#gotta make more egg designs for the adults its so fun

[dailychunsik]

[134] chunsik and yangddegg

[sibyl-of-space]

Finished a binge re-play of Ocarina of Time (3D) for the first time in a very, very long time. Long-winded thoughts below.

Disclaimer: I played the original n64 version (red blood Ganondorf and all) ad NAUSEUM as a kid. It was by far in my top 3 most-played video games, and if you all know me you know that I don’t play a lot of video games, I play the same few over and over and over and become obsessed with them. As such, OoT is not new to me. I also played the 3D version once before, but it was over the course of several years when I was in college and that was a no-lens-of-truth run for the heck of it. I have not touched either since though, so this is the freshest eyes I’ve had on the game since I was probably about 6-7 years old seeing it for the first time. Do keep in mind though that I already knew virtually all the easter eggs and secrets and story and progression and had a vague recollection of the vast majority of dungeon concepts/puzzles before going in, because this game was my entire world for many formative years.

This game has really excellent dungeons. I ranked them below because I was inspired by my friend ML’s ranking (in fact a desire to rank them myself is what caused me to binge replay this in the first place), but honestly I found all of them engaging. My least favorite was ice cavern but even ice cavern has a really cool atmosphere and an interesting concept, it’s just a bit tedious and bottle management gameplay is not particularly fun to me.

1. Spirit Temple - unlike Shadow which uses invisible walls as a mechanic to trick you, Spirit subverts every single mechanic and puzzle you've encountered so far to really throw you. It's extremely clever. The ambience and overall design is also just excellent.

2. Forest Temple - gameplay wise it is fine but as the first adult temple it REALLY sets the scale and tone for the latter portion of your adventure; the vibe in this temple is just so fucking cool. The sacred forest meadow honestly does come off as sacred, ancient, and haunted but in an ethereal way as opposed to a spooky way. Ooh, I love it.

3. Ganon's Tower - the concept is excellent and the execution is solid, the medallion portion is interesting but the gauntlet up to Ganondorf with increasingly loud organ music and hallways filled with bats and just cool fights and great atmosphere makes this one of the sickest final dungeons I can think of. I was starting to be like "eh maybe the medallion rooms are a bit underwhelming" and then I got hit with the fakeout room in Light that just won me over with how cheeky it was. All the medallion rooms felt a bit like Spirit temple with how they played with expectations, which (ironically?) made the spirit portion actually the least good.

4. Gerudo Fortress - I'm counting mini dungeons and the whole espionage thing is just SO much fun. Break into a thieves’ hideout, jump across rooftops and shoot people with your bow to sneak past them?? WHAT IS NOT TO LOVE?????

5. Water Temple - okay I gotta say this replay really sold me on water temple. It's a cool concept and a fantastic atmosphere, and 3DS quality of life changes (boot swap ease of access + very clearly visually marked water level change rooms) made me actually thoroughly enjoy playing it. Also Dark Link is rightfully hailed as one of the coolest, if not the coolest, miniboss(es) in the game, so extra points there.

6. Bottom of the Well - Shadow's invisible wall mechanic is much more interesting when you can't see through them and everything is a potential trap. Falling down to the basement does get frustrating but that room where you light torches to open coffins and a FLOATING GIBDO EMERGES makes up for it, holy crap. Shadow Temple is underwhelming because Bottom of the Well already did what it tries to do but better.

7. Dodongo's Cavern - hey man I like blowing up dinosaurs this dungeon is just solid 0 complaints

8. Fire Temple - Fire Temple is also solid I just a) am so used to the original music that this version feels empty and lacking atmosphere by comparison, and b) find the above temples cooler. Shout out to dragon whack-a-mole boss fight though.

9. Shadow Temple - this suffers from being the only temple I really had completely memorized (I think my weenie friends* must have made me beat it for them as kids) so playing it this time was really just going through the motions; it didn’t get the chance to win me over because I remembered all of it and nothing particularly stuck out to me as being super clever. The boat ride, however, is sick as hell.

(*disclaimer: I was also a weenie. Shadow Temple scared the absolute pants off of me. But I clearly played it enough times that the entire thing was etched into my memory regardless, so.)

10. Deku Tree - does its job as tutorial dungeon, nice atmosphere, thats about all there is to say.

11. Jabu-Jabu's Belly - redeeming feature is using Ruto as a projectile. Throwing her at the ceiling switches will never not be hilarious. Honestly not a bad dungeon, merely gross and I like the other ones better.

12. Ice Cavern - I used to dread Ice Cavern; this time around I just found it tedious. The atmosphere is successful - it really feels cold and chilling - but not appealing enough to make up for it being dull and kind of annoying. Has the potential to be really cool if the blue fire were used in a more interesting way than “fill your bottles and dump them elsewhere.”

BUT, I feel it would be a complete disservice to my younger self and my younger self’s reasons for playing this game so much, if I focus completely on dungeons and disproportionately on gameplay in a review. Because while gameplay is a huge reason I kept going back to it (hard to want to go back to a game if it isn't fun to play), that’s not what made me love it so much, and a replay has given me fresher eyes to enjoy everything else it has to offer.

Ocarina of Time creates a world and a story that I deeply cared about, and revisiting as an adult, I find if anything I have more take-aways than I did previously. I have always really enjoyed coming-of-age narratives when done well, and this is a coming-of-age narrative done REMARKABLY well. You see dumb bratty kids doing dumb bratty kid things and then see the mature people they’ve grown into 7 years later; the game does not make the mistake of projecting a personality onto a voiceless protagonist, but it does imply a narrative arc for him (and you) regardless just through how strong and cool and awesome you get by the end and all the rad shit you’ve accomplished over the course of the game. It manages to very, very successfully make its story about other characters who DO have personalities, but also make you as the blank slate mc cool guy hero very much have a part in that story that feels very earned and satisfying.

Link doesn’t have a personality. You can project whatever the hell you want onto him or nothing at all. Ocarina of Time makes that *work*, because it doesn’t try to frame him as either ~adult in a child’s body~ or ~child in adult’s body~, it just lets you experience the literal growth from a kid who has to jump to reach ledges and has to thwack things twice with a slingshot and tiny sword, to an adult who can LAUNCH MASSIVE PILLARS INTO THE AIR and one-shot previously difficult enemies, and interpret that however you will. I think the most powerful example of this is going back in time again after doing several adult temples, and entering the bottom of the well, where you see enemies you’ve previously only encountered as an adult, and feel confident that you can tackle them as a child, too.

I really love these kinds of narratives. Where the growth of the main character is purely in the sense of you as the player becoming more adept and stronger, and the context of the story makes that mean something, but the game doesn’t try and pretend the avatar itself has a 3-dimensional personality.

I also think the balance between narrative and gameplay is excellent once it hits its groove. The beginning is very hand-holdy (Navi taught me how to open a door after I had already opened a door elsewhere because she’s scripted to do it at a specific door even though you can technically get to a later one first. lol), and I very firmly believe that with Saria’s Song as a device that lets you seek advice when you want to, it is completely unnecessary to have Navi yell at you what she thinks you should be doing. That said, the game doesn’t stop you from doing whatever the hell you want, and the number and depth of dungeons makes exploring and killing stuff by FAR the meat of the game, over the story. There is a suggested dungeon order, but you have some freedom if you’d rather do them a bit out of order, and there is a LOT of fun side stuff you can do and get rewarded for.

Most of that side stuff is an excellent way to highlight the humor in this game. If you beat Malon’s horse race record she mails a literal fucking cow to your house. Your house in Kokiri Forest. You just show up and there is a fucking cow in your house. That is the funniest thing that has ever happened in a game in the history of forever, sorry. You can race the running man, and all of the other sidequests in the game make you think there is a beatable goal you’ll be rewarded for, and the fucker just goes “lol good try but I beat you by one second. :)” You can blow up the Gossip Stones and they turn into rocketships and launch into space. After you beat the game, and have a really poignant moment with Princess Zelda where she sends you back in time, there is a completely out of nowhere dance party featuring the entire cast in celebration. The game does not try to explain this. It just gives you a dance party, and after such a bittersweet finale and such a fun and engaging game, a no-context dance party is exactly what it needs. A line o Gerudo doing the can-can? Thank you, yes please.

There is SO much that this game does not feel any need to justify in-game, that it simply puts in there because it is fun or cool or both, and I appreciate that so much. There are easter eggs out the butt (still haven’t bothered catching the Hylian Loach and I have still NEVER found the sinking lure despite following every guide in existence). Most of the temples imply some sort of greater history that is not even the slightest bit touched on. It has a very cohesive “core” game that has a start-to-finish suggested progression and a matching narrative, and it has absolute mountains of random shit outside of that it in no way pretends to justify. It explains just enough to give it ground to stand on, but no more, leaving you with more questions than answers. That ambiguity drove me nuts as a kid, but now, I think it’s also why I kept coming back. I wanted answers the game wouldn’t give me so I felt compelled to try and find them myself.

Ocarina of Time’s ending is incredible in ways I am just now able to appreciate. First of all, Zelda is like “I’m gonna send you back in time now” and pulls up the Ocarina and instead of playing the Song of Time which everything in the game implies she should, she plays Zelda’s Lullaby and hesitates just enough on the last note as you are sent back in the past - oof, that’s a good moment. The entire game you’re told about how the Kokiri can’t survive outside of the forest and suddenly they’re at Lon Lon Ranch having a dance party. You walk away from the Master Sword and seal it back in the temple, but nonsensically are then able to meet Zelda in her garden as if nothing had happened, meaning she sent you back so far it erased not just the adult timeline but also everything you accomplished as a child too? So many questions, but the fact that it does not even bother to answer them and just leaves you with such an open-ended image of you and Zelda as kids, calling back to that very early moment after the first dungeon in the game, and you can interpret for yourself what exactly that means.

I’m getting rambly (HAHA as if I’m ever not) so I should wrap this up shortly. Ocarina of Time’s ending is why I am so vehemently opposed to the concept of a ~Zelda Timeline~. The ending is nonsensical if you try to apply concrete logic to it. This game proposes ideas and makes me feel a certain way about them and the ending succeeds in providing just enough closure to make me satisfied and just enough open-ness that makes me want to keep coming back to it to experience it again. It’s not an open-and-shut piece of history of a fake world, it’s a really remarkable journey thats ambiguity is what allows it to feel so very magical.

Ooh boy I can’t wait to replay MM again, but that is a game I’ve never stopped playing, so it’ll be anything but fresh. It hits different right after completing OoT, though. The only way to follow up on a story like Ocarina of Time is to be even MORE batshit, ambiguous, and loose with your definition of how time works.

[superemeralds]

ive had my own idea for a sonic movie that would still be live action and a generic child-friendly action-comedy just like the “real” sonic movie is (presumably) gonna be

IN SHORT!

The main character that makes a duo with sonic for the majority of the movie is a young girl named June.

The overall plot is very similar to sonic x, but altered to fit the time span of the usual one and a half hours movie length in movies like that.

detailed description, explanation of the pictures and character info under the cut!

Through a mal-induced chaos control eggman and sonics friends get transported into the real world. this time space rift causes some really weird stuff to happen and June gets seperated from her dad, who was just on his way to bring her to school.

at first she thinks its cool to meet a talking blue hedgehog in a really pretty nature-y place and skip school to play with him, but soon they notice that they are not alone. Eggmans robots got transported to our world too! June gets captured because she is seen with sonic and therefore identified as a threat by eggmans robots! Sonic runs after her towards what seems to be eggmans base.

meanwhile the dad was transported to a really high place, whihc is bad cos he’s  got fear of heights. Luckily tails and knuckles appear and offer to help him down

both teams start looking for eachother, but get interrupted by various obstacles. June and Sonic get hold off by eggmans schemes, while Dad and Sonics friends stumble upon amy, who just escaped a military research facility. she hoped that cream would be with the others, but it seemed that they had to go back and save her. the Dad used to be a hobby boxer, but since he’s a lawyer he doesn’t really do that much anymore. it surely helped him when taking out those government officials. its funny how a lawyer breaks the law, right? there’s many jokes on that and his character development goes from strict father figure that doesnt allow fun and insists on obeying the law to a wild and free man who does what’s right, even if  he has to break rules. (also he screams “sorry” every time he KOs someone because hes that kinda guy)

June and sonic manage to infiltrate the egg carrier that was transported into our world and set it to crash and render all his stuff useless!

However, the ship is on course for the city which they didnt realize until it started losing height. eggman pretends that he can still stop this if the people are willing to make him their unquestionable ruler, but sonic and june are determined to stop the ship themselves. sonic keeps eggman busy while June is in the command center trying to find a way to make the ship change course and go crash in the ocean.

in the end everything is exploding and falling apart and eggman is fleeing, June managed to change the ships course and runs up to sonic telling him he needs to run, sonic says that she doesnt have to tell him twice and they go.

sonic gets blown to the side by an explosion and trips over debris, making his knee bleed a little (u cant see blood bc this is kid friendly hes just hurt like theres dirt or smth lol) and he tells june to run and not worry, but she comes back and lifts him on her back and is determined to run as fast as she can to get outside

when she reaches a door she screams because she’s scared. they are close to the ground, but not close enoguh to make it alive if she jumped... then sonic hugs her from behind and says “jump on my command” and shes like. no way. but he says “trust me we’re not gonna get hurt if we hit water” and shes like “but i cant swim that well” sonic chuckles “me neither” and then she gets the memo and is all determined and ready and they make it and its magical

they might also have a scene thats a nudge to 06 where sonic is very Positive and gives good life advice.

while everything seems like its perfect eggman is starting plan B of his conquer the others were all alarmed by the crashing egg carrier and therefore came speeding in the modified car tails rebuild for Dad (it can turn into a fucken plane. Dad and June are finally reunited and he thanks sonic for watching after her, and sonics like nah ur daughter totally watched after me shes a hero.

and then they work together to stop eggmans final boss robot and save the city.

at some point they all found chaos emeralds somewhere. and sonic can turn super to finish eggman off. yeah that sounds cool.

that also makes him and the others fade back into their own dimension, bc hes Got That Power

in the end its just him, June and Dad iin midst of a park in the city with debris and shit and June is like. sonic dont go we jsut became friends

and sonics like. treasure the memories you make and live life to the fullest bc u only got this one shot and u gotta make the best of it. n her dad is all agreeing and shakes his hand and is like. thanks sonic

and June hugs him and cries but smiles and sonic says nice smile bc im kinda getting emotional writing this all out and then he disappears in a flash of light and in that moment it cuts to the mom on the side of the park in her car with the window down going “what the-” and credits roll

thanks for reading

okay i know most of this was really silly and unfinished but granted i was making this all up as i went on and on about this and like. yea. i brainstormed this in like. 2 horus time completely from scratch, only using sonic X as basis for the plot and the humor of popular and successful action comedies as inspiration for the tone of the movie

as for the characters i just thoguht a carefree girl thats tired of being stuffed into a mold meeting sonic and learning that its okay to be herself and do what u think is right, learning that kindness really is the most powerful thing on earth and that friendships are precious??? hell fucking yeah!

also child character is more relateable than a fucking cop. kids will be able to relate to June, while adults (long time fans most of all) will be able to see their past self in her.

as for the dad, a lot of adults might see themselves in this dad role who just wants the best for his  kid, while being stuck in a boring job that doesnt really fulfil them, but pays the bills and the lifestyle the family has.

I also really wanted characters that you have not seen before. Whenever i see a black dad he has a shaved head and thats kinda boring its just. basic. nothing agianst dads with shaved heads but why is Every Single(black) Dad Bald/Buzzcut? so i gave him dreads because why not? looks cool when he does action shit. whoosh whoosh

i knew i wanted a kid and i knew i wanted a girl. im really fond of puffy pigtails and i decided to go with a black girl just because! it was the very first thing that came to my mind when i was looking for an adventurous girl that wants to go on adventures with a blue talking hedgehog.

plus loving black dads that lov their girls rly rly need rep u_u

as for sonics design, i tried to compromise with the movie’s need for a more realistic sonic by making him overall fluffier to hint at texture, but keeping his core design and proportions.

the same goes for all the other characters.

I’m still very thinking emoji about eggman, I think it would be best to have him be either played by a fat person. Like Really Fat Person to resemble his original design (hes fat okay who cares abt slanky legs) or have him be CGI/partially CGI due to the fact that he’s from another dimension.

and uh. that’s all i have to say for now! it’s 1am and i should get to bed!

[wahbegan]

I’m Depressed Let’s Talk 25 Things You Probably Didn’t Miss and I’m Just an Asshole  About the It Chapter 2 Trailer Let’s Goooo

You know the drill by now and if you don’t you can look in the tags and laugh about how wrong I was anyway putting the rest under a cut

1. So this scene’s almost beat-for-beat straight from the book, with variations to make it more cinematic. The sign says Marsh when she rings the doorbell, and i’ll bet you anything like Its eyes changing from yellow to blue in the storm drain, they’ll keep the thing from the book where Mrs Kersh opens the door and when Bev looks again, it says Kersh instead

2. Kersh’s open chest wound/rotting flesh isn’t from the book, i assume it’s a reference to The Shining

3. The “it gets so hot you feel like you could just die” and “I had cookies in the oven” are both references to the witch from Hansel and Gretel, which is what Mrs Kersh really is. I mean she’s REALLY an interdimensional clown-spider from outer space but you get the idea. I don’t know if they’ll be as blatant as in the book, it looks like the house doesn’t turn to candy anyway which makes sense

4. The antique photo of the twin women may be another Shining reference

5. The picture on her wall of her and her “fadder” brings up some interesting possibilities, but my money’s on Andres Muschietti i believe stated at one point in an interview or AMA or tweet or something that in his universe, there was an ACTUAL Pennywise that It killed to take his form, and he was one of Its favorite victims and that’s what the old PENNYWISE travelling circus thing at the bottom of Its trophy heap is from, so it’s very possible this is a photo of the real dude and his actual daughter before his identity was usurped by The Sewer Clownspider From Outer Space

6. The bruises on Jessica Chastain’s arm seem to imply they’re keeping her abusive husband and her fistfight with him when she tries to leave for Derry intact

7. Oh yeah before I forget, Kersh’s “no one who here ever really dies” i know is a bit nonsensical but in the book, it explains that Derry was made “In Its image” and everyone who lives there is sort of influenced by It, almost part of It, and Its victims are forever “trapped in the Deadlights” so that’s probably what It meant is that even in death, in Derry there’s no escape from It. It will take your form, It will go after your loved ones, you will float in Its Deadlights, etc.

8. Oh yeah also her apartment has a bird motif and It appears as a bird several times over the book but more importantly to Bev, during the....ahem THAT scene, she sort of...dissociates? She starts daydreaming about power lines with hundreds of grackles all over them and she fends It off by saying the grackles know Its real name as an adult, so that’s probably i mean i doubt any of that will be referenced i think it’s just a fun little set design easter egg

9. The Losers looking in the window and seeing themselves as kids is probably at the end of the movie as Eddie isn’t there and it happens right at the end of the book, or something very similar i believe it’s actually Bev looks in a window and sees they still look like adults, but she sees adult Stan and Eddie’s reflections alongside their own which is very emotional and this looks to be a version of that

10. Yeah the town is...weirdly empty i’m not sure why i mean the town gets its shit wrecked at the end of the book since it was made in Its image, when It (allegedly) dies, the entire town is destroyed by a massive storm that doesn’t look to be the case here, but the town being completely devoid of life i’m assuming has a lot to do with Its influence

11. Yeah the Chinese Restaurant scene from both book and miniseries is intact, it remains to be seen whether they’ll get insane shit in their fortune cookies or not. If I had to guess, based on the way the first one went, something will probably be up with them but the ante will be upped and it won’t be as campy as the miniseries version

12. This scene of It taunting/luring Bill by pretending to be Georgie in the sewer is completely Muschietti’s own creation, It only appears as Georgie when they’re already underground in the book, looking monstrous and with his arm ripped off, so i have no idea where this is going. Oh, wait, hold on, when they all split up to okay so basically if you haven’t read the book they’ve all repressed most of their childhoods and don’t really remember shit until Mike calls, right? So after the Chinese Restaurant reunion, they all split up and go different directions to trigger memories and re-familiarize themselves with Derry. It’s at THAT point Bev meets Mrs Kersh, Richie meets the Paul Bunyan statue (more on that in a minute), etc. Bill though doesn’t have a run-in with It, he just finds his old bike Silver in a pawn shop. So Muschietti probably inserted this scene to be his encounter with It on his walking tour of Derry. Also bit of opinion here but can i just say it’s an AWESOME parallel a simple but very effective stroke of genius calling back to by far the most infamous scene of the book and both adaptations, that was brilliant on Muschietti’s part.

13. They’re pushing Bill/Beverly in this trailer which is a subplot i really hoped they would drop because Bill is fuCKING MARRIED and she ends up with Ben at the end anyway, so it’s pretty pointless padding and just a reason for the dude to have an affair, but alas, they appear to have kept it intact.

14. Yeah, so this is where they defeated It the last time, the tower of floating kids and victim trophies appears to be gone, which is probably what prompts them to go deeper (also more on that in a second). I assume they end up going down the place Pennywise retreated to last time to find Its real lair.

15. Okay yeah Pennywise floating off of a Paul Bunyan statue with a pyramid of balloons while Richie freaks out is also right out of the book, it’s his “Walking Tour” scare, when he was a kid the statue came alive and attacked him, and as an adult, it actually turns into a giant Pennywise statue and fucks with him. I’m not sure if the statue is actually going to come to life because that is a bit hard to translate to film or if they’ll take the easy way out and just have Pennywise on the statue, it remains to be seen. Although, the inverted triangle of balloons and fucking off while laughing is what It did to Eddie in Chapter 1 after chasing him as a Leper, so that could be an indication that It’s just gotten finished pretending to be the statue and fucking with Richie.

15. Mike’s digging for something? I have no idea why other than Mike in the book is the narrator, local It expert, and sort of amateur detective trying to find out what crimes are It related, so he could be trying to dig up a body of a missing kid or something, i do not know

16. The balloons under the bridge are straight out of the murder of Adrian Mellon, which i believe Muschietti said is going to be the opening of this film. It’s definitely the inciting event for It to wake up. Basically these assholes harass this gay couple at a fair, which you see a couple flashes later in the trailer, follow them, see them on this bridge and beat the shit out of the one guy who talks back to them and then throw him over the bridge. This hatred and brutality wakes It up, and both Adrian’s boyfriend and the youngest of his attackers see It under the bridge biting his ribs “like he was trying to eat his heart.” The boyfriend, Don Hagarty, then sees It disappear with Mellon, who is just barely but STILL ALIVE at this point, into a giant cascade of balloons under the bridge

17. Yeah judging by how fucked up this house is, i think where Pennywise is attacking Mike is his early childhood house where his parents burned. Also not in the book, also i assume a scare put in during his walking tour of Derry because he’s the other character that doesn’t get one.

18. Now this is a really interesting shot and one i’ve heard several theories about. It could be the original, human Pennywise losing his shit, it could be It transforming, it doesn’t really resemble anything from the book so it’s hard to tell. One theory i’ve heard that i really do like though, it holds no more merit than any of the others, but i personally like it the best, is that this is actually Henry Bowers we’re seeing. Because he did survive, he got the murders for the original cycle pinned on him in the book and was sent to a brutally run mental hospital, and It breaks him out to have him try to kill The Losers. This could be him, mid-mental breakdown, applying make-up to look like Pennywise. Homeboy’s face is too jacked to really tell who it is, and the background’s not helping much so it is a mystery, but it does look like a human, it doesn’t have the proportions of Pennywise’s face, and i do like the idea that it’s Henry. But yeah also very likely it’s the original human Pennywise meeting some gruesome, horrible fate. There wasn’t a human Pennywise in the book, by the way. I mean It liked to talk about how Its name was Bob Gray and It was a human, but It’s just lying. This is 100% Muschietti’s contribution to the lore.

19. Now THIS place, where the flashlights are almost shining green with the black alien-looking stalagmites, i mean this has gotta be Its real, final lair. Not quite the same as the book, but giving off a very similar vibe, keeping the cosmic origin intact, which Muschietti did say he was going to do so. Oh yeah, i forgot to mention before when there was a shot of him in the sewer, but in the book and miniseries, Mike is actually badly wounded by Henry and has to sit out the final fight with It, but that doesn’t look to be the case here, he seems on the scene, which is really nice after his side-lining in the first movie.

20. Yeah the fair i was talking about that’s where Adrian Mellon and Don Hagarty are first harassed by the homophobes who later run into them again and murder Adrian

21. Eddie has a bandage on his face it looks like in the final fight scene, probably giving to him by Henry. So Henry like i said It winds him up and sets him loose on The Losers, but he only succeeds in badly wounding Mike, who badly wounds him back, and he’s actually killed in a fight with Eddie. I assume the bandage is a result of that fight

22. Oh yeah just small side-note, it looks like the fair where Mellon and Hagarty were first accosted by the homophobes is still up and running and Bill visits it for some reason, which isn’t in the book, i don’t know what that’s about, but it’s probably a new lil story beat for him. Exciting!

23. Bev drowning in a pool of blood isn’t in the book at all, so i have no idea what they’re doing. Jessica Chastain though did mention in an interview though that one scene used a frankly ludicrous amount of fake blood, possibly the most ever although Evil Dead is giving it stiff competition, and i don’t think it’s much of a gamble to say this is probably the scene in question. What makes that interesting is she also had an instagram post about washing all the fake blood off and out of her hair, whereas this is clearly Sophia Lillis drowning in the blood. So it seems like there’s gonna be some time fuckery where it cuts back and forth between both child and adult Bev experiencing some kind of trauma which is really cool, the book did that a lot, blurring the line between the kids and their adult selves, and i’d love to see that in this movie. Oh yeah also almost goes without saying but i assume it’s some sort of continuation/ante-upping of the blood-out-of-the-sink bit

24. It looks like they all participate in the Ritual of Chud, rather than just Bill and Richie like in the book, which....which actually i like and makes a lot of sense, because frankly you don’t notice when you’re reading it but afterwards you’re kinda like “wait were they all just kinda standing around doing nothing while Bill and Richie had all the fun?” So yeah, good decision. Also yeah clearly alien architecture

25. The girl under the bleachers i assume is just one of the murders that prompts Mike to call the others back to Derry, if not THE murder, it doesn’t have an exact parallel in the book that plays out like this. But what’s interesting is the little light It uses to lure her in closer, when he claps it out and then lets it shine again, it’s clearly spooky orange which is THE DEADLIGHTS color so it almost seems like It’s luring a kid over to It with one of The Deadlights in disguise which is....very interesting, not a thing that happened in the book, in the book it was much more “the second you see orange light your brain melts out of your ears, eyes and nose” so it’s pretty cool. Also Its apparently friendly smile and “Hello!” are a lot like when It took Georgie and i really appreciate that

SO THAT WAS 25 THINGS ONLY A FUCKING IDIOT WOULD MISS IN THE NEW IT TRAILER WHAT DID YOU THINK DID YOU CATCH ANYTHING I MISSED REMEMBER TO COMMENT LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE AND RING THE BELL FOR NOTIFICATIONS

[rndyounghowze]

Grease by Pirate Theater at Cedar Creek High School in Egg Harbor City, New Jersey

By: Ricky Young-Howze

***Please read important disclaimer below***

I don’t know how it happened in twelve years of being in the theater but I have never actually seen or been in a live production of Grease: a musical with book music and lyrics by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. I know right! So to repent of my sins against high school theatre I strolled down to Cedar Creek High School where the students led by John Stephan are ready to hand jive their way into your hearts.

It’s basically the story you know and love from the 1978 movie but some changes that bring it back to its high school origins. Danny (Todor Penchev) and Sandy (Corrine Podolski) find out they are in the same school together after a summer fling. They soon find out that their lives at school are very different. The audience rides along as they and the rest of the students at Rydell High speed through romance woes and life hassles on their way to graduation!

Direction by John Stephan showed me what happens when a great director who really loves his kids gets a hold of a dated show. Even though Grease is a classic and has not always been a favorite of mine I find that there’s something about these kids leaning into every song and having the time of their lives that reminds me why this show is an enduring classic. You can tell that Stephan, choreographer Ashley Tabano, and conductor Jim Goodrich gave every student an opportunity to shine and you could tell the kids were having lots of fun.

Danny (played by Todor Penchev) brought something to the character I’ve never seen before. You’d think that he’d try to mimic the iconic suave Danny from days of yore. But Penchev gave us a Danny that was just one of the guys. He was good because he showed us an emotionally vulnerable character that is desperate to hide that fact from us. It gave us depth.

Sandy (played by Corrine Podolski) also gave me a Sandy that I’ve never seen before and I think that’s a good thing. We typically think of Sandy as the all Australian good girl from the movie but I see Podolski trying to give us something that defies screen tradition and is destined to take over the stage.

My supporting shoutouts go out to Kenickie (played by Tom Burgel) and Rizzo (played by Lara Guerrini). Geurrini, left me wanting even more mainly because I found her so great to watch! She had the perfect voice and look, and I could have watched her all night! Burgel fought hard to match Rizzo’s energy but gave a great performance in “Greased Lightning”.

My Background Standouts go out to Sonny (played by Jacob Alicea) and Marty played by (Samantha Brandt) Alicea was just...well...Sonny and Sonny is a real cool dude. I like that Alicea gave that extra mile and really went with his character. I really wish more of the cast in any show worked as hard as him. Brandt had a surprise silky voice and made me really notice Marty. No one ever really walks out of this show wanting to see more Sonny and Marty but I totally could have seen five more hours with them in it.

Also a special shoutout to John J. Keenan the Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District Superintendent for making a special appearance as Teen Angel to sing “Beauty School Drop Out” What better way to give that special message I “stay in school kids”!

Also the stage design by Mr. Stephan and Mary Boner and costume designs by Grace Wilson really kick butt! You gotta go to support the kids but give the sets and costumes a round of applause too!

Grease Author Jim Jacobs is known to call this musical “bulletproof” and has never seen a production fail to please an audience. I think that’s because adults and kids alike just love performing it and have fun. Come on out tonight and have some fun with them!

Grease opens at Cedar Creek High School on March 1 at 6:30 PM and runs through March 3 which has a matinee performance at 1 PM and another at 6 PM. You can buy tickets at the door but they already have over 600 pre-sold tickets. I suggest going online to www.cchsth.booktix.com and getting your tickets there before they sell out.

***Disclaimer/Disclosure: I am a substitute teacher employed by the Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District. However all opinions in this review are my own. No one is paying me to say nice things about them and a good review was not made a condition for employment, promotion, or a raise.***

[fungusfairgrounds]

bbbored filling out oc question thing for Moffy

1. What foods do they love, and what foods do they refuse to eat? Already kinda answered this here so just gonna copy and paste; Fave: Fried eggs over a potato and veggie hash with ham and lots of black pepper.  Refuses to eat: Anything with raw onion

2. What is their weapon of choice, and what weapon do they dislike using the most? He likes vanilla splatcharger and vanilla heavy splatling. Possibly a big Sting Ray fan. He probably doesn’t like using dualies as much- too offensive for his supportive play style and he too big to roll well.

3. What is their preferred method of transportation? Usually by foot or any public transportation. Tries to walk when he’s able to save money.

4. Who did they look up to the most as a child? Who do they look up to as an adult? I don’t know enough about his childhood to say, but he currently really admires his boyfriend ! He sees Tacky as very strong and full of love and he loves him so much.

5. What kind of weather makes them happy, and what kind makes them sad? He likes clear skies with a breeze, and doesn’t like fog very much (a big understatement he is terrified of the fog).

6. What languages do they speak? Do they have any idiosyncrasies or identifiable patterns of speech, word usages, etc? He speak...squid.... I think his voice comes off as timid but he’s not at all !

7. What clothing do they like to wear, and what do they wear most often? He loves anything monochrome and unsaturated earth tones ! Also really enjoys crop tops and long long skirts. He loves his Hickory Work Cap and wears that the most often. He’s my good fashion boy.

8. Do they eat a healthy diet? A varied one? He can’t really cook so his eating habits were not good when he was in college/lived alone. Since his sister moved in, he’s been able to eat a little better.

9. As a child, what did they want to be when they grew up? Did they realize their dream? I’m sure he started out wanted to do something different, but in the end he’s always wanted to be a fashion designer ! He’s still working very hard....

10. What makes them feel safe or secure? What makes them feel insecure or unsafe? Tacky makes him feel so safe ! He feels warm and at ease when Tacky is near him. He is his ultimate comfort. Moth feels extremely unsafe during work as well as anything dealing with fog. Being out in the fog, even if its very light, makes him feel vulnerable and terrified.

11. What do they do when they need comfort? Do they seek out a person, a food, an activity, etc? When he needs comfort he turns to Tacky almost always. If Tacky isn’t there, he usually turns to Kyle and/or Sushi. He usually needs comfort via words though so he’d be more likely to turn to Kyle, though if he needs someone to listen he’d seek Sushi.

12. Do they sing or play any musical instruments, even if just for fun? How well? Moth enjoys singing ! He has a nice voice, and just sings for fun. He sings for hobby. If at home and he thinks he’s alone, he sings very passionately and would get very embarrassed if someone heard him. He sings in the shower a lot too, and often hums while he’s walking. During work, he usually sings when he gets scared to try to keep calm and try to keep himself from breaking down. Sometimes it works but sometimes it doesn’t.

13. What decision in their past did they most analyze and fret over after the fact? I’m not too sure, this is a good question... I’ll have to come back to this.

14. What are they like when they are drunk? Not sure again ! Possibly very giggly.

15. Where in their body do they keep stress or tension? I think his arms tighten up when he’s tense, upper body more likely to stiffen. 16. What do they think about where they currently live? If they could move elsewhere, would they? He likes living in Inkopolis ! He’d probably rather live in a house than an apartment, but he still likes where he’s at. His neighborhood isn’t too bad.

17. Do they have any pet peeves or petty dislikes, and how do they react to encountering them? Probably. Do I know them ? Not currently.. 18. What foods do they eat most often? Do they enjoy it? He eats a lot of veggies and eggs. I think eggs might be the only thing he can kind of cook ? He likes them a lot but he would like to eat meat more.

19. What is their favorite texture? He looks wooly textures ! They’re very comforting for him to touch.

20. Do they like to travel? How do they pack and prepare? He would LOVE to travel but he has no money !! In the event that he’d get to travel he’d definitely over pack because he can’t decide which outfits he’d wanna wear so he brings a bunch just in case... He’s very organized so he’d have a good schedule planned for the trip and wouldn’t be late to anything / miss his bus/train/etc. Very excited to go and do things rather than just chill and relax.

21. How well do they take criticism? How do they react to others noticing their flaws? He’d like to be more open to criticism as long as its constructive, but sometimes its hard. He knows he has to get better with his work if he wants a turf worthy brand someday but its hard to find good help for what to work on sometimes- especially since he doesn’t know too many people in the industry. If people pointed out a lot of his flaws it would probably bog him down.

22. What are they like when they get sick? Do they have a particular system (ears, lungs, etc) that illness gravitates to? He used to live by himself so if he was sick he’d still get up and go about his day. Even when he’s so sick that he shouldn’t be getting out of bed he’d still try to get up. I think he’d usually get colds around cold season when he went to college...since all college kids seem to get colds around the same time LMAO.

23. What is their favorite drink? i think he’d really enjoy warm drinks, especially sweet ones. He’d love sugary seasonal lattes and fudgey, rich hot chocolates with lots of whipped cream. He loves drinking out of mugs so he probably has a few at home he uses a lot.

24. How do they react to being physically injured or undergoing medical treatment? For injury- Depends on the situation ? Since he plays turf I’m sure there’s “physical injury” there but I’m not sure how painful it is since they are able to respawn. I think if he knows he can respawn he is okay.... Usually. At work, he’s very on edge. Even though they can typically “respawn” if injured I’m sure its a lot more painful to get to that point..and due to past experiences he really doesn’t trust the system for it. For medical treatment, I think he’d be okay with it if he had someone there to comfort him. This boy needs a lot of comfort... 25. What do their hands look and feel like? His hands are big like his Heart and they are good to hold.

26. How much do they eat, and how often? Do they drink appetite suppressants (tea, coffee, etc)? He had an inconsistent eating schedule in college, but now he usually eats his three meals a day + snacks. He’d love to go out for snacks more with his bf and best friends but he’s gotta save his money... He drinks coffee, but not for the purpose of an appetite suppressant.

27. Do they have children? Do they want children? What names would they choose? No children, I’m unsure if he wants any ? He doesn’t really think about it.

28. What is a gift that they have received that was especially touching or significant? This question...is pure... Anything Tacky has given him he treasures with all his heart, but just the time he spends with him is especially significant to him. Every picture and memory is important (and becomes especially important later) to him. I’m sure there’s a specific thing he has from Tacky that is very significant but I’d have to talk to Jen about that !

29. How do they arrange or decorate their living space? Very simple and clean ! He doesn’t have a lot of furniture, and most of the colors match with everything with color pops here and there. He mostly sews in the living room and in his bedroom, so he has some fabric and supplies stacked up around there.

30. Do they have any allergies or chronic conditions? None that i know of currently

[ghostmartyr]

Pokémon Black 2 Randomized Nuzlocke Run [Part 6]

With a great deal of things not going well, we reach the sixth part of this adventure. Who do we still have to work with?

Nessy (Milotic)

Caspet (Gengar)

Vertex (Luxray)

Diego (Gardevoir)

See, we’re fine.

Absolutely fine.

Why is this gen so enthusiastic about interrupting my post-gym walk to the Pokemon Center? Clay talks to Russell about the World Tournament, which I don’t think I have any reason to participate in. I might check it out in case people are dropping items places, but I don’t think there’s anything in it for me. I don’t think I even played it when I wasn’t doing Nuzlocke stuff.

Dang it, I was going to be excited about a new route, but this is the other end of Relic Passage, where we picked up Nessy.

Um no.

Clay, I know you mean well, or at least not badly, but. no? I don’t need to be locked into a tournament thing where the AI hates me. Come on. Just let me gallivant off into the sunset. Don’t make me fight. ;-;

(Also hi Cheren.)

Hm. It looks like I might be allowed to get out of this.

The question is if that’s an illusion or not.

Oh what the heck, let’s be stupid.

The sad thing is that even if I lose, I still have my designated survivors left.

It’s going to be fine.

Oh his Dewott is level 25.

This might actually be fine.

It was! Yay! Yay for overleveled pokemon saving me! Yay for Caspet!

I assume this ends with me facing Colress?

Good, Cheren’s stuck with level 25s too. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen with that. If they’re all stuck at that, this should be okay.

Then again, his second pokemon is a Watchdog.

Hiss.

But it works out, and now I suppose it’s time for Colress. Whose role in the plot I can’t remember for the life of me, even after he showed up in Ultra Sun.

Still 25s, but the first thing out is a Magneton. Steel is a pain. And now Caspet is paralyzed. And confused. Yet still winning, because Caspet is our eternal hero.

Okay, tournament over, and before we can be relieved about that, a Pirate Plasma grunt runs by our little squad of main characters, and Russell and Cheren speed away as Colress expresses confusion at their recklessness.

Cool. I guess I’ll be following them, then.

In a sec.

We’re on a boat.

We’re fighting pirates on a boat.

They poisoned Diego.

Because Diego’s in front and his only attacking move is Magical Leaf.

One Pokemon Center visit later, we handle the rest of the Plasma Pirates, and then the Shadow Triad teleports us off the ship and Russell is all “why I oughta.”

I guess the plot section is done for now, so I’m going to explore the other side of Relic Passage. Where Skarmory lurks. Oooh, and Wartortle in the dust clouds. Wingull is also here. Hi Kakuna.

I don’t have Strength and don’t remember if I’m supposed to at this point. Given my pokemon, if I could use it, I wouldn’t want to replace a slot on anyone, but it would be nice to know. This is why taking months off in the middle of a run doesn’t work out well.

Aww, hi Charmander. And Shelmet.

Yeah, there’s a door I can’t get to without Strength, so I guess the Relic Passage adventure will be cut slightly short.

Can NPCs be banned from having Watchdog?

I guess I’ll start marching back to Chargestone. Diego up front in the hopes that he’ll soon learn something besides Magical Leaf.

This is why the games have you catching pokemon at the levels they do. If you catch them in the wrong spot of their development, it can be really, really awkward.

The plot is never over in this gen.

Oh, he gives us Surf so we can investigate radical temperature drops around the region. Because he doesn’t like the cold. Cheren, you big baby.

But Surf! Nessy, you’ve got yourself a new move!

Aw dang it. One of the scientists offers me a Deerling. Sorry my friend, I only play with the randomized options.

Ah, and I do have Strength. Oh well, not using it.

Gesundheit.

Oh hi Suicune 2.0. I have no interest in catching you. Scoot.

Dang it, the water has Dewott.

For the manyeth time, I regret that I should only ever use the Randomizer in Nuzlockes. I would not have the self-control to ever focus on my team if I had the freedom to catch whatever I wanted. The squad would change up every single badge. It would be ridiculous and takes two hundred hours.

But Dewott.

But new route! What do you have for me, cave of darkness that I don’t care to explore because I really can’t stand it being this dark?

BITCHING.

Heck, how do I catch this.

I don’t have Quick Balls yet.

Ummm.

Well. I think it’s safe to say that Magical Leaf won’t kill it. Right? Right.

Magical Leaf does as close to nothing as it can without being Splash.

And it knows Crunch, so Diego, let’s. get you out. Vertex, buddy, you’re up.

!

Spark paralyzed Rayquaza! Good boy, Vertex.

Now I pretty much have to risk a Bite.

Vertex.

Please do not get a crit. Crits are for fighting, not catching.

Good boy!

Now comes the endless catching. I have one Ultra Ball, and more than twenty Poke Balls and Great Balls each. Rayquaza’s in the red and paralyzed. This should be okay. Unless it knows something horrific that isn’t Crunch.

Ultra Ball fail. Twister. Twister is fine.

Luxury Ball doesn’t even get a roll. Same for round two. Last one gets a roll, but only one. So. Poke Ball and Great Ball spam it is.

Several turns later, no one’s dead and nothing’s caught.

Several turns later, same.

Down to single digit Great Balls.

HA. GUESS WHO WINS THIS ROUND.

...

Does.

Does its pokedex entry really say Sky High Pokemon?

That is perfect.

Names, though. It needs a name. The only character name I can remember from Sky High is Warren’s, and I don’t want to name Rayquaza Warren. Sooo. Names.

Superhero has to be the theme, but what heroes do I actually like that can fly... and aren’t too obvious, sorry Clark. Hmmmm. Oh, got it. This isn’t one I’m familiar with, but after seeing Captain Marvel, gotta go with topical and fun.

Welcome to the team, Photon!

I hope I don’t kill you like I’ve killed all my legendaries before!

And now the journey of getting Diego a useful move continues.

Oh, wait, I’m sorry Photon. I forgot to introduce you properly.

Photon is Timid and very finicky. Cute. Your Speed shall be appreciate for hours to come, hopefully.

Neat, there’s Lampent the next level down. ...Less neat, it burned Vertex. I really need to get into the habit of buying recovery items when I’m in a Center. I’m going to put on a Max Repel and wait to find someone down here who hopefully likes healing wayfaring trainers.

Yay, a doctor to battle!

More games should have you fight a doctor into giving you free medical care.

Pansear is also in the lower levels.

Duuuude, and Fraxure! Hello favorite Dragon line! Hello!

The Ace Trainers in this cave think Triple Battles are cool. I guess this is technically a Rotation Battle that I’m doing now, but in any case, I don’t care for the added stress of two more pokemon to deal with in a Nuzlocke. Scary.

NESSY NO.

I should maybe leave the cave.

...What’s a Ferrothorn doing down here? That isn’t a randomized happening. :(

There, Armaldo and Aipom. Way better.

Trainers are currently averaging one critical hit per fight. This is too many and I do not care for it.

But I have made it out of the cave, so now I can buy pertinent stuff and maybe wander into a new route. Maybe even find a better place to train Diego? Who still only has Magical Leaf? Maybe?

Such a useful tool. Sadly, I think I want to hold on to it until the plot forces me into a legendary battle. I would love to just use it on the next thing I see. Heck, maybe I will anyway.

New route time! Is it time to have a full party of six again?

Hello there. Are we friends?

...No, Amnesia + Ingrain plus a bunch of Poke Balls lost is too much of an investment. Dead route. ...Probably influenced by me catching a Lileep last time. Oh well. Still five.

Oh fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. I fucked up. I thought. Oh fuck. Oh no.

-whimpering noises-

I screwed up. I screwed up. I’m so used to just clicking through the attacks and I saw that Surf would affect everything because it’s a proper Triple instead of a Rotation, and the second that registered, I was already clicking through, and Nessy is last in the lineup and.

If the Ducklett does anything to Caspet, Caspet dies.

I don’t want to hit the play button.

I’m surprised Caspet even survived the hit.

I don’t want to see what happens next.

-hits play-

THE DUCK ATTACKED VERTEX WE’RE SAVED.

Oh my gosh Caspet. Oh my gosh you’re alive. I am so sorry. So, so sorry. That never should have happened. That was entirely my bad. All on me.

Geez I need to start paying more attention.

Oh hi Azelf. What are you doing in here. Why couldn’t I find you first this route.

Photon learns Air Slash before Diego learns a Psychic attack, news at 11.

Apparently this one spot on whatever this route is (-scrolls up- 7) some kind of magnet for calls. Hi mother figure of the game, why is it you are paying me attention? I am an adult ten-year-old.

Wait, I’m sorry, what? Our mother had a canon job?

She was a Pokemon Center receptionist.

...

She had a job?

What sort of fictional mother is this???

Hi death memorial tower, I’m here to complete my party.

And get the Lucky Egg from Professor Juniper.

Thanks for always giving me stuff.

Heeeeeey. Hi you. Wanna be best friends?

Hey I have a question. Why do Net Balls not have a note about working well against Flying pokemon? I feel like some part of that is in error.

Please get in the Poke Ball.

Or the Great Ball, if you insist.

Your health is red. Why are you like this.

There we go!

I dub you Cerberus.

The wiggly grass outside is Cranidos. Neat. And hi random Volbeat.

Howdy Cerberus. You are Adamant and thoroughly cunning. A solid addition to the team. Dodrio is one of those pokemon I never had a reason to add to my team by the time I found a Doduo in the games it’s available. But Dodrio and Tri Attack and Drill Peck is just so cool. I hope Cerberus gets to stay.

Aw, Marshal took his mentor’s place stopping us from going into the mountain before we’re supposed to.

Geez, the dark grass out here has Volcarona and Exploud. I think this might be where I want to grind. Because I still want Diego to have a move besides Magical Leaf. Axew is also here.

lol I found the TM for X-Scissor. Pour one out for Boruto.

Back to the death tower we go. Where a trainer has a level 36 Musharna whose Hypnosis doesn’t have the decency to miss.

Diego is level 39.

Magical Leaf is still his strongest attack.

Hey, Lumineon is on this level. Diego, you have a use!

There’s also Elekid. I wish I had an Elekid. Elekid is amazing.

HALLELUJAH.

This next floor has Treecko.

The floor after that is the roof, not a floor, and first up is Croagunk. Followed by Glailie, nice. But I’m not going to hang around and find out if there’s anything else. I rang the bell, mild feelings were had, and now I get to figure out if I am going straight to the gym or training some more.

Lumineon does make for very easy training.

It’s on the floor right next to the nurse.

I’ll do a little of that. Let Vertex muscle up before his moment in the sun.

Huh, Granbull’s on this floor too. I almost thought Daffy, then my brain caught up with what was going on.

Vertex is at 40, so Photon you help out Cerberus.

Or not, this is boring. I’m just going to try out the Gym.

Extra much, Skyla?

Random Gym Mook has a level 37 Swoobat.

Had.

Vertex ate it.

This is closer in level than I really like for Nuzlockes, but it is a Flying Gym. It should be okay, even with the cursed Unfezant awaiting us.

I really don’t care for this Gym redesign. I don’t mind Gyms giving you a puzzle to work on, but this is just gusts of wind that make you hide behind things periodically. It’s not difficult or thought provoking. Just mandated slowness.

It also doesn’t involve cannons. Major, major downgrade.

If I win you have to change your Gym. That’s the rule.

Level 37 Swoobat. It seduces Vertex. Vertex elects to not attack his new love. Twice. Then Heart Stamp makes him flinch. Twice. Then Vertex is still in love. Again.

...

Vertex.

She is going to kill you.

I have to send Nessy out now. Oh look, one Surf finished it.

Unfortunately, the next thing up is a level 39 Swanna. The 4x effectiveness is worth using a turn up on healing. That’s settled, and Vertex is down to 67 HP to face... a Skarmory? Huh. Okay. Level 37. I think I’ll let Vertex have a shot for a turn, but if it goes as badly as it might, Nessy will probably be called in.

Hm. Agility, Steel Wing, and Vertex can win with one more hit of Spark.

Skyla’s probably going to heal, but oh well, give it a try bud.

Cue Hyper Potion, yeah. But Skarmory is paralyzed, and potions don’t cure that, so I’ll take it.

Coolio, that’s a victory.

Badge number six, a full team, and no deaths.

Phew.

[finsterhund]

/v/ moves way too fast so I figured I’d respond to this here:

1: Fred always says no but never explains. Fans ask ALL THE TIME for new HoD stuff. He’s almost turned it into a joke to turn us down.

2:  *glances over shoulder at the 3-5 total active fans* We're poor and very tired. My laptop died. Aside from me, there’s almost nobody willing to take up the torch. Bear in mind that the scope of the original game is mind-numbingly labor intensive even for modern indie devs. Unless we directly ripped original assets we would have to draw all the new sprites by hand, just like Christian did. Fully animated and cinematographed 3D is a lot harder than you give it credit, but that’s actually easier than if we chose to have 2D hand-drawn animation instead. Would we make a new engine? Use a pre-built one? There’s slowly work being done reverse engineering the original PC engine, but a roadblock was hit on the monster logic. Publishing a game on the scope of the original HoD is a huge endeavor. It definitely has gotten easier since the mid-90s, but back then five to twelve people took several years. And Virgin was actually giving them money for food and rent in the beginning. This game is a cult classic, but that doesn't mean the active fandom aka the people consistently producing content isn't tiny. It is tiny. And it’s the smallest it’s been in five years.

Bear in mind that there’s actually a ton of pressure for it to be “done right.” Remember those indiegogo scammers from last year who tried to cheat fans out of money by presenting a poorly thought out plagarized idea using badly butchered original concept art? Also bear in mind that the cheaper an indie game is to produce, the cheaper it looks. Not sure it’s a good idea to kickstart a fan game. it’s all gotta be “for fun” and while I have that luxury with a steady (relatively) income and inability to have an actual job due to my disability, other fans definitely don’t. Take for instance Shynox who is in college. Cute little labors of love by fans do exist. There was a Commander Keen fan level based directly on the beginning of Swamplands and that cute little simple 2D platformer made by that person on youtube for a game design class, but the first took AGES to produce and they only made a tiny snippet, and the latter was definitely something that both its creator and the general consumer wouldn't consider viable for a whole game. More like an early proof of concept.

3 and 4: Eric said it wouldn't work.

Eric knows firsthand that the scope and quality of Heart of Darkness simply cannot be replicated in todays' modern game development scene and be on par with triple A devs. Indie devs have more accessibility now, but that doesn't pay them in advance. Eric is currently working on a new project anyways. He can’t direct his attention to another project. That’d be even MORE labor intensive.

Heart of Darkness was always indie. Its original creators either left game development entirely or stayed indie. I personally would only hesitantly trust the game being made by a triple A studio. One that likely would skimp on creative detail. Will they cut out the deaths to make it less “controversial” as a kids game? Would they completely remove what made HoD HoD in order to keep the violence but make it a game exclusively for adults? It’s a roll of the dice and that’s why triple A can’t be trusted with HoD.

Additionally, “2D hand-drawn cinematic platformer” is one of the most labor-intensive video game genres that you could possibly pick. Even today. The same things that made it labor intensive in 95 mostly still apply. There are new tools, yes, the 3D could have a better result even with a team the same size, yes. But if you’re going to have it resemble the original game, it’s going to take work. And you can bet your arse that making the jump to 3D, even for in-game models even if you still kept the gameplay 2D is going to crack some eggs and divide the fanbase.

In short, it’s something I've wanted to take on, and I've had ideas about everything from engine to story to level and enemy design, but obviously I’m like, the only person actively presenting these ideas. Other than a few casual fans who have made fan models (and not shared them lmao) there hasn't really been much.

I've been working on proof of concepts for a spiritual successor project that my intent was to make to show that me and a small hired team could pull off a “new HoD” to try and convince Eric and Fred to give me the right to then go and kickstart an official sequel but that’s just theoretics right now. I don’t have a computer that can do it. I’m not in a stable enough point of my life. And as it stands I’m currently the only one kookoo for cocopuffs HoD enough to do it.

The engine rewrite by Gregory Montoir is incredibly promising for some sort of modification based on the original game, but that’s the closest the fanbase has come... yet.

[allabroadau]

We don’t know about you, but Morocco is HIGH on our must see travel list. So we couldn’t resist getting one of our fellow tour hosts at Two’s A Crowd to share her experiences with this mystical country. And now, we want to go more than ever! Thanks Gillian Scaduto for this beautiful review of Morocco – oh, and you’ve suddenly made us very hungry for Moroccan food…

Who are you and what do you do for a living?

I’m a travel addict on the freeway to recovery…….. That freeway leads to the nearest airport!!

Yes, I guess admitting you have an addiction is not the best but a travel addiction is one I’m happy to work on. The rush that fills me from the moment the plane is circling over a new destination is one of excitement and fear mixed with the wonder of courage. Travel takes you out of your comfort zone it challenges even the most experienced traveller.

To travel well is like putting together the ingredients of a good recipe. Trial and error with many tastings can be half the fun. Although since I landed my dream job as a tour host for Twos a Crowd it’s been a culinary magical gift. Travelling the world with like-minded people is a gift that keeps giving to both you and the clients who come on tour.  It creates memories, it can place you out of your comfort zone and it provides a sense of structured adventure.

Guest writer Gillian Scaduto.

The essence of travel is moments both heart-pumping and serene; riding a gondola through the mystical canals of Venice; setting a nervous foot on icy, iridescent blue glaciers in Canada. On a quiet evening, cruising in Alaska, a pod of whales silently pass, or the the calmness of the Sistine Chapel.

I travelled across the sea to Morocco and went sand surfing in the Sahara. I drank tea with the local Berber people, and felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude and compassion for their warm hospitality.

Kenya provided a pinch-me moment when, snug in my tent, I heard branches breaking and looked out to witness a family of elephants majestically pass our camp site only stopping briefly as the matriarch looked my way.

My role is not all glamorous globe trekking. I’m responsible for the logistics, confirmations, planning, damage control and group dynamics. That can mean dinner reservations at the Eiffel Tower, silent disco-dancing to the beat till all hours in Alaska, coordinating synchronised tyre-swimming in the crystal waters of Croatia, or riding a bike along the Seine canal as the top button of my jeans pops from over-indulgence. It can be offering a silent time for reflection to take in beauty from places like the Canadian Rockies to Monet’s garden.

And then there are the moments, such as when someone turns to me, elation on their face after they have climbed, huffing and puffing, to the top of the Sun Pyramid in Mexico, that I enjoy most. It is the people I connect with and share these incredible experiences with that I find most rewarding.

Where is home?

Where ever my family is. They reside mostly in Melbourne, Australia, and in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Where have you been? When did you go?

My first travel job commenced when I was 16 years old when I auditioned for a world travelling ice show extravagance spectacular……with only one year of tuition but many years of classical ballet. We travelled through Asia, Europe then South America. I trace this moment to when my travel addition took hold.

Family life came around so jumping on the plane was not as easy. I trained as a travel consultant then educator for the Tafe system in Tourism. But looking at all those glossy travel images day in day out was not good for a recovering travel addict.

My dream job with Two’s a Crowd commenced three years ago, and I have now completed 13 group tours and met inspiring people from all walks of life. One of the most fulfilling aspects of being a tour host is watching clients gain confidence, you witness them achieve lifelong goals and overcome fear with encouragement, confidence and courage. One thing they have in common is the ability to rise to the challenge that travel offers, from salsa dancing in Cuba with moustached men smoking cigars, to weaving in and out of traffic on the back of a vintage red Vespa in Florence, and yes, red definitely goes faster.

Who did you travel with?

Travel reaches out to the curious and does not discriminate, people from all walks of life have shared my table whilst touring.

When not on tour I travel with my adult children and friends. They both have different travel styles which adds to the adventure. I can sleep under the stars snug and warm by the camp fire in Norway with my son or sip on some fancy French champagne whilst soaking in the hot tub, on the back of a barge, in the French country side with travel clients. I enjoy both and appreciate the difference.

What have been the highlights?

There are so many, but I’ll stick to my last trip with Two’s a Crowd in Morocco.

Even saying the word aloud conjures a feverish imagination. Our local guide throughout was a story teller; he had a way of weaving us through labyrinth alleyways only to stop mid-sentence and in the middle of no-where and walk us across barren land to have tea with nomadic Berber people. They are just as hospitable and humble to fellow travellers as they have been for centuries. An enchanting place where time has been suspended.

What did you least like about your trip?

Okay this is where I get to talk about the negatives of travel??

Really…….? An addict is in denial and will always make excuses but I’m going to try and pull out a negative.

Well……the one thing about travel is getting from A to B……this is the negative. They say it’s all about the journey and not the destination but reclining seats on the bus with someone massaging my feet and a first class plane ticket with champagne would have been the icing on the cake.

Hey……..gotta dream big.

Do you have any funny stories from your travels?

I once booked what I thought was a hotel in Japan back in the 70’s when my bible was the book called – Travel on a shoestring – $10 a day!! Yes it was possible. We arrived late in the evening and entered the lobby, as lobbies go we thought we had stumbled across a jack pot, lush upholstery and rich deep burgundy colours surrounded us. As we opened the door to our room our eyes didn’t know where to focus – they went from the heart shaped bed covered in fake pink fur then wandered up to the mirror on the ceiling. We hadn’t read the fine print – the price was per 10mins – We just fell in a heap laughing…..

What were the locals like?

The people of Morocco are genuinely warm, hospitable and gracious. The Berber people are believed to be the original inhabitants going back to 8000 BC. They are nomads and tend to live in the mountains and valleys of Morocco, previously using camels to cross the Sahara desert. Although we passed a few trucks loaded up with the household goods which is now one of the favoured ways to move, many more still walk. But each year the numbers are dropping as the younger generation seeks work in the cities.

They are incredible hospitable, not knowing the family our guide stopped on the side of the road with his pre-purchased block of sugar in anticipation they will accept it but not money. We shared the traditional mint tea with a generous amount of sugar with this humble family. They greet you like a long lost relative and don’t want anything in return other than to share your company. No appointment necessary or invitation.

Even without language we managed to share a funny moment with an old married couple, through the body language we knew they were having a domestic moment while she was preparing the tea. As she broke off a hunk of the sugar to dissolve in the tea his hands were waving around – we gathered he didn’t think it was enough sugar. He was then put in his place with some verbal banter……. Our eyes met and we all just burst out laughing. The tea had so much sugar I’m sure he was the one who consulted with Coca Cola……

There are many different Berber tribes and each has slightly different dress according to the region. They are talented craftsman, from the bright patterned handmade rugs that have influenced many famous designers. Missoni studied these patterns and took influence into his work, the rug I purchased was the root beginnings. To the Islamic geometric tiles which was thought to be used in design so as not to interpret the human form, which would be seen to compete with God. Yves Saint Laurent helped transform the lavish embroidered caftan to fashion heights in the 70’s. He moved there and built a home which is now a museum. The silver workmanship and clothing display of the Berber people is amazing at the Berber museum of Yves Saint Laurent, well worth a visit in Marrakesh.

What was the food like?

Just like the pizza in Italy it has been expanded around the world, Moroccan food has tangled its way into many corners of the globe. One of my favourite dishes I cook at home is Moroccan chicken a recipe that was influenced with the traditional soft spices and herbs, although local products had been added. I found once in Morocco there were many different versions of my favourite dish. The one that I kept looking for on the menu was served with extra citrus that left you wanting a second serve. It was served on a bed of fluffy couscous and came out in the usual tagine bubbling away the citrus aroma filling the air. Although my all-time favourite was the Berber omelette – the eggs are poached in a rich tomato sauce containing paprika, onions, red pepper, garlic with a sprinkle of fresh coriander and parsley on top. It comes out in a tagine, great for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

When I didn’t feel like eating much I loved to order Zaalouk. Generally served at the beginning of a main meal more like an entrée. But with at least seven cooked vegetable salads with bread that can include green peppers, tomatoes, olives, sweet carrots, aubergine dip seasoned with the usual paprika, cumin, garlic and chilli in it, it can become a meal in itself.

Did you learn anything about yourself or the world on this trip?

When you wake up travelling every day and get to experience everyday things in a new way it is such an eye opener. Reflecting on these moments connects us all. Morocco has 3000 kms on the Atlantic Ocean and 500 kms on the Mediterranean Sea. While visiting Essaouria on the coast where the Portuguese architecture, Berber and French food, the maze of allies of medieval structure in the medina, your nose twitches as you walk past the treasure of the fisherman’s catch. Your eyes dart as rag torn men push their rusted supply cart to market, children run through the narrow allies laughing, playing oblivious to their surroundings. Mothers run after their children and love not because of religion or law but from birth just as all mothers do around the world. I felt like I had stepped back in time. Game of Thrones was filmed there and I can understand why.

Would you recommend others travel here?

Most definitely………. Morocco is a tick box destination for the adventure traveller. It challenges all your senses and will leave your heart open in wonder. Its diverse landscape from the Atlas Mountains to the dessert and historic beach towns. Fes, the labyrinth mazes of the largest medina in the world capture and hypnotise you. Copper pots, glowing lanterns, sunlight streams through cotton roof tops, wooden doors ajar feature large looms and rhythmic workers. It’s raw, its dusty you lose all perspective of modern time.

Gillian and her tour group.

Two days after I left Morocco I was shopping in High Street, Armadale, in Melbourne for my daughter’s wedding dress. Feeling slightly jet lagged I felt like I had discovered time travel. This experience of the medinas of Morocco took me back right into the medieval market place that has been operating every day since it opened. Walking down High Street I was still hearing the shop keepers calling out, smelling the smoke from the tannery, listening to children running through the streets playing. Yes, Morocco will take you back and beyond and stay with you well after you leave.

Do you have any tips for people thinking of travelling here?

When visiting a hammam, a traditional Moroccan day spa for detoxifying and relaxing purchase your own scrub and products. We were scrubbed to an inch of our flesh by a very ‘strong’ vigorous women who had no mercy…….the next day instead of the smooth glow we should have achieved we had red raw skin that needed antiseptic cream to heal.

Other than that, go with an open mind and heart and you will open a door filled with colour and patterns that reflect life from middle ages, history complete with romance, culinary delights that sit on your taste buds. Stay in local Riads, it’s the best way to capture the ancient living of Moroccan homes. They are an oasis in contrast to the hustle and bustle of the busy streets. The central courtyard is often open where sunlight streams into either a garden or water feature where you can chill and relax.

Morocco will take you down a fairytale adventure, think of One Thousand and One Nights, Aladdin, magic carpets which will open the door to many adventures that await you. You just have to put yourself into the story….

Been somewhere recently? We’d love to hear about it! Email us via allabroad(@)gmail.com or leave us a comment below.

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Tales of Morocco from a self-confessed travel addict We don't know about you, but Morocco is HIGH on our must see travel list. So we couldn't resist getting one of our fellow tour hosts at Two's A Crowd to share her experiences with this mystical country.