for an M&M themed episode!

Mixed thoughts on the Blitzø & Loona B-plot of the episode! The Sloth Ring making these two wait 5 years for a rabies shot appointment & the dumbass staff not getting "Bingo & Tuna's" names right was funny tho!

Also, fuck off Fish Karen! It's Hell, no one gives a shit and yet, you're fine with your illegitimate son insulting Blitzø to his face!

"How does one get their own theme song?" Striker unwillingly getting his own theme song was gold! It gave me "Gaston's Song" vibes and I love it!!! 👏🏼

Moxxie finally fighting his own battles (even if it's for something as simple as a hat), good for him!

So there are tinier Imps in Hell, now? Again, lore content pls!!!!

Striker's little bat-cave: "I'm just impressed you seem to want to suck your own dick so badly", 'nuff said! 🤣

The parallels of Stolas "messing around" with Striker while being held hostage, to the time Blitzø & Moxxie fucked with the government agents in "Truth Seekers" was good too! 👌🏼

Hope we get to see a Striker backstory cuz he reeeeally has some sort of grudge towards the Goetia family or any of the higher ranked demons! Wonder if Paimon had anything to do with that?

"Prepare for trouble & make it double!" Stella & Andrealphus's dynamic was funny, but slightly creepy (mostly on Andre's side towards his sister)

LEAVE MAH CHILD VIA OUTTA THIS!!!! Like she hasn't had enough shit to deal with already!

M&M HUNGRY FOR A LI'L PAYBACK!!!!

They said, no Country music for a battle theme, only Pop music!

The fight scene mixed with Loona fighting back at her shot appointment was funny!

Angel Dust vs. Sir Pentious callback?? Moxxie's definitely been taking notes from the spider boi!

We still haven't seen the last of Cowboy Daddy Striker!

Poor Loony, getting a "cone of shame". At least she got a lollipop for being a "good patient"? 🤷🏻‍♀️

HOW TF DID THE MEDIA FIND OUT ABOUT STOLAS GETTING ATTACKED & NEARLY KILLED???

"...He can get hurt?" Yes, Blitzø! He may be a royal demon w/phenomenal cosmic powers, but he's just as fragile and hurting on the inside, just like me & you bud (and holy weapons don't help with that fact either)!

Had to pause to look at the Stolitz texts: so they have brought up the Ozzie's incident, but apparently haven't ACTUALLY talked about it face-to-face! At least Stolas is trying to work something out & give Blitzø some space!

BLITZØ, YOU BETTER GO VISIT YOUR MAN IN THE HOSPITAL, OR SO HELP ME…!!!!!

One thing that bugged me the most is Loona not getting any lines in this episode, yet Erica still got credited?

The last episode was understandable bc Loona appeared for a few seconds in the beggining & end. But they could've at least given Loona a few lines this time around, especially given the fact that she was freaking out & didn't wanna get the shot!

Overall not exactly the best episode, but it was still alright (I just mostly missed my cowboy daddy, ok?) Hopefully, the next episode does better!!!

[fatummortem]

It's interesting how the show the differences between worlds or whatever you wish to call it.

I've seen a few mentions of the multiverse accidentally looking for some tips on minigames. but it just always makes me think of nature vs nurture.

Hurricane-

The final boss fight seems to have left the other world, about 3 sectors of the other worlds Midgard destroyed. Basically all the building we were jumping on came from those sectors. It seems like the main one we play in isn't handicapper in such a way.

the team also all seem to be put into a coma from the experience? Kinda leads me to wonder if it was something they missed or if it's just the fact that Cloud isn't there.

Cloud-

Ends up staying in a coma with Zack alive. He hasn't turned into one of those Robes... well yet?? I think he does considering the trailer shows him as one but I've been trying to avoid those spoilers for now.

The Cloud you mostly play as seems to dream about being there & hears Zack from within the other Cloud's resting place. It's kinda odd until you realize the camera angle is just from Cloud's perceptive.

Zack-

He's the same bashfully energetic dude he's always been but I think he's changed a lot without Cloud & Aerith. Or i should say he's changed with both of them in comas?

He goes off to save her, tries to bring down her helicopter but has to get help from Red. Or at least Red ends up helping out & takes out the pilots. Right after that Zack takes out the one with Tifa &/or Barret within? He of course thanks Red before he ollies out with Aerith & just Aerith. Leaving everyone else to Shinra troopers.

Which I suppose I'd narrow my focus too with depression depending. Zack narrows it down to friends or a small circle, ignoring most people around him while focusing on tasks. Even the kids close to Aerith (except for Marlene), which just seems odd to me. He also seems uninterested in doing anything merc related. Though I have a feeling that if he popped up around the time Cloud had in the other world, things would have gone differently.

It feels like... well I could be wrong. That Zack was pulled from the main world, or the one we mainly play in, right before his death or killing shot & dropped into the other world during the current time after the fight with the whispers.

Avalanche-

I think they all die without Cloud? There's a dramatic X over all but one of their faces in the game but no actual execution's were talked about. So they're either in coma or just died in helicopter crashes? And Shinra is just 'welp no news is better'?

Biggs-

Enter the dude trying to be the main leader & kinda tries to give Zack a focus or well both of them a focus within a dying world. I have a feeling everything from before the whisper fight went down the same or close to it? I donno if that means Cloud randomly vanishes in the middle of the fight and becomes mako poisoned with Zack.

But Biggs seems to be from the main world? Talks about Cloud being a badass. He also mentions he was dying but he was pulled somewhere else like Zack to wake up alive. I haven't finished the game so I could be absolutely wrong.

Anyway he's trying to organize something to help the planet while everyone else is dead & people who want to fight is slim picking.

I kinda like the alterations, totally hate the world but it's a creative way to show differences within a different world. I mean... my reactions wasn't as bad as the second time I ran into Roche. I ended up yelling at him.

[bonnissance]

SHE IS A FKNING MOTH I STG I FKN CALLED IT WHEN THE PROMOS CAME OUT THE NEXT EP IS LITERALLY CALLED ‘THE EXTRAORDINARY SUPER [SPECIFIC SPECIES OF MOTH]’ IF MOULD ISN’T A GODDAMN MOTH AFTER ALL THESE FKN CLUES I’M GONNA S C R E A M 

[happilyelectronicstarfish]

Starting Life in Hawkins Chapter 7

**CONTAINS SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCH ST4**

Going on the hunt for Eddie and learning the truth about Hawkins.

I have tried to stick to as much of the original script as possible - Planning on changing a few things as I go. ENJOY

WARNING - swearing

Word Count - >2k

Chapter 7

I feel like I have been going around in circles for hours, my head spinning, trying to make sense of the morning events.

I’ve ended up at Dustin's house. Unsure how I got here or how long I’ve been walking. I feel lost. When I turned up at the Wheeler’s house, Nancy told me Mike has flown to California to see his girlfriend and best friend. I had completely forgotten. She offered me a lift home but I numbly shook my head and carried on walking. That’s how I found myself at Dustin’s.

Dustin adores Eddie. He looks up to Eddie, sees him like a big brother. He would know what I’m thinking, he would know Eddie wasn’t capable of murder.

“Chrissy Cunningham? You sure it was Chrissy?” Dustin questioned Max again. Max had gone on a hunt to track me down and found me at Dustin’s.

“Yes, in her cheerleaders outfit. The same thing when you and Y/N saw her with Eddie.” Confirmed Max. She had frustration in her eyes as this was about the fifteenth time going over the same points with Dustin.

“Did you tell the cops you saw them together?” I pressed. 

“No of course not! But I can’t have been the only one who saw them together, they stuck out. Chrissy the cheerleader and Eddie the freak.” Max said this without really thinking. She was just saying what everyone thought.

“He’s not a freak. He is one of the most caring humans I know” I exclaim.

“You know his name Max, its not in the news.” Dustin joins in.

“Yes but I can guarantee he’s the number one suspect.” replied Max. I get why she's defensive, she's been dragged into this, but she doesn’t know Eddie like we do.

“Eddie didn’t do this. No way!” said Dustin.

“But we can’t rule it out.” answers Max.

“Yes we can!” I was getting angry now. “You don’t know him like we do Max”

“When we got to high school, Lucas made all his sports friends. Me and Mike? Everyone was mean to us. All except Eddie.” Dustin had tears in his eyes. Worried for his friend.

“Well that's the same shit with Ted Bundy. Nice guy until he’s murdering women at the weekend.”

“So you’re saying Eddie is like Ted Bundy?” I question, also getting frustrated now.

“No I’m not saying - I’m saying we can’t presume anything, okay? But it doesn’t look good for Eddie.” Max was trying not to upset us, but she was a very ‘matter of fact person’.

Dustin was pacing the room. “Why haven’t you told the cops this?”

“I…I don’t know” shrugged Max.

“You don’t know” I scoffed.

“After I saw Eddie and Chrissy go in the trailer, something else happened. Nothing that weird I mean, Eddie always drives like a maniac and the power at the trailer park is shit and always going off. But thinking back this morning. I don’t know. The look on his face. Eddie was scared, Y/N. Like really scared. Maybe he was scared because he killed someone or maybe because I don’t know, something else killed her.”

“Something else?” I pressed. They seemed to have forgotten I was there and now couldn’t hear me. 

“Impossible.” Dustin said.

“Is it though Dustin? We’ve seen a lot of weird shit.” 

“There’s one person who would know - Eddie. Have you talked to anyone else?” I could hear the cogs in Dustin's head turning and he questioned Max further, trying to formulate a plan.

“No, I tried to find Lucas and Nancy, Mikes in California.” Max replied.

“Nancy? What has Nancy got to do with this?” I was so confused. “Where are we going?” I ask Dustin as he’s grabbing his bag. 

“To see a friend. Come on, we’ll fill you in on the way. By the power of Hellfire Club, you cannot breathe a word of this.” I nodded at Dustin. I had never seen him so riled up. He was ready to fight for Eddie as much as I was.

After a very uncomfortable ride on the back of Dustin’s bike we had arrived at Family Video. After hearing of what really happened at Star Court and about their friend El, this was the least weirdest thing, arriving for help at the video store. I believed them though, they had no reason to lie to me if they were willing to help me find Eddie.

“Steve, how many phones do you have here?” Dustin said as he burst through the door of the shop.

“You seen this? Someone was murdered” Steve said ignoring Dustins quesition, as him and the other girl stood watching the news on the TV.

“How many phones have you got Robin?” Dustin bypassed Steve now and spoke directly to the girl.

“Two, three if you count Keith’s one.” replied Robin, barely taking her eyes off of the TV screen.

“Perfect, that will do” said Dustin, pushing everything off of the sides as he did his best to hop over the counter. “Hey my piles!” exclaimed Robin, throwing her hands up and then scrabbling to try and catch the falling videos and paper.

“Dude what are you doing!” shouted Steve.

“Setting up base for operation” Dustin replied as he undid his backpack.

“Base of operation? Get off the computer Henderson.” Steve tried his best to take control over the situation.

“I need it.”

“For what?”

I chimed up “For Eddie’s friends phone numbers.” They all stopped and looked at me. I think they forgot I was here. I had not said a word since entering the shop. Still trying to process everything.

Steve turned back to Dustin, “What, your new best friend who you think is cooler because he plays your nerdy game?” There was a little bit of jealousy in his voice.

“Yes. And I never said that.” 

“Guys come on, can this wait until later, we have a lot to do.” said Robin.

“Robin, I empathise, I really do, but this cannot wait. It's an emergency.” Dustin said so very matter of factly.

“An emergency?” she replied.

“Yes, Y/N and Max will fill you in.” Dustin turned back to the computer and started clicking away at the keys.

Now we had Steve and Robin on board, we were phoning and going through Eddie's list of friends.

“Have you heard or seen from Eddie recently?”

“Eddie Munson. When's the last time you saw him? Spoke to him?”

“Okay, sorry to bother you. Would you know of anyone who would have seen him?” 

These phone calls seemed endless which weren’t getting us anywhere. 

“What about Reefer Rick?” I asked. They all looked at me.

“Does this Reefer Rick have a last name?” questioned Max.

“I don’t know, no one really knows. All I know is sometimes Eddie crashes there after picking up his supply. He’s never taken me there.” I say.

“Bet the cops know his last name.” Mutters Steve, loud enough for us to hear.

“What do you mean Harrington?” Asks Dustin.

“Reefer Rick, right if he is this drug dealer you all think he is, he must have been busted at some point. He’ll be in the system.”

“Really Steve, that's your suggestion, go to the cops.” Dustin says. “You think Eddie is guilty, don't you.”

“I believe in innocence until proven guilty, all that constitutional shit. I just don’t think we can rule it out.” 

“That's precisely what we are trying to do, Steve.” I say angrily. Getting frustrated with not getting any further. “And maybe we would have a bit more luck if you didn’t spend your time trying to flirt with the customers.” 

“Someone has to attend to the customer.” 

“Especially if they’re babes right?” 

“Hey, not fair, okay? I’ve just met you. I attend to all customers fairly. Babes and non-babes” He defended.

Robin suddenly rushed to the computer, hammering the keys. “Maybe we don’t need a last name. Twelve Ricks have an account here. So let's narrow it down. Rick Alderman’s latest rental, Dumbo. Chances of the drug dealer having a family - unlikely. Rick Conroy, Sixteen Candles, Teen Wolf, Romancing the Stone..” 

“No” Dustin, Max, Steve and I all said in unison. 

“Okay. Rick Lipton. Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Cheech & Chong's Next Movie.Cheech & Chong's Up in Smoke. Bingo”

My heart flutters. Have we just gotten a step closer to finding Eddie?

“2121 Holland Road.” Robin says and she scribbles down the address.

“That's out by Lovers Lake. Middle of nowhere. Perfect place to hide” I confirm after looking up the street in the map book Dustin had packed. 

Steve and Robin locked the store. We all hopped into Steve's car and sped off. Was I about to see Eddie? Find out what was really happening. I felt sick to my stomach. How could so much change in such a short amount of time.

When we arrived at Holland Road night had fallen. The house looked pretty empty and my hopes that we would find Eddie here faded. 

“Let's just try first and see if anyone answers.” Dustin seemed more hopeful than I was. He rang the doorbell, nothing. He tried again. Nothing.

“Come on let's go, he's obviously not here.” Steve said, starting to turn away from the door to leave.

“Eddie! It’s Dustin.” The sound of desperation cracking through his voice. 

“Great.” Steve stopped and threw his arms up.

“Eddie, we just want to talk. No cops.” He kept his finger pressed on the bell, the constant ringing echoing through the house. “Rick! Reefer Rick!”

“Dustin shh don’t shout that.” Robin said in hushed tones as if someone was spying on us. 

“Hey what's that over there?” I pointed at an old looking garage. “Looks like an old boat house. It’s open let's go check.” Before waiting for an answer I was making my way over to it. 

The boat house was old and rickety with a lot of junk lying around. Steve picked up an old broken oar and started prodding around.

“Steve, what the hell are you doing?” I questioned. 

“He might be in there.” 

“Well take the tarp off.” 

“You take the tarp off if you’re so brave.”

There was a creak from the floorboards. “Someone was here.” Max said looking at wrappers of food on a table along with an empty cigarette packet. Marlboro reds, Eddies brand.

“Maybe he got spooked and ran away.” Robin chimed in.

“Don’t worry Steve will get him with his oar.” I sniggered. 

“I know you think you’re being funny, but considering everyone else in this room has nearly died like one hundred times, personally I don’t find it funny in the slight-” Steve was cut off mid sentence. Something jumped out of the tarp next to Steve. Holding a sharp metal object they pushed Steve to the wall. It was Eddie.

“Woah woah woah Eddie! It's me, Dustin. This is Steve. We aren’t going to hurt you.”

I step forward from the darkness, my voice at a whisper not wanting to make Eddie jump, “Steve why don’t you drop the oar.” Eddie slowly looked at me as he recognises my voice. 

“What are you doing here?” He asked. He looked manic and scared, shaking. I just wanted to hold him.

“We’ve been looking for you. We’re here to help Eddie. Please Eddie, we are on your side.” I pleaded with him. He dropped his grip around Steve's collar and walked away. He leaned against the wall and slid down it, looking into the distance.

“Eddie, we just want to talk,” says Dustin slowly.

“We want to know what happened.” Robins says as she kneels down beside him.

I’m frozen to the spot. Eddie looks up at me helplessly. “You won’t believe me.”

“Try us.” utters Max.

[thedinanshiral]

Dragon Age and side media.

Yes, this is about the Netflix animated series and why I think it'll be worth it.

Dragon Age lore is in large measure about patterns. I've explored this many, many times. So this is no different. And Dragon Age has plenty material to work with.

Often times people see side media (comics, books and anything not officially aligned with the main story) to be its own separate thing and not, well, canon. But that's not always the case with Dragon Age.

While not strictly necessary to follow through, DA's side media is not entirely inconsequential. Far from it, the novels, comics and series either give insight into known characters and conflicts, or introduces future companions and relevant NPCs, simultaneously setting the stage for future developments.

With the exception of DAO as it was the first installment of the series, the following games always had side media in between to prepare us for what was coming next. Let's see (mild spoilers ahead)

DAO got two prequel novels, The Stolen Throne and The Calling, with the former exploring Maric and Loghain's past and the latter introducing Duncan and, in a way, Alistair.

A bit after DA2 we got the Alistair comics (with Isabella and Varric as King Alistair's companions on a quest to find the truth about King Maric's fate), and Dragon Age Redemption, a sort of officially approved fanmade? low budget web series, with Felicia Day playing as Tallis, a character that would later appear in the DA2 Mark of the Assassin's DLC.

Then in preparation for DAI we got Asunder, The Masked Empire, Last Flight (novels) and Dawn of The Seeker (the Cassandra cgi movie i haven't seen yet). These novels introduced just about everything: new companions (Cole, Cassandra), relevant NPCs and bosses (Michel de Chevin, Gaspar, Briala, Felassan, Imshael and even Fen'Harel), and conflicts we'd have to deal with in DAI (the Orlesian civil war, the fall of the Seekers, demons). Curiously enough, the only pre-DAI side media that had no repercussion in the game was Last Flight, arguably one of the best DA novels (shh, I'm biased); it takes place in the Anders at the Grey Wardens HQ, and jumps between the past during the Fourth Blight and the present shortly after the Mage Rebellion. Is in Last Flight where we learn what happened to the griffons, and there's a revelation that i think will play out in DAD. The DA4 trailer and BTS video with concept art gave me some hopes for this as some of the scenery was clearly set in the Anders and Weishaupt.

So far DAD has had 5 comics to prepare us all: Mage Killer, Knight Errant, Deception, Blue Wraith and Dark Fortress, introducing new and recurring characters with strong in-game companions potential, and setting the quest for the red lyrium idol and the hunt for Solas. There's also the amazing Tevinter Nights anthology introducing new characters, taking us on a tour around the yet unexplored regions of Thedas like Tevinter, Nevarra and Antiva. Some of these new characters would later be appearing in several short stories published on the BW site, and also have tons of companion potential.

And now, we have Absolution. Or will have, soon enough. A Netflix animated series. The trailer tells me this is where some of the DA4 concept art ended up in. Now I've seen and heard enough about this: that it's generic Netflix anime, that it has nothing that says "Dragon Age" and oh what's that? Me taking you to the optometrist for new glasses. Granted, the general public won't be pausing on every frame, but I have issues so i kinda did.

From what I gather we'll be following an elven rogue and their friends/associates on a quest to stop an (drumroll please)...evil Tevinter mage set on unleashing something terrible using magic and a mysterious magical artifact.

What are their personal motivations, their sad backstories? What will be at stake? I mean, Solas is about to set the world on fire, what could be worse than that? This new artifact looks like a bracelet with two serpents eating each other's tail, and is that red detail something like a ruby...or is it red lyrium? If this is Tevinter, there's dragons and serpents everywhere, Old Gods stuff, and two serpents made one reminds me of the twins Falon'din and Dirthamen... Is the evil mage summoning something terrible or restraining it with a barrier?

What cities will we be seeing for the first time?

And most importantly, what's my new wife's name?

Yes, it seems the Netflix series writers are not the DAD writers. But neither are the 5 comics' and nobody's questioning the canonical value or lack thereof of, say, Blue Wraith.

I think Absolution is part of the side media meant to prepare the terrain for DAD, and not some random executive's whim, so even if Weekes themselves aren't holding the pen, it'll be fine. I imagine Absolution has at least two goals: 1) to gather new fans of the series and hype for the next game, and 2) to add something (companions, lore, foreshadowing) to the next game.

Redemption is a fine example of why not to underestimate side media, no matter how low budget and lore unfriendly it seems because this is the side media that introduced the Mask of Fen'Harel, an artifact that is activated via blood magic and used to open portals into the Veil to cross over to the Fade. Yeah, as simple and unofficial as it may look Redemption foretold Fen'Harel's relation to the Veil and it's manipulation. It wouldn't be until DAI (and for many, until Trespasser) that Fen'Harel would be revealed as the creator of the Veil and the dots began connecting that he's the OG rift mage for that reason.

So yeah, I'm excited, and I'll watch it and dissect it. I'm equal parts starved and excited for DA lore/content, it's been A VERY LONG TIME.

A VERY LONG TIME

[wack-ashimself]

The matrix 4 was...a sequel. spoilers.

I was doing a test-watch EVERY AVAILABLE trailer for it, and guess most of the movie. I did it with pretty solid spider man try 3, part 3, and I haven't even seen the fucking thing. Based on what people tell me who did see it.

I got 2/3 of the new matrix down, and the 2/3 I did was the important stuff. 1/3 was 'this is how we changed it, kinda.' FROM THE TRAILERS ALONE!!!!

Summary (SPOILERS): first 3 movies 'happened' (he made video games about them) and the 4th (this one) was him escaping again, and it was more about trinity. I called all of that from the trailers except it being a video game. That's how fucking unmysterious trailers are now.

Worth the watch? Sure. Kinda. This is one of the few sequels I put into the box of 'not better or worse; just kinda the same.'

Cuz the action in this movie is...bad, compared to the last 2. Reeves is old and slow. Like most of this movie. Unless forcefields get you off.

But the story is better...compared the last 2.

I just...don't know how to feel. This was unneeded, felt forced, opened up YET ANOTHER sequel, but nothing felt...genuine. Like too many things I am seeing today: they name drop, nostalgia, and wait for you to give them money....

This is how stupid it was:

Morpheus is an AI mixed with Mr smith. That's the biggest 'wtf is going on' of the movie.

Matrix 1-9.5/10. Few plot holes, but a CLASSIC.

Matrix 2-6.8/10. Good action, but god damn did it drag on plot wise. Nobody cared. Nobody.

Matrix 3-6/10. It's just so 'we need to make a trilogy.'

Matrix 4-6.5/10. Only good cuz you waited this long. That's it...anything new to add to the lore.

Best part? HOW ON THE NOSE HIS PSYCHIATRIST WEARING BLUE GLASSES TURNING OUT TO BE BAD GUY WAS! SUBTLY. TRY IT THE FUCK OUT!!!!

spoilers.

[metalikkblog]

That's really good to hear!

Nah, I don't think the pressure is there, at least for me. Haven't drawn anything in a few months. Except for my yearly Polish Independence Day drawing, that was a must done.

I've been quite great! Still learning to drive but it's really fun to just drive and not worry about anything else. It has begun to snow lately so I'm interested to drive in these conditions.

Yes! I've played Frontiers! Still haven't finished it yet but it's been a good experience so far. I stream on my YouTube every single time I play the game so you can watch my playthrough live or as a saved stream.

I haven't seen the latest Prime trailer as I wanna watch the show, so no spoilers for me.

👋👋👋👋👋

Hello and bye!

The break hopefully helped to focus on work!

Hope you're feeling well and come back!

Hello!!! I'm mentally in such a good place now thank you xxx

I have a lot of work coming up so I don't think I'll be as active with art as I was and I doubt I'll even get one a week for a while but I'm hoping that if the pressure to post doesn't get to me next week that I can come back to interact with you all again xxx

How's you been? Frontiers is out have you had a chance to play or watch it yet? I saw theirs a new prime trailer too which is exciting xx