#closing scenes though.... don't talk to me

[meo-eiru]

Day 2 of Character Trivia Night! Just a heads up, I already tagged it with the necessary tw warnings but I'll be mentioning self harm so proceed with caution

For tonight we have Elias

Elias has a mother and father, and is an only child

His father is an office worker and his mother is a stay at home mom

He occasionally talks to them when they call him but doesn't actively try to keep a close bond with them

He had short brown hair before meeting you but after doing so he decided to switch to a more flashy appearance to make up for his lack of personality

He doesn't have a favorite or least favorite food but follows a strict diet to have a body to your liking

He's not a morning person but forces himself to wake up early to spend 1 to 2 hours in the bathroom prettying himself up

Has had the same manager for years but still can't remember his name

He had a few stalkers growing up and was even poisoned once after you two started dating

He was more worried about appearing sickly in front of you than almost dying so when you tried entering his room to check up on him he cried

Talking with a man for more 10 minutes, being alone with one for more than 5 minutes, not returning his calls or messages within 1 minute, not looking at him once for more than half an hour when you two are together and not complimenting him at least 30 times during the day all counts as signs of cheating in his eyes

If you show attraction to another men, such as an idol or celebrity, he'll start mimicking their looks and behavior

He desperately wants to kill the people around you but last time he tried it he almost messed everything up so now he just pretends to be a victim and ruins them socially

He's not such a high ranking model because besides his good looks he lacks presence, but he does have a decent social media following

He doesn't post that often and when he does they are either just photos or a few words, it was enough to gather a small cult following though

He does have a private account he uses to vent, he usually uses it like a diary to write about you but when he gets distressed his posts turn very aggressive

He occasionally does self harm, he doesn't particularly enjoy the feeling but he loves the expression on your face when you see it

He usually uses it as a trick to manipulate you. Once he couldn't contact you for an hour so he just spammed you with pictures of a particularly deep wound and "I'm ending it since you apparently don't care about me" messages.

You had to run to his house only to find him lightheaded from blood loss, but he just greeted you with a smile and hug like his arm wasn't dripping blood

If you can't take it and try to break up with him he'll take it outside, start making a scene, gather a crowd and threaten to jump off until you take it back due to public pressure

He doesn't particularly care about the scars left during these outbursts since he views them as memories the two of you share but if someone else leaves a scar on him, even by accident, he'll have a breakdown and attack the person until someone pulls him back

His favorite dates are the ones where you two just laze around in bed the whole day, open a random show and have sex instead of actually watching it

He's mostly fine with you having your own hobbies and interests but if you seem to enjoy them a bit too much for his liking he'll start throwing tantrums to get you to do them less

He has two moles right above his butt, on the left

[omamervt]

oh my god every one of these replies is so stupid. I was content when it was just one to block and move on but y'all kept going, Jesus.

From top to bottom:

"Review embargoes are good, though!"

If you wanna miss the point, I can help you understand. If you're just wrong, I can try and help you see why. But if you're gonna be wrong WHILE missing the point, nothing you have to say is worth saying.

Ignore for a moment that none of the perks of an embargo in your eyes benefit READERS, only the reviewers, their publishers, and the game's publisher. Because even if I agreed with THAT point, do you think review embargoes had a bad reputation back in the day because of the NON-toxic patterns? No! The point is that reviews aren't allowed to come out now until the game's release is so close that it's too late to inform everyone who pre-ordered that they might want to cancel! And that this went from a predictable indicator that a game was gonna suck on launch to a near-universal practice! And AGAIN, that the editors and reviewers would rather maintain a positive relationship with AAA game publishers than with their own readers!

"influencers can play and stream the game before reviews are out, as long as they stick to certain talking points and avoid others"

In other words, you can only review the game if you don't leave a bad review? do you not think that JUST MAYBE that would fall under the category of "problematic embargo pattern?"

"why are you going to a video game magazine for ttrpg news instead of like, Dicebreaker?"

oh, I don't know? Maybe BECAUSE POLYGON HAS A FUCKING TABLETOP SECTION? Maybe because as great as Rascal and Dicebreaker and the like are and need support when they do good work, it doesn't change the fact that if Polygon wants to have a Tabletop beat, they should at least try and do a good job with it? And the head of that section writing an open letter to people his department has straight-up ignored, despite them doing everything right, and saying, "be more marketable!" You can't pretend it's not a bad look. Ignoring the work of members of his own team, who are doing the thing he's saying needs to be done? You can't pretend it's not a bad look. ESPECIALLY when you acknowledge that WoTC has a LITERAL MONOPOLY on the TTRPG scene!

and shieldfoss, I know you won't see this because I blocked you because you're an idiot arguing in bad faith, but everything you said is exactly what I meant by "debating the role of a games journalist in a way that lets them off the hook for not doing their job." Because actually, it IS a journalist's job to inform their readers, not just spoon-feed them what they want to hear, with info they could just as easily get directly from WoTC.

As it stands, the likes of Polygon ARE serving as part of the marketing for major products and services. And that's a BAD thing!

Oh, and about your analogy: If I were going to an e-bike repair man, then no, I wouldn't expect him to try and sell me a new e-bike. BECAUSE HE'S NOT THE PUBLISHER OF AN E-BIKE MAGAZINE! However, I WOULD expect an e-bike magazine to keep me as up-to-date as is reasonably possible on e-bike product launches, even if it's only via reviews. I would expect them to have a handful of guys whose job was to keep their ear to the ground to research up-and-coming e-bike makers. And if one E-bike brand had a monopoly on e-bikes, I'd hope that e-bike magazine would do everything in its power to at least not COME OFF as a shill for the company that holds the monopoly.

And it's all fascinating that two out of three of these replies are, again, still largely in the context of "this is an issue with Charlie Hall, specifically, writing an article about not wanting to have to do any investigation or research to populate his TTRPG section with TTRPG articles" when, as I've been saying from the beginning, this is bigger than him. It's bigger than Polygon. Every major publication has these issues, and they have them in regards to ALL types of games, not just TTRPGs.

So no, none of these people had good points.

I've often heard people debate the role of Games Journalists and their duties relating to coverage of Games, but its usually in the context of letting them off the hook for just taking the easy route and shilling for the AAA industry.

After This Article from Polygon today, whose TTRPG beat is almost entirely covering WoTC press releases, written by the editor for the TTRPG beat, talking about how indie TTRPGs need to do better about getting press coverage themselves (hmm wonder how that would happen, Charlie!), while neglecting to highlight his own team members' work to do so, but finding plenty of time to bemoan the lack of any upcoming Curse of Strahd-tier adventure modules from WoTC?

Yeah we're done with that. No more. Don't even think about it.

[aq2003]

okkkk some jumbled thoughts from my 3rd macbethening, this is a combination of things related to the film version plus just the production in general because i love it so much

i don't think i'll ever stop being floored by the opening scene. the music, macbeth's expressions (the exhausted, haggard way that he moves as the praises for his viciousness on the battlefield ring out behind him)... i'm deranged forever. bonus points this time for the close-ups on his face

the macbeth's embrace when they first reunite is so tender :( the way they hold onto each other :(

thanks to me having the soundtrack on loop i noticed a few interesting things re: the soundtrack. for instance the motif of the psalm first plays when duncan is naming malcolm heir (although much less dark and creepy i think). then it comes in at full force when macbeth is crowned king

it was stated in the traveling folk interview that iomar ò illean mhara was the song played at the irl funeral of duncan, and quite fittingly the first time it plays in the production is when lady macbeth welcomes duncan to inverness. though over the course of the play it definitely becomes lady macbeth's theme and plays over/in between her most pivotal scenes (including before and after the sleepwalking scene and right before her final exit). this makes me think about the parallels between them and how duncan's ghost haunts her (this production keeps the line about him reminding her of her father...!) def need more time to marinate in this

the little cascade is definitely banquo's motif (or the motif representing banquo's lineage). it plays during the first scene with him and fleance and then when the apparitions show macbeth banquo's legacy becoming kings !!

love the bird's eye view of macbeth bowing to duncan (and how it establishes a visual parallel w/ him on the ground before getting crowned, and him being lifted up by the witches)

LOVE how the ceilidh was filmed, it was even more stunning (!) than when i saw it live although that may have been where i was sitting lol

the only parts of the film version i don't think live up to when i watched it live were the "stars hide your fires" scene (i would like to see more of the slo mo clapping!) and the final fight (i think the choreography prob improved when staging it at the harold pinter, it was cleaner and less chaotic having everybody come at macbeth from only two directions)

of course it is stated in the credits that the "child" role is fleance, the macduffs' son, and young siward, but there are a few moments i think are solidly the ghost of the macbeths' child (he's behind the glass the whole time). when he appears over lady macbeth welcoming duncan to inverness, when he's walking along to the ceilidh (and you see him between the macbeths during the time-slow bit), and when he's frantically knocking as the macbeths dance together (after they resolve themselves to murder duncan). in this way i think he serves both as the embodiment of their reason to kill duncan and the embodiment of their guilt

the big, single knock of the ensemble behind the glass before macbeth has his monologue abt how "every noise appalls him".... the hands pressing against the glass when macbeth talks abt how he'll never sleep again..... so delightfully creepy. i love it so much.

i didn't have a good enough angle to see it either time i watched it live but the Look between the macbeths after lady macbeth pretends to "faint" was so good... i think dt's macbeth makes me actually believe that him killing duncan's servants was like this fucked up manifestation of his guilt and "violent love" and he was dissociating badly + didn't know what he was doing. anyway now in this scene he's making himself look insanely guilty so lady macbeth has to take everyone's eyes off of him for a hot second. love how the murder power couple are kind of cringe fail in their own funny way

the very uncomfortable look that the murderers share with each other when macbeth brings up killing fleance. suuuuuch a good touch to that scene

you all know i am a huge fan of the dagger soliloquy cuz it was macbeth grabbing at his own shadow, macbeth as the "dagger", resolving himself to be more a weapon than a man, etc, but also this theme is repeated in his last monologue in 3.2! he talks to his shadow again when he's justifying arranging the murders of banquo and fleance to himself. OOF

in my notebook for one of my points i just wrote "3.4!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" cuz, obviously, david's acting in this scene is just fucking riveting and still gives me full body chills. also, staging note, i love that when he hallucinates the ghost for the second time everyone at the "table" moves away and it's like we're not watching him lose it in the eyes of everyone else we're being fully dunked into his head as he completely unravels

i think i like both the donmar and harold pinter versions of the 2nd witches scene equally! the choreography for the donmar version is a lot cooler and makes the witches feel more otherworldly but the harold pinter version connects it back to the theme of macbeth's trauma and grief and how the witches take root in that

i think it's just the fact i could see her expressions better but i teared up during the sleepwalking scene.. like aughhhhhh cush jumbo you came for my knees!!!!!!!!

the deranged grin on macbeth's face when he disarms macduff and he says "thou losest labor" i am soooo. i am SOOOOOOO. [chews on my arm]

BIG POOL OF BLOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! RAHHHHHHHH

[kero-cure]

The symbolic of reconciliation scene

Whoa... Many things happen in the final episode of Boonboomger. But now I wanna talk about Gavv first because Chocogummy reconciliation scene in the latest episode really did something to me.

One JP viewer pointed out about very interesting symbolism in this scene and I wanna share it.

Look at this scene first. They both took a distance but that isn't the main point that I wanna talk. The point is how window frame between them can be represent as "The wall between them" And the black rectangle thing that have a gap. (I don't know what is it) can be represent as "The distance between them" also.

Soon after Shouma shown his Gavv, He step closer to Hanto. I think that this represent to his mind. He was always hide his true identity as Granute for a long time. Especially from Hanto. Like he said that he don't wanna be hate.

Shouma know so well that Hanto have a strong hatred towards Granutes (And we couldn't blame him. Don't forget that his life was ruined because of Granutes so it's justify.) But at the same time Hanto trust him a lot. That cause a dilemma like "He trust me so I wanna trust him and be closer to him but I couldn't because I'm actually a creature that he hate more than anything."

But then this time he finally able to tell the truth so I think he might be like "Finally I can tell the truth to you. Can I become close to you?" Even though the wall (window frame) was still there. But we notice that Hanto step closer to the wall too. Their distance between them start to lose.

Closer and closer.

And finally, The reconciliation was success. Damn... I really love this dialogue. "I trust you not because you're human (And this is throwback to what Shouma thought in the end of EP 12) But because you're YOU." I gave this 1000 points.

And the last scene. Look at it. They were stand in the same window glass. We don't see a window frame between them anymore. And we don't see the gap between black object on the floor too. This clearly represent how the wall between them finally broke down and they became closer than before.

And their children had a celebration dance to distract us from their kiss scene WHO SAID THAT!!??

Even though we still have something that could trigger to the new wave of angst. But for now let's enjoy this sweets buffet together.

[the-bee-graveyard]

Yellowjackets S3 theories

I've been wanting to make a post on this for a while so instead of making a bunch of little ones I've decided to just make one big one. I don't necessarily believe all of these to be true but I think they're all very interesting and I wanted to talk about them all. They're in this order:

Queen Card Theory (Alternating Antler Queens)

Pit Girl Theory

Woman In Trailer

Coach Ben is alive

Split Theory

I'd be really interested in discussing these or hearing any other theories!

Queen Card Theory (Alternating Antler Queens)

This is the first theory that really captured my attention when I watched Yellowjackets, and it's basically that there will be four antler queens throughout their time in the wilderness, each representing a different one of the missing queen cards. Natalie is obviously the queen of hearts, but there would also be a queen of spades, queen of diamonds, and queen of clubs.

I've gone away from this theory for the most part since the season 3 trailer, since there's obviously been a significant time jump and I'm not sure if they have enough time in the woods left for there to be three more different antler queens. I do however think the remaining three queen cards will become a significant plot point at some point in the show, and that they will be uncovered.

Pit Girl Theory

I don't have much to say on this one, other then I think that the Pit Girl will be there last kill in the wilderness. I do believe in to be Mari, and I don't think they're hunting her in the scenes from the trailer. The parallels in those scenes though confirmed it for me.

For side characters I think will die this season, I think because Melissa is getting a larger role in the trailer, she's most likely to die. Which brings me to my next theory.

Woman in Trailer

I know a lot of people think that the woman in the trailer is adult Melissa, I personally do not think this. I don't think she's any of the Yellowjackets, really based on one line she says "you really are crazy" (or something like that). If it was one of the Yellowjackets I feel like she would know this.

More likely I think she's a private investigator, or a family member of one of the deceased Yellowjackets, poking around in the Yellowjackets investigation. I think both Travis and Natalie's death happening in such close proximity to each other would seem highly suspicious to anyone who's been following the Yellowjackets, and could get them some attention.

I saw a really interesting theory on tiktok that she's hired by Paul, who is trying to find out what happened to Ben, which I'm not going to cover in this post but I thought it was really compelling and would love to explore more.

I do believe all of the living Yellowjackets have been revealed. In the trailer Van says, "everyone who knows about this is us or dead", which could be said after the eighth survivor is revealed, but I don't think so. I think the eighth survivor is either already dead in the adult timeline or...

Coach Ben Is Alive

This one is a longshot I know but I've been obsessed with it for a while. I originally was a Javi is alive truther, but since that obviously is not the case, I've turned my attention to Coach Ben being the eighth survivor. I just feel like him dying is too obvious.

It's assumed from the trailer that Natalie is protecting Coach Ben from the Yellowjackets, maybe even helping him. I think the trial shown in the trailer is not for him, but for Natalie, for helping him.

Somehow Ben makes it back, whether he is rescued with the girls or on his own. For whatever reason the girls either do not know he was rescued, or believe him to be dead.

The "somebody wants us dead" in the trailer in this case would be referring to Ben, who, after learning about Travis and Natalie's deaths, could believe the Yellowjackets are up to their old tricks again.

Split Theory

This theory follows the Lord of the Flies parallels in Yellowjackets, which I simply had to talk about because I love the book. Basically sometime during their time in the wilderness, the girls split into two separate factions.

Based on the path the end of season two and season three seem to be following, I believe the group will split in half, half of them following Natalie (who represents Ralph in Lord of the Flies, righteous, "chosen leader") and Shauna (who represents Jack in LOTF, more violent and careless)

I believe the groups will split like this

Natalie's group: Travis (obvious reasons), Lottie (she believes Natalie is the rightful leader), Mari (follows Lottie loyally, also if she's Pit Girl her death could represent Piggy's in LOTF)

Shauna's group: Taissa (follows Shauna, pictured with her a few times in the S3 trailer), Van (follows Tai), Akilah (again, close with Tai, not very invested in Lottie's spiritual stuff)

Unsure: Melissa, Gen, any new characters

I'm also on the fence with Misty. Although she does seem very devoted to Natalie in the adult timeline, if we're following Lord of the Flies imagery, I could see Misty falling into the role of Roger, who does side with Jack. I also believe Misty could possibly switch sides to protect herself if she sees Natalie losing support.

Either way I think the groups come together at some point before the death of the pit girl.

[bylerlipglances]

correct me if i am wrong, this is 'my stress' talking after reading the nested universe theory.

idk if this analogy is right: Mindflayer represents the HIV virus, while Vecna symbolizes the fully developed stage of AIDS, or the final stage of life? 

Fear of vecna can be seen as symbolizing a ‘threat’ that compels individuals to live in constant fear that their deepest secrets will eventually be exposed. This parallels the reality of dying from HIV, which carries a stigma and tarnishes one’s reputation for being promiscuous and gay (HIV/AIDS historically labeled a 'gay disease' and closely associated with gay men)

CLOAK OF SECRECY OVER SEX

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Why do demogorgons are attracted to blood*? HIV can be transmitted by coming into contact with contaminated blood, such as from a cut or sore

HIV can be transmitted from a birthing parent to their child during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding.(terry)

Later symptoms of HIV/AIDS: Memory loss, depression, and other neurologic disorders (joyce, will, jonathan, terry, hopper and people marked by vecna)

Use of song 'Tarzan Boy' at rinko-mania seems intentional, considering Baltimore singer McShane died of AIDS-related illness at 37.

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What you pointed out about individuals beyond the gay community, like Billy, potentially contracting HIV, especially given his PROMISCUOUS nature (similar to 'dallas buyers club') Mind flayer using Billy as a HOST to spread infection rapidly, and his ultimate choice of death over infecting others, a heroic sacrifice - "We can be HEROES just for ONE DAY." (MM's character in DBC was a homophobic man who eventually overcomes his prejudice after contracting the virus and losing his trans buddy Rayon, a story of his struggles with AIDS and his personal evolution, a hero at last!)

I'm not sure if there's any connection, but Bowie’s Heroes was also featured in the perks of being a wallflower, which also explores themes of CSA (charlie experiences clinical depression stemming from repressed memories of having been sexually abused by his aunt as a child)

back to billy - men's locker room scene in s3 where Billy attacked the kids (bathhouses/sauna were considered major HIV transmission hotspots in the 80s)

HEAT can kill HIV Virus

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

ST hints at schools grappling with the issue of HIV

the real story of Ryan White's case in 1985, a 13-year-old hemophiliac with AIDS from INDIANA, he was banned from school over transmission fears. Though he won his legal battle to return, his family faced constant harassment and intimidation.

Ryan White's bowl cut and Will's bowl cut bear an uncanny resemblance. (and the age too)

Ryan : 1971 - 1990 [December 6, 1971 – April 8, 1990] Will : 1971 - ? [March 22, 1971 - ? ]

Perhaps that’s why the Duffers placed such a strong emphasis on the hairstyle and refused to change it, despite Noah's insistence.

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THE ENDING

I don't think I'd have the strength to watch the last season in the company of others. Anyone who loves Will Byers, prepare yourself for the worst. I hope the Duffers take their time and release all episodes of s5 all at once and...

Just Rip off the band-aid...

It’s very much overlooked just how pretty much the entire cast were crying A LOT while reading the final script. And how the executives at Netflix apparently did the same as well when they were pitched the ending…

Yeah I’m sure Byler is “endgame” this isn’t about Mlvn vs. Byler. That whole “love triangle” is a distraction.

Are you guys sure though that it’ll be a truly “happy” ending? Or will it be a lot sadder than you think?

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Heck, the writers wouldn't have even needed to make it about identity shenanigans, even though that would've been preferable. There were two perfectly good Adrienette scenes they could've used: the cheek kiss in Mayura, and the second umbrella scene in Mr. Pigeon 72.

The problem here isn't so much Adrien and Marinette not having many good romantic moments to use as it is the writers not recognizing that there's a time and place for gags, and this isn't one of them. The show is just. Really bad with its management of tone. This is also where takes like "Marinette is a stalker" come from—the writers are trying to both derive humor from characters acting in absurd over-the-top ways and have moments of drama and angst that demand you empathize with those exact same characters. Those two things just don't mesh.

(Post that spawned this ask)

While I will maintain my stance that the Glaciator 2 confession scene is the best choice, I agree that there were other moments that made for quality choices. Mr. Pigeon 72's umbrella scene is a little too far from the crush flip for me to call it a great choice, but it's still a lovely parallel to when Marinette fell in love. If they'd gone with that, I'd have technical nitpicks, but no major complaints.

If I had to pick an Adrienette moment, I'd probably go for the start of Risk where Marinette saw that Adrien was upset when no one else did. That's close enough to the flip to make it feel like a solid choice and it fits a similar niche to Glaciator 2 with Marinette doing something that makes Adrien feel seen. Obviously he didn't know Marinette was talking about him in Glaciator 2, but her confessions was heartfelt enough that you could make him wish that it was about him. Wanting a confession to be for him is really all you need to make something as massive as a crush flip feel justified.

I also fully agree that the show struggles to balance comedy and drama/angst. A story can have both of those elements, but you need to be really careful about how you mix them. Miraculous is way too slapdash in its approach. Nothing is sacred, everything can be a joke, and that leads to a lot of viewers getting upset with characters like Marinette when she's used for a joke when it's completely inappropriate to tell one.

To go with the example from the post that spawned this ask, I would never have Adrien fall in love with Marinette during a moment like the statue scene. While this is him falling in love with her at her most quirky and I can see the appeal from that point of view, it's also making the moment he fell in love a memory that she hates! Generally speaking, that's a terrible call unless you're doing a meet ugly. (The way my partner met me was mortifying, btw, but it would technically work for a story because it was how we met. It's the start of the story. Picking a hated moment mid-relationship is just weird.)

If we compare the statue scene to Glaciator 2, we see that Marinette was at her most quirky in both episodes, but she wasn't embarrassed by it in Glaciator 2. She chose to show Chat Noir her fan girl side. That's part of why I like Glaciator 2 for the crush flip. It's a lovely balance of humor and romance. We see Adrien accepting Marinette at her most fan girl, but the moment where he starts to fall in love is the moment when she's her most sincere. Then you can bring the humor back in by having him be unable to confess that this is the moment when he fell in love, so he picks something ridiculous to tell Marinette while the audience gets to know that it was actually a far sweeter moment.

Of course, if I went this route, I'd have it lead to a reveal where Marinette got to learn the truth, too. That's the ultimate payoff for Adrien having to lie! I think the joke works even without the payoff so long as you play it lighthearted, but it works best when it's paired with an identity reveal in the not too distant future. That's the evergreen problem with identity shenanigans. A lot of them require a reveal to shine but I will be shocked if we get a reveal before the final season. They are dragging that sucker to the ground because of the rule that Marinette and Adrien must always have a secret between them. The identities is the setup the show is using to maintain the secrets and cause drama.

[wurmzirkus]

writing pattern game

Rules: Share the first line of your last ten published works or as many as you are able and see if there are any patterns! (from most recent to least recent, starting from the top)

got tagged in this (ages ago ofc) by both @raylangivins and @tallahasseemp3. y'all flatter me so much considering how incredibly talented you are!! also y'all have no idea how much i love getting asked about my writing so thanks very much :3

1. crater:

It's cold outside, and already dark by the time Alana makes it home. The train was late, so she spent twenty minutes shivering at the station, looking at her phone every thirty seconds, watching the zero amount of messages and notifications pour in.

2. cypress save me:

Space is cold. 

He knew this before. He went through an awful lot of training every time they sent him up there, and he’s been on his fair share of spacewalks, too. He never got tired of it once, but it's impossible to forget how cold it was out there. 

Space is cold. Kepler’s hands have always been warm.

3. too little, too late:

Kepler is standing in the middle of the hangar bay, keeping his eyes to the floor. Riemann left a couple minutes ago, Young has better things to do, and Jacobi… 

Jacobi is right there. 

4. breathing in your dust (shoutout to NAMMI!!)(honestly, I'm pretty sure i didn't even write this line):

He hung up. The absolute bastard just dropped that on him, and hung up.

5. confetti:

Jacobi is in the middle of making dinner when it becomes too much.

He’s cutting carrots for his stupid fucking soup. It’s hot next to the stove, so there’s a bit of sweat glistening on his forehead, and he doesn’t turn around when he says, “Will you just leave me alone.”

Kepler doesn’t leave.

6. hang on past the last exit:

“Those are going to kill you.”

It’s cold in the room. The window has been open for the last twenty minutes, and Kepler is on his second cigarette. 

7. whumptober prompts:

Kepler looks pathetic. His suit is crumpled and soaked, his hair is sticking to his face and the ends of his once-white sleeves are red with blood. 

He looks at Maxwell without speaking. Determined to commit this look to memory and never forget, Maxwell looks back. 

8. did you think it would be like this:

Maxwell doesn’t notice Kepler in the door for fifteen minutes. She doesn’t see why he doesn’t announce his presence right away - if he wants something, what’s stopping him from walking over to her desk and asking for it? - but she figures he has a point to make. 

A point Maxwell will ignore, because she doesn’t need it right now. 

9. wasteland, baby:

He finds her on the bridge.

10: a mirage in sickness and health:

For as long as she can think back, Maxwell has always spent her time convincing people. 

She could make them think all kinds of things, but the only thing she ever really cared about was getting them to realise she was worth it. 

That she shouldn’t be brushed aside, that she had too much to say to wait her turn to speak. 

tagging @imperial-evolution, @agentmika, @dansnotavampire, @haunthouse, aaaaaand @bananawanis

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Ghouls night out

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[manglam-marfach]

dyke!Chilaios has me understanding breeding kink all of a sudden

[best-enemies]

Got to season 7 on my CSI rewatch and I need to talk about the final scene in s07e11, where Grissom is saying goodbye to Sara before leaving to go on his sabbatical. I mean, look at him. Look at what he does with his hands. *Agressively* Look at himmmmm. He's just a little puppy in love. And he does this right before whispering, "I'll miss you". I'm afraid I'm not gonna make it y'all

[wereh0gz]

Sonic au where everything's the same except the werehog was feral during unleashed. Nothing else abt the plot changes bc at his core sonic is still himself BUT he's more Creature. Bigger, fluffier, can't talk, overall more animal-isms. Yeah

[peppermintmochafem]

<3 little diary post

[claire-starsword]

Authentic Story of the Shining Force - Saint Fencer Max - Chapter 3

Translation notes:

So, uh. Elliot's name is rendered with two t's in the og game, but a single one in the GBA version. I had never paid attention to that at all until I had already edited all these pages, and I don't care enough to change it.

Cain's sword causes an explosion here. In the game, it is indeed capable of summoning flames.

This is a perfect illustration of how I feel about these names, but I do wonder what the actual intention was, since Cain is supposed to be already gone. The original image is even cut off weirdly in the middle of the text, and i don't think it's a problem with the scan, since every scanned page has a black border showing that the paper itself doesn't cut there. I wonder about the production of this thing, but i'll wait until i translate the author's comments before saying more.

The map in the previous chapter was very accurate to the beta map of the game. The smaller map here showing Rindo however looks off, the coast is different, and there seems to be a river directly to the north of Rindo, as opposed to the path to Shade Abbey. Perhaps fitting since Shade is skipped here.

Metaphaluna, huh? Needlessly to say, the country of the gods/Ancients is called only Metapha in the final game. Also, in this panel, it pops up as an alternate reading for 前世紀 (ancient times), not the name of a country specifically. I chose to romanize the last part as "luna" for three reasons. One is that the continent of Rune is actually rendered as Lune in at least two guides. I take romanizations from JP guides with a grain of salt since they sometimes look bad/unnatural, or are inconsistent (Pelle's name for example has been romanized as both Peil or Payle depending on the book). I checked though, and town names however are consistent in both the books I've seen romanizing things. The second reason is that the beta map used at this point has a fairly noticeable crescent moon shaped island right in the middle. In the final game, we can't know exactly where Metapha is, because you only teleport there. But I wonder if this island had something to do with it at some point. The third reason is simply I saw no better reason. Metaphalna and Metapharuna would be just as valid, but don't have any meaning to them.

The biggest equation next to Tao as she explains the magic types is very clearly a E=mc². Look close.

I've retranslated Elliot's scenes from the game thinking it would be relevant to these notes. Now I feel it really isn't, but you get more content so you should be happy.

My main point with that is that Elliot does not say anything about Cain in the game. In the GBA version, Balbazak does try revealing Max, Cain and Darksol's identities before dying, but that's not a thing in the og. So yeah I really translated a bunch of stuff for nothing this time! Except not because Darksol is awesome in that scene and everyone should get to see it.

Now let's talk about Otrant. I have mentioned before that Otrant's gender is never explicitly said, and they speak in a mostly gender neutral way (I feel like there's a few masculine patterns in some lines, but I'm not confident enough to say for certain). What I hadn't noticed is that they also use lipstick in the games, which is probably what sparked these observations to begin with, but i'm uh, occasionally not smart. In any case, if any of these aspects were done at this point in development the artist here sure ignored them, and drew a regular old man who gets called an old man. They hate to see an androgynous boss winning.

I don't recall Otrant's third eye being called "Eye of Truth" anywhere else, but the manual of the game does say it can see the past and the future.

Otrant's naming of the Shining Force is a bit more elaborate here, but the wording is very similar to the actual game.

Finally, let's play spot the cameo!

We've got Gong, Zylo, one of the birds, and probably Anri. Easy.

Here, besides the obvious three who were actually introduced in the story, we again have a bird, Anri between Ken and Hans, Gong to the right, and Mae and Gort behind Luke. If you read the pre-release page you know that Gort was meant to be Mae's servant at some point, so this might be why they're together, or it's just coincidence because they still join around the same time in the final game. More importantly, to Ken's left we have...

Some guys. Who are these. They could be made up by the artist (there will be another case of this), but I find it curious that the artist had to do that when there are so many character to pick from, and he clearly wanted to depict official characters here. For one, there's evidence that Earnest was already designed at that point in development. However, that link also shows that Vankar didn't have a portrait by that time at least, and Vankar would have already joined by this point in the story. So could the bald centaur here be a beta Vankar, or the artist's interpretation of Vankar via unfinished art? Maybe, but just a guess in the end. Mostly I'm just fascinated by how detailed this guy is compared to even Mae and Gort's cameos. The other guy isn't so i don't think about them nearly as much.

[sabertoothwalrus]

tips for getting people to like your ocs

*disclaimer: this is based on what’s worked for me, aka an artist that likes to make comics/storyboards. so this advice is directed at people who do that

you can do things like this:

Which is fun! Character sheets like this are great, especially for personal reference! But frankly, I don’t think most people engage with this (at least I personally don’t). You could have the coolest character in the world, but it will be harder for most people to feel invested when they’re presented so neutrally like this.

My main piece of advice is: get better at writing.

That might sound harsh when said like that, but let me explain what I mean! (Not trying to imply you’re bad at writing either!)

What I tend to do is just throw characters into situations with as little handholding as I can. Give enough context that readers can follow along, but don’t feel like they’re being explained to.

what can you learn about the characters through their designs alone? (age, personality, economic status, occupation, etc)

what can you learn about the characters’ relationship though their interactions alone? (are they close? familial? romantic? is there hostility? are they tense/relaxed?)

what are the characters currently doing? what were they doing previously (how long have they been talking)? what are they going to do next? can you convey this without dialogue?

how do they feel about what they are doing? are they content? focused? over/understimulated? would they rather be doing something else?

where are they? does it matter? would establishing a setting in at least one panel clarify the scene? is there anything in the enviroment that could tell some of the story?

what time of day is it? what time of year is it? what is the weather like?

Now, with all this in mind, I'm going to give you another example. I'm going to use completely brand new characters for the sake of the experiment, so you won't have any bias (aka I can’t use Protagonist from above, since you already know all about him).

Did this get more of an emotional response from you than the first example? Why do you think so? Who are these characters? How do they know each other? What else can you infer about them? What happened? Who is "she"?

Now, you don't have to actually answer all those questions. But think about them! You can tell people a whole lot about your characters without ever showing them a list of their likes and dislikes.

Obviously, comics aren't the only way to get people invested in your original characters! But regardless, easily digestible formats will grab people's attention faster than huge blocks of text, and comics are a lot less work than doing wholeass storyboards.

Now go and share your ocs with the world!!!

[vamptastic]

apologies in advance to anybody else who is emetophobic. anyway the accursed beasts (my dogs) threw up like a gallon of water on the floor and also some undigested grass. which is really cool. and really fun to help clean up. and i stepped in it barefoot accidentally which made me momentarily feel as if i was trapped in the stomach of a whale. And I will now have disgusting intrusive imagery of it in my head for the next couple days even though the actual thing was not that gross