#hes got troy bakers voice and money but that is IT | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

lulu2992 · 3 years ago

Text

After playing the Insanity DLC last month, they played Control on the Ubisoft Twitch channel and once again invited Nikki Foy, the main scriptwriter, to talk about it. Summarized below (spoilers ahead!) is what she, as well as the two hosts, Chris Watters and Youssef Maguid, said:

In Insanity, it seemed obvious that Citra had to be the villain. In Control, it wasn’t that simple, and it couldn’t be Ajay because Pagan doesn’t see him as one. According to Nikki Foy, Pagan is obsessed with perfection and being in control, hence the name of the DLC. She said that, in Far Cry 4, “he’s telling Ajay these stories about how amazing he is and how he’s been betrayed at every turn and it’s not his fault that’s he’s doing terrible things” (to be very honest with you, I don’t really agree with this). She thinks Pagan hid his “animalistic side” and the truth of what he has done, and The Tyrant represents that part of himself he’s repressed but that’s bleeding through the cracks anyway. In some of the visions, we get to see things he doesn’t want people to see, things he wants to hide because they make him look bad (like when he suggests Ishwari should get an abortion), and he’s basically fighting against his flaws in Control.

She said that, unlike Vaas, who doesn’t have that clarity, Pagan is very self-aware. He’s not delusional, just never satisfied. He’s trying to be flawless but it’s impossible to achieve perfection, and this is what’s driving him to madness. He also expects this level of perfection from everyone else and sees himself as a Hero (with a capital H).

The three of them agreed that Troy Baker was a great actor. He also played The Tyrant, which means that, in Control, he got to play both the hero and the villain.

They also said the DLC looked awesome. Since it takes place in Pagan’s mind, she said that the world looks great partly because he has high standards in terms of architecture and thinks he deserves the best.

The currency in this episode is Respect because Pagan has so much money that he doesn’t really care about it anymore, it’s almost worthless to him. From Vaas’ point of view, money rules the world. From Pagan’s, respect is the highest currency.

She thought it was great to have the opportunity to revisit Yuma, to learn more about their relationship, and to have her be a villain again. She explained Yuma followed Pagan when he was fanatical but hated that he became more “normal” when he got a family. Then, it was Yuma who became even more fanatical. Pagan believes she was the one who told Mohan about Ishwari’s affair. According to Nikki Foy, even though he’s an unreliable narrator and that’s just what he believes, “he’s a smart guy”. So, in the DLC, it was definitely Yuma who told Mohan (I want to clarify that what actually happened in Far Cry 4 is still uncertain and up to interpretation, though).

The Lakshmana Pagan imagines is older than the “real” Lakshmana, who died as a baby before she could even talk. This is because she represents what he’s projecting on her. She is an idealized version of his dead daughter, a perfect little girl who tells him he is perfect.

She thinks the mission “For King and Country”, which takes place in the Durgesh Prison, is the hardest part of the entire Season Pass and strongly advises getting a power that improves fire defense in that DLC. She also loves the sound that coins make when you walk on them in Durgesh.

In the Delusion “House on Fire”, when we heard the gunshot and Ishwari’s scream, Chris Watters, who was the one playing, seemed reluctant to exist the Ghale Homestead knowing Lakshmana had just been murdered outside. He humorously said, “I don’t know if I can handle this one, Nikki”. She laughed and revealed that he messaged her before the stream and told her that, as the father of a 3-year-old daughter, playing Control gave him “psychic damage”.

When a viewer commented Pagan was shorter than Ishwari, they all called him a “shortcake”. They (as well as Marla Kishimoto, voice designer, who was in the chat) also discussed his outfit and said they thought his shoes clashed with his suit. However, they match with his weapons.

Someone in the chat asked what the QR code in Far Cry 6 meant but they unfortunately didn’t know anything about it.

44 notes · View notes

vroenis · 5 years ago

Text

Uncharted 4: An Era’s End

It’s recently come to light that game developer Naughty Dog has been subjecting its employees to crunch; the practice of overworking and underpaying staff in order to meet deadlines. This is not unique to Naughty Dog, nor to their current project pending release later this year, The Last Of US 2. Reports suggest that crunch has been endemic in the working culture of Naughty Dog for some time and this is now no surprise to us as such reports continue to surface about studio after studio, most in the corporately structured, premium funded and managed space we call “triple A” or AAA, but many smaller studios and independent spaces also. Several senior and long-tenured creatives have left Naughty Dog quite recently, and some may have been leaving earlier than those that have been reported during what’s turning out to be a turbulent development cycle for The Last Of Us 2.

Each month, as part of the paid subscription to the Playstation Plus online service, Sony offers a small selection of games. For April, one of them was Naughty Dog’s Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, from which I derived my title. Not only am I here to suggest the studio’s troubles may have begun during the development of this game, first released back in 2016, but the title may have been one of the first significant indications that the book was closing on AAA development as we know it. I appreciate there have been many good voices shouting from the rooftops about the how unsustainable it’s been from before then, but the Naughty Dog for a long time seemed like a light in the dark, signalling that a big studio could still produce good product under strong leadership.

I feel that Uncharted 4 rather than The Last Of Us 2 is the real light, and instead of a light-house, it turned out to be a signal-fire warning that even then the composure of Naughty Dog was an illusion.

This piece is going to contain significant spoilers for Uncharted 4. It’s also not investigative - I just played it for the first time, completed it and I have some thoughts about it; these are my thoughts.

I didn’t like the third game at all. I took nothing away from it. I’ll never play it again as there’s nothing I want to relive from it, so I’d better look up the wiki on what happened in it... well that didn’t help at all as I don’t remember playing any of that, it was so unmemorable. I remember the wandering around in the desert bit and then some shooting in the desert which was all pointless. There were also some puzzles with shadow puppets that were almost good but so short and pointless, those two things sum up my feelings about the third game entirely.

What a way to start.

I’ve replayed the first and second games once each, so I’ve played those each twice thru and have decided that the first game is overlong and poorly paced, and the second game is the best and probably two-thirds good. Honestly, Elena should drop the Drakes in the ocean, run-off with Chloe and keep in touch with Sully because those are the only three characters with any depth and meaning. Let’s roll-back a bit.

I get that Nathan’s supposed to be a charming, happy-go-lucky character and for the most part, it works. Maybe I’m just getting too old for it or it’s wearing too thin. I really think the third game was completely unnecessary. When I review my notes on the fourth game, I think about the emotional quandary it attempts to set up i.e., ultimately that Nathan should be more honest with Elena - spoiler; he isn’t, but don’t worry it all works out *SPIT* - this was already a problem I was ready to face at the end of the second game. Given my feelings on the third game, I’d have much preferred a simple trilogy and conclusion that faced that emotional brunt to wrap things up. Naturally of-course, that’s not how money-spinners work.

If Uncharted 4 doesn’t spend time on Elena, who does it spend time on? Nathan has a brother! To be fair, I love Troy Baker as a voice actor and if there’s one thing that is consistent in Naughty Dog games, it’s excellent voice acting. I don’t know if I’m now biased after seeing so much of Nolan North and Troy Baker on YouTube outside of their VO talent work, but they’re wonderful people and their professional work is always great. The supporting cast is always great, too - so too the villains even if the narrative arcs are always completely absurd. I know these are always a bit of a lark, you can’t take them too seriously so I can’t hold Uncharted up to Kentucky Route Zero (got my mention in) and shake them comparatively, that’s not fair. It’s OK to have an excuse for a romp even if it does wear on a bit over time.

The problems I have with Uncharted 4 specifically are things like the level and environmental design. I’ve never gotten lost in this franchise up until now when it happened in almost every level... several times. I simply didn’t know where to go. There would be absolutely no clear indication of where to go and no assists, no subtle environmental guide and no camera nudges to help. There is a timer that eventually tells the player where to go and at times, this is tied to deaths so at one point I just threw Nathan off cliffs repeatedly to respawn until the hint appeared. This is unquestionably stupid design. I began to wonder if this was due to criticism that previous games had too much hand-holding, but when the UI assist was finally given and I made my way to the next check-point, I would *never* have found it under normal exploratory gameplay.

This remained true during several moments of scripted action sequences, some including during combat which brings up something else I now remember about the third game. I still couldn’t tell you when it was other than I didn’t know where to go and it was stupid, so there you have it. Maybe the third game was the real signal fire in my metaphor, who knows. In any case, constantly reverting to check-points and having to repeat, not understanding why you’re failing when the game isn’t telegraphing what you need for a success state in a scripted sequence is an exercise in frustration I’m not willing to ever repeat. While I’m not a souls-like player, I completely appreciate the admiration and respect for those games because they have rules that are clear to parse. Video games are *all about* providing feedback to the player. I’m not saying it’s easy, it is an incredibly difficult thing to achieve but it is literally the job you set out to do, it is the only vehicle you have to convey the lofty emotions you want to communicate to your audience.

And then there’s the driving. Naughty Dog. Do not put driving in your games. This is something you’re not able to do.

I don’t want to bash the driving so hard because at this point I feel like it may have been bolted on without time to make it stick correctly. This is the first game in the title where the hot-zones for interactions weren’t quite right. Where I bugged out of animations and had check-points or re-spawns instanced or loaded. Where I glitched out and fell off things, where I had to walk back and forth in-front of things to make buttons appear. The edges of that Naughty Dog polish were fraying. I’d attempt to do a thing and it just wouldn’t work, I’d fall to my death. I’d attempt to do the same thing the same way and it would work. Again this is dredging up more nondescript memories of the third game so I’m beginning to have my suspicions about the working environment there and when in the timeline things started getting bad - but cameras and jumping distances got really difficult to judge. One gap at one time would be fine to jump, then another would have you plunge to your death, and they’d be inconsistent to read or judge. These were not frequent, as with the third game, almost as if the artists and level designers were given time to adjust lighting and camera geometry tracking and control mapping as much as possible but just couldn’t get to them all. But throughout the games, it creeps in more and more.

I’d talk about combat - it’s functional, but it’s not interesting. These games don’t add anything interesting to the genre or video games in general. I play the games on easy because I don’t need to prolong the experience, I don’t actually have the physical time - if I could play the games without combat, I would. There are other games to play if I want dexterity challenges which I do engage in, Uncharted isn’t one of them. Even in 2016 I’m not entirely sure this would have turned heads. I realise I’m playing this a full four years later, but it’s hard to think of the sum-total of this game’s parts and see it as relevant...

But you know what? Uncharted 4 visually looks immaculate. Outside of the voice-acting and sound design, without question, the highest priority has been given to the visual fidelity of this game inclusive of the animations. So much has been invested in how the tech works, to the abandonment of everything else, I’d say the for example, the driving suffered the most, level design next, then interaction scripting. The attention to detail in the environments is stupendous...

...yet it’s all hollow. You know what? I don’t care about pirates and adventures anymore. Whatever. By the fourth game, I don’t care. I totally get that the game’s not for me but I played it and I’m writing how I feel about it. You’re telling me a story about a guy who met the person of his dreams and marries, then his brother turns up and he can’t be honest to his wife? Meow meow meow it’s all for the sake of drama so we skip over all the details but the contrivance is too much. You want me to accept these things on face value, then on face value, I say Nathan and his brother can go get fucked.

I took particular issue with the comically brief relationship discussion Elena and Nathan have after she saves him and they set off together in which she concludes she’s with him “for better or for worse”, which from memory the game chapter is titled after. Now either the character genuinely believes she owes him under the sanctity of nuptial obligation or she’s using it as a justification of such. This is a wholly unsatisfying discussion for me was when I finally checked out of this game - sure I should have done so hours before but this was the last straw and the indication that I am definitely too old for this shit - but this is a horrifying and stupid message to be spouting. Elena don’t owe anyone shit. Married or not, she’s free to save Nathan if she wants to, for any reason, but she’s certainly not obliged to. I despise this massive chunk of traditionalist patriarchy smashed into her character and the narrative, even if it is “well it’s just about her character” yea great, so that just re-enforces her as a loyal dog-trophy for the main character in the on-going male power-fantasy shenanigans shit-train. Nathan’s behaviour isn’t exactly selfish but it’s certainly not adult or considerate. He behaves like a child not taking on an appropriate level of responsibility. Others around him, being Elena and Sully, continuously bail him out - literally saving his life while endangering their own, and he continues to behave like a manchild that neither acknowledges their physical and emotional labour nor does he grow and evolve as an individual. What a fucker. Does he ever sort his shit out, ask Elena what she wants to do for a career and support whatever the fuck she wants to do with her life? Of-course the fuck he doesn’t. Know why? Because he’s a literal man-baby. And his brother is too. But that’s OK cos he’s a fucken jock-hero and a funny guy so as long as we can all laugh about it and the narrative says-so and it all works out in the end and he gets the girl and she ends-up supporting his career anyway, it’s aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall fine.

Nathan should have died and Elena shouldn’t have given a fuck.

I know I know, it’s not that serious. Look I’ve been thru some shit, alright? I can see it both ways. Sometimes you don’t think about stupid shit that deep and sometimes you do. Most of the time, I do, and most of the time, I take it to the nth degree, so yea, shit like that gets to me. I call it bad writing, so no, I don’t like the story. At all. Nathan’s supposed to be flawed but nothing ever costs him. When people make mistakes in life, those mistakes cost. The unfortunately thing is the cost is most often paid by the others around them, and sometimes they themselves never realise it. I don’t like stories where there’s a fuckhead at the centre but everyone still stays happy. Nathan seems to have been given a lesson, but I don’t think he earned it. This is why y’all watch Game of Thrones and are surprised when characters die because you keep consuming narratives with no stakes, and GoT is *still* only middling stuff.

Anyway.

How could Elena’s character have been given more attention? Uncharted 4 isn’t all bad. The most valuable thing Naughty Dog achieved was the recreation of real domestic spaces; the Drake households. Twice, we’re given time and space and encouraged to explore them without being funnelled by level design, events, NPC shepherding or audio cues. Rooms and the objects that fill them are meticulously and beautifully created, and they're given life and purpose in a way that has meaning far beyond all the pirate nonsense that while almost as equally beautiful, is completely vacuous.

Putting on Elena’s vinyl record as her daughter Cassie was the only time I enjoyed the music in the game, and it was a great call-back to Nathan having done the same thing in their house much earlier. Sure, there’s the Drake theme that repeats ad nauseam throughout the series but otherwise the soundtrack is bland and unremarkable adventuring fare. It contributes more to the feeling of this game being out of touch, contrasted to something like Control which certainly has a completely different setting, sure - but that’s part of it, so that affords the creative team room for more modular synths and drones and to have a distinct sound.

Walking thru those houses, first as Nathan but really as the player repositioning themselves from adventurer to ordinary life-living person in a domestic setting, and then as Cassie - daughter of these two amazing characters in an equalling urbane setting yet filled with wonderful objects, made up the most fascinating and enjoyable moments of the game for me. The mess of each room gave the houses the perfect lived-in feel to a degree that most other games struggle to achieve, probably due to how much effort it takes to get that much geometry mapped in - Giant Sparrow’s What Became of Edith Finch is probably one of the few games that has come close. The difference between the tropical islands, decaying pirate mansions and the domestic Drake residences is that the houses felt like everything in there felt like it meant something and was in there for a reason, like it had been part of something. I don’t mean that just for the objects that were intrinsically tied to implicit narrative beats like collectables or even items from countries where Uncharted 4 or prior games are set, but also things like towels, washing baskets, plates and dishes, books and picture frames, shampoo bottles, food - the detail in the fridges! That you can feed Cassie’s dog, Vicky is the most meaningful interaction of the game - by the way, the second most meaningful set of interactions is buying an apple in the market in Madagascar then playing with lemur and letting it take the apple.

Back to the houses, I’m disappointed we never got to walk through one of them as Elena. Now that the core of the franchise is wrapped, I’m left with the impression that she’s the most important character in the series and she’s left woefully under-served. This is a very me thing, and unsurprising. I doubt anyone else cares enough about writing and character to have thoughts like this. They’re into Uncharted for the adventuring and the shooting, but as soon as you present me the opportunity for character drama and you want to have a red-hot go at it, I’m here to set aside the rest of that guff and go for it. The running and jumping and shooting never changes, and I’m here to say that the puzzling could have stepped up orders of magnitude that Naughty Dog never committed to - Crystal Dynamics did far better with Rise Of The Romb Raider, and while the puzzling was never really difficult, the way I described it to a friend was to liken the puzzles to desk toys; not intended to be too challenging, but more satisfying in their tactile nature. I feel Fireproof’s The Room series for iOS and Android are great examples of providing similar sensations.

I don’t mind a game mostly about shenanigans, I just don’t want it centred around a character that won’t learn, or who gets off cheaply. Elena is infinitely more interesting to me - her concerns, her desires - Chloe too, for that matter, and I absolutely am not above making the joke about shipping them as I’m sure thousands have before me (no I won’t write a fanfic about them, I’m sure there are plenty around).

I didn’t play the first The Last of Us. There was a horrifically jarring moment when the game felt it was over-playing its sense of cinema to me, then had a sudden camera zoom transition onto I think the first combat gameplay and I checked out. The tone of that game is trying to telegraph TAKE ME SERIOUSLY and I feel all I’m going to do is read tonally similar things to what I have here but far worse. Also post-apocalypse is easy pickings for bad writing, especially by video games narrative writers, I just don’t have the patience. I’m pleased that there’s lesbian representation in the second game but I’m not sure it’ll be handled with sensitivity. While I’m in no way invested in the game as a product, I continue to be concerned for the welfare of the employees at Naughty Dog, and all game developers everywhere, as always. It is a hugely unregulated industry that is in the process of slow collapse, and now more than ever do we need reform and cultural change.

And in the midst of that, one day we’ll get a decent game that’s about domestic partnerships and wonderful emotional relationships with stunning visual fidelity; maybe it’ll have running and jumping and shooting and maybe it won’t. Maybe it’ll end sadly and maybe it’ll end happily but hopefully it’ll be well-written.

Here’s to Elena.

#Video Games #Crunch #Work Practices #Employment Ethics #Work Ethics #Naughty Dog #The Last Of Us #The Last Of Us 2 #Uncharted #Uncharted 4 #chrono #2020 #rant #games writing #writing about games #video games narrative

12 notes · View notes

aion-rsa · 4 years ago

Text

Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts: Oz the Originator Steps Into the Spotlight

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

When Kipo and the Age of the Wonderbeasts was released in January 2020, many viewers quickly became fans of not only the show but the music contained within, particularly that of in-show producer Oz the Originator. The tracks of Oz were especially loved because they brought main character Benson and his crush Troy together, a rare example of queer characters in kids animation. The two bonded over their favorite old world MC, with Benson in possession of several of his albums.

Only small snippets of the songs were heard in the series but it was enough to make the audience seek out the voice behind the songs. What they found was the multi talented Andra Gunter, a rapper, music producer, writer, and skate boarder who called the response from fans “unbelievable.”

In a previous interview with Den of Geek, Kipo creator Rad Sechrist sang Gunter’s praises, particularly for his scriptwriting. Co-showruner Bill Wolkoff echoed that sentiment, adding, “Andra is this amazing talent. Keep your eye out for him. He’s a great writer and great musician.”

But you don’t go from relative obscurity to being on a show and getting the praise of showrunners just like that. I was interested in learning not just about Gunter’s work on Kipo but everything that got him to that point as well. From his 2009 start in making music to his influences and even how his ADHD affects his work, Gunter let me into his thought process and how all that (and skateboarding) lead him to working on Kipo. We also discussed the Oz the Originator character, his new ‘Brave War’ album, and his screenplay work.

Gunter had a lot to say and I was delighted to sit back and listen as he shared both his and Oz the Orginator’s story, the two of which are more connected than you might realize.

DEN OF GEEK: Tell me a little of your story. I mean, this is a huge question, but how did you get to where you are today in terms of music?

ANDRA GUNTER: Well, definitely started music after seeing my brother make music. I always rapped and made music. I have heard numerous stories from my family of me trying to make music on radios and tape decks and stuff like that. But me remembering that I really wanted to do this, it was probably 2009.

What sort of music were you making then? Is it similar to what you’re doing now? What were some of your first big compositions then?

Well, at first, I was just starting off just probably a newb at it. Obviously, that’s how it starts off for everybody; you’re not that good at it. Eventually over time I started just concentrating on it every day by myself. I made my first real song, probably, 2010. I was making just pretty much all types of music, just anything that I could find the beat to and I could rhyme to it, I was pretty much doing it. I just wanted to make music, that was just the point, like, “Yo, whatever they got on the internet, whatever I can learn, then I’m going to do.”

What sort of things were you putting in your lyrics at the time? Was it just anything goes, or was there any specific themes that were coming out?

Well, I mean, 2010 was a really funny era for music. I feel like that time was Wiz Khalifa and Joey Badass, and that was the beginning of Tyler, the Creator. So it was a really expressive form at that time. Anything went. If you knew who Tyler, the Creator was in 2010, man, you knew what the rules were in rapping at that time.

There’s a long span of time between 2010 and now, how did your music evolve over that time? Obviously, it got better, as it does for any creative person, right? But what sort of things did you find yourself zeroing in on, a style that you liked or different themes that you wanted to use?

Well, I can say, in 2011 I was introduced to this type of music called jerk music, It was this really crazed dance called jerking in the black community, and I feel like all over the world. It was everywhere you could possibly think people wanted to dance. I got into making that music for my brother and his little cousin, and that music opened up my ear to just kind of everything, because at that time it was almost like dubstep music or like rave music in a different sense. Definitely doesn’t sound the same. It has the same point of sampling a lot of music, ranging from Anita Baker all the way down to System of a Down.

Samples were everywhere at that time, because it was a lot of new producers just going on the internet, finding something and trying to create their own sound. So that’s what gave me my style of just being all over the board and not really staying in one box. Even though jerk music was definitely one box, I feel like everybody that was doing jerk music had a range of a lot of different things.

And in that, did you find yourself sampling other people, and if so, what kind of samples were you using, or was it just anything goes?

Yeah, pretty much anything went. I mean, in those early days, I wasn’t really sampling because I was still really new to producing. So I didn’t really understand that part of it yet, but once I got a hang of it and I understood, then I was sampling like crazy. I definitely range all over the board too. The first thing I’ve ever sampled was a Earth, Wind & Fire song. Nowadays it’s more of listening to really weird that I’ve been finding through playlists and things like that. All the way from alternative, to deep soul, to punk rock, I sample everything now.

This is the music nerd question, what programs do you use to make your music?

Oh, yes. My favorite question of all. My first time ever using a program was FL Studio. It was FL Studio 9. My brother threw the USB at me, and was like, “Download this on the computer and learn how to use it.” After that, and he introduced me to that program, I never really turned back or tried to really go into a new program. I do know how to use programs because, I mean, they’re all kind of the same, but if I had to choose a program to use, it’s definitely FL Studio.

How did you eventually end up working on Kipo?

I want to say 2014 or ’15, I met Rad Sechrist, the creator of Kipo, through skateboarding. All my life I’ve been skateboarding, and at one point I got really good. I had a group of friends, and one of my friends in that group by the name of Isaiah, he was like, ” Yo, I got this friend. He works in animation, and he does this and he does that.” And mind you, Isaiah’s sort of that friend that you just don’t believe. You’re looking at him like, “Dude, what the fuck are you talking about? Who is this guy?” So this dude pulls up, and we’re 17, 18 years old at this time. It’s Isaiah’s 16th or 17th birthday, and this old white dude pulls up. I’m like, “Who’s this guy?”

So didn’t pay too much attention to Rad at first, but I guess from my personality and the way I talked to people that day, he just hit me up one day, was like, “Yo, I was really fucking with you, just your vibe in the car. So come through and check out some of the stuff I’m doing.” And I was like, “All right.” And then that’s when I believed that he was an animator and storyboard artist, because he brought me to one of his offices where he was working on this movie about a dragon, and it was fucking crazy. I’m in this place and I’m watching him draw on a Cintiq for the first time with all this crazy artwork on the wall, and I’m just amazed.

At this time, there was a company he was running, it was a skateboard company called Plastic Walrus. He was like, “Yeah, I want you to ride for my company and stuff like that,” and I’m like, “Bro, I will do anything you want me to do. Look at the office here.” At that point I just started hanging out with Rad a little bit more. I was going out to Silver Lake, because I live in Watts, California. I was going all the way out to Silver Lake, catching three trains just to go meet up with him and get boards and stuff.

Then, eventually, I checked into college, Los Angeles Trade Tech College. And then that’s when I got into pretty much being a writer because at first I was really uncertain on what I wanted to do, in general. But I got into writing, I got in this English class in college and started writing. I was writing these poems and writing these short stories for class and sending them around, and Brad’s like, “Yo, you’re a writer, dude. You should try to write.” I was like, “I don’t really want to write. I got this music for you though,” and I sent him a whole bunch of music. And then that’s how I got considered for Kipo, him pretty much introducing writing to me and me telling him, “I am already a writer. I write music,” and then sending him my music.

I spoke with Rad before this interview and he mentioned that originally he was just hoping you’d temp on the tracks but then the higher ups at DreamWorks loved it so much they put it into the show. When did you find out about that?

That shit just happened random, dude. Obviously, you don’t know what’s really going on in the office. You just send in an email and you hope for an email back. I sent maybe 30 songs and there was a whole bunch of different years I did these songs. One era it’s from 2012 to 2014, and the others continue to 2015 to now. I wasn’t sure they were even going to consider it. So I’m texting Rad, and I’m like, “Dude, I need to find something else to do.” At this time, I didn’t have a job. I had just checked into college. They weren’t trying to give me financial aid. So I was like, “I need something to do, dude, to get money.” He’s like, “Dude, I got you. I know they have something for you. You can be a writer if you start writing.”

He’s telling me all the things I need in order to get a writing job over at DreamWorks, and I’m not listening to that. I’m just like, “Dude, just send them my music, just please, that’s what I do. There’s nothing else I can do but make music.” So after a hop, skip, and a shove I get an email from the music department over at DreamWorks, and then they tell me they’re considering a couple of songs. I’m pretty sure that shit just happened random. Rad probably was in their ear so much that they’re like, “All right, we’re just going to hit this kid up.”

So was it just that they took what you had existing, or did they ask you to adapt it to fit the show more?

(Of the) 30 songs I sent in maybe two of them were considered. In episode ten when Benson finds Troy, that part where the tape deck falls out of his backpack, that song is an original song I did probably when I first met Rad. It was before he even knew I did music. That song was definitely not altered to fit the show.

There’s another episode where (the characters are) eating breakfast. That song is also an original song that I made in my room, and they didn’t make me alter it, they didn’t make me re-edit it or anything. It was perfect enough to just go inside the show.

I know you were listed as vocal contributor on the credits, did you end up recording more music specifically for the show?

Rad was hitting me up like, “Yeah, dude. They’re loving the shit you sent, and we’re pushing towards putting that in the show, for sure.” He was telling me every step of the way about my original songs. He’s like, “But there’s more.” I was like, “What’s more?” And he’s like, “Well, they’re trying to record original songs because the Kipo script is pretty much musically based. It’s almost like a musical.” So he’s like, “I got this guy that we’re hiring, his name’s Daniel Rojas.” He gives me the whole rundown on this dude, and I’m already kind of fan crazed, because he brings up Hans Zimmer. He told me Daniel used to work with Hans Zimmerman, and I’m like, “Dude, what the… Do you know who Hans Zimmerman is in the music world?” You know what I mean? So instantly, right there, I’m like, “Yo, set me up with this guy. I got to see who this is.” So we set up a meeting with Daniel, and I go to his studio.

You know how Jonah Hill looks like he’s fricking 21, but he’s almost 40 years old? That’s what Daniel looked like. He’s this really young looking older dude. So already I was really intrigued by this guy. I’m like, “Yo, you look like a baby man.” He’s like, “Yeah, we get real cool. We chop it up. I got a couple of songs that I produced for the show, and I want you to rap over these beats.” So that’s when we got to the point where they were trying to get me to make songs for the show.

When you were rapping over it, did they give you lyrics, or were they just like, “Just freestyle over it.”

Oh, no. If they would’ve gave me the verse, I don’t think I would’ve got credit. So, (I) definitely wrote the verses. I was so excited, I wrote those verses in like five minutes.

Oh, wow. Did they give you any directives about what they needed to be about, or was it just like, “go for it”?

At first it was like, “Go for it so we can get a feel,” but once I started showing them and rapping it out loud, Rad’s like, “There’s certain things you can’t say in the song.” During the song they were telling me what I could say and what I couldn’t say, and what I could make it about and what I couldn’t make it about. They didn’t coach me through it. They let me do my thing, but, ultimately, told me there was an outline of what I needed to be talking about.

I was comparing the songs from Kipo to the ones on your recent Brave War album. The Kipo songs feel a little bit lighter. Your own music feels heavier. Can you talk a little bit more about those differences?

I definitely had to tone it down a bit for the DreamWorks songs. Obviously, DreamWorks is not going to let me go talk about what’s going on in my mental health. Kipo a kids’ show. The songs I had originally made; I was younger and my head space was in a way different space from what I’m making now.

Talk to me about the Oz the Originator character that your songs are attributed to in the show. Did they give you an outline of who he was?

His story and his outlook of who he is, (his) songs are supposed to speak for him. Those songs are pretty much saying exactly what he’s going through in those times of whatever he’s going through in his miscellaneous life. Oz is like Tyler, the Creator in an alternative universe. That’s the way I would like to see it.

So then, let’s talk about your album ‘The Brave War.’ You’ve said it’s an introduction to who Oz the Originator is. Tell me a little bit about the kind of songs that you want to have under that name, especially, because I know that you changed your name from what you originally had, right?

I’m Andra, at the end of the day, I’m Andra Gunter, but I definitely have different characters I portray, like Oz the Originator and Tim Lynch and that’s probably it right now. I’ve portrayed so many characters over the years, but those are the two main ones right now that are for sure people.

What would you say is the difference between the Lynch character and then Oz the Originator, in regards to the sound or how you’re going through the music? What are the differences?

Tim Lynch just doesn’t give a fuck about anything. That guy is more of the hard core hijinks that we all love and miss from the early ’90s. I feel like that’s what Tim Lynch is all about, just the hijinks era, and just being free and being able to express yourself the way you want to express yourself. I

Oz is, I want to say, the 2.0 version of Lynch. He’s what Lynch was supposed to be. They’re brothers. Oz and Tim Lynch are brothers, because The Brave War comes from a script, my first script I ever wrote, and technically, The Brave War album that I dropped is the soundtrack to the script. So Tim Lynch and Oz are definitely brothers, and Oz is supposed to be carrying the torch for Tim Lynch, because Tim Lynch is a era that rose and died recently. I let go of trying to pursue the Tim Lynch name early 2020, just because I wanted to concentrate more on writing and stuff. I’ve been Tim Lynch since 2009, dude. So, I was ready to give him his proper burial.

What made you want to switch?

Well, I write screenplays. Right now I’m working on a feature film, but Oz was just… He was just a really cool idea, at the time, and he developed into what he is now. I don’t really think Oz was supposed to go this far, but obviously some things you just can’t stop. The Oz the Originator character is a really dope character, in my opinion. He’s one of the tightest people I’ve ever seen on the mic. The way I see it is, it’s real, but it’s not. Oz is an illusion.

In terms of ‘The Brave War’ album, I love that you said that it was the soundtrack for a script you wrote. Tell me more about either the making of the album or the feeling behind it. What are you trying to put out to the world with that album?

I just wanted you to see the brave war that you would have to go through, inside of yourself. That whole album is pretty much me going through the brave war. As of a year and a half ago, I lost my mom due to cancer, stage four liver cancer. My whole life, obviously, did a complete 360. So what Oz is, is like my afterbirth after my mom passed. Tim Lynch is when my mom’s around, and then Oz is after, to express the original feelings.

Oz is an expressor. That’s what that whole album is about. It’s about expression, me getting people to understand what my mental health state is, and what Oz is going through. The script is definitely based on my life, but it’s not. It’s obviously altered. It’s pretty much me going through my emotions as I get through my life in the script. So it’s just the emotions of the script, just everything you could possibly feel as a skateboarder, as an up-and-coming rapper, skater that just lost a parent and has to be on their own now.

Going forward career-wise are you more focused music, the writing, or skating? Is it all three?

Well, I don’t really want to compare myself to nobody, but I’m going to be one of those guys who does it all. I definitely am inspired and look up to Donald Glover, who is also Childish Gambino. He writes movies, he writes TV shows, he acts in TV shows, he makes music, he’s one of the greatest artists on the planet. So pretty much just the Donald Glover outlook. It’s a little bit of everything.

Is there anything else that you are working on right now that you can talk about, or the stuff that you want to be writing? What’s the big writing stuff for you?

I can say I am going to be dropping some new music on SoundCloud when July comes and the summer starts. Obviously, everyone needs some new tunes to cook some barbecue to. So I’m definitely going to be dropping some new songs as Tim Lynch and some new Andra Gunter songs. I kind of want to retire Oz, but I won’t say I retire him yet. We’re going to throw Oz in the air and say, “We don’t know what’s going to happen with him right now,” but there’s definitely going to be new music.

You said you had retired Lynch before. Are you going to bring him back in now?

Well, the idea of Lynch is that he went off to the Navy. Now he’s coming back, and Oz is… he’s taking a hiatus right now. We have some legal issues going on with the album, so we’re trying to settle those out right now.

What’s the reaction you’ve gotten from Kipo fans? What’s it been like to get that attention?

Oh, man. I’ve been making music for a long time, like I keep saying. This year alone has showed me that there are people who actually like me. As a artist, you go through the motions of everything, who likes me, this and that, and you don’t really know where you are until people tell you in music. For a long time didn’t know my musical worth and where it was going to go. I did know that I was definitely going to have my song in a TV show, just because of personal reasons. I have an uncle, by the way, who was in Afro Samurai. He did the same thing I’m doing, he did a couple of original songs for the show.

I already had a outlook of what I wanted to do in my life, so when this came about, I definitely took the opportunity and I ran with it. The response of all the people showing me love is just… it’s kind of unbelievable. I have actual fans now and people who ask me questions and people who want to actually know what’s up with me, which is a new feeling. This definitely doesn’t feel like it did before, so it’s pretty crazy.

What’s it like knowing that your music is the favorite of a fictional cartoon character that unites this fictional cartoon boy with another boy?

I think that’s just dope, dude. This is some of the craziest things to be involved with. I told a lot of people that this is making history. This show is doing so many things that have never been done in the history of animation. When I found out Benson liked Oz the Originator, I was pretty ecstatic. I was like, “Yo, that kind of changes my life, in a way, because now I have to live up to Benson’s expectations. What are his expectations now?”

What other messages do you have for the people out there?

I am an advocate of kids with ADHD. So, for anyone who’s out there questioning their worth or not knowing how they’re going to get through the mental breakdowns we go through every 20 minutes, I want them to know that our minds are important. Our fast-paced moving minds are very important. We’re important. That’s what I just want to say.

Can you talk a little more about working with ADHD when you’re writing scripts or music?

Working with ADHD definitely is a fucking uphill battle, dude. I struggle, still, every day with a lot of things but I feel like it helps me. My uphill battle is a fun uphill battle. It’s not completely just digging into the dirt. I get to go here and get to go there because my mind has this thing where it hyper-focuses on certain things I want to do. I think working with ADHD is a good thing and a bad thing, all at the same time. I feel like my mind is a couple steps ahead of a lot of people’s at some times, because I’m hyperly thinking at all times. I feel like my ADHD has gotten me to where I am today.

If wasn’t for that, I don’t think I would be in the show. I don’t think I would be able to write a script. There’s a lot of things I don’t think I would be able to do had I not had ADHD, but I’m not going to glorify it. So, it’s a good and bad thing.

Any other messages you want to throw out there?

Yeah. Go check out my music, please.

You can check out Gunter’s music and all his other work here, where you can stream all of his music and more!

The post Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts: Oz the Originator Steps Into the Spotlight appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2EtS1sU

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

3 notes · View notes

doom-dreaming · 5 years ago

Text

Big Sigh: aka my thoughts on BL3

Okay. It's 4 in the morning and I have managed to fuck my sleep schedule completely sideways and I've been reading people's complaints and criticisms for about an hour now so here's what I have to say about Borderlands 3. This is gonna get long, buckle up.

Borderlands 3 has potential that was never fully realized and it seems half-finished and underdeveloped.

Now, you might want to take this with a grain of salt because I haven't actually played it for myself yet, but I've been watching streams of whatever I can get my grabby little hands on and here are my impressions.

I agree with the majority of you who say it was a disappointment. I feel like we were overly hyped. Maybe it was just active imaginations and excitement and love for the series, but when my friends and I can come up with at least three different storylines for the twins alone that are (in our opinions) better than what actually happened?? Something went wrong, narratively.

You all know I could talk for hours about all the different visual aspects of just Troy and how we got answers for virtually none of them - but I won't fixate entirely on him this time around.

In general, there's some kind of disconnect between what we were expecting and what we got. Characters seem one-dimensional or just "off" in some way, and granted, it has been seven canonical years since BL2 (so about five since the events of Tales, if I remember my timeline correctly) and people do change. Seven years is longer than you think, especially in an environment where literally anything could happen.

But in order for that change to be believable, it needs to be backed up by canon. I'm not saying we should have gotten a bunch of side quests that detail the years between then and now for every single character, but even just a few lines here or there as we go about our missions would have been better than leaving a gaping hole. Too much of a hole is not "let the audience fill in the blanks," it's just bad writing.

Rhys and Vaughn? As far as I know, they barely acknowledge each other. I know a lot of people are displeased with Vaughn's development and while I like the feral Vaughn, it's just a single aspect of his character. In Tales, we got to see him transform from a nerdy, gun-shy dude into someone who embraced the danger of Pandora and learned how to roll with the punches. I'm glad to see how confident he's become in BL3, but again, I feel like they distilled his character down into just one basic part.

I was actually pleased with Rhys, to be honest. I think his voice acting captured the essence of Troy Baker's, and I think he retained more character fidelity than some of the others.

Fiona, Sasha? We don't necessarily need to see them (though I would have loved that), but even overhearing a conversation from some NPCs regarding "those grifters Rhys used to run with?" "Oh yeah, I hear they're Vault hunting now" would have been fine. Just something to acknowledge that they're out in the world doing something.

I've heard big complaints about Aurelia and while I haven't played TPS and don't have too much of a grasp on her character, I can see the frustration. From what I've gathered, she doesn't seem the type to go full bloodthirsty, full money-hungry like she was made out to be. Again, seven years can change a person, but if you're going to make a change that seems out-of-character without context, then give us that context. Once more, it seems like a distillation of character to further a plot that, frankly, would have been better and more interesting if they hadn't done it.

I'm going to briefly touch on the whole Aurelia/Troy thing again (weird jealousy aside) because I've found out why it rubs me the wrong way. The twins don't operate like that. From all other negotiations we see, it's either cunning diplomacy or brute force. Aurelia didn't need to fuck Troy to get him to torture Monty Jakobs for the Vault Key. He would've done it anyway. This whole thing seemed like an attempt at an obligatory sex joke that, again, needed context to make us believe it could reasonably happen. But instead we got nothing, just a weird scene that seemed out of place for both characters involved. The only thing it contributed was foreshadowing that "the sister always wins."

And speaking of the twins, here's the meat of the problem: wasted potential.

Let's look at what we've got. Sirens. Twin sirens, one male. Already a game-changer. These guys are a living, breathing anomaly in the rules of this universe. Add in the beautiful religious aesthetic and the mystical Great Vault and we've got ourselves some amazing options.

But what did we get? We got a lackluster sibling relationship (although it did have some gems, I'll admit). We got a half-hearted betrayal that ended up amounting to nothing. And in the end? We got our ultimate villain on a quest for more power. Y a w n.

Why doesn't Tyreen listen to her father as he pleads with her? Why does she hate him so much? Where's our context?! It seems like a lack of communication more than anything. Typhon never once refers to Tyreen as a monster, which is how they saw it growing up. In fact, she seems to be the favorite. He calls her "starlight." He begs her to listen, that the Great Vault won't give her the power she wants. He's remorseful of how he raised them, resigned to what they've become, but up until the end he's trying to convince her to stop until it reaches the point where he knows he can't anymore.

What got the twins from point A to point B? I get it, shitty parental behavior leaves lasting trauma, especially when there's a layer of bad communication on top of it. But show us this, somehow. Please Gearbox, give us context. The vulnerable moments we got from the twins and Typhon left me wanting so much more of that, in particular. The talk about their childhood, the stargazing, Troy's admission about their mother, all of it was just a hint at something deeper that I feel like we never got to fully explore.

I feel that way about the whole game. Everything was the tip of an iceberg and we never got to see the rest underneath.

Imagine if Ty wanted to find the Great Vault because it would allow Troy to live a healthy, self-sufficient life. What a plot, huh? Supportive villain siblings? How dare I. What if they'd realized their mistake before it was too late. What if something woke up anyway? Something more ancient and more dangerous than ever. Let the Eridians have their time to shine. They've been a background force this whole series; pull the biggest twist and tell us that not all of their civilization was lost after all. For God's sakes, tell us more about sirens. We learned jack about shit for all their promises of "sirens will play a big part." Do the twins count as one? How do the powers pick the person?

This is getting incredibly long, so here are my closing thoughts. It doesn't feel finished. It feels like they released a half-finished ending to a series. The final events wrap up cleanly, hardly giving a new opening for a sequel, and yet there are still holes and loose ends galore in the story. I know that we still have DLC to get through, but given all of this, I'm trying not to get my hopes up.

Give us more story, deeper story, deeper characters, and most importantly, context.

Anyway. You know where to find me if you want rewrites and fix-its.

#bl3 spoilers #in this essay i will-#ash rambles #ash rambles about her murder babes

37 notes · View notes

monikea · 5 years ago

Text

Norma Jeane Baker of Troy

[Disclaimer: this is not a review. I’m not a reviewer and have no idea how to write these; this is just a note to myself that I will be able to read when I’m 60 years old and which I share here, as paper might burn but the Internet never forgets :D]

Norma Jeane Baker of Troy, The Shed, NYC, 12-19 May 2019

New scene

Enter Ben Whishaw as Norma Jeane Baker

I’m not sure what to focus on here – the play or the fact that I FINALLY WENT TO NEW YORK. This past week was so full of, well, everything to me. I always dreamt of leaving Europe for a trip, but only recently managed to save money for that. I have been tremendously sad not to be able to see Ben in ‘The Crucible’, to the point that during the last show I sat on a beach in Spain and couldn’t focus on how lucky I was to be on a beach in Spain – all I wanted was to be in the Walter Kerr Theatre.

The funny thing is, if I were now to choose between ‘The Crucible’ (I saw a recording of it in NY Public Library last week) and NJBoT, I’d choose Norma Jeane without thinking twice. I saw this play 7 times in a row which, I think, speaks for itself.

In the end, I was so lucky as to go to NYC for 10 days with my Ben family, as I like to think of them, people who I know from Ben’s Facebook fan group. I will never take it for granted and it wouldn’t have been the same without them. To go to New York, for over a week, with my best friends, to see Ben Whishaw 7 times in a mind-blowing play – I still don’t know what I did to deserve it. I won’t name them here, as I’m not sure they wish to be mentioned, but one of them kindly offered to host some of us, and I was even more lucky to stay in a real Manhattan flat. In all fairness, this is what made the entire trip possible – or at least what made seeing Ben 7 times in a row from up close possible!

The pace was rather insane. Last time I slept so little was 10 years ago when I went on a summer camp to Portugal, where I was going to sleep at 6am and waking up at 8am to go to work. Just being in New York didn’t allow me to rest. Finally, after so many years of hoping, I was in the city of my dreams, a city where I could name all the buildings and streets without ever being there, just because everyone does know them right? After all, we are being bombarded with images of New York through different movies, series, songs, books. And this place actually does exist and is not just a Hollywood creation. We started every day bright and early (thanks to the time difference it felt like waking up at 12pm) and went off to see the city. Then, every night, we took subway 7 to Hudson Yards to go to The Shed. The only night we didn’t do it was Monday, when there were simply no performances – but trust me I’d have gone if they took place.

That’s enough about Fritz Lang and the city.

The first time we saw the play (12 May) I sat very far, I believe it was the 4th row from the back. Since I then saw it 6 more times, it wasn’t a massive loss, but overall I’d say two things: 1/this play had to be seen from close up, as the lightning was so dim, otherwise you wouldn’t see what happened on the stage and 2/ this play had to be seen multiple times. I truly believe seeing it just once wasn’t enough. It wasn’t like Shakespeare that everyone kind of knows and knows what to expect. I like to compare this play to Hamilton, which is my obsession number 2 (after Ben), where the text is so rich and full of references and innuendos, that it is actually best to come see the show already knowing the lyrics and backstory from listening to the soundtrack. Same happened here, the language or the text worked alongside the actors and I think if you just saw the play once, it wouldn’t make much sense and you’d miss a lot of its beauty. I was already familiar with the story of Marilyn before seeing it (although I did some extra research, read Euripides’ ‘Helen’ etc.), but I heard some people didn’t even know that Marilyn’s real name was Norma Jeane – good luck with that! Anyway, I digress. As we sat very far, I remember I had to lean forward and really strain my eyes to see what was happening. I could barely notice Ben painting his fingernails (it was more that I already heard he was doing it, which made me notice – otherwise it was too dark to see!) or couldn’t get the details of his lingerie or dance. The sound wasn’t bad, but I’d say in this play the visuals are equally important and I completely missed that part. So I spent the first performance pretty much hoping that the next one – where I was supposed to sit closer – would already come.

About 30 minutes after the show has finished, we spotted Ben coming down the escalator. We actually chose deliberately to go on that day (12 May) as that’s when we expected (and weren’t wrong 😉) that he’d win a BAFTA for his performance as Norman Scott (Norma, Norman… his best roles, trust me) in A Very English Scandal. He was alone and about to leave the theatre, but had a while for us – we congratulated him on the BAFTA, to which he just said ‘thank you’ (I’m quite sure he himself got to know about it only minutes beforehand) and then I talked to him about NJBoT, which was the first time that I managed to talk to him about the show at hand. All the previous times I met Ben, I was talking to him about his previous shows or just telling him general thanks. I don’t remember exactly what I said that Sunday, but it surprised me that I managed to say something about Norma. Most importantly, I asked if I can hug him and he just said ‘sure’ and my biggest dream came true and I hugged Ben for a while . He is the sweetest, kindest human being and has so much patience for his fans.

For the second performance, in the end with my friend we decided to exchange seats for even closer ones, as we didn’t want to go through the pain of seeing so little again. Oh Greek gods, what a difference did it make. I finally saw what was happening on stage! On Tuesday it still wasn’t the 1st or 2nd row, so couldn’t see Ben’s face very well, but oh my. I suppose here I will start my general thoughts about the play, irrespective of the day I saw it, as from Wednesday onwards I was sitting pretty much always in the 2nd or 1st row (just once – will get back to that). If I were to describe all remaining 6 performances in detail, this would become a book, not a Tumblr note and not sure anyone would even read it!

This play was everything my poor heart could hope for. Ben finally plays the main role (which is even more prominent since there are only 2 actors on the stage) and there is nothing to take your attention away from him. Renée only emphasizes his powerful presence on stage and in fact one of my impressions after seeing the play and having read it was that they both play the same person. After all, Norma says ‘I am my own chorus’ – and Renée was her chorus. Reflecting her/his thoughts (I will continue using the pronoun ‘his’ as in the text the character is designated as Norma Jeane, but on stage I think Ben played a male playwright, who only gradually becomes Norma), never negating anything, but giving him new ideas, as if they were formed in his brain and took a tangible form as Renée. I think there can be many interpretations here, but I particularly like this one, also because in the text of the play only one character is mentioned – Norma Jeane. Renée’s character isn’t mentioned anywhere in the text and was obviously added just to make it more stage friendly. It was really hard for me to take my eyes away from Ben throughout the play, but when I finally managed to do it, it was amazing to see how they exchanged looks and this interplay of emotions was what made it even more amazing.

The play tells a story of a playwright who creates a replica of Marilyn Monroe out of himself – both visually and mentally. He is mourning her and hires a scribe to write down his stream of consciousness about Norma Jeane. He gradually drops his own male clothes to put on the entire Marilyn attire, which is a beautiful… replica of what was worn back in the 50s (the longline peach corselette and matching panty girdle – not for the faint hearted!) together with Marilyn’s white fluffy mule heels, later on changed to her Seven Year Itch strappy sandals and the iconic white dress (there is an additional layer of white underwear that Ben puts on the girdle); ultimately he wears also the platinum white Marilyn wig. On the mental side, he gradually descends into the depths of Hades and ultimately kills himself, like Marilyn did. In the meantime, he plays ukulele (just like Marilyn), has numerous mental breakdowns, perfectly imitates her delicate dreamy voice (and that of Truman Capote), mocks Arthur Miller’s dimpled white buttocks and dances the entire sequence from ‘The Prince and the Showgirl’ (see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOkv4jV1-Bo) – more about that dance later on. One remark here – this play spoke so much to me because since I remember I always took style inspiration from my favourite bands and later on actors – even now I proudly wear my black Kanken, inspired by Ben. So yes, I completely understand Ben’s character here. He also adds the breasts, hips and bum padding underneath his lingerie (and moves like a ballerina) and here I must brag, but a kind message to all people who LAUGHED mockingly at it – please go back to primary school and… just stay there. There are two actors, who, in case you don’t realise are real people and laughing off at what they do onstage is just horrible. In case you laughed out of embarrassment, fine, I get that not everyone has to be comfortable with Ben Whishaw applying fake butt under his undies, but for god’s sake, please express it differently than by laughing and commenting. Or laugh internally. Or I don’t know. Good lord. And no, that wasn’t a moment which was supposed to make you laugh, like for example Ben imitating Capote’s voice.

There is this beautiful moment, about 30 mins after the show begins when Ben plays the ukulele and sings ‘I am that Persephone, Who played with her darlings in Sicily, Against a background of social security. Oh what a glorious time we had. Or had we not? They said it was sad. I was born good, grown bad.And isn’t that how it always starts, this myth that ends with the girl ‘grown bad’?, and Renée continues: ‘She’s in a meadow gathering flowers twirling her own small sunny hours’. (I might be a barbarian, but I truly don’t understand people who were like – wow, he dared sing on the same stage as Renée Fleming! – I am a newborn Renée Fleming fan, but come on people. He’s Ben Goddamn Whishaw :D). Suddenly the mood changes dramatically, when everything becomes dark and Ben says in a sinister voice ‘When up rides a man on black horses. Up rides a man in a black hat. Up rides a man with a black letter to deliver’… I don’t know how he does it but in this moment I see Hades in a black robe (yet Ben is still in his peach corset) who came to do something unforgivable. The entire story changes then, when Renée exclaims ‘rape’. ‘Rape is the story of Helen, Persephone, Norma Jeane, Troy’ they continue. Renée then sings ‘War is the context and God is a boy. Oh my darlings, they tell you you’re born with a precious pearl. Truth is, it’s a disaster to be a girl. Up came the black horses and the dark King. And the harsh sunshine was as if it had never been. In the halls of Hades they said I was queen’. That’s what they always say, isn’t it?

She sings it again just at the end of the play when Ben’s Norma Jeane dies and at that point I wasn’t crying, I was ejecting bodily fluids. Apologies to those sitting around me.

Back to Ben’s dance. This play is full of what in Polish I’d call ‘smaczki’ – little flavours that make this play the most tasty dish ever served. Ben’s voice changes, whenever he imitates someone; Renée’s gorgeous singing; the music which was composed uniquely of Renée’s mixed voice; the funny moments, which can so suddenly and unexpectedly turn into the most frightening scene, when in the middle of mocking Arthur of New York and Sparta, a phone rings and everyone is terrified. There’s an enormous amount of language play (language is a third actor on the stage, with gorgeous explanations of the etymology of Greek words – in fact, Ben has an English-Greek dictionary on the desk), there’s Ben playing ukulele and singing, there’s putting on makeup, there’s changing clothes, there’s shouting and throwing things around and then there’s the dance.

My god what Ben can do. WHAT THIS MAN CAN DO. He is so ethereal, lithe, yet with well-toned muscles and he suddenly starts to give this beautiful coy dance, where throughout he hides his face in charming embarrassment and smiles sweetly to Renée. This is one of the moments when I am almost angry that I have to translate my soul, as it would be so much easier to find perfect words for this in Polish, but at least my head is full of them. Writing about this dance (or this play) is anyway as futile as dancing about architecture. Ben looks perfect then, he is just perfection personified. With his little smile, his peach corselette (some other note here on Tumblr said that ‘Ben Whishaw should just exist in this corset’ and yes, he should), his bottle green male pants and the fluffy heels (the connection of the female corselette and the male suit pants is just… send firemen). On top of that, Renée sings like an angel and my brain is so overstimulated from listening to all those language games and being in New York to actually experience it that… (where are the firemen?!)…

But the thing is – and that’s why this play is so amazing – that when you actually find the superhuman power in yourself not to focus on Ben’s dance only, but to also listen to the song they play to it, your brain suddenly registers that something doesn’t fully stick – the music is super cheerful (note: it is not the same music as the one in Marilyn’s video from ‘The Prince and the Showgirl’) – it’s a typical 50s song with blurred voices, but the text is rather morose and it goes like ‘Dirt is matter out of place, matter out of place. A poached egg on your plate at breakfast is not dirt. The poached egg on page 202 of the Greek lexicon in the library of the British Museum is dirt. Dirt is something that has crossed a boundary it ought not to have crossed. Dirt confuses categories and mixes up form’ (I researched a bit and there’s an entire book on this topic, ‘Purity and Danger’ by Mary Douglas, where the main point being analysed is that what is regarded as dirt in a given spot is any matter out of place. What was considered clean in Sparta, wasn’t clean in Troy and vice versa. That’s the gist. Anne Carson I love you.)

Noone cries like Ben Whishaw. It really hurts all parts of my body to watch this. And it is so beautiful to watch Renée being concerned about him and the state he found himself in. One of the most beautiful scenes in the play is when Ben sits down at his desk and Renée very delicately takes his head in her hand and applies the fake eyelashes to his eyes, singing in a way that makes my heart break. There is so much love in this scene and acceptance and will of help and saying: I’m here for you and I will go with you on this journey.

And then suddenly you see he starts to take the pills and swallowing them with the fake theatre champagne and that’s when I start ejecting bodily fluids again. Renée comes back with her ‘Up came the black horses and the dark King. And the harsh sunshine was as if it had never been. In the halls of Hades they said I was queen’.

I suppose this text I wrote now will never be finished as memories and new realisations will keep on coming back to me and that’s where the beauty of this play lies – it’s an endless fishing ground for references and innuendos, interpretations and new things to be understood. But, enough for now.

I talked to Ben 3 more times after the play, on 14, 17 and 19 May. I now barely remember what I said precisely, but on Tuesday I told him how utterly enchanted I am by this play and that it talks about so many important things to me and doesn’t seem strange at all. Sunday was mad, as one can expect after the end of a run, with a long queue of fans (I gave Ben bright red roses, thanked him for the umpteenth time and complimented his new shirt, which he bought on Friday – don’t ask how I know it, I’m just a very careful observer LOL. He is my style guru, so I had to haha). With my friend we even managed to chat to the CEO of The Shed, Alex Poots, who was so amazed that we saw Norma Jeane 7 times, that he took out his iPhone and asked us to record a video where we recommend the show (bit late for that on the last night, but he can rest assured that I will be back!).

But Friday was just something else. Perhaps it was the power of red wine or the fact that Ben was going home alone and not with Mark or friends, but we approached him together with quite a few other fans and I swear to god, we had the funniest ever chat with him. To put it briefly, Ben was surrounded by around 10-15 fans and chatting to us in a very lovely, cheeky way (I love his sense of humour. I love everything about him, but that night it was just too much). Like imagine it. Someone asked him ‘Ben, what is the perfume that you wear?’ and he goes ‘Oh, it’s this, wait, I’ll show you’ and he took the perfume out of his tote bag and demonstrated it to everyone, gaining a round of ‘Awwwwwwww’. I still can’t believe it happened haha. One of my friends asked if he saw and liked Bjork and they chatted a bit about it and then Ben asked us if we did see her too, to which I replied ‘no, because we saw ANOTHER SHOW’. I could see that he was thinking and then suddenly it clicked, but I guess by that time he was perfectly aware that some of us saw it 7 times haha. He also told us ‘Don’t sit again in the first row, I can see you all’ (that’s what I meant when I said I will get back to the issue of sitting in the 1st row :D). Sweet lord. Best week of my life.

Exeunt omnes singing.

#normajeanebakeroftroy #BenWhishaw #reneefleming #theshed #nyc #annecarson #marilynmonroe #arthurmiller #helenoftroy #persephone

77 notes · View notes

unofficialkfamtranscripts · 5 years ago

Text

KFAM - Episode 1 - May 1, 2015

View in Google Docs

[podcast intro music]

[Soft jazz music]

Chet Sebastian [Mellow] So then Charlie Parker pulled his gun, but, hey, that’s jazz, right? This has been Chet Sebastian’s Jazz corner. Thanks for listening, and stay cool, cats.

[Rock intro music]

Sammy Good evening, I’m Sammy Stevens and you’re listening to King Falls AM. That’s 660 on the radio dial. This is my first show. Hell, its my first day in King Falls! so let’s talk about it, shall we?

[CENSOR BEEP]

Sammy And I think we just set our first record on the show, ladies and gents. Getting bleeped in the first thirty seconds.

Ben Language. We’re family friendly.

Sammy It’s 2 AM, Ben. *small laugh* I mean, I think we can probably give hell a pass.

[BEEP]

Sammy Okay, new rule: if it’s part of Carlin Seven[1] or derivatives of: bleep away. Other than that, let’s cool the censor jets, Ben. Uh, for all you listening out there, I’d love to introduce you to our producer, Benjamin Arnold.

Ben That’s okay.

Sammy We’re live, Benny.

Ben It’s Ben. And I-I just- I don’t wanna, ruin the, journalistic integrity o—

Sammy Of this show? We’re an AM late night talk show.

Ben As I was saying: I don’t want to ruin the journalistic integrity of myself, Sammy.

Sammy Oh, it’s besmirched. It's solidly besmirched. So, why don't you just, uh, make use of that mic, and pull it up, and have at it?

Ben *sighs* [bleep]

Sammy *laughs* Alright, you’re here with Sammy and Ben. Not Benjamin, not Benny, but Ben. Uh, he’s my producer, our journalist-with-integrity, and uh, professional censorist.

Ben *laughs* Oh, man.

Sammy As I was saying kids, it’s my first day on the job here, my first day in town, and I’d love to open up the phone lines to you, our lovely King Falls listeners, and talk about this beautiful little place.

Ben [proudly] It is nice, isn’t it?

Sammy h- Nice doesn’t even begin to describe it. I mean, the little shops, the scenery. It's literally a mountain Mayberry.[2]

Ben Oh, you have no idea! We’ve been voted best small town in America six years straight by the King Falls Chamber of Commerce.

Sammy … The town voted the town, Best Small- Town in America?

Ben Oh yeah! There was a ribbon presentation, a parade down Main Street. Six years running.

Sammy I’m not sure that’s the way it works, Ben.

Ben Couldn’t imagine being anywhere else in the world.

Sammy Alright, now, wait a second. You were talking to me right before the show started, and it’s your dream job to be one of the great journalists of all time. “Cronkite. Brokaw. Ben Arnold.”

Ben That’s the dream! That-that’s the goal.

Sammy But you can’t imagine being anywhere else.

Ben [awkwardly] Well! Let’s be fair. There’s-There’s the King Falls Gazette, there’s- King Falls AM, of course. Even those clowns over at Channel 13. If you knew King Falls, you’d know that everything you ever need to talk about, is right here.

Sammy Huh. Well, you know, maybe you’ve got a point. I mean, worst case scenario, you’re gonna have a great perspective on the ribbon cutting ceremonies.

Ben [excitedly] Actually, I’ve had a great perspective for the past three years! And last year? I got a seat next to Mayor Grisham. *pleased huff* I could see that velvety blue ribbon being cut.

Sammy Alright, alright. Riveting stuff, Ben. But you know what, before we open up the phone lines tonight, to uh, talk to you folks for the first time, I’d like to take one hot minute and just send a special shout out to a new friend of the show, Deputy Troy, uh, Craiger, Kroger?

Ben [disdainfully] Kreighauser.

Sammy That’s the one! Now, Deputy Troy could’ve dropped an elbow on me with the long arm of the law when he pulled me over this evening.

Ben He pulled you over?! *chuckles* Wow. I thought his car was just decoration. What the heck did you do that he pulled you over?

Sammy Yeah, okay. It was the weirdest thing. So, I’m running late, and I can’t miss the first show, right? So I’m gunning it. Over the mountain, through the woods, no time for grandma, and uh, you know, maybe I’m just not used to the winding roads up here, but I get-I get a little lost and my phone zoinks out and I got no GPS, I got no Apple Maps (not that anybody’s using it) and—

Ben Don’t tell me- Sweetzer Forest?

Sammy That is exactly where! How-How did you know that?

Ben Oh, it gets everybody! The listeners know that. Legend has it, there’s an apparition of an old general that changes the directions on the signs so he doesn’t lead his troops into one of the bloodiest massacres in King Falls history.

Sammy Cool story, bro, but, there wasn’t a sign.

Ben That’s a new one! Thinking on his toes. I like it!

Sammy The ghost?

Ben Whoa! They prefer apparition. Like, when you call a dwarf a midget, and it’s not cool?

Sammy Okay. So you’re telling me that instead of just getting lost up in the hills, a ghost—

Ben Apparition.

Sammy *chuckles* An apparition, was screwing with me?

Ben That's one hundred percent what I’m saying. It gets everybody.

Sammy … Right.

Ben You don’t believe me? They don't have apparitions in the Big City, Sammy?

Sammy Not that I’m aware of, no.

Ben *scoffs* Let’s go to the phones. King Falls, our new pal, Sammy, doesn’t believe in the Sweetzer Forest apparition. 424-279-3858.

Sammy Okay now. I’m not saying I—

Ben [cutting him off] Phone lines are already blowing up! Uh, let’s see, I don't know, oh-uh, line six! Deputy Troy.

Sammy Deputy Troooy!

Deputy Troy [laughing] Y'all should’ve seen it. General Abilene got him good.

Sammy General Abilene? He has a name now?

Ben You never read about Abilene’s last stand? What are they teaching you Big City kids? [making a point] Well, why’d you pull him over, Troy?

Sammy Okay, obviously , I was going a little too fast for my own good—

Deputy Troy I sure didn’t see no speedin’, Benny.

Ben [flatly] It’s Ben.

Deputy Troy Sammy looked like a dog chasin’ its tail for for damn near twenty minutes! Guy was just goin’ in circles. Looked like he was lappin’ the field in the King Falls 500!

Ben Sound familiar, Sammy?

Sammy Circles? No. I mean, I took a left here, and a right there. It couldn’t have been more than a minute or two before Deputy Troy threw up the ol’ red and blues.

Deputy Troy Try twenty minutes. If I hadn’t’a intervened, it’s a fact we’d all be listening to ol’ Chet blow that horn for another couple hours. You gotta watch out for the general! He’s sneakier than a honey badger in a bee hive!

Ben See?

Deputy Troy Ah hell, [low siren in bg] I think I just saw one of the William’s boys just ding-dong-ditch ol’ Ms. Baker. [faint tire squeal] I gotta go boys. [quietly in bg] Ah, son of a b[bleep]! That little mother[bleep]!

Sammy Well, on that note boys and girls, [click] we’re gonna pay some bills and keep the lights on in our little cabin we call a radio station. Ben and I will be right back after a message from our sponsors.

[Car horn, tire squeal, sound of car crashing]

Announcer voice Uh-oh! Have you recently been in an automobile accident!? Are you tender over a fender-bender?

High-pitched voice Owwwiee!

Announcer Don’t let the insurance company fool you into just unscuffin’ and buffin’! Let Rosenburg, Rothchild and Dirk get you the settlement that you deserve!

Caveman voice DIRK GET YOU MONEY

Woman [singing jauntily] ♫Iiif you got your car smashed by some jerk, call Rosenburg Rothchild aaand-♫

Caveman DERRRRRK!

[KFAM music]

Sammy Thank you folks out there for listening to AM 660, home of the King Falls AM. So, you’ve heard our story, now let’s hear yours. Give us a call here at the station. Today’s topic: King Falls. What do you love? What should I know as a new resident? Give me your on-air Yelp reviews. 424-279-3858, or tweet us @kingfallsam.

Ben Line 3.

Sammy You’re on King Falls AM.

Line 3 [Low, gravelly] The producer was right.

Sammy Um, I’m sorry?

Line 3 You shouldn’t make light of the spirits.

Sammy [incredulous] The spirits?

Line 3 Down Sweetzer forest, you jest about the spirits, but you’ll come to regret it. That’s a fact, Big City.

[click, dial tone]

Sammy Oookay, uh, so. *mildly disturbed chuckle* We’re taking your calls, kids. Tell us what you love about the Falls, your likes, your favorite things to do and see—

Ben Orrr, maybe your favorite run in with General Abilene!

Sammy Uh-huh.

Ben We’ve got Finn on Line 7.

Sammy Finn?

Finn [perpetually excited] Oh, yeah! It’s Finn! Thanks for takin’ my call! How ya doing tonight, Sammy!?

Sammy *chuckles* Well, we’re doing alright, thanks for—

Finn See, I’m an over-the-road driver. I drive the big semi-trucks- loggin’ mostly, ya know?! And I have to tell you guys, I absolutely love it every time I drive through King Falls!

Sammy Well, alright! Now, why do you think—

Finn It’s just a beautiful town, isn’t it!? Scenic, and quiet as a cemetery!

Sammy [softly] Is it that quiet?

Finn Don’t you know it! I usually run through about three- four in the mornin’. The town’s just sittin’ there off Route 72 like one of those Thomas Kinkade[3] paintings. You know the Thomas Kinkade!

Sammy Yeah, of course. He’s the uh—

Finn All the twinkle-twinkle lights, pretty-as-a-picture. You know!

Ben We know!

Sammy Do you ever make your way into town, Finn?

Finn I haven’t ever gotten to stop, yet. Other than Rose’s diner, off the exit? But I can rreeally imagine settlin’ down and doin’ all the towny stuff with the family, ya know!?

Sammy *chuckles* Well, you know what? Next time you’re passing through, you swing on by the station and say hi, Finn.

Finn O-can-do, friends! Lookin’ forward to that! Holy SH[bleep]!!

Sammy [alarmed] Finn? Finn, are you alright?

Finn I’m dandy! But I just saw the biggest light-show-hullabaloo I ever seen! Looks like that Captain EO[4] laser light show at the Disney!

Ben [confused] Captain EO?

Finn Lit up the sky like the American Independence Day fire shows!

Ben [still unsure] Fireworks?

Finn Yeah! You know! It’s still going! The night looks- like the day!

Sammy Ben, can you check outside?

Ben On it.

Finn I-I-I’m gonna let you go! Too much goin’ on to be phonin’ into the show! [door closing in bg] Y-y-you fellas take care!

Sammy You too, Finn. Uh, you know, keep it between the lines, buddy.

Finn You know it!

[click]

Sammy [muttering] Uh, okay, how do you d- work this- uh. [normally] Line 2, you’re on King Falls AM.

Line 2 [lisping, kind of] Hey Shammy!

Sammy Heh-howdy! Give King Falls some love.

Line 2 I jush wanted- I jush wanted to call- I’m jusht a really big fan. A Big fan- I mean big.

Sammy The show just started minutes ago.

Line 2 [awkwardly] Yeah, this show’s- alright too… But I’ve been following your days since you were Shotgun Shammy!

Sammy [slightly nostalgic] Oh wow, Shotgun Sammy. *chuckles* Where are you located?

Line 2 Ohhh here and there. It’s a localized global world now! With the internet and technology. I just wanted to say, *awkward laughter* “Hi.” It’s just so- I love the show.

Sammy Well, thanks for listening. [door closing in bg] And we appreciate it! What was your name again?

Line 2 [shouting] Shotgun Sammyyy!

Ben [eagerly] You gotta see this! That truck driver wasn’t kidding! The whole place is lit up like- Christmas! or- something. Uh- Is anyone else out there seeing this? Look, the phone lines are on fire, man.

Sammy Uh, Line 1, you’re on the air.

Line 1 Hey guys, yeah, I’m- I’m, uh- I’m seein’ it the same as you are.

Sammy Well, now, who are we talking to?

Line 1 Oh, sorry, uh, Tim. Tim Jensen. I’m heading home from work out on Route 72? And I’m-I’m looking at the lights.

Ben That looks like the direction they’re coming from.

Tim Yeah, there’s no doubt about that. They’re-they’re right on top of the old mill down off- Clower Street. It looks like- you’re looking into like, three different suns.

Sammy Three?

Tim Yeah, these, uh- rainbow- lights? I-I don’t know what you’d call ‘em. They’re coming from these three triangle-shaped thingies.

Ben UFOs?

Tim Hey- Hey. I did not say the “U” word. I said Triangle. Shaped… Thingies.

Sammy [glibly] You know, a technical term.

Ben W-w-what’re the triangles doing, Tim?

[eerie sci-fi bg music]

Tim They’re just hovering! I’d say maybe two or- or three stories up off the ground? [getting slightly nervous] They’ve moved on past the mill now.

Sammy Wh-wh- Can you describe—

[deep, ominous, pulsing whir enters music]

Tim Wai-wait. Hold on a second, they’re- they’re moving closer to the road I think.

Sammy Alright, you are our eyes, Tim. Tell us what you see.

Tim [absently worried] The hell is that thing doing?

Sammy Be careful out there, Tim.

Tim It just turned the other direction, and-and- and crossed the road. Couple hundred yards ahead- I-I’m gonna slow down.

[whirring stops]

Sammy Describe, if you can—

Tim It just stopped! [music stops] Right above the road!

Ben Stopped? W-what’re-

[whir]

Tim The lights just changed direction again! It’s definitely heading this way!

Sammy Turn around, Tim.

[slow, building whir]

Tim Oh hell, th- they’re coming fast! Guys!

Ben Get out of there, Tim!

Sammy Ben, call Deputy Troy. [deep whir growing in volume] Stay safe out there Tim!

Tim Ah sh[bleep] They’re-they’re right above me! I-I can’t see! [whir is louder than voices] The lights! NO! [loud building buzz/zoom, like a racecar accelerating] NO! NOO! *SCREAMING*

[silence]

[dial tone]

Sammy Tim? Hello, Tim? Can- Tim?

Ben [solemnly] Line’s dead, Sammy.

Sammy *heavy sigh* O-okay, uh folks, we’re just gonna take a quick break here. Uh, we’ll be right back to take more of some of your King Falls favorites.

Ben I-I’ve got Troy here.

[quietly in background: Sammy: Troy, hey are you listening to this? Ben, can you try to dial line one back, please?]

[rock outro music]

[CREDITS] King Falls AM is a production of the Make Believe Picture Company. For credits, as well as more information about King Falls AM, you can find us on Twitter @kingfallsam, on Facebook, and at kingfallsam.com. Thanks for listening to 660 on the radio dial.

References:

[1] Carlin Seven - Seven dirty words to never say on air (sh*t, p*ss, f*ck, c*nt, c*cks*cker, motherf*cker, and t*ts)

[2] Mayberry - A fictional small town featured in “The Andy Griffin Show”

[3] Thomas Kinkade - “The Painter of Light”, a popular American artist, known for his paintings of pastoral scenes, cottages, and the like, often with lit windows. (There are a lot of puzzles featuring his work)

[4] Captain EO - a 1986 American 3D science fiction film that was shown at Disney theme parks from 1986 through 1996. The movie stars Michael Jackson, was written by George Lucas and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The film was shown as part of an attraction with in-theater effects.

#kfam #king falls am #king falls #sammy stevens #ben arnold #kfam transcripts #kfam ep1 #troy krieghauser #tim jensen #finn the truck driver

5 notes · View notes

moonbeam-broker · 5 years ago

Note

What's your three favorite characters from borderlands. Why are they your favorites?

Really tough question!

I absolutely adore Rhys from Tales, he's always my go-to, my number one choice.

I think it's because I really latched onto him as a character, as did many others. His personality type just really clicked for me, I loved his character designs, the fact that he's voiced by Troy Baker, and overall his character arc over the course of the game--to be honest, I was just so smitten right off the bat.

It took the cake when I started to realize just how much love was put into him.

I've played that game enough times to know it's an unhealthy obsession, and I swear it's all due to him and the minute details in everything, down to his usually overlooked physical gestures and dialogues that people usually miss. I really wanted to find every ounce of his charm.

On top of that, he's such a fun character to write, given his unique nature. He's totally dorky, yet can still be surprisingly suave. He has a depth to him that I can't really find in other characters.

I'm probably just so biased towards him it's warped my view of other characters at this point. Ha.

I would say Timothy Lawrence (Handsome Jack's body double) is my second hand man. I seriously adored playing as him in the Pre-Sequel, when to begin with I genuinely only expected to be cavorting around as another Jack. I got so much more.

He's this poor, poor soul who sold himself to student loans, just wanted to be a scholarly boy, a momma's boy on top of that--he didn't want to be on the moon getting shot at, but he'd already been sold again to the man, the pre-legend himself Jack who lured him in with the promise of money.

So at first he's like this greedy kid with big dreams who ends up in this horrible situation of his own choosing, traumatized by all of the violence, and over the course of the game he progressively becomes more and more accustomed to killing things that it starts to scare him.

He has one line that entirely shakes me to my core, and I'm not even going to offer any context, because I think it speaks for itself.

"I'm not you, Jack."

Finally, we have the one, the only, the character I'll regret most after posting this list, and that is Handsome Jack himself.

Unarguably, he's had the most done in terms of character arc, and it's become somewhat of a bible for the Borderlands series lore, at least to me. He's possibly the most well-known character of the series, and despite his (obvious) shortcomings, he's still the guy everyone loves to hate.

What makes him a character worthy of mentioning on my favorites list, however, is because of the man he was to begin with.

His eye for greatness, his care for others and his wanting to belong somewhere, the path he travels and how he falls from grace so seamlessly that it's hard for even me to completely scorn him.

I genuinely want to believe that if he'd just had a friend at the right moment, he would have become a good person, he wouldn't have turned his tone to violence. At the same time, a part of me really appreciates his flip in personality considering it helps shape Rhys' own decisions and who he ultimately turns out to be.

Jack's certainly not useless, and he's not an unlikely story. I think a lot of people in his situation would have acted similarly.

That doesn't mean I'd let him babysit my kids or anything, uh, no. No Uncle Jack.

Anyway, it was hard to pick exactly who I'd say my favorites are across the games, but the fact that I've come up with a definitive answer shows that I must really like these three particularly. Thank you for your question, anon!

#borderlands #tftbl #rhys #timothy lawrence #handsome jack #favorite characters #ask

29 notes · View notes

a-forger-and-a-point-man · 6 years ago

Text

re: the first preview of norma jeane baker of troy, plus a guide to the shed

at least four people got up walked out of the show, and this was before ben whishaw pranced around the stage in just lingerie and heels.

as you know from my previous posts of this nature, this won't be a review as much as it is a bunch of scattered notes about the whole experience.

i hope this post can be helpful to those of you planning to come a long way to see the show, and to others who are on the fence about seeing it at all.

norma jeane baker of troy is not a show i would normally choose to see, because the subject matter doesn't interest me. this is very much unlike the last time ben whishaw was in nyc; that was an arthur miller play that was an established success. i’m very much open to trying new things but all in all this production bored me. i was not fond of the writing because I didn’t read and therefore couldn’t appreciate euripedes’ helen. i’m not really excited by greek mythology I guess. thank god it was just 90 mins. i found it hard to follow so i am really looking forward to the reviews from folks who are tapped into the story.

it's worth the money to see ben’s transformation into marilyn monroe. he looks spectacular. at one point he dances seductively in heels and a corset and he looks divine. and that's before he strips down to his sexy underwear! what even is that bod! i wanted to throw money at him tbh. when did he get this ripped?! someone has been working out big time. and yet his waist remains the tiniest thing! but he's all muscle now. 1000% worth the time and money. he plays a ukulele too and he sings and his voice is amazing holy shit. do you know what it takes to sing in front of renee fleming?

ben’s american accent was fine. you can hear his own accent coming through at times. it's much stronger in the recorded portions of the performance, when there's voice recorder playback.

renee, who is an opera legend, sounded incredible - but i was left wondering why she would want a part like this where she plays second fiddle to ben. it was very interesting because all eyes were on ben’s very physical performance. he commands the stage anyway, just as himself, as many of us have come to learn - but in this role you can't take your eyes off him.

the stage lighting is basically made up of two desk lamps, and at times i wished things were exposed more, but i know it was meant to be mood lighting. if you have tickets from the 7th row back, you're in luck - it seems you'll have far better views and the lighting is better too. those seats are all raised. my parents sat there while my partner and i had the floor seats. they're full price yet the damn onstage desks obscure so much!

the seats were comfy though and it seemed like a mostly full house. normally i wouldn't recommend seeing a first preview and i try to avoid them because that's when a show is at its worst tbh. there's nerves and kinks are still being worked out. but i didnt have the luxury of choice this time. four people did walk out, which i’ve never witnessed before. at least four. unrelated, different rows, and at different points in the show. one of them was in the front row and ben watched him walk out! that was when i knew i wasn't alone in tuning out of the discussion happening onstage. i didn't really catch on but that's okay - for me, the actors made it worth it. if you don't give a shit who they are, then yeah, this show is a total waste of time for you.

i could see camera flashes during the bows so i’m sure pics of ben in full marilyn garb are already online!

also I should mention that my boyfriend, who isn't the type to comment on these things and is generally a man of few words, said the following, and i quote: “[ben] should just exist in that corset.”

a peek into the playbill:

ONTO THE VENUE-

april 6 also happened to be the first day of operations for the shed, which is a brand new arts venue on the west side in hudson yards. construction continues on the outside. the inside is very sparse, and the signs aren't even all up. I didn't know where the will call line was, or the theater itself! it was kind of a hot mess because a dozen of us stood for about 15 mins in line to pick up our tickets, only to be told the system was down and staff had no idea what to do. it was everyone's first day but that frustrated a few people. only after I got to the front did i realize my ticket was emailed to me, and there is no physical ticket pickup if you booked online! duh! so check your emails and flag them and don't waste time like i did.

the bar/cafe wasn't even open - it was completely bare! i think it opens on the 22nd of april. they gave us tickets for free drinks after the opening, which was great. anyone can go in there to get a snack or coffee btw - you don't need a ticket to a show. in lieu of bar service at the moment, there is free bottled water, bottled diet coke, and popcorn tubs you can scoop from. definitely go early and enjoy the lobby! there are outlets underneath the bar to charge your phones. thus far the gift shop is just a cool bookstore in the corner, which is neat. the bathrooms in the lobby are nice and spacious but not gender neutral, unless i missed something. the soap dispensers weren't even set up yet - clearly someone ran out to the drug store and bought random assorted brands of hand soap lol. as for accessibility - norma jeane baker of troy is on the 6th floor, so give yourself plenty of time to take several escalators up. there is an elevator too.

since this was such a beautiful warm day, we walked the 30 mins across the high line to the shed. that's definitely my recommended route! the high line is basically an elevated park that used to be a rail line.

this is the intersection where the high line begins:

here's what the shed looks like as you approach it:

you'll find it where the high line terminates. the entrance is on the other side, so walk around the construction! it looks like this:

i don't know where the stage door is, as i figured after the first preview everyone will just want to go home. but don't be shy - ask the staff where it is and wait there for the actors if you want. it's a normal part of theater-going in nyc but just be sure to have zero expectations: actors may leave through a back door to avoid people, or they may be rushing to dinner plans, or they may say it's cool to sign but no pics... there are several possibilities. no harm in waiting though! you may end up getting the opportunity for a chat, so take the chance 😉

i hope this post has been helpful. don't hesitate to ask me questions! i really look forward to seeing all your reviews and discussing the show as a fandom 🤗

#benwhishaw #reneefleming #normajeanebakeroftroy #mythoughts #00q #firstpreview #theshed

56 notes · View notes

moonwest · 6 years ago

Text

Belated Thoughts on Norma Jeane Baker of Troy

I’m going to try to be honest and not let my tremendous admiration for both Ben and Renée Fleming cloud my review of the play and my reaction to it.

I saw the play twice. I had purchased a really good seat for April 26, and arrived in NY April 24. I spent the afternoon sitting in the sun at Bryant Park and walking the High Line (highly recommend doing both!) and of course the High Line starts (or ends) at Hudson Yards, so naturally I had to scope out the lay of the land and explore The Shed that first day. Completely on the spur of the moment I asked if there were any cheap seats for that evening and there were, in the very last row but one, so I went for it.

For anyone who may be going in this last week (and I apologize for writing this up so late) I would recommend paying more money and sitting closer to the stage if possible. The play is dimly lit and while the acoustics were fine, I missed a number of visual details sitting so far away. The theatre sits 500 people and is basically a black box – very stark (though the seats are comfortable enough). Sightlines were fine and the sound was very clear – as I said, it was really more the distance and low lighting than anything else that were a bit of a challenge.

There is no stage door per se. If you’re lucky (like I was), the performers exit via the escalator into the lobby bar area, and that’s your chance to meet them.

I can understand why some people have struggled with the play – it’s not a typical linear story, and it’s a spoken poem - not at all a naturalistic dialogue between two people. And I think a number of audience members were made uncomfortable seeing a male actor slowly transform into a woman – both nights I could feel a palpable shift in attention when the corset and padding came out.

I had the great pleasure of seeing Anne Carson’s Bakkhai in 2015 so I knew there would be a lot of both poetic and sung language – which is certainly delivered here. And because I was completely unfamiliar with the Helen of Euripides, it really helped to have read the play – which I did before seeing it again Friday night.

All that to say – while on first viewing I might not have understood every nuance of the text, I certainly got the gist of it: how women – their lives and stories – are so often controlled, co-opted and distorted by men, and no matter the time or place, there is something familiar and heartbreaking in seeing this play out over and over again. In many ways Ben and Renée are ciphers – almost acting as chorus telling this story rather than distinct characters with fully realized stories of their own. Why is Ben’s character dictating a new version of Helen? What is thge story behind his burn scars? Why is he obsessed with Marilyn Monroe and her link to Helen, to the point where he becomes her/their persona? Why does he feel so deeply for these women? Why is Renée’s character so desperate for money that she agrees to transcribe his words in secret and after midnight on New Year’s Eve? What is in her that reacts so strongly to his transformation that in the very act of witnessing she becomes complicit and tenderly compassionate?

I don’t think we’re meant to know any of these things – and honestly that didn’t bother me a bit. I was drawn in and mesmerized throughout. Some of the language, simple as it is, is so beautiful and rings so sadly true, as expressed by them both. There’s humour and tragedy and deep rage here, and wow – as performers they absolutely nail it.

Renée’s voice is almost otherworldly in its richness, strength, grace and sheer generosity, and to have the privilege of seeing her live in a smallish theatre was a privilege I don’t take lightly. There is a reason she is so highly regarded in the music world, and people around me the second night were marvelling that she had agreed to do this when she can so easily command huge audiences in opera houses and concert halls worldwide.

And oh Ben – the way he moves his body and the change in tone of his voice as he becomes Helen/Marilyn/Persephone is wry, funny, graceful, sexy, moving, tragic and impossible to ignore. @a-forger-and-a-point-man commented in her review how he commands the stage and is just spectacular in every way (she’s much more eloquent than I could ever hope to be). And yes – on a purely shallow physical note he does not disappoint! I don’t think even at my best my waist was ever that small. And yes he really can sing and the guts it must take to do a duet with Renée – but he pulls it off!

It was even better on second viewing (center seat, third row), because: a) I knew what to expect and could really watch and listen for certain lines, movements and song; and b) I could appreciate the sheer fluidity of their choreographed movements, and how very in sync they were with each other. And oh my – the sheer detail in that tawdry office set is mind blowing when you see it close up. Ben was very beautiful up close (and very thin but sculpted muscle all over!) and well… just wow. And of course heartbreaking as always. And oh I have such a girl crush on Renée now!

I have to applaud them both for taking this on – because it’s such a departure and so brave – especially given the mixed reviews and less than receptive audiences (Four people walked out the first night I saw it). They’re both impossibly beautiful in this and it’s something I’ll be thinking about for a very long time. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed seeing their interviews together because the level of trust, ease and joy they seem to have in each other is essential I think for making it work.

I was lucky enough to meet @midrashic the first night (we were sitting beside each other!) and Ben after the play – and as always he was quietly shy and charming and of course I was tongue tied and I’m sure came across as a blithering fangirl (which – let’s face it, I am – but I try not to make it too obvious). I’m glad I was able to tell him how strongly the play affected me as a woman. I said I was really looking forward to seeing him as Uriah Heep in David Copperfield in December and he grimaced and said he wasn’t sure how that was going to turn out. Oh dear. And of course I COMPLETELY forgot to mention A Very English Scandal. The overalls were in evidence and good god his hair in person really is still beyond belief and still totally deserves its own tag!

#Ben Whishaw #Renee Fleming #Norma Jeane Baker of Troy #my review

32 notes · View notes

impossible-rat-babies · 6 years ago

Text

Gaming: About Me

I was tagged by @idrelle-miocovani (thank you lovely!)

Fave game of the past five years?

Oof I gotta go with a couple: the Dragon Age series, and Fallout games. I’ve always known about the Fallout games, but getting into them wasn’t something I did until recently. I’ve really enjoyed Monster Hunter: World too. Dragon’s Dogma! Gosh, I love that game.

Most nostalgic game?

The Harvest Moon series of games. I played them on the Game Cube and on the Wii as well. I spent days at a friend’s house playing Harvest Moon because I loved it so much. Also pokemon too. That game gives me a lot of nostalgia of long car rides to visit relatives.

Game that deserves a sequel?

Not necessarily a sequel, but I want more of west coast Fallout. New Vegas is so cool and interesting and I want more about it, especially after the choices you make in New Vegas. That or I want a true canonical Fallout game in the Midwest USA.

Game that deserves a remaster?

Dragon age Origins, the Mass Effect Trilogy and Fallout: New Vegas. They all have such good stories and they deserve better graphics. Also Dragon’s Dogma; it’s a beautiful game as it is right now, but it could use a refresher.

Fave game series?

Ooof I gotta go with the Dragon Age series TBH. It was first big getting back into playing video games and I’ve never looked back. It’s inspired me to get back into writing and improving my own art practices.

Favorite genre?

RPG, hands down. I love making characters and seeing the worlds that they inhabit.

Least favorite genre?

Shooters like Call of Duty or MMORPG games. I’m chill with Monster Hunter World because the multiplayer is optional and the community I’ve had experiences with has been mostly good. But beyond that I’m not into the toxic community of shooters or the grieving and trolling of big multiplayers like Grand Theft Auto or WoW

Favorite song from a game?

I love Journey to Skyhold from Dragon Age Inquisition. Just like the cutscene, the song has a very special place in my heart. That and The Inquisition Marches and Return to Skyhold.

I love love love Our Island from the Fallout 4 DLC Far Harbor. That whole DLC is my favorite one of the lot of them just from the atmosphere and the story of it. The whole soundtrack is really my favorite; I could listen to it all day.

Also the whole of the Dragon’s Dogma soundtrack. I could listen to it allll day.

Favorite character from a game?

Gonna go with from each franchise I love because I can’t pick:

1. Dorian Pavus (Dragon Age: Inquisition)

2. Iron Bull (Dragon Age: Inquisition)

3. Fenris (Dragon Age 2)

4. John Hancock (Fallout 4)

5. Robert Joseph MacCready (Fallout 4)

6. Veronica Santangelo (Fallout: New Vegas)

7. Joshua Graham (Fallout: New Vegas)

8. Savan (Dragon’s Dogma)

9. Mercedes (Dragon’s Dogma)

Favorite ship from a game?

I got some faves from each of the games too!

1. Dorian & Inquisitor (Dragon Age: Inquisition). Straight up OTP it had to pick one.

2. John Hancock & SoSu (Fallout 4) or make everything explode ever power couple

3. Arcade & Courier (Fallout: New Vegas). He talks about a nice bachelor sweeping him up and we can’t?? For shame.

But beyond that I love most ships honestly. :)

Favorite voice actor from a game?

Ooof I don’t think I have a favorite tbh. Two that readily come to mind are Mathew Mercer and Troy Baker, but beyond that I don’t pay that much attention to the voice actors as they cross genres in media; it’s kind a like a surprise each time I find them. Like how with Dragon’s Dogma I “returned” to my anime roots when I latched onto Valmiro who is voiced by Vic Mignogna who plays Edward Elric in Fullmetal Alchemist. I still like the character a lot, but it’s like wowza I didn't make the connection.

Favorite cutscene?

I’m a huge sucker for the Journey to Skyhold cutscene. I’ve watched it half a dozen times, but I still get shivers. Also with the Arbor Wilds cutscene too. I also love the opening sequence in Fallout New Vegas and Fallout 4. I love love love the ending sequences in Dragon’s Dogma too, especially when I played them for the first time. It’s such a big revelation and so many emotions.

Favorite boss?

I love the Corphyeus fight from DA2. It was a complex multi stage fight that is exactly my taste. I also LOVE the Xeno’jiva fight from MHW. That is a fun and challenging fight to end a whole lot of big fights. It wasn’t a hard boss, but I loved fighting Savan at the end of Dragon’s Dogma. It wasn't high stakes in that you could die, but the emotional weight of it.

First console?

Game Cube or PC (Windows 95).

Current console(s)?

Xbox one and Xbox 360

Console you want?

I want a PlayStation 4 and a nice gaming computer. But money...

Place from a game that you’d like to visit?

I would like to visit the Mojave Wasteland. It’s super cool looking even though everything is murderous. Wouldn’t wanna live there though.

Place from a game that you’d like to live in?

Thedas or the world in Monster Hunter. Both are gorgeous. I’d probably live in a Free Marches state as a baker/artist in Thedas or a researcher in Monster Hunter.

Ridiculous crossover that would never happen but would be super fun?

Fallout and Dragon Age! I wanna see how the companions work in the Wasteland. Like Sera being a trickster in large cities, cutting down the assholes who try to exploit the poor people. Solas being a wandering man, looking for old war tech to try and reverse the effects of the war no matter what. Vivienne as a powerful member of one of the groups in New Vegas, always looking to do better. She would throw the best parties. Cullen is a disillusioned General trying to do better by the world and himself.

It could be grand.

Book that would make a good game?

Mmmm, I don’t know, to be honest. The kind of books I like to read wouldn't make good games, sorry. (I read a lot of psychology books and books that just wouldn't make good games).

Show/movie that would make a good game?

Pacific Rim. Fighting monsters in a giant mecha but it’s also an RPG game? I would be in heaven if that was a game.

Game you want to play?

I want to play the first two Fallout games just to see the hype of the franchise. I also want to play Detroit Becoming Human or at least watch some of it to get a feel for it. I’d also like to play the other Monster Hunter games and revisit old Game Cube games like the Pokemon and Harvest Moon titles.

Have you gotten 100% completion in a game?

I can say in confidence that I have 100% completed Dragon Age Inquisition twice now, I think. I’ve done every side quest, gotten all the mosaic pieces and picked up all the shards. Last time I played, I finished Trespasser at over a 100 hours which included both The Descent and Jaws of Hakkon. I regularly enjoy completely finishing everything in the game; I am all about finishing all of a game. Next, I wanna complete Fallout 4 as much as I can considering that there are never ending quests in the game. I did finish the main part of the game, but I wanted to start over again. Now I’m slowly working towards the end of the game and spending an godly amount of time building settlements.

Have you cried over a game?

Yes, I have gotten teary over a game. Inquisition has gotten me teary; talking to Dorian after his personal quest gets me every time, especially when he says he wouldn't like the person he would become if his father went through the ritual. It strikes a cord with me as a queer person quite a bit in how that I wouldn't like the person I would be if I was queer.

Nick’s dialogue in Fallout 4 after you complete his personal quest gets me all choked up. He’s got this idea that he can shake off who human Nick is by finally finishing what he started, but it doesn’t. What he does now, who he is and what he’s made of himself is entirely his own and that’s what makes him a person.

I wanna say I got teary eyed over the end of Honest Hearts from Fallout New Vegas. Scratch that, the whole DLC has moments that made me emotional. I love Graham and Daniel and how they do tie back into the main story of the game and give us more background on things like Graham as Caesar’s Legate and the sacking of New Canaan. I cried over finding the Survivalist Caches and reading about this man who survived the falling of the bombs to make something of a life for himself in Zion. The area is just so pretty??? Like Zion in the game is gorgeous. The ending made me teary when Graham talks about his revenge and how he knows he’s doing it for the wrong reasons; he knows he’s using God as a shield so he doesn’t have to take accountability for his actions. By the Courier’s words he can show mercy and for once not give into revenge and violence. Also how he talks about how love saved him and not just God’s love—but the love of his people. He did terrible things as Legate, but when he went back to New Canaan, they still accepted him and loved him. He survived getting thrown into the Grand Canyon because of love. That shit gets me emotional as shit.

I’m going to tag: @nbtakumi, @ryanglitter, @pavustive, @smolpocketmonstercoffee and anyone else who wants to do this! Consider yourself tagged! (Also no obligation to do this if you don’t want to!)

#thank you for the tag!#this was a fun meme #and I got to ramble a bit about things #I'm waiting for moments in new vegas that are going to make me cry because I know they are going to happen #edit: i made some corrections and fixed other bits

8 notes · View notes

darkspellmaster · 6 years ago

Text

E3 2018 Thoughts on Bethesda

Second weakest presentation I thought in regard to how the set up was. Andrew WK did a great job with his song for Rage 2, but man, no one knew what to do and the audio made it hard to hear. Also the presenters jokes were…um…not that great. Plus though was the line about "fuck Nazis on every platform possible." Really liked that one.

Rage 2… I have no idea what is going on in that…because I couldn’t see any of the screens because it stayed on Andrew. While I appreciate that factor for seeing a great singer, I wanted to know what they were putting out for it. Maybe next time intersperse the singing and the on screen video? Again I never played the first Rage, so I have no idea what is going on with this one. I will say that having the very tall developer who was nervous and the average developer on stage was visually amusing in a Loony Toons kind of way, but seemed that something didn’t click right regarding the timing of the trailer and their talking.

Finally got to see the trailer and I have to laugh about something regarding this trailer. So you got to see game play as the Ranger Character Walker, and I can already see issues coming out with the vehicles in regard to the camera. I’m sure that’s going to be worked on till it has to go gold. The other thing was that it seemed to be a cross between Mass effect and maybe Doom, and possible other games of a similar nature...Reboot’s episode that became the Mad Max Fury Road Movie...that’s it. Also nice movement from cut scene to playable moment, sound track sounds great.

Funny moment...So I’ve been watching Troy Baker and Nolan North on their Youtube series playing video games. It’s rather funny and enjoyable to watch. Mind you these are old games, so retro. Anyway...Walker seems to be voiced by Nolan, and all I kept thinking was of his struggle to beat the Spiderman Atari game, and began to wonder if somehow parts of Walker’s days, when he’s not out killing things, are spent chilling out trying to beat old Atari Spiderman games. Just something amusing.

Side note...I do want that talking head for some odd reason.

Doom Eternal is coming out…yay? Not a Doom player, so I can’t say much on this. It’s nice to see the old suit back on, although my gut is telling me this may be an online thing like Microsoft’s new Halo game will be.

Prey was an interesting game that actually got into your head and showed a lot about your character and person given it’s story. Prey MoonCrash should be an interesting one dealing with Mimics, and it looks to be a game of Hide and Seek. Not sure what else to say about it other than, find the Mimic. and also a VR game that will be coming out. I kinda felt bad for the presenters when their jokes didn’t land.

Hey look we get an expansion to Wolfenstein II, Wolfenstein II: Youngblood. We’re going to play the twin daughters of the lead character from the latest game. Awesome. We’re going to be in Paris. Very cool. We’re going to be fighting Nazi’s again. Rockin! We got no game play…crap. While the trailer looked cool, I would like to know more about it before I put down my money on this. Also...co-op...am I going to die a lot...I think I’m gonna die a lot.

Hey we have more expansions to Elder Scrolls online…Okay, and Scrolls Legends are getting stuff…alright…Oh and now you can play a mobile game of Elder Scrolls called Elder Scrolls Blades that you can play with one hand, and you can do it while you’re in a meeting with a boss. Yeah that really inspires confidence in your co-workers who are not fiddling on the phone. Does Blades look good, yeah, but I’m not downloading. If you like that, go for it.

Oh and if you haven’t gotten enough of Skyrim Very Special Edition, that you can now play on you Alexa….Bethesda, I think you’ve milked this game enough…although it was very funny, and you can actually play this…Yeah I’m Skyrimed out.

So what else do you have…Well we have a new Fallout Game that we debuted just a few Hours ago at Microsoft’s presser.

Fallout 76 had my attention for a bit. I loved the idea of it being an early story, the location using West Virginia was a nice change of pace from random locations, and certainly looked gorgeous in design. And the choice of song brought a tear to my eye due to Whisper of the Heart, but I like the song Country road. And the use of the urban legends and folk lore in that area came to light in the monsters and creatures that you run into. All awesome…until we get to the fact that you can get your hands on Nukes…um….why? How? What for…? Then the big reveal, oh by the way it’s all online with other people playing with you…And there went my enthusiasm for the game. At least the servers can be locked for just friends, but playing Fallout as a GAAS is going to be annoying because you can Nuke each other, which is something I pointed out with Skull and Bones. You have assholes who ruin the fun, and when they’re around you’re screwed. Also not a single player game, though you can play it solo…yeah….pass for me. Also game play was basically walk out of your room in the vault. Fun?

Lastly we had two very short trailers for a new game coming out called Starfield…which made me go, “what?” when I saw it. We see space, we see a planet, and we see a station…then a blast of white light and what looks like a hole and warping to some place…but that’s it. So not much on that front…

Oh and we’re finally getting an new Elder Scrolls game, Elder Scrolls VI. When is it coming, we don’t know, what does it look like, not much given it’s a landscape and a castle. Other then that, we got nothing. There are some hints that it might be a bit like Fallout 76, so I’m holding my breath on this. Given the way it was talked about...please don’t make this an online game...please.

Over all I’d say a C for this presentation. Jokes didn’t always land, the videos, while nice, felt like someone was asleep at the wheel. While it was great to hear Andrew WK playing, the stream I was didn’t let me hear him properly so I couldn’t tell what he was singing. Nice Trailers, but I do think they need to work on the jokes. Glad to see the teams though getting shout outs.

#bethesda #ea e3 2018 #elder scrolls #elder scrolls vi #elder scrolls 6 #starfield #fallout 76 #country road song #elder scrolls legends #elder scrolls online #elder scrolls blades #skyrim very special edition #wolfenstien the new order #wolfenstien 2 #wolfenstein II: youngblood #prey mooncrash #doom eternal #rage 2 #andrew wk

5 notes · View notes

regularbeans · 7 years ago

Text

Best Artists of 2017

This year, for the first time since I started doing these lists eight years ago (bloody hell) I’m ditching three categories at once and smothering one in the crib. These four categories are female artists, male artists, bands, and newbies. For newbies I just didn’t have enough entries for it to be worth the time to make a separate list, and for the other three it would’ve mostly been artists I’ve already written about in previous years.

So what I did (because I’m smort) is I merged these four categories and define it as any artist I either got to know this year or listened to a lot this year. This way I can still have some of the new musicians I got to know this year but still reflect what my year looked like in music even if some of those have been on these lists before.

This is serious business, we’re not banging rocks together here.

15 Bastille

Let’s get the obvious out of the way. Bastille came out with the best album of 2016 last year and this year I was lucky enough to first have to cancel seeing them live in February and then reschedule seeing them in August. To this day I’ve not waited more for a band than I’ve waited for them which should be a sign of how amazing I find them. Wild World was a tightly paced, captivating record about how shitty the world is, in true Bastille fashion where you can’t tell whether you should drink or dance more. This year saw them release Glory and World Gone Mad as singles, there’s a new Other People’s Heartache in progress and we know for a fact that they’re working on a new album which is supposedly shaping up to sound like an apocalyptice party record so... count me in.

Listen to: World Gone Mad, Blame, Glory

14 Dua Lipa

She was on my newbies list in 2016 but little did I know back then. Since then she released her self-titled album and went on to conquer the world with her single New Rules. Out of all the singles we knew was going to be an album I wouldn’t have thought New Rules would be the one but I don’t mind. With such a strong, distinctive voice and such bops it’s really just her marketing that can fuck things up. I know I’m a downer but I hope she doesn’t disappear in the sea of young and spunky English singer-songwriters. (Has anyone seen Ella Eyre lately? :/ I was so excited... I don’t even dare to hope anymore.)

Listen to: Garden, Be the One, Last Dance

13 Matt Maeson

A Spotify darlingheart that popped up on my discover weekly playlist and boy am I glad. Cringe is one of those crowd-please bangers that you just can’t escape from and you’ll find yourself humming it days after the one time you’ve heard it until you go back to it. Such was the case of Matt Maeson and his latest EP “Who Killed Matt Maeson” instantly cemented itself on my radar and did not disappoint. His voice is so versatile and he uses it all the right ways. I hope he releases a full album soon because I need more soooongs.

Listen to: Cringe, Grave Digger, Tribulation

12 Bishop Briggs

Surprised myself by putting her so “low” on the list but if I’m honest there were only three or four songs I listened to by her this year. That doesn’t mean she’s in any way less worth of your attention though. Bishop first popped up featuring on Cold War Kids’ track “So Tied Up” which I’ve mused about once before here and I was thrilled to find out this girl can sing. River is every bit as addictive as you think it’ll be based on the first two notes, and the EP it’s on (titled Bishop Briggs) is just a collection of this sort of souther gothic alternative... rock thing she does. My worries about her are similar to the ones I’ve mentioned about Dua Lipa but I just don’t want to imagine a world where I can’t hear more of Bishop’s voice.

Listen to: River, Dream, Wild Horses

11 Window to the Abbey

Without getting into an argument about how confused I was about the name of this band (the project on pledgemusic was listed under Troy Baker, how was I supposed to know Window to the Abbey was the name of the band? I thought it was the damn album, where did “Moving Around Bias” even come from? Fucking hell...)

Anyway, Troy Baker released my favourite album in 2014 (it’s perfect, no jokes) and I was so stoked for his new project when I found it was coming out (not that pledgemusic notified me about it even though I literally pledged money for it, no, I had to find out about it from tumblr like some sort of animal). I wrote about the result here and I still hold my opinion that to me it’s the order of songs that bring the whole of the journey down (I know, the stupidest thing, that’s why it pisses me off so much) but every song is dripping of human emotion and the joy of music, and damn that voice gets me every time. I hope he never stops making music.

Listen to: The Promise, Break Up Song, Common Grounds (no links cause only The Promise is on Spotify)

10 American Authors

Remember when I said this is a mixture of four categories? Well, I lied, it’s actually a mixture of FIVE. Really early into 2017 I realised there were a few albums I missed out on in 2016 and I was furious because they would’ve easily made top 5. One such album is What We Live For by American Authors. I was a huge fan of their first record, “Oh, What a Life” (it actually placed 12th on my list that year) (all these links are going to change when I change my URL on New Year’s Eve someone kill me) and I’m beyond pissed that I didn’t catch What We Live For it would’ve been #6 behind Life Screams by Lacey Sturm.

Not that this album doesn’t have a fair share of ballads and sad songs but the whole band is just radiating positivity. Catchy tunes, playful banjo, stomp-clap songs (u kno u luv them), singalongs, it’s such a damn pleasure to listen to these guys so look beyond Best Day of My Life and give them a listen, they’re the best pop music has to offer these days.

Listen to: Pride, Mind Body Soul, Right Here Right Now

09 BANNERS

This scrawny asshole has also seen at least one of these lists last year when he kept pumping out singles. Guitar pop, indie pop, alternative... whatever, call it what you want the facts are that you would recognise his Banners’ voice out of a hundred thousand, and his songs are all different but somehow still fit that feathery sort of magic rainbow cloud world I assume he’s coming from. His songs are either super serious (Half Light), beautiful ballads (Start a Riot), dancey club bangers (Shine a Light), songs that would be a worldwide #1 hit in the mid-00′s (Empires on Fire, pls), or my favourite song of the year (Someone to You). We have no news of it but I’ve made a place for his debut LP hopefully released in 2018.

Listen to: Half Light, Someone to You, Shine a Light

08 Fall Out Boy

I swear nobody can rile up the crowds quite like Fall Out Boy coming out with a track like Young and Menace. For the thirteenth time we listened to the panicked masses screaming into our ears about how FOB sold out, they changed, they’re not FOB anymore, and what’s this dubstep bullshit anyway? Let me tell you what, only the best song you’ve heard this year. I love that they stopped giving a shit, I love them for it, I really do. And even though Mania was delayed until 2018 we got a taste of what to expect and damn I know I’m already up for seconds.

(That sounded way too commercialy but I said it already so I’m not taking it back.)

Listen to: Hold Me Tight Or Don’t, Young and Menace, The Last of the Real Ones

07 FOURS

I can’t... I can’t emphasise enough how much y’all need to listen to FOURS. I’ve said this last year when they only had two songs and an EP out and I’ll say it again now that they came out with four more. The strongest female vocals I’ve heard in years paired up with nostalgic pop that could come from Whitney Houston herself (listen to Sicky Sweet and tell me it doesn’t remind you of I Wanna Dance With Somebody) these guys deserve so much more attention. I’ll hold out here until y’all stop sleeping on them.

These reviews are getting sassier with every entry... I need sleep.

Listen to: Sickly Sweet, Stella, Fade to Love

06 Everything Everything

A late entry but look how high it got straight away. I loved Everything Everything’s Arc back in 2013 (placed 20th, hah, I didn’t even remember that) so I was beyond disappointed when Get to Heaven didn’t live up to my expectations and even though I did listen to A Fever Dream I sort of just slipped past it for some reason. But better late than never I can now safely say this band still owns a significant piece of my heart. Weirdly enough, I still think Jonathan Higgs’ voice isn’t one anyone hears and thinks “man this guy should be the lead singer of a band” but with this (fever) dream-like sound he built up around the songs I just couldn’t imagine these songs with any other voice. I’m definitely happy I wasn’t late for this one.

Listen to: Night of the Long Knives, Run the Numbers, A Fever Dream

05 Enter Shikari

If you’d told me in 2009 when I had to listen to Common Dreads on a bet (that’s the kind of crazy stuff I be on haha!) that eight years later Enter Shikari’s latest album would be one of my favourite releases that year I would’ve... probably been excited to see what direction their music takes. But because nobody warned me I have no idea what this band’s been doing the past eight years and I only found their new album this year because I heard Live Outside on BBC’s Radio 1 while I was waiting for an NBT track to drop.

Based on the fans’ comments Enter Shikari has changed a lot and this album doesn’t represent a majority of their career, which if it’s really the case, I’m so happy about. I love the melodies, I love the crystal clear message in every song, such a wide variety of topics, still hectic and scream-y in some places but easy listening in most of the other places, it’s exactly the right album for me and, well now I have to pay attention to these guys as well.

Listen to: Live Outside, Rabble Rouser, The Sights

04 Kaleo

Another entry on the “how did I not recognise them before” list, Kaleo came out with their second LP “A/B” last year but I think they mostly remained in hiding until the movie Logan used Way Down We Go in its second trailer. That’s how I stumbled upon this surprisingly Icelandic band. It’s surprising because they play better American music most Americans do. It’s this badass country/blues rock about roadtrips and the devil and love. That paired up with lead singer Jökull Júlíusson’s insanely badass vocals (for real, listen to that voice and tell me it doesn’t sound like sweet melting chocolate) it’s something really special.

Listen to: Hot Blood, Way Down We Go, Glass House

03 Kensington

If you guessed they were another band I missed out on in 2016 then you guessed right. This is what I wrote about them when I featured them on my best newbies list at #11.

“Poor Kensington’s this far back on this list because even though I enjoyed the HECK out of Rivals (the HECK, I’m telling you!) I only… enjoyed the heck out of that one. It’s not that the other albums were bad, it’s just that I never got around to checking them out unfortunately. Which I should, seeing as I’m seeing them live in February, eh? Anyway, a kickass vocalist, smashing guitars, it’s a simple equation but it works. I for one welcome our Dutch overlords.”

Well, look at where we are, laddies and look no further. I spent a majority of this year enjoying the fuck out of Rivals and being in trance for two months straight after seeing them live and I’m seeing them again next April so... don’t do drugs, kids, that’s the only reasoning I can give for not falling in love with this album sooner.

Listen to: Regret, Home Again, Little Light

02 Misterwives

And here we have the band that would’ve topped the best newbies list had it not been for my incompetence. But I like to think that they’re in the right place because anything that’s second behind the band that’s in first place is actually really the first. Makes sense, right?

Misterwives was also gifted to me by the almighty Spotify where it threw up Machine on me. It was one of those moments where it stayed burnt into my memory for so long I couldn’t help but go back to it even though in the moment it didn’t feel like it was going to be something big. And now a few months later I’ve been absolutely captivated by the colourful, bounce-y, full of energy pop music of Misterwives. This six-piece is like the one colourful spot in a world full of greys, just an absolute pleasure to listen to. If you want to dance, if you want to smile, give them a go.

Listen to: Reflections, Our Own House, Machine

01 Nothing But Thieves

Hell no, it’s way too early to get into this right now. Guess you’ll just have to wait until my best albums liiiiiist ^^

#best of 2017 #long post #long post for ts #theres blacklist on tumblr mobile too so #theres no excuse for not blacklisting me :D

3 notes · View notes

jjnonken · 5 years ago

Link

Updated 14 Mar 2020: The above link is broken. PC Gamer has gone on to the next thing; as of this update, clicking that will get you to an article about golden keys for the game. At least some other companies haven’t conveniently forgotten.

https://screenrant.com/gearbox-randy-pitchford-controversy-weirder/ http://socialbarrel.com/randy-pitchford-video-game-industrys-most-controversial-figure/121218/ https://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2019/06/19/randy-pitchford-legal-drama-shows-gearbox-president-diverted-funds/

And then there’s the stuff about Supmatto getting shut down. https://gamerant.com/borderlands-3-boycott-explain/ https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-08-08-take-two-investigating-streamer-over-borderlands-3-leaks https://www.newsweek.com/boycottborderlands3-trends-twitter-controversy-youtuber-supmatto-1453013 https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-08-16-borderlands-3-youtubers-channel-disappears-amidst-take-two-investigation-over-leaks

Some of those are redundant, but hopefully it will preserve the information if other sites throw away history like PC Gamer did.

My original posting follows.

---------------------------------------------

Here’s why I’m not buying Borderlands 3. Not yet; possibly never.

TL;DR: Randy and his goons are hurting people and I’m not OK with that.

My stats: across all my accounts, according to Steam, I’ve got 323 hours playing the original Borderlands (including both the GOTY and the new Enhanced edition); 687 hours playing the Pre-Sequel; and a whopping 3413 hours on Borderlands 2. Total: 4413 hours playing the Borderlands franchise, not including a partial run-through of Tales of the Borderlands. (Nothing wrong with it per se; it’s just not the type of game I usually like to play, and I lost interest before I finished.)

(Why BL2 more than BL? Probably because I started with BL2, so that’s the one I love. I could go on about the details, but I think it boils down to familiarity. I think that typically happens to people who started on the first game: they prefer it because it’s where they started, and what they know. I can’t say that’s the only reason, or that it’s everybody’s reason, nor that all people who started with one cannot prefer the other. It’s just what I think happens typically. And it’s speculation, at that. So please don’t read more into it than is there.)

Needless to say I’m a little burned out Borderlands; but I’ll still be happy to play any of the (non-Tales -- which is single-player anyway) games with a friend, and I expect that I’ll probably be working on finishing my first BLE playthrough soon-ish, though I’ve been distracted by another game (7 Days to Die, in case you’ve not been following my blog. Which you probably haven’t; I don’t think anybody is).

So when they announced BL3 and said you’d be able to pre-purchase the super extra plus edition online and get some nifty exclusive skins, I already had my credit card out and drool all over the carpet before the echos died.

The first news came through: it wouldn’t be on Steam. It would be an exclusive on Epic for six months; after that, presumably it would show on Steam.

What the fuck?

I put my credit card down and mopped up the drool and considered their stated reasons and the ins and outs of this development, and decided I could live with it. They had their reasons, and the main one was money (of course; it always comes down to money). As long as it worked, and as long as it came back to Steam eventually, I would be OK. In fact I’d probably survive even if it was always on Epic. It’s not like I’m married to Steam or anything. And I’m on other platforms (at very least, Blizzard and Xbox). So after some soul searching I picked up my credit card and...

...now these aren’t necessarily in the correct order... ([edit] yeah, in fact, apparently Baker came first, then Eddings, and that’s just these two, though it’s possible I’d simply heard them out of order...)

...heard that David Eddings wasn’t doing Claptrap’s voice. According to him, he’d offered and been rebuffed. According to Randy Pitchford, they’d offered and he’d turned them down.

OK, well, he-said-she-said. Hard to know from the peanut gallery whose story was accurate, if either, or if it was something between or some third option. Still, it left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. David Eddings not doing Claptrap? That’s like, like, like Ted Cassidy not playing Lurch.

At least the Addams Family movies have an excuse, seeing as how Cassidy died in 1979. Anyway, I’m being silly. While I was hesitating some more, I heard that Troy Baker wouldn’t be playing Rhys -- and his story sounded a lot like Eddings’.

Two actors with essentially the same story? Once is happenstance; twice is enemy action? It’s certainly starting to look like a pattern. Either could be he-said-she-said, but each of the two lent credence to the other.

Still something I could live with. And then I started hearing controversies about Randy Pitchford.

Former Gearbox Lawyer Accuses CEO Randy Pitchford Of Taking Secret $12 Million Bonus

Claptrap voice actor accuses Randy Pitchford of assault

Then there’s the alleged USB stick of allegedly underage porn. Just type “Randy Pitchford controversy” into a search engine and stand well back.

Last month we started getting word about superfan Youtuber Supmatto having his channel shut down and having thugs appear on his doorstep and question him. After restoring his channel... they shut him down for good. Think what you will, but from what I can tell, he’d merely reported information given to him, and Take Two and 2K abused Youtube’s copyright system to deprive one of their biggest fans of a living. Even if they were in the right -- and that’s not clear -- there are a lot of ways they could have handled it better. Instead they went for the full nuclear option and did it the easy way (easy for them, that is -- didn’t take him to court, simply threw paperwork at Youtube) and threw physical intimidation on top of that.

So 2K and Take Two and Randy Pitchford are pissing me off, and from what I can see, pissing off a whole metric fuck-ton of other now-former fans of the franchise. I’m in good company, at least.

But even that isn’t all. There are two other personal reasons that I’ve been kind of ambivalent about BL3. One is that in a lot of ways, the content seems like... more of the same. I guess there’s always going to be a certain amount of that; it’s a continuation of a story that’s been running across ten years and four games which, yes, includes Tales. It’s set in the same universe and is based on the same characters. But each part of the franchise has been pretty decent at presenting fresh content. Yes, even the Pre-Sequel had a lot going for it, despite innumerable flaws. I have a lot of complaints about it, but I also think they came up with some cool stuff. And it advances the story.

Of course, I’ve not seen much, so maybe I’m just viewing this through a lens of disappointment. Don’t take that point too seriously.

The second and more important one is that, all I feel when I look at the new Vault Hunters is... detachment. Again, maybe I’ll feel more immersion and engagement when (and if) I start playing the game. But none of those Vault Hunters particularly appeals to me. I look at the four of them and feel no pull, no preference, no reason to pick any of them. No “Oh, that’s neat! I want to do that!” They almost seem like cardboard cutouts to me.

And now some more weirdness is happening. Borderlands 3 pre-order pulled from Epic Games store, and there are reports of the strange way 2k is handling the prerelease testing. Apparently they’ve discounted the crap out of the game... why? Are they hoping to bribe back all the former fans they’ve pissed off? Frankly, it looks like a desperation move, and attempts to manipulate me that way are much more likely to piss me off more than lure me back.

What’s this? One of the actors has apparently been abusing his girlfriend and... Pitchford just blows it off. *sigh* It just doesn’t end.

I won’t even address the microtransactions stuff and Pitchford’s gaff other than to say: as long as there’s no pay-to-win aspect (or even pay-to-shortcut), I don’t mind them. I’ve happily bought many skins in Payday 2 and Killing Floor, and weapons and skins in Team Fortress 2, and I own all the DLC for all the Borderlands games (multiple copies of most of it!). A lot of that is skin and head packs. And then there’s Overwatch. Some is direct (”Here’s some cash for that skin”) and some is indirect (”Here’s some cash for loot boxes, because dammit, I want those skins, and I have more money than brains”), but yeah... paid a lot of money over the years.

I’ve been saying that I would probably buy BL3 when it goes on sale on Steam. But now the question is... will I ever? BL3 may be the Alien³ of the Borderlands franchise for me; as far as I’m concerned, the Aliens franchise stopped after the second movie. I refuse to even watch the third or fourth. (Yes, I’ve watched Prometheus. More than once.) I may do the same here, refusing to acknowledge any legitimacy of Borderlands 3 and boycotting it completely.

We’ll see.

So, thank you, Randy Pitchford, for making the announcement of a new installment in what is arguably my favorite game ever into bitter, angry, ugly disappointment.

I’m on the horns of a dilemma, because I love the franchise, and some of my best and oldest gaming friends will be playing it while I sit on the sidelines. But what I’m seeing from the companies just makes me want to walk away.

I guess I didn’t want those exclusive skins that badly after all.

#borderlands 3 #bl3 #boycottborderlands3

0 notes